BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope returned his embrace and closed her eyes as he kissed her. She tried to find comfort in his touch like she usually able to, however, she found it was much more difficult due to the uneasiness she felt. As he pulled back, she smiled back at him as he ran his hair through her hair. Regardless of her feelings, she was still glad to see him again, even if she wasn't able to bring herself to fully enjoy it like she usually could.

She smiled softly at his words and leaned in to meet him as he kissed her again. The knight reached up to press a hand to his cheek as she deepened the kiss, pressing into him as he held her close. Eventually, she pulled back to catch her breath and studied his face for a moment. Penelope suddenly felt a pang of longing to speak with him about all that was troubling her. She wanted to ask him about the assassin and the meeting that Gavin was so certain about. However, she couldn't. She had promised Gavin that she wouldn't mention anything about it to Crow—the male knight had been rather worried she'd ruin their plans by doing so and pressured her into making the promise—and she also didn't want to ruin their plans for the coming night either.

The knight let out a small sigh and rested her head against him. "I know we said no business... but did you find anything in Black Hollow?" she asked quietly. It was the question she'd have to settle for and with any luck, it's answer might give her a bit more hope for what was coming. She prayed that the lead had panned out, both because she wanted to track Jaxon down and because it would make her feel a little more at ease if they had a lead.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

So is Penelope xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The following days didn't come easily for the knight. If the battle wasn't enough, the random attacker in the middle of the night set the whole camp on further edge and Penelope was no exception. She had still convinced herself that it was a failed raid and the barons seemed convinced of that as well. As Gavin had predicted, the camp was much more on guard. In fact, the barons had decided to up the number of guards, placing two in each spot. While it wasn't a bad idea, it stretched their numbers thin, causing for to pick up extra shifts.

On top of that, Penelope had also caved to Gavin's insistence of following Crow to find out the truth. It seemed like it was enough to make the male knight stop constantly pestering, as he appeared overly certain that she would find out Crow was indeed lying to her. It wasn't a very comforting sentiment, especially since she still had lingering doubts and worries since the night he was attacked.

Surely it was just Gavin getting into her head though. She had to remind herself that it didn't make sense for Crow to be working for Jaxon. While Gavin might not have known about the history Crow had with the group, she did. She had seen first hand the regret he held about even joining that group and how he had loathed the murderous thief. All of that surely couldn't have been a lie so there was really no reason for Crow to be working for Jaxon. At least, not one that she could think of.

---

As their fourth day apart came to its end, Penelope felt a tangle of emotions in her stomach. She was excited to see him again, especially after having to be apart longer this time, but the uncertainty about the truth weighed her down slightly. It made her feel a bit anxious, wanting to both hurry to see him and avoid the meeting at the same time—especially when she realized that if they had waited five days it would have lined up with whatever meeting Gavin suspected was happening.

She let out a long sigh, trying to push away her worries. I'm getting worked up over nothing.. she told herself firmly as she prepared to leave. Tomorrow night will come and Gavin will see that he's wrong and I'm right. There's no sense in ruining tonight just because I'm a little worried. Regaining a little confidence, she slipped out of her camp, having to be extra careful due to the extra guards, and headed for the meeting place.

Penelope walked at a fast pace and kept her gaze focused ahead as she walked. It wasn't long before the clearing came into view and with it the familiar figure of Crow. Her heart beated excitedly but her stomach churned nervously as she made her way over. Doing her best to ignore the two clashing emotions, she stepped into view and made her way over to him. "Hey stranger." she greeted with a grin.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm good with that c:

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Oof xD

Me too lol it's going to be so bad for her omg

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As the two hurried around to alert the rest of their camp about a potential attack, it became clear that the only one who had even been attacked was Gavin. Though Penelope didn't want to admit it, it was a bit unsettling that only Gavin, the one person who had claimed to see Crow talking with Jaxon, had been attacked with no signs of any other enemies nearby even as some of the guards formed a patrol to search for them.

While her comrades bustled around to make sure the camp was clear of attackers, Penelope kept to herself as she tried to figure out what had happened. Why were they only able to find one attacker? Where were the other thieves? If this had been a raid, wouldn't there had at least been more than one attacking. She let out a conflicted sigh. But that doesn't mean Crow is necessarily involved...He's all the way in Black Hollow right now anyways.. she tried to reassure herself.

"Penelope." Gavin's deep voice drew her out of her thoughts and she looked over to see he had stepped up to her side. "Will you listen to me now?"

She shifted her gaze away from him and crossed her arms as she looked out at the camp around them. "I still think you're wrong Gavin." she mumbled.

"But it's getting harder to find explanations isn't it?" Gavin sighed and shifted a little closer to her. "All I'm asking for is one chance.. In three days, they will either attack or have another meeting. The camp will be on guard after this which means we can slip away to follow him without having to worry too much if it is a raid. You'll see for certain if I'm right—or wrong—for yourself."

Penelope hesitated, shifting her weight with uncertainty. "I'll think about it." she replied quietly. "Right now, I need to go back to my guard shift now that things are calming down.. Good night Gavin." She dipped her head to him before walking off back to where she was stationed.

---

Penelope sleep in late the next day, both because of the long night prior and because she found herself troubled by it's events as well as Gavin's insistence that Crow was responsible. She wasn't sure what she should do. It felt wrong to turn on Crow and sneak out to try and follow him with Gavin but at the sametime, she found that she needed more proof than just his words that he wasn't responsible like Gavin said. Perhaps she should just agree. After all, she still held onto the belief that Gavin was wrong so if they did sneak out of camp, it could also be an opportunity to show Gavin he was wrong all along.

I'll tell him my decision when I see him again.. We can settle this once and for all. she thought, finding a spark of determination. She just wished that she felt as confident as before that he was wrong. Regardless, she had made her decision and it was time to start the day and work on figuring out how to address the attack from the night before. Penelope stretched out her arms and slowly got up as she headed out of her tent to begin the day.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nooo that's not going to help this situation xD

Gavin may think Crow personally sent the assassin cx and Penelope's starting to be a tiny bit suspicious

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As night fell, Penelope took up her post of her guard shift as most of the other knights retired to their tents. It seemed it would be another peaceful night as she kept a watchful eye over the quiet camp. She hoped her shift would go by quick as she was feeling a bit tired from the day's work. The knight let out a small yawn and decided she better walk around a bit to fight off the sleepiness she felt.

She walked near where she was stationed, occasionally sweeping her gaze over the area to make sure she was alone, until the sound of scuffling caught her attention from nearby. Penelope blinked as she faintly heard a man's voice and quickly began to move towards the sound, curious what was going on a few tents down from where she was positioned. Perhaps it was just a couple of her comrades but with the threat of Jaxon still around, she knew she couldn't be too careful.

As she rounded the corner, she was shocked to find Gavin pinned underneath a cloaked figure—whom she assumed was a man going by their stature. The man had his hand pressed down over the male knight's mouth and a dagger positioned to strike his throat. Gavin was struggling against him, using his own hands to keep the blade at bay as well as trying to remove the hand on his mouth that was silencing him. Without hesitating, Penelope drew her sword and charged at the unknown enemy, striking at his back. He seemed to catch her movement and ducked away, narrowly missing her blade as he rolled off of Gavin.

Penelope curled her lip at the man and moved to attack again, this time aiming at the man's side. "Looks like you messed up this time." she growled. The man glared at her and blocked her attack with his dagger. The metal clashed and she noticed his blue eyes darting around as he tried to look of a route of escape. Not wanting to give him time to locate it, she swiped at him again and this time Gavin jumped into the mix. While the killer slipped away from her blade, he didn't escape Gavin's as the male knight sunk his sword into the man's chest before he could make an escape. As the attacker fell limply to the ground, Gavin took a couple steps back, panting slightly.

"Are you alright?" Penelope asked with a concerned expression. "What happened?"

Gavin nodded his head and looked over at her. "He tried to sneak up on me.. Unfortunately for him, I've been watching my back a little more closely after I saw those two thieves talking that night." he said with a hint of bitterness. He furrowed his brow. "You have to believe me now.. Penelope, he tried to have this bastard kill me for what I know."

"Gavin, this could just be the start of another raid." Penelope said, although she felt a small bubble of uncertainty as she looked down at the dead body. "We should alert the other guards if they haven't noticed this commotion already or been attacked too. Come on." Not wanting to waste anymore time, she turned and began to hurry off towards the other nearest guard's post. She noticed Gavin hesitate before quickly following after her.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

No he wouldn't xD

Gavin's really struggling to get her to listen to him lol but the assassin attacking him soon will help with that a little XD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope let out a small yawn as she sat down to enjoy her breakfast. It was the next morning and she was supposed to meet up with the other barons and lieutenants for a meeting soon. However, she was hoping to catch a small break in her morning as she enjoyed her meal and a bit of solitude as she ate alone. Unfortunately, it didn't last long though. Someone sat down across from her, making her jump slightly as she hadn't noticed them approach. As she looked up to see who had joined her, her gaze fell upon Gavin. The female knight tensed slightly. She hadn't spoken to him since after trying to tell him he was wrong about Crow and wasn't sure how he was handling her firm trust in the thief.

"Good morning." Gavin mumbled softly, picking up on the slight tension.

"Morning." Penelope replied as she lowered her gaze down to her food.

"Penelope, I need you to listen to-"

She let out a groan. "Gavin isn't it too early to be trying to throw around accusations again?"

Gavin frowned as he met her annoyed gaze. "I won't stop until you see the truth. You're being used and it's putting everyone in danger... Even if you don't believe my words at least let me try to prove it to you. It's only a few more days until it'll be a week."

"I'm not discussing this right now." Penelope sighed. "I have a meeting to go to."

"Then suggest they put out extra guards because we might be getting attacked again soon. Or get on guard duty so you can accompany me to see if they're meeting." Gavin insisted.

Penelope rolled her eyes at him before rising up to her feet to signal she was done with their conversation. It seemed the only thing Gavin was interested in discussing with her was Crow being the enemy, which wasn't a topic they agreed on. Since he seemed unwilling to let it go, she decided it was best to just let it go for now and hoped that, with time, he would too. She turned and began to walk off towards the main tent at the center of camp, deciding it was close enough to time to join the others for their meeting. She hoped it would go by fast. It was mainly just a lot of reporting on how the camp's recovery was going, which she believed was going well from what she had seen. Soon it would just be a waiting game for the supplies to arrive and the thieves to be caught.

--

"I'm glad to hear that we're recovering nicely." Mia mused as she glanced around at the others. The meeting was in full swing now, though it mainly consisted of Tomas and Penelope reporting as Layth, being injured, hadn't been able to do much of his regular duties not to mention the additional ones that the attack had created.

"Yes, soon it'll only be a matter of waiting for the supplies to coming in." Bennet agreed.

"If we even get them." Layth grumbled, gaining the attention of the others. He winced as he tried to sit up a bit straighter. "We have to capture those bastards that took them before they strike again. What's the plan for dealing with them?"

"We've searched in multiple places but there doesn't seem to be much of a trace of them. Even Penelope's lead ran cold." Mia sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure what else there is to do aside from continuing to send out patrols and hoping that one eventually discovers them."

"Perhaps we should look into hiring a few mercenaries to hunt them down." Edward advised as he crossed his arms. "It could be expensive but it might be the difference between winning or losing this war."

Penelope stiffened slightly, disliking the idea right away. Aside from her general dislike of mercenaries due to her past run ins with them, the barons would be sending them after the wrong thieves. She was a bit surprised her uncle would stoop so low as to even suggest using them but then again, he was likely starting to sweat under the looming threat of Younis winning. "Mercenaries can't be trusted." she stated with an edge of bitterness. "Hiring them will get them involved in the war and when that happens, Younis will only need to offer them a better price before they start working for them instead."

Layth crossed his arms over his chest with a bitter look. "She's probably right." he muttered in agreement as if reluctant to side with his sister. Penelope felt a small swell of relief to hear her brother speak out against the idea. "Besides, we can handle them on our own. I'll figure a way to set up a trap that will catch those bastards."

"Once you've healed." Tomas reminded him. He looked between the barons. "I agree though. We can't risk getting professional murderers involved in this war."

"I don't think we should." Mia agreed with a glance towards Bennet who nodded as well.

Edward seemed a little frustrated that his idea was shot down so unanimously, even by his own lieutenant. "I still say we keep it in mind." he insisted.

Penelope relaxed as the discussion about what to do with the thieves went on without any further mention of using mercenaries. It seemed the knights were a bit stuck, both because they only had their patrols to rely on as well as the fact that they couldn't afford to send out as many patrols as before due to the battle. As it ended, Penelope found herself praying that Crow's lead to Black Hollow wouldn't be another dead end.