[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

When Penelope and Gavin agreed not to say anything to the other thieves about his betrayal, Crow felt a little more relieved. He was still ashamed with himself for asking the knights to keep his secret, but he couldn’t risk letting his companions find out that he had been working for the man who had killed Simon, especially if they heard it from someone else. If they were ever going to learn of his dealings with Jaxon, he was going to be the one to tell them, himself.

As the knights spoke amongst each other again, he took another step away from them, feeling like he had been outcasted. Gavin had always tried to exclude him from their plans, but this was the first time Penelope had done so too. It hurt him to listen to her speak with her ex suitor like he was just some feral animal that couldn’t be trusted to be included in the discussion, and he wondered again if there was any hope that she would ever trust in him after all of this was over.

At her last question to him, Crow felt another stab of hurt. It seemed that she didn’t just want to keep him out of their plans; she wanted to push him out of the mission completely. He felt like he was being crushed beneath her words. Even after everything that had happened that night, he had thought that she would at least be willing to give him a chance to keep working with her and her comrades. To find out that she didn’t want to be around him anymore was devastating.

Is there even any point to going with her though? he thought dismally. She’s making it pretty clear that she doesn’t want anything more to do with me. Maybe I should just cut my losses and let her go. He took a shaky breath, fighting back against tears that stung his eyes as he began to lose control of his swirling emotions. This wasn’t how he had thought things would go at all. He had wanted to prove to her that he could be the man she deserved and stay by her side unwaveringly throughout the war. He’d really thought he could do it too… but then that cursed murderer had come along and ruined everything. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a moment to force himself to calm down. As much as it hurt, he refused to show his pain to the knights.

“You’re right,” he said numbly, unable to bring himself to look her in the eyes. “I shouldn’t get involved.” He took another step back, turning slightly as he prepared to leave the knights behind. However, before he did, he paused and added softly, “Goodbye, Penelope… I hope you catch him.” With that, he turned quickly and headed out of the clearing, hiding his face from the others as the tears that he could no longer suppress began to flow freely down his cheeks.

[BuzzingBee]

"I hope so too." Penelope breathed quietly as she watched Crow turn and head out of the clearing at a fast pace. Watching him go she felt her emotions churn inside her again. Betrayal, anger, hurt it was all mixing again as she wondered when she would see him again. She said she would give him another chance but the knight wondered if she really could. Even if she managed to put an end to this whole mess with Jaxon, could she really bring herself to trust him again? She had heard him trying to get in on whatever deal Jaxon had with Younis so, even if they recovered now, what would he do if the war didn't go in favor of Brerra again?

"Let's get back to camp." Gavin mumbled as he slowly turned to leave. Penelope numbly followed after him, lost in her thoughts as they walked.

Her head told her that it was too risky to be involved with him any further and that doing so would put everyone at risk. However, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to simply leave him. Even now as she was recovering from the pain he had caused, she felt herself yearning to forgive and forget. Her feelings for him hadn't changed. It was why she wouldn't be able to bring herself to turn on him and why she wouldn't let Gavin attack him. The future they had talked about was still something she longed for, even though it felt further out of reach now. The love she still felt for him only made her feel worse about everything she had learned that night.

Feeling a surge of frustration and pain, the female knight suddenly whipped around and punched a fist against the nearest tree. She collapsed to her knees in a fit of soft sobs as her emotions over took her, barely aware of the pain that was coming from her now bleeding knuckles. Penelope trembled as she weeped quietly, fully succumbing to the hurt she was still feeling. She felt Gavin wrapped his arms around her and pull her close. She didn't fight against his gesture and instead, buried her head into his chest.

"What... What do I do now?" she choked out between sobs. "I don't.. I don't know what to do.."

"It's ok... We'll go back to camp and bandage your hand and then figure out what we're going to do about Jaxon." Gavin said in a soft tone as he held her close.

"Not.. not with him.. With Crow." she whimpered. At the mention of the other man's name, she felt Gavin become tense with anger.

"Well you know what I think we should do with that bastard.." Gavin growled then hesitated as he looked down at her. The male knight frowned and gently stroked her back. "... But, it's your choice Penelope."

"I.. I can't turn against him, Gavin... I love him." she pulled back slightly to look up at him. "I know I should let him go.. But.. But I don't think I can.. I don't think I'm strong enough."

"You're plenty strong, Penelope." Gavin assured as he touched a finger to the scar on her face. He hesitated before adding, "You just have to figure out what's important and what you want... Just please don't let yourself get hurt or used again." He gave her a soft squeeze as he held her close then let her go so he could stand up again. He held out his hand to her. "Now let's get you back to camp."

Penelope sniffled before giving a small nod and taking his hand. The knight felt drained after letting her emotions out and was becoming more aware of the throbbing pain that was coming from her right hand. She let out a sigh and followed a few steps behind Gavin as they returned back to camp, thinking over his words to her. Eventually she pushed away her thoughts about what would come next between her and Crow, finding herself ridden with a bunch of uncertainty, and focused on coming up with a plan to tackle handling Jaxon.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow couldn’t see anything through his tears as he headed blindly through the woods towards his camp, following the path home by memory since he was helpless to do anything else. Now that he was far enough away from the knights that he felt sure he was alone, he had let his suppressed emotions break free to ravage his body. The pain was worse than any physical injury he had ever received, and at one point he even convinced himself that he must be dying. After all, what else could cause him to feel like this, aside from a mortal wound?

He brought a hand up to clutch at his chest, wishing he could make the unbearable pain go away, but unable to do anything to an injury that he couldn’t see or touch. More tears fell from his eyes, unrepressed. He was certain now that he had lost Penelope. This was the worst he had ever hurt her. Surely even she, as patient and forgiving as she was, wouldn’t take him back after what he had done. He choked as a sob threatened to escape his lips.

Vaguely, he was aware that he needed to try and stay more alert as he traveled alone through the forest. If a local knight found him in his current state, he would be in no condition to defend himself. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Penelope; he couldn’t get the image of her heartbroken face out of his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut, he lifted both of his hands to his head, willing the mental picture to go away. He couldn’t believe he had hurt her like that. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone else, yet he only seemed to cause her more pain.

Maybe she’s better off with someone like Gavin after all, he choked again. I was a fool to ever think I was good enough to be with her. All I’ll ever be is a lowly criminal. Suddenly, he felt a sting in his cheek, and he flinched, opening his eyes again to find that he had cut himself on a low-hanging tree branch in his distraction. The small wound burned as it mixed with the salt from his tears, but it was still nothing compared to the anguish he felt on the inside.

Crow continued walking back to his camp, but as soon as he could hear the waterfall in the distance, he slowed to a stop. As tired as he was from the emotionally exhausting night, he didn’t want his companions to see him like this. They didn’t need to know about what had happened between him and Penelope—in fact, he didn’t want them to find out yet. He already knew how they would react. Hazel would be pleased that he wasn’t with a noblewoman anymore, while Rikki would console him at first and later point out that she had been right all along. The only one he trusted with the information was Alistair, but even then, he didn’t want to tell the other thief because his emotions were still too raw. He needed more time to cope on his own.

So, gazing dully ahead, he turned and headed into the deeper part of the woods until he found a secluded spot near the edge of the river where he laid down to be alone, closing his eyes as he continued to cry until his heart grew numb, and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

[BuzzingBee]

The two knights eventually made it back to the camp. Penelope followed Gavin a bit blindly as he slipped past the guards and guided her to her tent. He left her there alone for a moment before heading off to go grab her some bandages for her hand. As she sat alone, she thought about what she would tell Mia. If the thief's group was as big as Crow claimed, then they would need a sizeable group to in and attack. She shifted a bit as she sat on the edge of her bed. There wouldn't be a way to tell Mia without admitting to sneak around the baroness' back a bit.

She doesn't have to know I was meeting with Crow though... I told Layth I was working with peasants so perhaps I can just convinced them that way. She thought with a hint of hope. If she built off her old lie to Layth, it might be enough to convince the barons that this was a solid lead.

Gavin soon returned with bandages and carefully wrapped up her hand. She sat quietly as he finished and watched as the male knight prepared to head out to his own tent. "Gavin.." she spoke up hesitantly. As he looked back at her, she quickly lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you sooner...and thank you for all the help."

"You're welcome, Penelope." he mumbled softly. "Don't beat yourself up about it though. The only one to blame is him."

Penelope gave a sad shrug before lifting her gaze to look over at him. "Tomorrow morning.. Can you do me a favor and bring Olivia to my tent? I want to talk to you both about plans for dealing with Jaxon before I go to the barons."

"Of course."

"Thank you." Penelope sighed softly. "And Gavin... be careful. He might have left but there's no telling when the next assassin will come."

"I will." he promised with a small nod. "Goodnight, Penelope."

Having said their goodbyes, the male knight turned and stepped out of the tent, leaving Penelope alone. She let out a heavy exhale and laid back on her bed. Her mind was plagued with her memory of Crow's meeting with Jaxon and her eyes stung from all the tears she had shed. Still, the knight attempted to get some sleep. Eventually she managed to doze off in a less than comfortable slumber.

---

The next morning came too soon and Penelope was in no rush to get up. Her eyes were likely puffy from all the tears and her chest ached as everything from the night prior came rushing back. She let out a shaky breath, finding herself uncertain how to handle the day ahead of her. Though there was much to do, the knight didn't want to move and more than anything, she wanted to be alone so she could figure out her feelings. Unfortunately, there would be no time for that yet.

"Penelope, can we come in?" Gavin's voice caught her attention from outside.

The knight let out a quiet groan and ran her hand through her hair before sliding to sit at the edge of her bed. Straightening up her appearance a bit first, she called out, "Yeah come in."

"Alright so what's going on? This one's been bragging about how he was right and you wanted to speak with us." Olivia said as she barged in first.

"I wasn't bragging. I was just trying to give you a little information about what happened." Gavin grumbled defensively.

"I do want to talk to you.. Last night we found out where Jaxon is located and now it's just a matter of convincing the barons to send a patrol to hunt him down." Penelope told Olivia as her two friends sat down to listen. Olivia blinked, a bit surprised by her words and leaned in curiously.

"Really? How'd you pull that off?"

Penelope shifted uneasily at that and lowered her gaze. She debated about how much she should tell Olivia since she wasn't sure how the female knight would react. She had a flare for chaos and was directly involved with one of Crow's companions. However, she also needed to make sure Olivia kept her guard up around Alistair. The more she considered everything, the less reason she saw in keeping her in the dark.

"Crow was working for Jaxon like Gavin suspected.." Penelope finally admitted, grimacing as she said it outloud. "I found out last night when he met with him and then I confronted him about it.. He claims it was because the other thief was threatening him with taking my life but.." she paused and shook her head. "Anyways, I got him to tell me where Jaxon's camp is."

Olivia stared at her for a moment before leaning back on the palms of her hands and letting out small whistle. "Wow... First he stabs you in the shoulder and then he stabs you in the back huh?"

"Olivia." Gavin growled as he noticed Penelope flinch at her words.

"Sorry." Olivia mumbled with a shrug. She looked over at Penelope and hesitated. "Was.. Was Crow the only one involved with Jaxon?"

"He claims that he is and he doesn't want the other thieves to know he was working for him." Penelope responded, frowning with sympathy as she easily guessed why Olivia had even asked. "You should still be cautious around him though... At least until this matter is settled." She let out a sigh. "Now let's focus on planning."

[Rogue Sloth]

The next morning, Crow awoke feeling cold, stiff, and a little disoriented on the edge of the riverbank. He sat up slowly and grimaced, momentarily wondering why he had been sleeping outside before the memories of the night before came back to him. Penelope’s pained face appeared along with them, wrenching his heart once again as he was reminded of how he had hurt her. He drew his knees to his chest and stared absently at the flowing water, letting himself sit in his grief for a little while longer before he eventually found the strength to rise to his feet and head back to his camp.

When he arrived, he found that the other three were already awake and were spending some time in the sun outside. Rikki was the first to notice him walking over. She stood up from where she had been sitting with Hazel and hurried over to meet him halfway. “Hey, Crow,” she frowned, studying his face concernedly. “I noticed you were gone this morning. Is everything alright?” She stepped closer to rest a hand on his arm. “It’s not your illness again, is it?”

Crow held her gaze without replying. Normally, he would have brushed her off, but after everything that had happened, he found her touch comforting. Right now, he needed a little bit of comfort. Without thinking, he suddenly leaned forward to wrap his arms around the female thief, burying his head against her neck and closing his eyes tightly. It wasn’t the same as when he’d sought Penelope’s touch, but now that he’d lost her, his friend was the closest person he had left.

Rikki froze, taken aback by his change in attitude towards her. However, after a moment, she relaxed again and slipped her arms around his back as well, gently rubbing one hand along his shoulders in a soothing gesture. “What happened?” she murmured with a worried edge to her voice. “Come on, Crow. Talk to me.”

He shook his head. “Not yet,” he mumbled against her neck, his voice muffled in her thick hair. “I’ll tell you eventually, just… not yet.”

Rikki eyed him for a moment longer, seeming ready to push him for details, but instead, she simply nodded. “Alright,” she said softly. “Just remember, I’m here for you whenever you decide you want to tell me about it—we all are.” She glanced back over her shoulder towards Hazel and Alistair, who were watching the two thieves with questioning expressions, and gave a subtle, dismissive wave of her hand. They seemed to get the hint and looked away again, chatting quietly amongst themselves.

Crow stayed in Rikki’s embrace for a while longer before he eventually pulled back again, reddening slightly as he lowered his gaze to the ground. “Sorry,” he muttered bashfully. “I just didn’t have the best night.”

“It’s fine,” she offered him a reassuring smile and reached out to lace her fingers with his. “Feel any better?”

He nodded, “Yeah… I needed that.”

“I’m glad,” her smile broadened, and she gave his hand a tug. “Come on, there’s still breakfast left if you want it.”

Crow nodded again and walked with her to join the others, hoping their company would help him to forget about the night before and ease his pain over losing Penelope.

[BuzzingBee]

"What's this meeting about? It better be important." grumbled Edward.

It was the afternoon now. Penelope had spent most of her morning in the company of Gavin and Olivia, going over how she was going to convince the barons that they needed to send a large patrol down near Wheldrake. The work and constant discussion helped to keep her mind off of Crow but she did notice Gavin and Olivia both treated her with a bit more care than usual. She wasn't sure if she was grateful or a little frustrated by it but she said nothing to them anyways. They were both likely just trying to look out for her in her current state and that wasn't something she could hold against them.

Once they had formulated a solid plan, she went to Mia and requested her to get a meeting together. Luckily the baroness listened to her and didn't refuse her request. It took a bit to gather everyone together due to how busy the camp still was but eventually, all the barons and lieutenants had made their way to the main tent in the middle of camp and were all looking to her to explain her reasoning for it.

"It is, I assure you." Penelope said as she glanced around the group. She felt a twinge of nervousness, worried that they might not listen to her. "It's about the thieves we've been after... I've learned new information and this time it's not just a small lead, I know where their camp is."

"What?" Layth questioned as he narrowed his gaze on her. "How could you possibly know that! You haven't even been on a patrol in a week and the last one you were on was a failure!"

"I'm aware." Penelope muttered with an edge of bitterness before she shifted her gaze to meet Mia's. The baroness eyed her with interest but said nothing as she waited for her lieutenant to explain further. "I've kept in contact with the herbalist in Myrefall just in case she or her apprentice managed to hear anything more on the thieves. It turns out they did. I.. I met with her yesterday and she told me that a few peasants from Wheldrake had discovered that their camp is located between there and Aramoor."

"Between Wheldrake and Aramoor?" Edward snorted and eyed her critically. "Both of your patrols were right around there and you didn't managed to catch a trace of them. Why would you believe the words of this peasant woman?"

"The thieves likely threatened the peasants to throw us off track. My patrols were close and this woman has confirmed it." Penelope stated firmly as she held her uncle's gaze.

"You truly trust that this woman is telling the truth?" Mia asked as she looked over at Penelope.

The young lieutenant felt her stomach churn slightly as she thought of Crow. She still couldn't let go of the small chance that this lead was fake like the others and if she convinced her barons, only to find that it was a dead end, she wasn't sure she'd be able to recover from it. Mia might lose all faith in her. It was a risk she was going to have to take though. They had no other leads and Gavin's life was on the line. I'm putting my trust in you, Crow.. Please don't let me down again..

"I do." she replied to Mia with a certainty that she didn't actually feel. "I've worked with her before and I know she wouldn't be lying about this."

"I see... Then we might actually be close to ending this." Mia mused with a pleased tone.

"We'll make sure those bastards pay for what they took from us." Bennet spoke up now with a victorious gleam in his gaze.

"Yes... But it won't be easy." Penelope warned, glad that her words seemed to be accepted by the others. "She also told me that there are around thirty of them. This group is bigger than what we originally thought and it's going to take more than just a small patrol to bring them down."

"Thirty?" Edward scoffed. "We've only seen a few at the most. How can you be so certain about this lead?"

"Because there's no reason for me not to." Penelope said crossing her arms and met his gaze challengingly. "Do you really want to risk the thieves getting away just because you're afraid to trust a peasant woman's words?"

"Watch it. " Edward growled warningly.

"Penelope." Mia mumbled. Penelope blinked, realizing that she had gotten a bit too heated with Edward, who was of a higher rank than her. She lowered her gaze, slightly feeling a hint of shame for not being able to reign in her emotions very well. Luckily, Mia didn't seem to dwell on her lack of control and merely moved on with the meeting. "We have to take this risk to end them for what they have done." Mia agreed and looked over at Edward. "I say we send out a large patrol to Wheldrake to put an end to this madness before they strike again."

"I agree." Bennet jumped in quickly. "Any chance to get vengeance for our supplies and guards is worth it."

"I'll lead the patrol." Layth pitched in.

"You're still injured." Penelope pointed out shaking her head. She looked back to the barons with determination in her gaze. "If you approve, I'd like to lead it."

"I see no reason why you shouldn't." Mia agreed and glanced at the other two barons. Bennet gave an easy nod of agreement while Edward curled his lip before finally giving in and agreeing as well. With that settled, the meeting continued on as Penelope began to discuss the specifics of how big of a patrol and how soon they would leave. She wanted to leave as soon as possible but since already the afternoon, it looked like she'd have to wait until the following day before they could depart.

[Rogue Sloth]

Despite not having eaten since the day before, Crow could only manage to finish a small portion of rye bread for breakfast. He was still too upset about everything that had happened to stomach anything more. If his companions noticed his lack of appetite, they didn’t say anything about it, which he was glad about since he still didn’t feel ready to tell them about it. Instead, they all spoke casually about ways that they could prepare for the upcoming fall weather. Apparently, the others had noticed the dropping temperatures at night too, and they wanted to get ready for it before it became a problem.

Discussing the happenings at their camp helped Crow get his mind off his worries, so he participated in the conversation eagerly.

For the rest of the afternoon, he and the other thieves just relaxed and stayed by the river near their hideout. Crow couldn’t tell if the others were still just feeling discouraged by the poor results of their search for Jaxon or if they were trying to spend time with him to help keep his mind off everything that was troubling him. It could have been either reason, and he was content with their company, so he didn’t bother to question them about it.

However, as the day passed and night fell over the forest, his mood took another turn for the worse. There wasn’t a real reason for it, but he found that it was getting harder to keep his mind off Penelope again. So, feeling unsettled and quite restless, he made a request that was a little out of the ordinary.

“It’s been a while since we’ve all gone to a tavern together,” Crow mused, laying back in the grass on the riverbank with one arm propped behind his head. He gazed up at the darkening sky as he and his companions lounged outside. They had just finished their dinner and were resting while they digested their food. He glanced at the others as he went on, “We should go tonight.”

“That sounds like fun,” Rikki grinned in agreement, nestling a little closer to him from where she was lying curled against his side. Over the course of the day, she had been enjoying the fact that he was no longer pushing her away. While he still turned his head if she moved in to kiss him—it was too soon for him to let her get that close to him when he had only lost Penelope the day before—he didn’t object to any of her other physical advances.

By now, he guessed that the others had figured out something had happened between him and the knight, but since he had made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, no one said a word to ask about it. He appreciated their willingness to let him process alone while he sorted through his emotions over everything that had happened.

“I’m always ready to drink,” Alistair chipped in, sitting up from where he had been lying nearby. He leaned over to nudge Hazel. “Want to come with us?”

The herbalist hesitated for a moment before she nodded, “Sure.” Her blue eyes flickered to Crow before she added: “But I won’t have too much. Someone has to look after you rowdy thieves, after all.”

“Alright!” Alistair beamed, climbing to his feet. “We might as well go while the night is still young.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Crow nodded. He got up as well and offered Rikki a hand. Once they were all standing, they headed into the woods, eager to have a few drinks at the Ivory Hatchet in Myrefall.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched as her comrades hurried around preparing for the ambush on the thief's camp. It was nearly night but with their plans to leave for the camp had just been made and the selected knights were hurrying to get ready so they wouldn't have to waste much time in the morning when they finally set out for the trip. She was glad that everything seemed to be coming together well. The barons had approved to give her a good number of knights and they had even agreed to let her lead it alone. Now it was just a matter of time before they would leave and put an end to the murderous thieves that were threatening them.

"Looks like we're nearly ready." Gavin mused as he moved to step up besides her. Penelope had specifically asked to include Gavin and Olivia in her patrol. Both wanted to see the mission through to the end and it was likely safer for Gavin to leave camp than to stay while he still had a target on his back. He swept his gaze over the camp before his dark gaze moved to rest on her with a look of concern. "How are you doing?" he asked in a softer tone.

"I'm alright." Penelope answered, lowering her gaze. That wasn't quite true. She still felt like a mess and the only reason she seemed put together was because she managed to distract herself with the work that needed to be done to capture Jaxon. Now that things were slowing down for the night, she could already feel her mind wandering to the thief and what he had done.

Gavin studied her expression for a moment and frowned slightly. He moved to rest a hand on her back. "You can talk to me about it you know... Why don't we go find a spot to sit down?" he offered.

"No." She mumbled and shook her head. The knight let out a small sigh and stepped away from her friend. "I'm sorry, Gavin. But.. I think I just want to be alone for a little while."

"Alright.. Just come find me if you need me." Gavin said before turning to walk off.

Penelope watched him go for a moment before heading off to her tent. Now that the day was winding down to an end and she had a plan to deal with Jaxon, she needed to start figuring out what to do with Crow. She slipped into her tent and laid back on her bed, silently staring up at the ceiling of it as she thought about all that she had learned and all that the thief had done. It was painful to think about and she already felt her eyes growing tearful again but now that she was alone, she didn't shy away from it.

She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, causing a couple tears to stray down her cheeks. I just need to figure out what's important and what I want... she thought, reminding herself of what Gavin had told her. The knight considered what she wanted. For a while now it had been the future she had talked about with Crow. At the thought of it, she felt herself still yearn for that life after the war. The very thought that letting him go and giving that future up was on the table made the knight feel a fresh wave of heartache. It made one thing to her clear; she didn't want to give Crow up. She wanted to figure things out with him and hope that he'd be on her side from here on out.

But she wasn't sure if she could afford to do that. Penelope loved him but there were other people she cared about that she wanted to protect too. If something like this occurred again, trusting Crow could put everyone else at risk. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought of how he was the night before, how hurt he had seemed at her unwillingness to trust him again. What if it was just a bad mistake? The knight shifted a bit at that thought. He had lied to her before, that was true, but it had never been anything to this damaging extent. He had kept secrets, a couple had hurt like how she had found out about him kissing Rikki, but they had never been this big.

She had forgiven him for all of those. Perhaps she could forgive him just one more time. If it had just been him trying to protect her, even if it was in a way that she didn't approve of, she didn't want to let him over it. Once they caught Jaxon, she'd know that he was telling the truth and from there, she might be able to talk things out with him. It sparked a small flame of hope in the knight and put her a bit at ease now that she had figured out what would come next. A bit of unease still lingered about the lead he had given her, as there was still a chance he could be lying, but for now, she decided not to focus on it. After all, she'd find out soon enough.

----

The next day came quick and Penelope didn't even remember when she had fallen asleep. It must have been some time after she had made her decision about Crow. As she stepped out of her tent, she felt her heart beat anxiously. The time had come for the knights to begin their journey to Wheldrake where they would, hopefully, ambush the murderous thieves. She grabbed a quick breakfast, barely eating any of it, before she moved to wait for her patrol to gather.

It wasn't long before the other knights joined her and among them were Gavin and Olivia. Her two friends kept near the front. Olivia looked tired but didn't complain like usual and Gavin stepped up besides Penelope with a half-hearted smile.

"Ready for this?" he asked quietly.

"As I'll ever be I suppose.. Are you?" she replied as she studied his gaze.

"Yeah. I just hope you're right about trusting this.." Gavin mumbled as he shifted his gaze back ahead.

"Me too." Penelope sighed as she felt her stomach churn at his words. Without waiting any longer, she signaled for the patrol to begin its departure and lead the way out of camp and towards Wheldrake.

[Rogue Sloth]

That night at the tavern, Crow let himself go quite a bit more than he usually did. He ended the night with five strong drinks and wound up drunk enough that the walk back to the camp in the woods was difficult to manage. It was fortunate for him and the other thieves that Hazel had chosen to stay sober, since they would have had a hard time finding their way home without her guidance. She also kept watch for local knights while the others were unable to.

For Crow, the alcohol brought a welcomed sense of numbness and helped him to forget about Penelope for the time being. However, he still kept Rikki at bay whenever she tried to move in to kiss him. Even in his inebriation, he felt a strong sense of discomfort at the thought of being with her so soon after the knight. He wanted more time to himself before he even considered giving her a chance. Fortunately, she didn’t push him very much, since she seemed content with the closeness they had already rekindled earlier that day.

He was glad that she wasn’t rushing him to move on quickly. It reminded him that even though she had disapproved of and even tried to get in the way of his relationship with Penelope, she genuinely did care about him. Even if he didn’t approve of every method she had used to win him over, he knew she was coming from a place of compassion. Perhaps whenever he truly let the knight go, he could bring himself to love the thief who had been by his side through every trial in the past year.

When the group eventually made it back to their camp, Crow collapsed tiredly on his bed, still drunk on the ale in his system. He stretched languidly and pulled his blanket up to his chin. Pleasantly drowsy and numb to his negative emotions, he was ready to go to sleep for the night. However, before he drifted off, he felt a pressure on his side. He glanced down to see that Rikki had come over to join him on his mat.

She looked up to meet his gaze and smiled tiredly. “’Night, Crow,” she murmured, burrowing into his chest and letting out a long exhale as she settled down against his side.

“’Night, love,” he said back to her, returning her smile as he wrapped an arm around her back to pull her close. Between his exhaustion from the day and his contentedness at having his friend beside him once more, it didn’t take long for him to fall into a peaceful sleep.

--

The next day began like any other for the band of criminals. They enjoyed a simple breakfast together in the morning and then went out to spend their time underneath the warm sun. Alistair and Rikki left together to go on a leisurely patrol of the area, while Crow stayed behind with Hazel as she worked on making his next batch of medicine. Overall, it looked like it was going to be a peaceful day for the group.

“I really like this plant,” Crow mused as he lifted one of the herbalist’s ingredients to his nose. The time was nearing high noon, and Hazel had nearly finished preparing his draught.

“That would be the motherwort,” she said, taking it from his hand to put back with her other supplies. “And I’m running low on it, so I can’t let you toy with what’s left.”

“Do you need to get more?” he asked with a frown. “I could come with you if you do.”

Hazel nodded, “I do need more… but according to that physician, it only grows in the inner kingdom.”

“So we’ll take a trip,” Crow shrugged, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands as he watched the river flow in front of them. “I’ve been there plenty of times in the last couple of years, so I’ve learned my way around. If you need to go, then I’ll escort you.”

Hazel looked up at him for a moment before a small smile spread over the lips. “Thank you,” she said softly, turning away again to check on the pot she had cooking. A short moment of silence fell between them before she murmured, “Simon was going to go with me to restock on herbs… I wish he was still here.”

Crow studied her quietly, feeling a pang of empathy for her loss, and then leaned closer to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “I do too,” he sighed as she leaned lightly against his side.

The two lapsed into silence as they took a moment to mourn for their fallen companion. It was short lived, however, as they soon heard the sound of voices in the distance. Crow looked up to see that Rikki and Alistair were walking towards them, having just returned from their patrol. He was just about to greet them when he noticed that something seemed off. Both of the usually jovial thieves had concerned expressions on their faces and were speaking in hushed voices.

“What’s wrong?” Crow asked, standing up as his nervousness made him too restless to keep sitting. “Did something happen?”

“Not yet,” Rikki answered, folding her arms over her chest. “But it looks like something is about to.”

“We walked by the knights’ camp,” Alistair added with a worried look. “They were organizing a huge patrol—more knights than I’ve ever seen outside of a battalion—and they were talking about going to Wheldrake.”

“Is there another battle happening today?” Rikki asked, meeting his gaze with equal urgency. She shifted uncomfortably as she added: “I-I saw Penelope at the head of the group… She didn’t say anything to you… did she?”

Crow stiffened at the mention of the knight’s name and averted his gaze. “I haven’t heard anything about a battle,” he muttered. However, in the next moment, he blinked as he remembered that she had been talking to Gavin about organizing a patrol to hunt down Jaxon. She’s really going to do it, he thought, feeling his blood run cold.

“What’s that look for?” Rikki said as she noticed the color drain from his face. “Do you know something?”

He hesitated at first before nodding reluctantly. “It’s not a battalion,” he said, looking up again to meet her eyes. “The knights found Jaxon’s camp a few days ago, and they’re sending in a patrol to kill him and the rest of his followers.”

“What?” Alistair’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because there’s nothing more we can do to get involved,” Crow answered simply. “Penelope and Olivia may have been willing to work with us, but the other knights will just see us as another enemy. If we try to go with them, they’ll just attack us. Besides,” he trailed off, shifting his weight slightly. “If they’re really sending as many knights as you say, then I’m sure they’ve got it covered.”

“I’m sure there’s still some way we could have helped,” Rikki protested tentatively.

Crow shook his head. “It’s best if we just stay out of it,” he muttered. “Knights catch criminals for a living. I’m sure they’ll deal with Jaxon on their own. It won’t be much longer until he’s out of our lives for good.”

Rikki opened her mouth again as if to argue with him but then closed it again, seeming to think better of it. Instead, she just sighed. “You’re the boss,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. “Come on. Let’s have some lunch to celebrate that bastard’s death. I think we still have some chicken left.”

Crow nodded wordlessly in response, following after her as she headed towards the camp. The news of the knights’ patrol to Wheldrake had left him with a foreboding knot in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I’m just being paranoid, he thought, trying to reassure himself. Jaxon’s gotten me all out of sorts. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Eager to get his mind off of Penelope and her patrol, he struck up a conversation with the other thieves about making another trip to the market soon, letting his worries drift to the back of his mind.

[BuzzingBee]

Since it was a rather large group, the knights were forced to travel at a bit of a slower pace. Penelope walked at the head of it with Gavin and Olivia at her side. For a good while, there was a silence over the three of them. Olivia picked up on the seriousness of this final patrol and clearly didn't want to cause trouble for Penelope at the current time. Gavin was focused as usual. He mentioned nothing more on the lead possibly being fake and judging by his attitude, was willing to take in seriously even if he had doubts.

"So.." Olivia eventually broke the silence with a bit of hesitance as she looked over at Penelope. "Have you figured out what you're going to do after this? With... You know who I mean."

"Olivia, it's only been two days. She probably doesn't want to talk about it." Gavin grumbled warningly.

Penelope glanced between the two and let out a small sigh. "It's fine, Gavin... I actually did figure out what I'm going to." she admitted quietly, keeping her gaze focused on the path ahead as they walked. She felt a hint of pressure as she felt the gaze of both of her friends on her. "If.. If this goes right, then I'll speak with him."

"What?" Gavin frowned.

"So much for being the rebound Gavin." Olivia mused with a small smirk, causing for the male knight to shoot her a glare.

Penelope rolled her eyes at them and let out a sigh. "I'm just going to talk with him. Anything more will be decided after that... But I'd rather not talk about that stuff right now." she glanced towards both of them and stood up a bit straighter. "We have a more pressing issue at hand with handling Jaxon.."

The other two nodded and Penelope managed to switched the subject without resistance, which she was grateful for. She really didn't want to go into detail about how she was feeling towards Crow at the moment. Especially since she was completely certain yet and she doubted her feelings would sit well with Gavin, who hated the thief. The large group walked on and Penelope discussed upcoming plans and how they would handle attacking the camp once they got there.

---

The sun had nearly set by the time that they reached Wheldrake. Penelope had stopped the group just on the outskirts of town for a second break. She wanted to have the cover of the night when they finally went to attack as well as give her comrades a chance to rest before they went rushing into what she could only assume would be a nasty fight. She leaned back against a tree and looked over the clearing that they had settled in, watching as a few of the knights either took naps, ate their dinner or chatted amongst themselves.

She closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself for what was coming. Pushing herself off of the trunk of the tree, she made her way over to the center of the clearing, giving a sharp whistle to get everyone's attention. It worked easily as the knights move to group around their lieutenant and suddenly she felt a new wave of anxiousness. This was her first time leading such a big group alone, making her a bit hesitant to speak. Swallowing her nervousness down, she stood a little straighter, attempting to gain an air of authority that she always saw in the barons and other lieutenants.

"We're going to travel around Wheldrake and head straight into the forest that lies between it and Aramoor. I don't want the villagers catching wind of us moving in, since there is a chance they could warn the thieves.. or that a few of the thieves are amongst them." She explained with a firm voice as she eyed the crowd. While she was a bit concerned about those points, she also didn't want to disrupt the villagers of Wheldrake by leading what was practically a small battalion through their streets. Luckily her decision to avoid the village all together was easily accepted by her comrades, which gave her a bit more confidence as she went on.

"From there, we just have to head half way to Aramoor and the camp should be right there." she explained then paused before adding with grave seriousness. "These thieves are ruthless killers. They have killed our comrades and taken our supplies. They will be showed no mercy. Keep alert and don't hesitate when we attack."

Murmurs of approval and agreement rose from the crowd and Penelope glanced up at the sky. The sun had fully sunk and now darkness was beginning to fall over them. It was time to move. "We'll leave now. Split off into the groups you were assigned. Those attacking from the west are with me. Those attacking from the east are with Gavin. Remember, travel quietly." The plan was to pinch the thieves in between the knights in hopes it would make it difficult for them to escape as well as win. Penelope waited as they broke off into their perspective groups and then began to lead the way towards where the camp laid, swinging further to the west as the groups broke off. It was time to see if Crow's words had been true and if all her effort to take this murderer down would pay off.

[Rogue Sloth]

For the rest of the afternoon, Crow tried to distract himself by going on another hunting trip with Alistair in the woods to the west of their camp. He hoped that by keeping himself busy, he would be able to forget about Penelope and start to move on with his life. After all, she had made it quite clear to him that she wanted nothing more to do with him after what he had done. There was proof enough of that in the way she had accused him of lying when he’d tried to explain himself. She’d claimed that she would give him another chance, but even then, all she had wanted was information about Jaxon. She hadn’t cared enough to let him even try to prove to her that he wasn’t an enemy and that he’d only worked for the murderer because he hadn’t had another choice. Her trust in him was shattered, and there was no way he was ever going to get it back.

As he roamed the forest with his friend, he tried to tell himself that it was better this way. Even though it hurt, he now knew for sure that the lives of knights and thieves could never mix. Earlier that day, during lunch, he had decided to confess his to his companions about his dealings with Jaxon. He wasn’t sure if he had done it out of some strange self-destructive tendency or if he had just been seeking to make someone understand what he had been going through. Of course, the others weren’t happy when they found out the news, especially Hazel, but they accepted his word and understood that he had been blackmailed by the other thief. Their forgiveness made him feel better about everything, but it also made him see just how foolish he had been to try and make his lawless lifestyle work with a knight’s path of justice.

Crow crouched behind a bush with Alistair as they spotted some rabbits in a clearing to the north. Penelope would never be able to understand him, but his companions did. What the knight had called cowardice was, to them, a way of life. When the going got tough, they sought the first way to save themselves. It was how they survived on their own without the support of anyone else. The knights were backed by the king, but the thieves were fugitives with no one to turn to when they needed help. The only way they could find protection in the war was by pandering to their powerful enemies and hoping they could earn enough favor to be given special treatment. It wasn’t a noble way to live by any means, but it was effective, and it was the only way for them to ensure their freedoms if Younis conquered Brerra. He had thought that Penelope would come around eventually whenever he told her that he could guarantee her safety too, but apparently, he had been wrong. A knight like her would never stray from her values, even if it meant going down with the rest of their kingdom.

He raised his bow and took aim at one of the larger rabbits, holding it steady for a moment before he loosed his arrow. An outcry from the animal told him that his shot had landed, and he stood up again to collect the spoils. His heart fluttered nervously in his chest as he approached the rabbit with a knife to finish it off, and he chided himself. He had gone hunting plenty of times. Killing the animal shouldn’t have bothered him anymore. He crouched down beside it and pressed his knife to its throat but wavered as he looked down at the small creature. Its chest rose and fell with rapid breaths and its eyes were wide with fright. There was an innocence to it that suddenly made him feel guilty for taking its life.

He rested his free hand on the rabbit’s side, trailing his fingers through its soft brown fur, and he gritted his teeth. Why was he so weak? It was just an animal. He had killed knights in battle plenty of times now. It shouldn’t have been this hard to finish off a rodent that he was going to bring home to eat. Yet, somehow, there was something holding him back.

“What’s the holdup?” Alistair had noticed his hesitation and stepped over to see what was taking so long.

“It’s nothing,” Crow mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

Alistair frowned and glanced down at the rabbit. “You know it’s just going to suffer longer if you don’t finish it off,” he pointed out. “Do you want me to do it?”

“No,” Crow shook his head. “I shot it, so I should finish what I started.”

“If you say so,” Alistair shrugged. “Just don’t take too much longer. I want to bring home at least a couple more before sunset.”

Crow nodded absently and turned his attention back to the trembling animal. Alistair was right. He needed to just finish the job and put the creature out of its misery. Finally working up the nerve to do it, he took a steeling breath and tensed to drag his knife across its throat, but then froze as the rabbit lifted its head. It almost seemed to be looking at him, but that wasn’t what made the thief stop. Across its left eye was a jagged scar, one that sent an image of Penelope flashing vividly through his mind.

He wanted to laugh. The gods had to have been mocking him. What other reason could there be for his first kill of the hunt to bear an uncanny resemblance to the woman he was trying to forget? Feeling a surge of rebellious energy, he closed his eyes and cut the rabbit’s throat. Its head dropped back to the ground, hiding the scar once more.

“Finally,” Alistair smirked. “I was beginning to think we were going to be here all day.”

Crow rolled his eyes at his friend’s gibe but said nothing. Despite having killed the animal, he was still quite unnerved by its scar. He had never seen anything like it on a rabbit before. It was strange, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about it. Suddenly, he had a strong desire to look at it again.

Tentatively, he reached out to slip his hand around the left side of its muzzle, pulling slowly as he lifted its head off the grass. However, in the next moment, his eyes widened, and he dropped it again.

“What was that?” Alistair knitted his brow, noticing his leader’s abrupt reaction. “Is there something wrong with it?”

Crow didn’t answer as he stared down at the corpse, still reeling as he tried to process what was going on. When he had lifted the animal’s head to get a second look at the scar, it was gone. There wasn’t even a trace left. But that’s not possible, he thought, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. I know I saw it. There was a scar there just a second ago. For a moment, he wondered if he was going mad—perhaps he was still so desperate to hold onto Penelope that he was seeing things—but that didn’t make sense. He was certain the scar had been there. It was as clear as day.

Suddenly, he felt his heart drop as another thought came to him. What if it was an omen? Penelope was currently leading a patrol to take down the most dangerous man he had ever met. What if his feeling that something was going to go wrong wasn’t just pointless worry? What if she was in danger, and this rabbit was a warning? He couldn’t breathe.

“Crow?” Alistair leaned down to shake his shoulder. “You’re starting to freak me out. What’s going on?”

Abruptly, Crow stood up and turned towards the west side of the forest. It was only early evening, and the knights were probably planning to strike after nightfall. If he left now, he could still make it in time.

“Crow!” Alistair raised his voice this time, grabbing his arm and giving it a sharp tug to force him to turn around. “Hey, what’s going on with you?”

Crow blinked, coming back to himself slightly. However, his eyes drifted down to the rabbit one more time, and he tensed, stepping back to remove himself from his companion’s hold. “I’m sorry,” he said, backing away slowly. “There’s something I have to do.”

“What do you mean there’s something—Crow!” Alistair’s eyes widened as Crow suddenly spun around and sprinted into the surrounding trees.

“Tell the others not to worry and that I’ll be back soon!” he called over his shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, he turned forward again and hastened his pace, running as fast as he could manage without tripping as he made his way towards Wheldrake.

[BuzzingBee]

As the group moved carefully through the forest, a dim orange glow became visible through the trees and Penelope felt her breath catch in her throat. Campfire. Crow had told her the truth. The knight nearly felt weak with relief but she couldn't let herself get caught up in those emotions. Not yet. There was still a murderous thief that stood in the way of it all and she had every intention to change that. She gripped the hilt of her sword as they drew closer to the camp and prepared herself to launch the attack.

However, the knight hesitated as she felt something was off. They were getting closer to the camp but everything was silent. Not a voice could be heard coming from there, which she thought was strange when Crow claimed that there had been so many of them. Surely there would be noise of some sort unless..Unless they already heard us coming. She felt her blood run cold and her eyes darted around. There was a trap ahead and she needed to figure out what it was before she lead her people straight into it.

Luckily she had learned a trick or two from Crow and her gaze shifted upward just in time to catch movement in the trees surrounding the camp. She locked gazes with one thief who tensed and readied to strike her. Got you. "The trees! They're in the trees! Brace yourselves!" she yelled to her comrades as she unsheathed her sword just in time to deflect the attack of the thief that had spotted her. Just like that the forest erupted into battle as the thieves flung out of their hiding spots, which weren't all in the trees as she soon came to find out. At some point, she was aware that Gavin and his group had joined the fray as well.

Penelope made quick work of the first thief that had attacked her, finding that though he was quick to try to kill her, his skills with a sword were lacking. Her gaze swept over the clearing as she looked for the figure of Jaxon. She may have only seen him once but she remembered him fairly well. Amongst the chaos, she couldn't find him. She spotted Gavin locked in a vicious fight with two thieves, one of them being the man that Jaxon had brought along with him during the meeting. She was about to run to his aid but was cut off as a younger thief swung his sword rather pathetically at her. Penelope curled her lip and blocked the attack with ease. Before she could go in for an attack of her own, her green eyes fell on her attacker and she faltered. It was a face she hadn't seen in two whole years but the curls and boyish face were as recognizable as ever.

"H-Hartley?" she stuttered with shock as she stared at the thief in front of her. He had a scared look on his face and a white-knuckled grip on his weapon. He certainly didn't look like he belonged in the middle of a fight between ruthless criminals and knights.

He blinked as he recognized her and took a small step back. "P-Penlope? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that." she responded as she narrowed her gaze at him. Penelope glanced around subtly then aimed an easy strike at his right side. The young thief jumped and quickly blocked it before looking at her with alarm. "Keep fighting. Otherwise someone's going to get suspicious on either your side or mine." she muttered to him. She didn't know why Hartley was there but there still seemed to be a spark of innocence in his gaze and that was enough to keep her from simply dismissing him as another enemy. As he nodded in agreement to her words and swiped at her with his blade, she dodged to the side and glanced around.

"Where's Crow?" he asked her. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Not here. This is a patrol of knights, I couldn't put him at risk of being caught.. Or worse.. in this mess." she responded and shifted to attack again. She was moving slower than usual, allowing Hartley time to block her. "These thieves are ruthless and they killed some of my comrades."

"But Crow was working for them, wasn't he?"

Penelope flinched at that and frowned slightly. "He was." she slipped away from his blade as he aimed at her shoulder. "But not willingly. They were threatening him... Hartley, why are you here? Where's Kip?"

Hartley shifted his gaze away for a moment. "She's back in Younis... I-I heard that one of the barons hired the thieves and I..I thought maybe I could use that to my advantage."

There was a hint of shame in his gaze that made Penelope feel a hint of sympathy for him. He must had gotten caught up in Jaxon's band hoping for something better. She guessed that he was simply misguided and that meant that he shouldn't be apart of this mess they were currently in. Hartley didn't seem to have changed much since the last time she had seen him, aside from being a bit taller and looking a bit older. The knight swept her gaze over the battle-filled clearing. She had to get Hartley out of there before one of her comrades attack him and she had to find Jaxon.

"Wait so are you and Crow still a thing if you're a knight? What's happening?" Hartley asked with newfound curiosity.

"Now isn't the time to catch up, Hartley. We need to get you out of here before you get killed." Penelope said with urgency in her voice. She gestured subtly to an opening out of the clearing. "When I say go, make a run for the opening and don't stop until you're far from here, understand?"

"O-ok." Hartley gulped.

"Before that I need to know, where's Jaxon? Do you know?" she asked as she shifted to block another easy strike from Hartley. The thief leader was nowhere to be found in this battle and she was beginning to wonder if he had chosen to run in order to save his own skin. She prayed that he hadn't. After all, Jaxon was the most dangerous one of them all. If he wasn't stopped now, he could easily go after Crow or Gavin or even herself out a need for revenge. Penelope had to find him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow panted heavily as he ran through the forest, each breath straining him more than the last. It had been a long time since he had run this far, and his lungs burned from the effort. But he couldn’t slow down, not while there was a chance that Penelope was in danger. For the time, all of his worries about what had happened between them had vanished from his mind. It didn’t matter that she had caught him with Jaxon or that she didn’t trust him anymore or even that she didn’t want to be with him. None of those things changed the fact that he was hopelessly and completely in love with her. He had to get to the battle to make sure she was safe.

Time seemed to pass sluggishly by as the sun sank lower to the horizon and darkness eventually fell over the outer villages. Crow staggered as he ran, pushing himself to keep moving though his legs threatened to give out beneath him. He was just beginning to think that he couldn’t make it, when Wheldrake came into sight up ahead. The sight sent a wave of relief through him. Jaxon’s camp wasn’t much farther. He could still make it. With a fresh surge of energy, he pushed himself to pick up his pace just a little more as he hurried past the village towards Aramoor.

After a while longer, he could see the light of a fire up ahead. It was the thieves’ camp. He had finally made it. He slowed to a jog as he neared the edge of the clearing, trembling uncontrollably from the strain of running at a near sprint for a quarter of the day. However, he couldn’t focus on the weakness in his legs or the ache in his chest at the moment. The commotion in the camp meant that the battle had begun. He had to find Penelope.

His wide, green eyes darted over the moving figures in the camp as he searched for the knight, but it was difficult to see with just the light of one firepit to dimly illuminate the countless faces. He circled the clearing, keeping his gaze fixed on the battle as he looked for her, growing desperate the longer he couldn’t find her. Was it possible that he had arrived too late? What if she was already dead? The thought filled him with panic, and he edged closer to the fighting, hoping to catch a glimpse of her familiar face amongst the crowd.

After a while, his efforts paid off, and he felt a rush of relief as he spotted Penelope, alive and well, in a fight with one of the thieves. He took a step forward to aid her, but then paused as he noticed something else about the two. The knight wasn’t just fighting any thief; she was locked in combat with Hartley. The sight was surprising, but his shock didn’t last long before another figure caught his attention. His heart stopped as he followed Jaxon with his eyes, watching as the thief crept soundlessly towards Penelope’s back with his sword poised to strike.

No. Without a chance to think of a plan, Crow sprinted across the battlefield, forgetting his exhaustion as he raced to stop the man before he could kill her. Fortunately, Jaxon didn’t seem to have noticed his presence yet, since his focus was on the knight in front of him. The thief leader had a stony expression on his face, and Crow stared in horror as he drew back his arm to thrust his sword into her back. His arm tensed, and a cruel smirk twisted his lip, but just as he brought down his blade, his cold look gave way to one of surprise.

Crow cried out in pain as the sword sank into his abdomen, cutting cleanly through his flesh as it impaled his body. Without time to draw his own weapons, he had thrown himself in the path of the blade to stop Jaxon from killing Penelope.

The thief leader stared at him in astonishment for a moment, but the expression was quickly replaced with an amused grin as he began to laugh. “Oh, Crow,” he shook his head. “You really are a fool.” He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as he looked at the other thief, who stood before him with a grimace of anguish as blood began to trickle from his wound. In the next moment, a sadistic smile spread over his lips, and he stepped forward, pushing his blade further through Crow’s body and making him whimper in pain.

“It’s too bad, really,” Jaxon went on with a click of his tongue. “I was hoping I would get at least a little more use out of you before the end of this war, but it looks like I’ll be claiming my bounty early.”

Crow forced himself to meet the other thief’s gaze, panting as he began to taste blood. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he managed to spit out.

Jaxon smirked, “You didn’t really think I wanted to take back the rebellious mutt who ran away with my thieves, did you?” He chuckled. “No, I came here to kill you for the price on your head. The fact that you were willing to be used first was just a bonus.”

“Bastard,” Crow snarled.

“You can call me whatever foul names you’d like,” Jaxon shrugged. “Because no matter what you say or do, I’ve already won.” His smile widened cruelly. “Goodbye, stray.” With a sharp flick of his wrist, he twisted his sword and then ripped the blade back out of the thief’s abdomen.

Crow gasped, unable to make a sound as a searing pain took over his body and he collapsed to the ground, lying still in a slowly forming pool of his own blood.

[BuzzingBee]

"I don't-"

Hartley's eyes widened and he didn't finish the sentence as something caused him to freeze with alarm at something behind her. Penelope turned her head just in time to Jaxon about to strike her. With no time to react, the knight flinched, bracing herself for the blade to make contact with her. However, it never did. She blinked in surprise as she heard a cry of pain and her gaze landed on Crow, who had been impaled by the strike that was meant for her. Color drained from the knight's face as she stared with a horrified expression at the scene in front of her.

She didn't know why he was there or where he had come from but that barely seemed important she watched Jaxon push his blade further into Crow.. The battle around her nearly seemed to fade away as every inch of her was focus on Crow and Jaxon. She was vaguely aware of her heart beating fearfully as she watched Crow collapse to the ground. "No.." she breathed. She couldn't lose him. All the anger and pain from the days prior disappeared, only to be replaced by a new sense of heartache. One that made her feel like she was suffocating and was much worse than the last. She was about to run to his side but stop as she caught Jaxon moving towards her with a cruel smirk.

"I wouldn't worry about him too much." the thief leader mused as he raised his blade towards her. "You'll be joining him soon enough."

The knight felt a rage begin to boil inside of her and she gripped her sword tightly. "You'll pay..." she muttered.

"What was that? It's not polite to mumble like that." Jaxon sneered.

"I said, you'll pay!" Penelope snarled and launched herself viciously at the thief, aiming her sword straight for his chest. A fire burned in her eyes but tears were streaming down her cheeks. The sound of metal clashing filled the air as he blocked her attack with his blade. "Everyone you've hurt, every life you've taken, I'll make you pay for everything!"

Jaxon laughed at her words and slipped away from her blade. "Ooh feisty." He grinned coldly as he slipped past her defense just enough to land a blow to her arm. "Unfortunately that's not going to work though I'm a thief. We don't pay, we take."

Penelope clenched her teeth together as she felt her arm burn with pain from the fresh cut on it. However, it wasn't enough to slow the knight down. She intended to follow through with her words to him and being slowed down by minor injuries would only get in the way. Her green eyes darted over him as she took in a sharp breath, trying to clear her head a bit. Fighting purely with her emotions wouldn't work. If she was going to beat him, she needed to be smart about every move. She didn't give him a chance to pull away from his attack and instead used it to try and slip past his defense aiming another swipe at his chest. Jaxon blinked, seeming a little caught off guard by her sudden move, but quickly blocked her attack before launching his own.

The knight dodged his blade and aimed yet another stab at his chest. He rolled his eyes and dodged her blade then aimed at her side. The knight attempted to dodge but felt the sword nick her right side just enough to make her give a small whimper. He moved in to try and take advantage of the strike landing but she recovered quickly and aimed another attack at his chest. Jaxon caught on and gave a small laugh as he crossed his blade with hers. Using his advantage of strength and size, he pushed the blades closer to her face, forcing her to take a small step back as she trembled to keep his blade from getting any closer to her throat.

"You know.. I thought even knights knew more than just one attack.. You're rather disappointing. You're making this too easy for me." he said clicking his tongue with mock disappointment.

"Just had to build up your confidence enough for it to backfire for you." Penelope responded with a cold smirk. "It happened sooner than I thought it would actually." As Jaxon cracked a look of confusion, she stopped pushing against his blade and ducked underneath as he swung it at her throat. Already set slightly off balance by her suddenly pulling away, Penelope swiped out one leg, hooking it behind his, and tripped the murderer to the ground. Jaxon grunted as he fell onto his back, looking dazed.

Before he could recover, Penelope moved in and stepped on his hand that was holding his sword, making the thief let out a small cry of pain and forcing him to drop the weapon. "You're done taking." she stated icily as she raised her blade. She noticed the thief's eyes widen but before he could say or do anymore, she shifted her gaze away from his and sunk her sword into his chest. The knight felt him go limp beneath her and she removed her blade from his now lifeless body.

Her anger died down and was replaced with panic as her gaze landed on Crow on the ground again. Without thinking, she ran towards him and dropped to her knees at his side. She was numb to the injuries she had sustained in her fight with Jaxon and had completely forgotten about Hartley. In that moment, her attention was solely on Crow. "Oh gods.. Oh gods.. why did you do that.." she whispered in a shaky breath, trembling as she saw all the blood coming from his injury. "Just.. Just hold on.. Please just hold on. I can't lose you.. I love you." Her words were quiet and weak, as began to glance around frantically as she tried to figure out what to do.

[Rogue Sloth]

It was hard to breathe. Crow laid his side in the grass, his jaw hanging open slightly as he panted to get air into his lungs. Every inhale sent a wave of pain through his body that was strong enough to make him feel tempted to stop trying altogether. With his head lolling on the ground and his eyelids drooping from weariness, he couldn’t see the wound in his middle, but he could tell it was bad. He was vaguely aware of the warm liquid pooling around his chest, and he was beginning to get delirious from blood loss. Even the injury he had taken to his leg in the last battle in Grimsby hadn’t been this bad.

Dazedly, he looked down at his arm that laid outstretched in front of his face, and he made a feeble attempt to lift it. However, he couldn’t raise it far, and the effort was so straining that he was forced to drop it back into the grass after just a short moment. He closed his eyes, grimacing as a deep pain spread like wildfire throughout his body. He’d had other serious wounds in the past, but none had ever made him feel like this. The pain inside of him was completely different than anything he’d experienced before, and his heart fluttered fearfully in his chest as he realized he was dying.

With the realization came a strange sense of detachment. He could still feel the ache in his body, but his mind wandered to other things. He forced his eyes open again as he saw that Penelope was now locked in combat with Jaxon. It was hard to see them through the fuzziness in his vision, but he was able to catch sight of a flash of crimson on her arm. He felt a wave of panic. He wanted to tell her to run before the murderous thief got her too, but his voice had been stolen by the weakness in his body. Instead, he was forced to watch helplessly as they fought, Jaxon handling her every blow with grace and precision.

Crow didn’t want to see her die. With a faint burst of energy, he tried to lift his head, wanting to get up from the ground and use whatever little strength he had left to help her. But it wasn’t enough. After he managed to just barely raise his head, it dropped again, and he coughed as he felt more blood pool against the inside of his cheek. It was no use. The wound Jaxon had inflicted was too serious. There was nothing more he could do.

“Crow!”

As he felt himself beginning to lose consciousness, he heard someone call his name. In the next moment, Hartley was kneeling in front of him with wide, frightened eyes. “Oh gods,” the boy trembled as his eyes landed on the gaping wound in the older thief’s abdomen. “What do I do… Crow, what should I do?” He turned to meet his gaze, clearly hoping to help somehow.

Crow held his gaze for a moment, and then cringed, squeezing his eyes shut as another wave of pain ravaged his body. “Nothing… you can do,” he managed to gasp when the feeling passed. “Just get out of here.”

Fear flashed across Hartley’s face at his words. “But—”

“Go,” Crow snapped weakly, opening his eyes again to meet the boy’s gaze. “Save yourself before… before the knights kill you.”

“B-but I don’t know where to go,” Hartley stammered. “Younis is too far away.”

“Head east,” Crow murmured. “There’s a river… Follow it north until you hit the waterfall.” He paused, unable to speak for a moment as another brief wave of pain struck. “There are more thieves there… Tell them I sent you. They’ll help you.”

Hartley stared at him for a moment longer, biting his lip, before he finally nodded. “Okay,” he said softly, rising to his feet again. “Thanks, Crow… You’re a good man.”

“You too, kid,” Crow nodded faintly. “Now get lost.” He watched as the boy turned and ran out of the clearing, hoping his companions would be willing to give him sanctuary until he could figure out how to get back to his home in Younis.

The effort of speaking with Hartley had exhausted Crow, so he closed his eyes for a moment to rest. However, it wasn’t long before he began to feel himself slipping out of consciousness, so he forced them open again. He may have been on the verge of dying, but he wasn’t ready to let go yet—not until he knew Penelope was safe. Looking up again, he was surprised to see that the tables had turned, and Penelope was standing over Jaxon’s body with her sword in the now-lifeless thief’s chest.

She did it, he thought, feeling a surge of relief. She killed him. Knowing that Penelope was now safe, his eyelids fluttered as his weariness crept over his body. He was starting to feel tempted to let himself succumb to the darkness. After all, it had to feel better than what he was going through now, right? Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to let go.

However, just as he began to close his eyes again, he saw the knight run to his side and start speaking to him in a voice that was breathy with panic. As tempting as it was to pass out, he didn’t want to leave her like she was now.

Crow managed a weak smile as he looked up at her. “Sorry,” he mumbled, finding it difficult to speak between the pain and the blood that had collected in his mouth. “I know you didn’t want my protection, but… I couldn’t stay away.” He grimaced again as the effort of talking sent another deep ache through him.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope frowned at Crow's word and shook her head. "Stubborn as always." she mumbled as she reached to place her hand over his. Her lip quivered slightly as she felt her throat grow tight with emotion. "Stay with me now... I'll.. I'll figure out some way to save you."

"It's that thief!"

The knight jumped at the voice of one of her comrades. Like a trance being broken, she suddenly became aware of the others around her. As she looked around, she realized that the only ones that remained in the clearing were knights and that the thieves had either ran or been killed. She blinked as Leo, one of the knights under her command and a rather cold one at that, step over towards her and Crow with his sword drawn. She grew tense, unsure what he was going to do and unsure what she should do.

"He's still alive.." Leo grumbled as he looked down at Crow with a hateful gaze. He lifted his sword to point towards the wounded thief's throat. "If you want to bring his head to the barons, I can arrange that."

"You will do no such thing." Penelope growled defensively as she used her hand to push the weapon away from Crow. Leo blinked in surprise and eyed her questioningly. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one. The first shout had turned everyone's attention over to Crow and now the rest of her patrol, aside from Gavin and Olivia who looked nervous, had their eyes on her. The lieutenant would have to think fast if she wanted to get Crow help and keep her job.

"What do you mean by that?" Leo snorted. "He took our supplies and killed our comrades!"

His words earned a wide spread chorus of agreement from the other knights. Penelope shook her head and slowly stood up to her feet. "No, he didn't. He is responsible for stealing only a small portion of our supplies. The real culprits were the other thieves we killed here tonight. He isn't the enemy! He's an ally." she stated firmly and glanced down at Crow before looking back at Leo. "He saved my life. Now I'm going to return the favor. Search this camp for bandages and any other medical supplies! And I need someone with some knowledge in healing."

"You expect us to heal him?" Leo wrinkled his nose. "Are you mad?"

"He saved her life." Gavin stepped forward to glare at Leo. "It's the honorable thing to do."

"But-"

"That was an order." Penelope stated with firmness as she looked around at her comrades. "We save him now and after that his fate will lie in the hands of the barons, is that understood?"

There was a pause before a collective murmur of agreement. With that said, the knights quickly dispersed throughout the wreckage of Jaxon's camp and began to loot what was left behind. Penelope shifted to kneel back down besides Crow, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She had covered herself and found a way to get help for Crow but she was still worried that something would go wrong. Perhaps her efforts wouldn't be enough or perhaps the barons would decide to kill him as soon as they got back to camp. The thought made her shudder as she wasn't sure how she would be able to get him out of that situation.

"Here, Penelope. I found these." Gavin's voice broke her thoughts and she looked up to see that the male knight had returned with some bandages.

"Thank you." she said gratefully before quickly taking them to put over Crow's wound. She knew it wouldn't be enough to save him but if they slowed the bleeding, perhaps they could buy him some more time for proper care. As she did so, she was surprised as Gavin moved in to help her.

"I saw him get in front of the blade. I wouldn't kill someone who saved...my friend." Gavin explained in a quiet voice as he stared at the ground. He went quiet for a moment before adding, "Robin said he'd try to treat him but he's going to need a physician... We'll need to get him back to our camp if we're going to save him."

"Then that's what we'll do." Penelope mumbled determinedly. She wouldn't give up on him and she was glad that Gavin seemed willing to help.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow smiled faintly when Penelope called him stubborn and placed her hand on top of his. He wished he could take it to comfort her, but he couldn’t even bring himself to bend a finger by this point. Despite her request to stay with her, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. The pain that had been ransacking his body was finally beginning to fade, but it was being replaced with a numbness that made him think its disappearance wasn’t a good sign. His eyelids drooped again as he was tempted once more to stop fighting against the weariness that was tugging at him more strongly with each passing second.

Vaguely, he heard an unfamiliar voice call out something he couldn’t make out. He saw Penelope begin to look around, and in the next moment, a sword was being aimed at his throat. Somehow, the sight didn’t frighten him as much as he’d thought it would. If the knight chose to kill him, he could do nothing to defend himself, but he knew he was already dying, so there was really no point in fighting anyway. At least if his throat was cut, death might come quicker.

But the sting of the blade never came as Penelope intervened. His eyes flicked towards her with a mixture of surprise and worry. What was she doing? If she protected him now, she would certainly give away their closeness. There was no reason for her to try and keep her comrades from killing him when he was a dead man already. He wanted to tell her to let him go, but he was too tired to speak anymore. Instead, he watched silently, focusing on breathing, as she told the other knights to look for bandages to treat him.

You’re wasting your time, Crow wanted to say, wincing as another dull wave of pain spread through his body. He wished she wouldn’t bother. It hurt him to see her trying so desperately to save him when he could tell it was too late. He’d lost quite a lot of blood already, and bandages wouldn’t be enough to treat a wound this serious. His eyelids fluttered as he slipped towards unconsciousness again. He couldn’t hold on much longer.

“Penelope,” he managed to murmur her name as he felt her work vainly to patch his injury. Again, he felt a strong desire to take her hand, both to comfort her as well as give himself some peace as he edged closer to the darkness. He supposed just speaking to her would have to be good enough. He looked up to meet her gaze, feeling a deep pang of sadness at the thought that it wouldn’t be much longer before he never saw her again. “Penelope,” he said again, a little weaker as his strength faded. “Just… wanted to say… I love you.”

Unable to fight any longer, he closed his eyes as he finally gave in and let the darkness overtake him.

--

The first thing Crow was aware of was a dull ache that filled his body. He groaned and shifted on his back, wincing as the motion just made the pain worse. Feeling disoriented, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up, only to be further confused when he saw a fabric canopy over his head. He was… in a tent? He knitted his brow and lifted his head, wondering how he had gotten there. From what he could see, there was no one else in the room with him, but it was clearly a noble’s tent. For a moment, he wondered if he’d died and this was some sort of strange afterlife. However, the pain in his abdomen quickly disproved that theory. He was alive, and he was in the tent of a living noble.

He lifted his arm to bring a hand to his head, but then frowned as he found he was unable to. Glancing at his wrist, he saw that someone had chained him to the post of the bed he was lying on. Whoever owned this tent may have given him shelter, but they certainly didn’t trust him.

Slowly growing more aware of himself and his surroundings, Crow shifted slightly to look down at his own body. He studied his chest curiously as he saw that his tunic had been removed and his middle had been adorned with professionally wrapped bandages. Someone had treated his wound. He laid his head back down and let out a long exhale, exhausted by the small effort of raising it. Whatever was going on, he hoped someone would show up soon to give him an explanation.

[BuzzingBee]

After hearing what sounded like parting words, Penelope struggled to keep a straight face as she worked to wrap his injury. She refused to give up on him and had no intention of doing so until he took his last breath. Eventually she shifted out of the way to let Robin take over. The other knight was an older man with more experience and luckily, a merciful soul. He still didn't seem very pleased to be helping a thief but he didn't question her orders. Gavin ended up suggesting they make a makeshift stretcher out of the materials left behind by the thieves so while Robin treated Crow, another team of knights got to work on making that as a way to carry him back to camp.

Once they had done all they could for Crow, they set out for their camp. Penelope was forced to lead the patrol, which meant she couldn't be next to Crow as her comrades carried him. However, she was comforted to notice that both Olivia and Gavin traveled near the thief at all times, occasionally helping to carry him as the knights switch off. It put her slightly at ease to know that, even though she couldn't watch over him directly, her two friends were doing it for her.

---
The trip back to camp was long and tiring for the knights. Penelope refused to stop, pushing her patrol to travel through the night without a break as she didn't want to risk losing Crow just because they took too long. By the time they reached the camp, it was early morning and their arrival quickly caused a scene. She instructed Gavin and Robin to take Crow straight to Jane while she dealt with the barons. The rest of her patrol was quickly dismissed and allowed to hand over the supplies they had retrieved from the thieves' camp over to their comrades who had stayed at camp while they either headed off to sleep or get their wounds further treated. Word of Penelope bringing back the infamous thief spread quick and she soon found herself facing Mia.

"What is the meaning of this Penelope?" Mia snapped. "Why have you brought that criminal here to be healed!"

"I.. I had to." Penelope mumbled tiredly. The knight was drained of energy feeling exhausted both physically and emotionally. Though she should get sleep, all she wanted to do was run to Crow's side to make sure that he would survive. "He saved me, Mia. He's an ally."

"An ally?" Mia's eyes widened in shock before she curled her lip. "Penelope are you telling me that you've been working with a criminal?"

Penelope flinched at the anger in her voice and hesitated before nodding her head. There was no sense in denying it. Regardless of what she said, the barons would guess that she knew Crow a bit better than she let on so now it was just a matter of trying to string it in whatever way did less damage. "I have... But only to save our battalion. I told you I thought it might have been a group of thieves that was bigger than the one we were after and I was right. He helped me track them down... And when the leader tried to kill me he got in the way."

"Why on earth would he do that?"

"Perhaps he has some sense of righteousness. I don't know but he did it and I was obligated to repay that debt." Penelope replied and met her baroness' gaze. "I would have no sense of honor if I just let him die, Mia."

The baroness shifted her weight at Penelope's words. The knight was glad that she seemed to have struck a cord with her, even though Mia clearly still didn't completely approve of her working with a thief that had been known to steal from them. Mia finally let out a frustrated sigh. "I suppose... But you working with him in the first place shouldn't have happened... We'll have to speak with the others about this. I imagine they wouldn't be thrilled to know we're harboring a criminal." she shook her head then looked down at Penelope. "Go get some rest. I'll have Tomas fetch you when it's time."

Penelope dipped her head to her baroness and headed off to her tent without question. If she was going to have to explain herself to the others, keep her relationship with Crow a secret and save him all at the same time, she was going to need to be much more alert than she currently was. As she laid down, the knight almost instantly fell asleep.

----

"Working with a criminal. We should label you a traitor."

Penelope let out a small sigh at her uncle's angry words. Edward and Layth were both furious while Bennet still seemed to be thinking the situation over. Mia had appeared to calm down and was now assessing the situation. The only one who seemed to be even remotely on her side was Tomas, who occasionally gave her looks of sympathy. She had to defend herself and Crow in what felt like a lion's den.

"I did it for the good of this battalion. I'm the furthest thing from a traitor!" Penelope argued. "I worked with him so I could hunt down the thieves that raided our camp and I did. Now we have some of their supplies and that should get us through until our shipment comes in."

"Yeah but you also brought the thief back with you and now you're demanding we keep him alive." Layth spat with venom. "He should have been left to die with the others."

"He saved my life. I'd be even more heartless than a criminal to not do the same." Penelope spat back.

"I think the real issue here is what comes next. Saving him will not change the fact that he is a criminal." Mia mused and she looked at Penelope questioningly. "So, how do you purpose we deal with him now?"

Penelope froze at that and lowered her gaze. "I'm honestly not sure.. Something must be done but I don't know what the best course of action is."

"Killing him was and is." Layth grumbled.

"Might I suggest something?" Tomas spoke up now. He gave a small smile as the others turned to look at him. "I say we keep him prisoner for the time being. It'll take a while for him to heal and that'll give us time to sort out this mess... He is in stable condition now, correct Jane?" He turned to look over at the silent figure in the room. The physician had joined their meeting, having finished treating the thief a while ago, and had made a few comments that made it clear she was not fond of having to treat or even be close to the criminal.

"For now, yes." she mused as she crossed her arms. "But as you said it'll be awhile before he makes a full recovery."

"Right. So I say we take our time with this." Tomas said as he looked back to the barons. "We have the most wanted thief right in our camp. I see no reason to rush to a conclusion of what to do with him. Let's be smart about this."

---

The barons were swayed by Tomas and though it didn't guarantee Crow's safety, it did buy him a good deal of time. Penelope hoped they'd be able to figure out a way to get him free before the barons made any final decisions. The meeting ended and it was nearly sundown. Having been busy ever since she set foot back into camp, she finally found the time to go with Jane back to her tent to visit Crow. She was eager to see how he was doing after the physician had helped him, even if he wasn't awake yet. However, she also wanted to go to make sure he was safe. Though the barons had agreed that he wouldn't be harmed, she worried that some angry knight might just be tempted to harm the thief while he was in such a weak state. Feeling a bit protective, Penelope planned to essentially act as a guard.

"Well I'd welcome your company. They have him chained up for me but if he escapes somehow.." Jane shuddered. Penelope had managed to pass off her desire to spend time with Crow as a way of making sure he wasn't causing trouble or trying to escape.

"I'll spend most of the night here then.. Maybe I can trade off with someone else later." she mused, quickly thinking that she could possibly enlist the help of Gavin, Olivia and Tomas. She trusted the older lieutenant wouldn't harm Crow and he was mellow enough that he likely would try to start a fight with the thief either.

The two eventually reached the tent and stepped inside. Penelope looked over at Crow and felt her knees weak with relief at the sight of him. Not only was he patched up but she noticed he was awake as well. It took every ounce of self control that she had not to go running over to him. With Jane around, she couldn't risk it. "You're awake." she mused with a hint of surprise but otherwise forcing herself to keep a stoic expression. She exchanged a glance with Jane and stood back as she watched the physician move reluctantly to see her patient.

[Rogue Sloth]

As Crow laid in the tent for a while longer, he began to slowly grow more alert and noticed more about his surroundings. The first thing he realized was that it wasn’t just his wrist that had been chained. Someone had taken the extra measure to bind his right ankle to the bottom bed post too. He shuddered as the chains reminded him of the ones he’d worn in prison years ago. Normally, cuffs like these wouldn’t have bothered him much, since he could get out of them easily enough, but whoever had set him up in this place—whether intentionally or not—had made quite sure that he couldn’t get away. Both his tunic and boots were missing, both of which were where he kept all of his thievery tools, including his pick lock key.

He sighed and stared dully up at the fabric canopy over his head. By now, he was also certain that he was in the tent of a physician. The temporary shelves of books and medicines were enough to give that away. The real question was why he was in the tent of a physician. He was a wanted criminal. What reason would a noble have for keeping him alive, especially when they could have collected his bounty if they had let him die? Even other thieves would have done that, as was proven by Jaxon’s readiness to kill him during the fight. He couldn’t think of anything someone could gain by letting him live.

As his mind wandered back to the battle, he suddenly remembered that Penelope had kept saying to him that she was going to get him help. At the time, he hadn’t been convinced, but now he was beginning to think all of this was her doing somehow. He looked over the tent one more time. Am I at the battalion’s camp? he thought hazily. It seemed logical, but he’d been wounded in the woods to the west of Wheldrake, nowhere near the knights’ camp. Even if Penelope had been trying to save him, he couldn’t understand how he could have made it all the way there from the thieves’ camp.

Fortunately, it seemed like he was finally going to get an explanation.

Crow glanced down at the entrance to the tent as it curled open and a figure stepped inside. It was a woman he didn’t recognize with long, dark hair and a disgruntled expression. By her lack of armor, he guessed she was the physician who had treated him. He was just about to start questioning her to find out what was going on, when the front flap of the tent shifted again, and a second person entered. His heartbeat quickened as he recognized Penelope right away. She really had been the one to save him after all.

“Of course,” he grinned when she commented on him being awake. “I couldn’t stay asleep forever. That’s far too boring.” His gaze shifted to the physician, who had approached to look over the bandages around his wound. He noticed that she seemed hesitant, as if she was wrestling between her duty to tend to him and her own personal feelings about treating a thief. Luckily for him, duty seemed to win out.

“Can you sit up?” she asked curtly in a manner that almost made her words sound like a command rather than a question as she retrieved a roll of fresh bandages to redress his injury.

“Well, I could,” Crow rolled his eyes. “But that was before I got this hole in my gut.”

Jane pursed her lips, clearly unamused by the thief’s difficult attitude, and then glanced back towards Penelope with a pleading expression, as if silently begging her lieutenant to be released from having to treat a criminal.

Crow ignored her. “By the way,” he turned his head to look at Penelope as well. “Is anyone going to tell me where I am?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled faintly at his words, feeling rather joyful to already see him acting like himself. It made her relieved to know that the worst part of his injury was over and now it was just a matter of letting him heal. And figuring out how to get him out of here.. she added silently as her gaze drifted over the chains they had put on him. As they both turned to look over at her, she glanced towards Jane's pleading face and ignored it as she instead stepped over to stand a little closer to Crow.

The physician seemed to pick up on the silent message that Penelope had no intention of dismissing her and frowned as she turned back to begin redressing the bandage. Penelope looked down at Crow and let out a soft sigh. "You're at my camp. After you passed out, Gavin and some other of my comrades made a stretcher and carried you all the way here." she explained.

"Gavin." Jane snorted without looking up from her work. "That man was just as insistent about this as you are."

"He knows we wouldn't have found those thieves without the help of this one. He's just repaying a debt like I am." Penelope responded with a casual shrug. She knew she owed Gavin quite a bit of thanks for having helped her quite a bit in bringing Crow back to camp. While she dealt with the barons, he had been the one to push Jane into helping him before she had a chance to get their approval. Her gaze shifted back over to Crow and she hesitated for a moment. She had to get him caught up on everything that was going on with the barons but it would be a bit difficult with Jane around.

She glanced towards the physician as she finished redressing his bandages. "Jane, why don't you go attend to your other patients for a moment. I'd like a word with him alone and I'm sure you could use a break from dealing with a thief all day, unconscious or not." she offered.

Jane quickly perked up at Penelope's words and nodded her head with a hint of clear eagerness. "Yes. Thank you." she mumbled gratefully before turning to gather a few supplies before heading out of the tent. Penelope watched her quietly, waiting for the physician to leave. As she disappeared out of the tent, she let out a shaky breath and turned back to Crow. She wanted to catch him up with how much the barons now knew but she felt overwhelmed with emotion in that moment as she looked at him. She had been so close to losing him and had been force to suppress everything in order to make sure no one found out anymore about her involvement with him.

In the next moment, she threw an arm around him, being mindful of his injury, and buried her head into neck. "Thank gods... I thought I was going to lose you." she whimpered softly.