BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope stepped over to the bed her father directed her to and set down her bag. She glanced over her shoulder at the two men as Crow gave John a bit of resistance before finally allowing him to put on the chain. The female knight made no comment on it, merely shooting her father a disapproving look before turning away as she took off her armor for the night. She figured that Crow had been resisting John in order to keep him unaware that his method of chaining the thief up hadn't worked so she made sure to go along with it.

Eager for her father to fall asleep, she laid down on the bed and pulled the blanket over herself. Though she was a bit tired from the trip to the village, her excitement to steal some time with Crow kept her fully awake. Now it was just a waiting game. She shifted a bit on the bed so she could look subtly towards her father, hoping that it wouldn't take long for him to fall asleep. Luckily, because he was confident enough in his tactic of chaining up Crow, it didn't.

The older knight's breathing had grown even and he seemed to have drifted off into a deep enough slumber. Penelope grinned to herself and carefully moved to sit up. She kept her gaze on him, watching for any sign of movement from him. He remained asleep though and she managed to move to the edge of her bed. Now up, she turned her head towards Crow and shot him an eager smile. The knight cautiously got up to her feet and moved towards the thief, creeping quietly across the room. It was a good thing she was getting rather used to sneaking around as she only made a small bit of noise with the motion.

"Gods, I'm glad he's able to pass out quick." she whispered to him as she reached him. "Waiting to be able to even just speak with you—let alone be at touch you—all day while you're right in front of me is really starting to test my patience."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Poor Crow lol he'll come around eventually cx

And true XD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The rest of the day went by just as well as Penelope expected. Her father kept close to her at all times and made sure the two remained separated. Of course, she made no attempt to test him. He had already proven he was willing to hurt Crow despite the king's mission and was clearly willing to strip her of her title as a knight as well. While it soon might not matter due to her decision to run off with Crow, if there was even a chance of them getting out of this mess without running off, she didn't want to risk losing the job she cared about.

Occasionally she tried to speak to her father but was often met with short responses that made it clear he didn't want to discuss anything with her at the moment. She didn't dare bring up her mother anymore, even though part of her desired to. The way he had reacted to her bringing her up the day prior was a bit confusing as well as hurtful to the knight who had practically no knowledge about her. Eventually the knight just gave up on making any conversation with him and fell silent as they made their way towards Sarton

By the time they reached the village, they had made rather good time. The sun was just beginning to set and John even allowed for another short break to have a small bite of supper before leading them to the nearest inn as it got later. Though he was still in a foul mood, she could tell her father was rather pleased with how quickly they were moving. She imagined he was eager to get to the inner kingdom to follow through with his words about marrying her off. It was still unsettling but she rested a little easier knowing that she'd be able to get away with Crow before he had the chance to arrange another marriage.

John went ahead and got a room at the inn. He lead the way inside and glanced between the other two. "Same as the night before." he ordered. "Penelope over there, and you there." he said gesturing to the two beds furthest apart. He wasted no time in pulling out the chain from the previous night again, clearly intent on restricting Crow again.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Makes sense xD
Penelope's definitely going to appreciate it lol though she might feel a little bad about him giving everything else up

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

"Goodnight." she whispered as he moved to leave. Penelope waited until he was already back in his bed before laying down again. She didn't want the creaking of her bed to stir her father right before Crow was able to sneak off. Settling back into her bed, the knight closed her eyes again and managed to drift off into a more comfortable sleep than before.

---

"Time to get up."

The next morning woke up to a firm voice. She stretched and turned her head to look over her shoulder. Of course, it was her father standing over her. She gave a curt nod to him and slowly sat up. Letting out a yawn, she watched as he moved to go wake up Crow next, digging into his pocket to pull out the key for the chain. The knight bit back a smirk as she thought of Crow managing to sneak around her father's efforts to separate them the night before. With him able to pick the lock, the chain was ineffective and it gave her a bit of peace knowing that after the whirlwind that was the day prior.

Getting up to her feet, she stretched and collected her items from the ground. She slipped her armor back on and turned towards the other two. Her father moved rather immediately to stand closer to her, shooting a glare at Crow. She frowned slightly. It seemed his anger had yet to die down and she guessed that the trip to the next village would go rather similarly as the day before.

"Let's get moving." John said gruffly. "The sooner we get to the castle the better."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Sounds good! Penelope's not going to know what to do xD
she'll secretly kinda want him to take the deal but I don't see her ever admitting that out loud to him she'd feel super guilty if she thought she accidentally pressured him into it

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope gave a small nod of agreement as Crow reassured her that they would be alright. There was usually nothing but silence during their traveling anyways and as long as John kept thinking her had enough power to keep them apart, he likely wouldn't go digging for such information. The only difficulty would be finding the time to plan out their escape a bit better, especially with her father watching them like a hawk. She just hoped meeting at night like this would be enough for them until things were figured out.

"I love you too." she murmured returning his smile with a small smirk. "And I'm going to hold you to that promise." She gave him a playful wink. Penelope leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before pulling back from him slightly. Her gaze drifted over to her father and she let out a small sigh. The knight wished they'd have more time together or at least, actual alone time without having to worry about John, who was sleeping nearby. Even if they could meet at night like this, it was incredibly risky with the older knight right there. If they made too much noise he'd easily wake up.

"You should go back to your bed. We have another long walk tomorrow and I'm worried our talking might eventually wake him up." Penelope suggested. Though she was reluctant, the knight slowly let go of him and gave him a halfhearted smile. "Hopefully we can at least keeping meeting at night like this though...especially since the rest of this trip is going to be rather unbearable with how my father's acting."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Poor Crow cx Penelope tried to reassure him
makes sense lol I'm excited to see how they all react to that offer haha

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope closed her eyes for a moment as he leaned his head against hers. She felt him hold her a little tighter and she trailed her hand over his back. With everything there was for them to worry about, she took at least a little bit of comfort in his touch. She met his halfway as he kissed her again, relaxing against his lips. The knight tried to keep a bit of her guard up though. With her father so close by, she couldn't risk getting completely distracted by the thief like usual.

As he pulled back and voiced his suggestion, Penelope shifted with uncertainty. There was a very high possibility that they wouldn't be able to get out of this mess. Her father refused to listen to her and was doing everything in his power to keep them apart. It would take a miracle for him to accept Crow or at the very least, stop trying to get between them. Though she was reluctant to leave the war early, she also didn't want to be forced to part from Crow and marry some other man.

"I will." she said with a decisive nod. Penelope reached to rest a hand on his cheek as looked at him affectionately. "I told you, I won't give you up easily. If it means leaving a bit sooner than planned, then that's what I'll do." she assured him before leaning in to press another kiss to his lips. This time she kissed him with a bit more passion, as if hoping that if her words didn't reassure him enough that her actions would. As she pulled back, she rested her head against his and fell silent for a moment.

"We'll have to be extra careful though..." she mumbled with a frown. "If my father catches so much as a whiff of me planning to run off with you, I don't want to know what he'll do.." She shuddered at the thought of John reacting to such news. It made her press closer to the thief out of subconscious protectiveness.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope appreciates that xD