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

[Trash Panda]

It was hard for Crow to tell what was going on in Mia’s mind after he finished giving his explanation. Her face was an unreadable mask of calm that could have easily meant that she believed every word out of his mouth or that she knew he was lying through his teeth. The uncertainly made him uneasy. Despite his cocky speech about not caring what happened to Penelope, he was deeply concerned that his efforts to keep their secret from the baroness hadn’t been enough.

He wished he could have gone with a different approach by telling Mia that he’d wanted nothing to do with Penelope at all, so the baroness couldn’t have even suggested the idea that they were close, but there was no way that would have worked. There was only so much he could cover up when the woman already knew they had been working together. If he had even tried, it would have been obvious that he was lying to protect either himself or her. The only option he’d had was to brush off their closeness as the result of Penelope’s kindness towards him.

Taking the sword for her had been a lot more difficult to explain away. He was well aware that his lie wasn’t really that believable, but what reason could he possibly give for sacrificing himself for someone else? It was an action that practically screamed that they were much closer than he claimed. After all, no one in their right mind would knowingly stand in the way of a blade for someone they hardly knew, and a thief doing so for a knight would have been unheard of. No matter what he said to explain it away, actions spoke louder than words. He couldn’t hide the fact that he had risked his life to save Penelope.

When Mia thanked him, Crow just shrugged in response, trying to keep up his apathetic façade. He still couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but he didn’t want to give her any reason to second guess herself if she did believe him. From the corner of his eye, he could see her move to leave the tent but hesitate at the entrance. Instead of exiting, she addressed him once more, surprising him with her words.

Crow turned towards her as she announced that she would come back before the barons made their decision. She actually wanted his input? He had been expecting the leaders of the knights to “decide his fate” regardless of anything he said or did. It was why he and Penelope were trying to come up with their own way to sneak him out of the camp, so he wouldn’t be killed or sent back to prison. While he still doubted the nobles would be willing to simply let him go when he recovered, it was interesting to know that they were planning to speak with him before making any final decisions.

He just nodded wordlessly in response, unsure what to say as she turned to finally leave the tent. Once he was alone, he laid his head back on the bed again and let out his breath in a long sigh as he stared up at the canopy. Though his conversation with the baroness hadn’t gone badly, he was still nervous that it hadn’t been enough to completely save Penelope’s reputation. He’d had to admit that she at least treated him better than most knights did, since he couldn’t come up with any other believable excuse as to why he would be willing to work with her. It wasn’t as bad as their relationship getting discovered, but it wasn’t name-clearing either. He just hoped Mia was as fair of a persona as she seemed to be.

After a short time had passed, the flap of the tent shifted again, and someone else came inside. Crow craned his neck slightly to see who had come to visit him now and was relieved to find that Penelope was back. “Oh, thank gods it’s you,” he breathed in a slightly exaggerated manner. “I’m tired of speaking with your nosey comrades. If anyone else tries to come here, tell them to go away for me, will you?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small chuckle at Crow's words and walked over to his bedside. "I would if I could," she mused as she looked down at him with a small smile. "but I don't think that would go over well. Especially if my baroness decides to visit again." Her smile faded slightly and she glanced over her shoulder towards the exit. She felt a bit of worry bubble in her over Mia's visit since the baroness has even requested to speak with him alone on whatever matter had concerned her enough to visit him herself.

It was likely nothing to worry about since Mia didn't seem to have learned anything about their relationship. Surely if she had, she would have confronted her immediately, right? Penelope shifted a bit uneasily. Mia was strategic and calculating, which could mean that she was planning on thinking over a proper way of punishing them and her calm demeanor was merely an act of her buying time until she had settled on something. The thought made her worries grow a little more.

Looking back to Crow, she reached to take his hand in hers again, seeking a bit of comfort in his touch. As she looked over at Crow, she tried to be optimistic. Crow was skilled at lying and he didn't seem particularly upset after speaking with the baroness so perhaps she was worrying about nothing. "It's strange she came here on her own.. Usually she delegates the interogating to someone else." she mumbled. "What did she talk to you about anyways?"

[Trash Panda]

“Well, I just hope that was the last time then,” Crow muttered when Penelope said she couldn’t do anything to keep her comrades away. He was tired and irritable from the constant ache of his wound, so he didn’t want to have to face any more knights from the camp. Granted, Mia had been more tolerable company than he’d been expecting—she was the first noble besides Penelope to use his name—but that didn’t mean he wanted to make a habit of chatting with her comrades. Even though he had made some exceptions, he disliked most knights, and they disliked him. He preferred to stay away from people he considered to be enemies while he was recovering from a near fatal wound that had left him vulnerable to attack.

Crow was drawn from his thoughts when Penelope took him by the hand. He looked up at her as she asked about what her baroness had said to him. “Well,” he started slowly, thinking over what had been said between them. “She mostly asked about you—wanted to know how long we’ve been working together, why I saved you, and other things like those.” He studied her face, realizing that she must have been worried about her leader asking exactly those questions.

Giving her hand a comforting squeeze, he went on with a proud grin, “I don’t know why she thought she would get anything out of me. If I can endure your brother’s excessive interrogation techniques, I can handle a simple questioning in my sleep.” His expression softened as he held her gaze. “She may still suspect that we’re close, but she has no proof, and she’s not going to get any.” Suddenly, he blinked as another thought came to him. “Oh, she also said she was going to come back to talk to me again before she and the other barons make their decision about what to do with me.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope shifted a bit uneasily as Crow admitted that Mia had been questioning about her involvement with him. Before she could worry too much about what had been discussed, he assured her that Mia hadn't gotten any information out of him she relaxed and gave him a small smile. While it still was a bit concerning that Mia might suspect them of being close, she at least knew that the baroness likely wouldn't jump to any conclusions if she had no evidence.

As he went on to mention that Mia was going to speak with him again, she blinked in surprise. She had thought that the baroness was fully intent on deciding Crow's fate without his input like the other barons. Though she thought Mia to be a fair person anyways, it was still surprising that she was actually going to speak with the thief before any decisions were finalized. Penelope looked over at Crow, wondering if something he had said had caused the baroness to change her mind.

"Strange... I wonder why." she mused as she leaned on her elbows on the bed. "She never mentioned speaking to you beforehand. It seemed like she fully intend to make whatever decision with other barons without speaking to you. Mia's a difficult person to figure out though so who knows." Penelope shrugged and then met his gaze with a teasing smirk. "Perhaps you charmed her."

[Trash Panda]

So, based on what Penelope said, it seemed like Mia had been planning to “decide his fate” without speaking to him first, after all. Crow chewed on the inside of his lip in thought, wondering what he could have possibly done to make the baroness consider getting his input on what they chose to do with him. Maybe she was just glad he’d saved her lieutenant? But she’d already known about that before speaking to him in person. He frowned slightly as he tried to recall what he’d said to her. Most of his words had just been stubborn arguments against her accusations or flippant remarks about the other knights. It was hard to pin down what could have changed the woman’s impression of him. Perhaps she had just changed her mind on her own.

As Penelope teased him about charming Mia, Crow sighed exaggeratedly. “If I did, I certainly wasn’t trying to,” he shook his head. “I really don’t understand why you knights find me so appealing. Are noblemen so dull that the noblewomen have to turn to a thief like me for a little excitement in their lives?” He casted her a sly wink. “Don’t worry, love. I’ll make sure that baroness of yours knows I’m not interested, because I’ve only got eyes for the most beautiful knight in this kingdom.”

He paused as if another thought came to him before going on with a cheeky smirk: “Although… maybe I could make one exception to use my charm on Layth, so he’ll stop pestering me. I mean, I already won over one Vermillion. How hard could it be to woo the other?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a soft laugh at his words and shook her head. "Ah thank the gods. I was worried I had new competition there for a moment." she joked. She leaned in to press a brief kiss to his cheek before pulling back. The knight had a bright grin on her face, enjoying a less than serious conversation with him for once. With everything there was to worry about, it was a nice change of pace. As he went on to mention trying to win over Layth, she gave a chuckle.

"Very hard." she mused as she looked at him. "Winning over any Vermillion other than myself is unlikely considering how most of them are." Needless to say, she knew most of her family to either be arrogant or cold. Most of them didn't even approve of her own existence, though they had started to be a little more accepting of her in recent years due to her rising in rank. Penelope let out a small sigh, feeling a little brought down by her thoughts. She focused back on Crow and gave a coy wink. "You just got lucky in meeting the right one."

Penelope paused as she thought about her brother and his hatred of the thief. "Not to mention that Layth hates you quite a bit.. I still don't think he's over the time you nearly killed him. Or the time you got away." she shook her head and looked down at Crow with a smirk. "Honestly I think you'd have more success trying to charm a bear than my brother."

[Trash Panda]

“Ah, but you know how persistent I can be,” Crow grinned at Penelope playfully when she said winning over anyone else in her family was unlikely. “I’m a thief, darling. If I want something, I’ll take it—and that includes the heart of your stubborn brother.” Despite his joking words, he was a little worried about what might happen if Layth chose to confront him while he was recovering. Far from “wooing” the other man, he didn’t know if he could even hold his tongue well enough to avoid provoking him to attack. He and Layth despised each other. Chances were, he would say something to prod at the knight and just wind up getting himself hurt.

As Penelope went on to say that he had just gotten lucky in meeting the ‘right’ Vermillion, his features softened a bit. “I really did,” he agreed with a smile, reaching up with his free hand to caress her cheek. Relationship aside, if he hadn’t met Penelope, he didn’t know where he would be today—well, probably not bedridden in the camp of his enemies, but certainly not as well off in other areas of his life. With her, he actually had a future to look forward to, one that was much more meaningful than what he’d been striving towards before. The amount of love he felt for her even incomprehensible to him sometimes, but he never wanted it to change.

At her last words, Crow clicked his tongue. “Alright, fine,” he sighed. “If you really think Layth won’t come around, I won’t waste my time on him... But I will say he’s missing out, because I’m a great lover—although, you already know that, don’t you?” He winked at her teasingly.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope chuckled at his joking words. "I suppose so." she said amusedly as he said he'd take what he wanted. The knight noticed his expression soften at her words and as he reached up to caress her cheek, she smiled affectionately at him and leaned into his touch. While she had just said it for a joke, it warmed the knight to hear him agree genuinely with her. As he went on to tease her, she rolled her eyes at him and then smirked.

"You're decent enough, I suppose." she mused with mock thoughtfulness as if having to think it over. Penelope gave a small laugh and leaned in to press a short kiss to his lips. She pulled back and gave him a playful wink. "I'm kidding. But I'm afraid if I agree too easily your head will start swelling." she murmured teasingly. The knight moved to rest her head lightly against his, feeling relaxed in his presence. She would have stayed like that for a while if the sound more approaching footsteps didn't catch her attention first.

She let out a quiet groan and moved away from him again. It seemed they wouldn't be getting as much time alone today as she had been hoping. She turned to see Jane enter the tent followed by Tomas who stepped in a moment after her. The physician dipped her head in acknowledgement to Penelope before moving to take a seat at her desk while Tomas moved over to Penelope.

"Here for your shift already?" She asked him, a bit surprised he was already there to take her off.

Tomas nodded his head and offered her a small smile. "Yeah. I got my supper early so I figured I might as well just take you off now."

Penelope gave a somewhat forced smile in return. The older lieutenant likely thought he was doing her a favor by taking her off a little early. It would give her more free time but she would have much preferred to just finish off the rest of her shift with Crow, even if Jane's return meant they couldn't be close. She supposed it would give her time to see if Olivia would be able to leave with her to speak with the other thieves that night though and she had no reason to deny him taking her off.

"Alright, thanks Tomas." she said with false appreciativeness. She subtly glanced at Crow as she added to the older lieutenant, "I'll see you tomorrow then." The knight dipped her head and then turned to duck out of the tent.

[Trash Panda]

“Ouch,” Crow rolled his eyes at Penelope’s sarcastic gibe. “I took a sword for you, and this is the thanks I get? You know, if you’re going to be ungrateful, I don’t have to keep trying as hard as I do.” He cracked a small smile as she laughed and leaned into her lips when she kissed him. It had been a while since the last time they had been able to banter so casually with each other. Even though the circumstances weren’t the best, he was glad that they were able to now.

“It’s a little too late for that,” he chuckled at her teasing comment about his ego. “I’m already well aware of how great I am, and it’s going to take more than a few half-assed insults to take me down.” As she leaned her head against his, he closed his eyes and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, smiling blissfully to himself. He liked that no matter what they did, whether they were talking or simply being together in silence, it all felt so natural. There was a level of comfort he felt with her that he’d never had with anyone else before, aside, perhaps, from his mother. It made his heart flutter with affection for the knight, as well as drew up an innate desire within him to protect and serve her to the best of his abilities.

Feeling especially fond, Crow turned his head slightly to press a tender kiss to Penelope’s cheek, trailing his hand gently along her shoulder blades as he held her against himself. He wished they could just stay like that all night, but of course, it wasn’t long before they were interrupted yet again. The thief groaned inwardly when the sound of footsteps disrupted the silence, and the knight had to pull away to put distance between them. It seemed like as long as he was stuck in this camp, they would never truly have a satisfying moment alone.

He turned annoyedly towards the entrance of the tent as Jane stepped inside. At first, he guessed she had come to treat him again, but instead, she sat down at her desk to work on something without even giving him a passing glance. Well, that was fine by him. His wound still ached, but the pain was manageable enough, so he didn’t need her to tend to him at the moment. He was about to turn back to Penelope when he caught sight of a second figure enter the tent.

Crow stiffened warily as a knight he didn’t recognize began walking towards him. After hearing about the intentions of Layth and his followers, he didn’t trust any nobleman he didn’t already know. If this stranger was here to ‘interrogate’ him, he intended to be prepared. However, it seemed the man hadn’t been sent for any such purpose. He glanced furtively at Penelope as she greeted her comrade in a confused, yet friendly manner. This must be the guard she told me about earlier… that lieutenant, he thought, eyeing the knight with newfound interest. While the man’s presence was an unwelcomed interruption, the fact that Penelope seemed to trust him was enough for the thief to relax a little.

He met her gaze briefly as she left the tent, feeling a pang of disappointment that they couldn’t even properly say goodbye to each other with the other nobles around. It was frustrating to have to hide from everyone around them. The situation reminded him a bit of when they had been traveling with William back from Younis two years ago, except this time was worse, since they had to part ways so often.

Once she was gone, Crow let out his breath in a quiet sigh and stared up at the canopy over his head, listening to the quiet sound of Jane’s quill scribbling away as he resigned himself to spending the night in the company of people he didn’t know well or like.

[BuzzingBee]

With Tomas taking over her guard shift, Penelope went ahead and grabbed a quick dinner before going to locate Olivia. She wished that she had had more time alone with Crow. His presence was relaxing and she wanted to by his side as much as she could, both because of her love for him but also because she simply wanted to keep him company while he was stuck in a camp where his enemies greatly outnumbered his friends. She gave a small sigh and glanced up at the darkening sky. She supposed it wasn't a terrible thing that Tomas had came early. Now she had plenty of time to speak with Olivia and slip out of camp. The knight soon spotted her friend and quietly discussed slipping out of camp to go pay the other thieves a visit.

"Boy, it's favor after favor with you lately, isn't it?" Olivia said with a dramatic sigh. The other female knight quickly perked up and shot her friend a grin. "I'm in though but uh, might I ask why we're going to see them so suddenly?"

Penelope hesitated at the question, shifting a bit uneasily. She was reluctant to tell Olivia about Crow's illness as she believed the fewer that knew about it the better. However, she supposed there was no sense in trying to hide it from her friend now when it would come up once she spoke to Hazel. "Well.. do you remember that herbalist I had Jane working with before?"

"Yeah?" Olivia raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well... The cure they were working on was for a disease that's usually fatal... Crow had it." She explained then gave a small frown. "Actually, he still has it but thanks to the medicine it's not life-threatening. But now that he's got that injury, his occasional cough is bad enough to bust the stitches. Jane can't find out about his illness so I figured the next best option is to visit the herbalist and hope she's able to give me something to help him so he can recover properly."

Olivia gave a small whistle and leaned back on the palms of her hands. "What a mess." she gave with a small chuckle. "Hopefully she can help you then, Penelope. When should we leave?"

"Soon. Once it's night fall."

---

The two spent the majority of the evening talking until eventually the sun sank completely so they prepared to slip out of camp. Luckily it was rather easy. With the thieves having been dealt with and Crow currently in their custody, the knights seemed only concerned with the potential threat of Younis so guards were focused more on the side of camp closer to the border. Penelope walked alongside Olivia as they headed towards the waterfall where she knew the thieves to be located. As they drew closer, she walked with a bit more caution as she remembered Crow's words of warning.

She rested a hand on the hilt of her sword and slowed to a stop as the waterfall came into view. Penelope glanced over at her friend and noticed Olivia looking ahead rather eagerly. "Be on guard." she warned her. "Crow said they'll be wary of anyone who approaches them so they might attack us without thinking."

"Where exactly is their camp anyways?" Olivia mumbled with a hint of confusion. "I know it's near here.. But I don't even see a spot for it."

"It's behind the waterfall.. I've never be inside it myself but I think I see a path. Follow me." Penelope instructed as she took the lead and headed to the path behind the waterfall. She stepped carefully as she neared the entrance. "Alistair? Hazel? Rikki?" she called out, hoping they'd recognize her voice before she stepped into view.

[Trash Panda]

It had been a long three days.

Hazel was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest as she gazed dully out over the cavern. She, Alistair, and Rikki were still reeling from the whirlwind of everything that had happened recently. On the first night, Alistair had come back empty-handed from his hunting trip with Crow. She could still vividly remember the troubled look on his face as he announced to them that their leader had taken off without warning. At the time, no one had thought too much of his disappearance. While it was out of character for Crow to leave without giving an explanation, he had said he would be back soon, and they had all believed he would come back. How foolish that had been.

She closed her eyes, taking a shaky breath. They shouldn’t have brushed it off so easily. Someone should have gone after him. When that strange Younisian boy had shown up the next morning with news of the thief’s death, it had felt like a weight had been dropped on all three of them—a weight of shock at the suddenness of it all, of sorrow for his loss, and most of all of guilt that they could have prevented it if any one of them had gone after him in the first place. Piled with the still-fresh loss of Simon, it had just been too much for the remaining three to bear, so they had spent the next two days in mourning.

However, the time had looked different for all of them. Rikki had become inconsolable and cried constantly during her waking hours until she’d had no tears left to shed. She had also stopped eating, which reminded Hazel of how she had become when she’d lost Simon about two weeks ago. It was clear to both her and Alistair that, while the feelings seemed to have been unreturned, Rikki had been in love with Crow. It hurt the herbalist to see the other woman so heartbroken, especially since she had gone through the same thing so recently. Losing a loved one wasn’t a pain she would wish on anyone.

Alistair hadn’t been much better off. While he’d mostly kept his appetite, he had also shed quite a few more tears than Hazel had been expecting from him on the day Hartley had delivered the news. It seemed he had developed a close friendship with Crow during the time they’d been together, because he hadn’t even cried that much when Simon had passed. She supposed she must have underestimated how good of a friend and leader the thief had been to his companions.

Among the three of them, she was the only one who hadn’t shed any tears. It wasn’t because she didn’t mourn Crow’s loss, but rather because she simply didn’t have any more grief to spare. Instead of being overcome with sadness like the two thieves, she had been stricken with a numbness from the shock of learning they had lost him too. It was probably for the best, since she was the only one amongst them in any condition to prepare food and begin packing up their supplies—they had decided the day before that they were going to move to Younis with Hartley, since it seemed like Brerra was going to lose the war—so she had taken over as a sort of temporary leader for them now that Crow was gone.

Thinking about it now, Hazel decided she should probably keep working on packing for them. She climbed to her feet from where she had been sitting and stepped over to the supplies, but before she even had a chance to get started, she froze at the sound of a voice outside the hideout: “Alistair? Hazel? Rikki?” At the sound of it, everyone in the cave got up from the various places they had been sitting or lying about, instinctively reaching for their weapons.

In the next moment, Alistair knitted his brow confusedly as he recognized the voice, “Is that—”

“Penelope!” Hartley exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and dashing for the entrance. Just as the knight came into view, the boy wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

Hazel stared at the knight—or rather, knights, since there were two of them—in surprise. What was Penelope doing here? She had no more reason to visit the thieves now that Crow was dead. The herbalist had thought she would have just gone back to her life as a knight, since she had nothing to risk anymore. Shifting her weight slightly, she took a step towards the cave entrance. Even though she wasn’t officially the leader, she still felt like it was her responsibility to protect the mourning criminals while they were in no condition to defend themselves. That meant being the one to question their unexpected visitors.

“What are you doing here?” she asked with more curiosity in her voice than accusation. Penelope had actually been by Crow’s side when he’d been killed, so she couldn’t have been doing well. Out of respect for her loss, Hazel couldn’t bring herself to be as hostile to the other woman as she normally was.

[BuzzingBee]

Having been prepared for a possible attack, she was instead surprised as she heard a familiar voice say her name and before she knew it, Hartley wrapped his arms around her. The knight blinked in unbridled surprise at his sudden appearance. Penelope had nearly forgotten that the boy had been caught up in the mess with Jaxon as well after all that had happened. Suddenly feeling grateful to know he had made it out, she returned his embrace and gave him a small pat on the back.

"It's good to see you too." she mumbled and took a step back to look at Hartley. "I'm glad you got out ok... How did you end up here though?"

Hartley's smile faded and he lowered his gaze. "Crow told me about this place...I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help."

Penelope was just about to reassure him that Crow was alive when Hazel approached and spoke up. She looked past the young thief and over at the herbalist. The knight frowned slightly as she began to notice just how drained Crow's companions looked. It caused her to feel a stab of guilt over the fact that she hadn't even thought about visiting them until Crow's illness had acted up. Nearly losing him had been hard enough, his companions were likely convinced that they had lost him completely and it showed.

"I came because I need your help, Hazel, but more importantly, to tell you that Jaxon is dead and Crow is alive." Penelope explained as she met the other woman's gaze. "I managed to get him back to my camp in time and that physician you worked with before treated his injury."

[Trash Panda]

What did she say? Hazel stared at Penelope with widened eyes. She said nothing as she processed what the knight had just told her. Not only was her husband’s murderer dead, but Crow was alive too. She felt lightheaded with relief. After believing their leader was dead and that Jaxon had won, this was the best news she and the others could have received. She was just about to thank Penelope for coming to tell them, but before she had a chance to speak, the other three went at the knight in a flurry of shock and excitement.

Rikki was the first to move. She had been standing at a distance with a broken expression on her face at the sight of the woman Crow had given his life for, but upon hearing that he was still alive, she perked up right away. “What?” she practically squeaked in her elation, hurrying across the cavern to take Penelope’s hand as she held the knight’s gaze. “You’re telling us the truth, right? H-He’s not dead?”

“If he’s alive, why hasn’t he come back yet?” Alistair added with a concerned frown. He had followed Rikki over to the entrance of the cave and was now standing a little behind his friend with a wary look, as if he didn’t fully believe the news. Occasionally, his gaze flickered to Olivia, but he didn’t move to greet the other knight while his attention was focused on finding out what was going on.

“How did he survive?” Hartley was the last to chime in, studying Penelope with innocent curiosity. “That sword went all the way through him! I’ve never seen anyone recover from something like that.” The three thieves stared expectantly at the knight as they waited for her response to their rapid series of questions.

[BuzzingBee]

The knight barely had time to go any further into detail before she was suddenly bombarded with questions from the three thieves. She glanced around at the three of them as they finally seemed to settle enough to wait for her to respond. Feeling like she could speak now, her gaze shifted to meet Rikki's again. Though the female thief had caused a bit of trouble by trying to get between her and Crow, she felt a wave of sympathy for the other woman who had believed him to be dead. She placed her other hand over Rikki's and gave a comforting squeeze as she held her gaze.

"He's not. I wouldn't lie about that." she assured softly. Letting her hand go, she turned her gaze to the other two thieves. "After I killed Jaxon, the fight pretty much ended and a few of my comrades started recognizing Crow. I told them that he wasn't the enemy and that he had saved me.." the knight faltered slightly as she recalled how panicked and helpless she had felt during that moment when Crow was near death. She let out a shaky sigh and shook her head.

"I was the leader of that patrol so I gave the order to take him back to camp with us.. We patched him up with what we could find at Jaxon's camp. Gavin, Olivia and a few other knights rotated carrying him until we reached our camp the next morning. Gavin managed getting the physician to treat him and thank the gods, she was able to save him." Penelope felt her throat grow a bit tight as she explained all that had happened. Though he was better now, the feeling of being close to losing him was still fresh and recounting the story gave her a strong desire to turn and go straight back to his side.

Clearing her throat a little, she looked over at Alistair. "The injury is going to take a while to heal though. He can barely move right now so he's still stuck at my camp... The only issue is his illness.." Her gaze shifted to Hazel. "His coughing busted his stitches today."

[Trash Panda]

Hazel listened from a short distance away as Penelope recounted everything that had happened after Hartley had left the battle. She could already see the thieves’ features flooding with relief upon hearing that Crow really was alive and recovering, albeit slowly. Rikki’s eyes watered with tears of relief, and she murmured words of thanks to the gods under her breath; Alistair visibly relaxed now that he knew the reason why their leader hadn’t returned to them; and Hartley was grinning from ear to ear.

“I should’ve known he wouldn’t go down that easily,” the boy laughed. “If Crow can steal from Aeklora without getting smote, there’s no way someone like Jaxon could kill him, right?” He shook his head and beamed at Penelope. “Man, every time I run into you two it’s an adventure.”

Hazel casted him a sideways glance, unsure who or what the foreign thief was talking about, before she turned back to the knight with a thoughtful expression. “Yes, that is a problem,” she mused, folding her arms loosely over her chest. If Crow was healing from an injury that had almost taken his life, he couldn’t afford to be dealing with a chronic cough on top of it. If he continued to strain his stitching, he would either take much longer to recover or make his wound worse and be unable to get better at all. She pursed her lips into a thin line. The medicine she had been giving him, while helpful, had proven that it wasn’t enough on its own to cure him of his illness completely. However, it did seem to slow the rate of his coughing, and at this point, it sounded like anything was better than nothing.

“Since we all believed Crow was dead, I haven’t been making any of his medicine, of course,” she said slowly, looking up to meet Penelope’s gaze again. “I’m also running low of a few of my ingredients, but I think I’ve got just enough left to prepare about a week’s worth of doses.” She paused for a moment as another thought came to her before going on. “It will be difficult for me or anyone else here to get it to him while he’s in your camp, so if you’re willing to wait here for a little while, I can prepare it all tonight for you to bring back to him.”

It was strange, but she couldn’t really bring herself to view Penelope as an enemy or even an obstacle anymore. This woman had not only saved Crow from death but had also killed Simon’s murderer. She had seen to the vengeance that the herbalist had been craving for so long, and that was something worthy to be praised. I guess Crow was right, she thought with a subtle upward twitch of her lip. Penelope isn’t like other nobles after all. She’s something special.

“If I get help from these three, I should be able to finish the whole supply well before the sun comes up,” Hazel said. “So, what do you say?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small smile at Hartley's words. "He's definitely a survivor." she agreed with a nod. Her gaze turned back over to the herbalist as she spoke up again and informed her that she could prepare the medicine for him. The knight let out a soft sigh of relief. She hadn't been expecting the herbalist to be able to prepare it so soon, even if she would have to wait a while. Knowing that she'd be able to give the medicine to Crow as soon as the next day, she felt a little more at ease.

"I don't mind waiting at all." she said with a firm nod and paused as her gaze drifted over to Olivia. "You can head back to camp if you want though."

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and glanced towards Alistair before looking back to Penelope. "I don't mind sticking around." she mused then looked towards the herbalist. "I can help too."

The knight gave a small nod to her friend. While she didn't mind Olivia staying, she hoped that it wouldn't put the other knight in any trouble. Even if the medicine managed to get done before the sun rose like Hazel claimed, there was still a chance sneaking back into their camp would be much more difficult than usual since quite a few knights got up early aside from the guards. Not to mention it wouldn't give them much time to sleep before they had to go about their usual duties. Olivia didn't seem hesitant about her choice though so Penelope focused back to Hazel.

"We can both help." she offered then paused before adding. "Also, do you have anything that would numb the pain of the wound? The physician is looking after him but.." Penelope frowned and glanced off to the side. "she's really only doing the bare minimum since she still views him as an enemy like most of my comrades... I don't think she intends to use anything to help with the pain."

[Trash Panda]

Hazel’s blue eyes flicked between the two knights before she gave a curt nod. “Alright then, I’ll get to work on that straight away,” she announced in a businesslike manner. With the news that Crow was still alive, she now wanted to get him back to their camp as fast as possible. The sooner he was able to move on his own, the sooner he could be safe among his friends and out of the hands of his enemies. After all, she was well aware of the bounty that was still on his head. The knights may have been willing to keep him from dying of his injuries, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to turn him in to the king for that reward. She and the other thieves needed to get him away from them as quickly as they could, so he wouldn’t be hanged for his crimes.

She was just about to turn away to begin setting up her medicinal supplies, when Penelope spoke again to ask if she had anything to treat Crow’s pain. “That’s exactly why we need to get him out of your camp and back in ours,” the herbalist said with a bitter edge to her voice. This was why she despised physicians. While she was willing to treat anyone, no matter who they were or where they came from, noble healers were too prideful to properly care for a thief just because he was a lawbreaker. It made her sick.

“I do have some herbs in stock that will help with the pain,” she went on with a thoughtful frown. “Unfortunately, I have even less of those than I do of my regular herbs. At a guess, I’d say I can make three or four batches at the most.” She met Penelope’s gaze again. “Since there’s so little of it available, only give it to him if he’s in more pain than he can tolerate.”

“Do you need help with that medicine?” Rikki asked. Her formerly defeated gaze held new fire at the prospect of getting Crow back. “You’ve been teaching me a lot about herbs, so I bet I could do it while you work on the other one.”

“No,” Hazel shook her head. “The painkiller is made of hemlock, henbane, and poppy seeds, so I’ll be the one to make it.” She shot the thief an amused smirk. “If you remember, they’re all poisons, so I wouldn’t want you to prepare it incorrectly and accidentally kill him.”

Rikki paled and nodded her head vigorously, “I-I’ll go get the fire started instead then.” She hurried off with Alistair to begin setting up two separate pots for each medicine.

Hazel followed the female thief with her eyes, appreciative of her help. Over the course of her stay with the band of criminals, Rikki had become an eager and useful apprentice. The herbalist felt confident that she had learned enough to take over most of the preparations of the remedy for Crow’s illness while she focused on the painkiller that Penelope had requested. She turned back to the knights with a courteous dip of her head, “Thank you for coming all this way to tell us the news. It’s good to know Crow’s fate is far from what we believed.”

Straightening her posture, she gestured at the three thieves, who had already begun working on the medicine under Rikki’s guidance, “If you’d like to help, go ahead. I’m sure they would appreciate the extra hands.” She turned to collect the herbs she had stored away with their other supplies. “I’ll be putting together the medicine to numb his pain if you need me.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod of agreement as Hazel mentioned needing to get Crow out of her camp. The knight had no arguments there. While it was a bit nice to see him everyday, it certainly wasn't worth all the danger he was in. He still had time before the barons decided to do anything and she could only hope that was enough time for him to recover enough to make his escape. As Hazel went on to speak about making him some painkillers, she dipped her head gratefully. Though she would only be able to get a small amount for him, it was at least better than nothing since Jane wouldn't be willing to use such supplies for the thief.

She watched as Rikki ran off to go start the fire and then looked back to Hazel as the herbalist thanked her. The knight studied the herbalist for a brief moment, surprised by her lack of bitterness as she thanked her. Though, she supposed that Hazel had been acting a little less bitter towards her during this visit. Even when she had first arrived the herbalist had merely seemed curious rather than annoyed with her. Hazel hadn't even addressed her as rat yet. She must be really relieved about Crow.. Penelope thought.

"Thank you for helping with the medicine." she said. As she gestured to the three thieves, Penelope gave a small nod and then glanced at Olivia before looking over at Rikki as she guided the other two thieves. The female knight hesitated a bit, suddenly struck by a small feeling of awkwardness at the thought of having to look to the female thief for guidance after all that had occurred between them. However, she pushed it down quickly, focusing on the prospect of helping Crow, and walked over to her with Olivia casually following behind.

"So, how can we help?" Penelope asked as she looked at Rikki then glanced down towards the pots they had set up.

[Trash Panda]

Rikki’s head was spinning. The last three days had been a wild ride for her for many different reasons. On the first, she had finally started getting her hopes up again that Crow had come back to her at last. He had sought her out for comforting and even stopped pushing her away whenever she desired his touch. While she never did find out what exactly had happened on the night when everything had changed between him and Penelope, it had seemed from every angle that one or both of them had ended things. She had pitied him for his heartbreak, but that day had been one of the best she’d had in a long time. It was finally beginning to look like they could be together.

So, when Alistair had come back from their hunting trip with the news that Crow had run off without warning, she had been quite upset. After all, he had to have been going back to Penelope, right? At least, that was what she had guessed at the time. It was why she hadn’t bothered to chase after him. If he was running back to that knight, nothing she could have said would have changed his mind. He was far too hardheaded to listen to reason when he believed he was right. She had thought it best to let him go, so he would get turned down by Penelope and see for himself that he was making a mistake by pursuing that selfish noblewoman.

Apparently, she had been very wrong.

When Hartley had arrived the next day with word that Crow had died taking Jaxon’s sword for Penelope in battle, Rikki had felt like her whole world was crumbling around her. Part of her grief was due to losing both Crow and Simon and feeling like their family was being ripped apart, but most of her pain stemmed from a deep ache of loss and regret. She’d wished she hadn’t been so self-righteous by letting him go, because even though he had learned the lesson she’d been hoping he would, it had come at the cost of his precious life. Thinking about it again, though she knew now that he wasn’t dead, still made her throat feel tight. If she had only tried a little harder to get through to him, she could have stopped him from charging blindly to save a woman that didn’t deserve him. She could have stopped him from getting hurt.

Now, after all of that, she had just learned he was alive and being treated for his wound. Her hands trembled with relief as she laid out the herbs Hazel had set aside for his medicine. Now, she had new resolve to get him back from the knights and be by his side while he recovered from that unnecessary wound. Her heart fluttered with excitement as she clung to the hope that perhaps this incident would be the key that would open his eyes to the fact that he didn’t belong with a noblewoman. If he would just realize what a big mistake he was making, she could still get him to come around. They could still be together. She absently brought a hand to her cheek, smiling to herself at the thought.

“So, how can we help?”

Rikki blinked and looked up to see that the two knights had come over to join the thieves in preparing Crow’s medicine. Her eyes landed on Penelope’s face, and she flushed slightly, reminded that this was the woman who had stolen Crow away from her and nearly gotten him killed. When she had initially seen her, she hadn’t thought much of it, since she had been too caught in the news that the man she loved was still alive. However, now that she’d had some time to process it all, she found it harder to look the knight in the eyes.

Still, she couldn’t just turn her away out of spite. As much as she hated the thought of working with Penelope, she would just have to do it for Crow’s sake.

“I’m just heating up the oil right now,” she shrugged, forcing down her frustration with the other woman to focus on the task at hand. “You can help Hartley and Alistair ground up the herbs over there.” She gestured with one hand at the other two thieves, who were crushing the dried plants she had set out.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope noticed Rikki had a difficult time meeting her gaze and even seemed to hesitate before replying. It seemed whatever blind relief the female thief had had over hearing Crow was still alive was beginning to wear off. Luckily that didn't seem to get in the way of her letting the knights help them though. As she gestured over to the other two thieves, Penelope nodded her head and wasted no time in beginning to walk over to them to avoid lingering around Rikki.

"Wow.. I think she might dislike you even more than before." Olivia snickered under her breath as she moved up besides Penelope. "I would have thought you bringing the news would have changed her tune at least a little."

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah well.. It doesn't matter. Come on, let's help them."

The female knight walked over to Hartley's side while she noticed Olivia swing around to join Alistair. Hartley turned to her with a friendly smile and Penelope found herself glad to have him there for company. She moved to begin helping him crush up the herbs and struck up a conversation with the young thief, which was rather easy to do since there was plenty to speak about after having been apart since he had reunited with Kip. The thought of it made her heart swell with affection as she was reminded that it was around then that she and Crow had first admitted their feelings for each other. She let out a small sigh as with it she felt another pang of longing to be at his side again.

"Sooo can we catch up now?" Hartley asked hopefully, disrupting her thoughts. "I want to know all about what happened at the castle. Oh and after too!"

"As long as you can multitask I don't see a problem with it." Penelope said with a hint of amusement. She paused and eyed the others nearby before lowering her voice. "But.. We've got to be quiet.. I'm not sure how much everyone here knows about Crow's past... And aside from that, I'm not sure how much I want them to know either."

Hartley frowned. "But they're his friends, aren't they?"

"Yes but everyone has their secrets." Penelope mused softly with a shrug.

"I guess... I'll be quiet and I won't say anything then." he promised with a smile.

Penelope nodded her head and began to quietly tell him the story about what had occurred at the castle in Younis. It was the first time she had ever told the full story out loud since most of her reports to other knights had been lies in order to keep her relationship and closeness with the thief unknown. She still recalled the raid rather clearly, able to picture the castle in the pouring rain rather vividly. With it she was also reminded of poor Abraxas, whos death she still blamed herself for. She let out a soft sigh and skipped over telling Hartley that particular detail.

As she finished with explaining that they had managed to get the staff from the castle, she paused to look around and make sure the others weren't paying attention. Luckily Olivia and Alistair seemed too wrapped up in their own conversation, which seemed to be a bit more serious than their usual ones as she notice Olivia eying him with a soft expression, Hazel was too far to have heard and Rikki seemed to be keeping a distance from her as they all worked. Looking back to Hartley, the young thief was grinning, clearly entertained by the story.

"So what happened after that? I heard rumors that the staff disappeared. Is it true?" he asked.

Penelope faltered and glanced down at the herbs. "Ah I think we're done. We should see what the next step is." she mumbled switching the topic as she instead looked over at Rikki to see if the oil was ready.