Crow spent the entirety of the following day at the thieves’ camp. Since most of them were still recovering from their various injuries, they took the day to relax without worrying about leaving to run any errands or check up on the knights. Simon was the only one who left, but even he merely ran a brief, solo patrol of the forest around their hideout. Even though Crow had told them all about what Penelope had said regarding the fact that the knights weren’t sending out as many scouts, the paranoid thief made a point to double check. Fortunately for all of them, the day went by without any trouble.
On the second day, Crow began to grow restless. Today was the day that Penelope would be speaking to the other knights about leaving the villagers alone. Part of him was tempted to sneak into the knights’ camp to try and eavesdrop on their conversation, but he knew it would have been foolish to even bother. It wasn’t like he could do anything to change the outcome of their decision, even if he was present. In fact, he would probably just cause more problems for himself if he got caught. It wasn’t worth the risk. Besides that, he trusted Penelope to deal with the situation by herself. She had proven to him over and over in the past that she was more than capable of handling herself under stressful circumstances. If anyone could persuade the other knights to change their ways, it would be her.
“Hey, Crow,” Rikki called to him from off to the side, where she was sitting on a log and whittling a piece of wood with her carving knife. The female thief was watching him with an amused expression, “You’ve been pacing over there since midday. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” Crow shook his head. He casted a quick glance towards the edge of the ravine before walking over to sit next to her. However, he was too full of nervous energy to sit still.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Rikki pressed her hand down on his thigh, which he had been bouncing restlessly as he gazed up at the far edge of the camp. “Stop that before I cut somebody on this knife.”
“Sorry,” Crow shifted to put a bit of distance between them.
Rikki stared at him for a moment longer and then narrowed her eyes slightly, “You’re really concerned about this noblewoman, aren’t you?”
“What?” Crow turned to her, a bit caught off guard by the sudden question. Recovering quickly, he shook his head and sighed, “No. It’s just…. This is the closest we’ve ever come to making a real step to save the villagers out here. I want it to go well.”
“I get that,” Rikki nodded in solemn agreement. “I want it to go well too, but—” she suddenly gave him a shove that knocked him off the log they were sitting on. “You have got to stop with that incessant fidgeting.”
“That was uncalled for,” Crow glared up at her from the ground.
“Yeah, but you stopped your stupid leg shaking,” Rikki smirked victoriously as she went back to whittling her stick. “You can come back up here when you promise you’ll sit still.”
Crow just rolled his eyes at her and obstinately laid back in the grass, propping his head on his arms and closing his eyes. With nothing else to do until his meeting with Penelope that night, he supposed he might as well pass the time by napping. He had just begun to drift off when he felt someone nudge his side with their boot. He opened one eye to see Rikki looking down at him, and he frowned confusedly. He had thought she was finished speaking to him.
“I know we usually don’t talk about this stuff,” she started a bit hesitantly, avoiding his gaze as she examined the edge of her stick. “But I was wondering… You don’t just want information from this Penelope knight…. Do you?”
Crow propped himself up on his forearms as he looked up at her with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Even though they were physical with each other, they had never intended to be exclusive. Both he and Rikki had had other partners occasionally, but they had made a point to never question each other about it. For her to be doing so now—even though she had the wrong idea—was strange.
“I’m not interested in her, if that’s what you’re implying,” he said. It was only a partial lie. Even though he knew he still had feelings for Penelope, he also knew that nothing would ever come from it. There was no point in even trying to win her back.
“Crow, don’t lie to me,” Rikki sighed, calling his bluff. She set aside her knife and stick to look down at him again. “I’m not blind. I saw the way you looked at her when she came to our camp with that other knight. I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that before.” Her lip twitched slightly. “I don’t know what your relationship is to her, but it worries me. I mean, she’s a knight. Sure, have a couple flings with her or whatever. I don’t care, but for the love of gods, don’t let it turn into anything more than that.”
Crow shifted slightly, “It’s not like that. Besides, she has a suitor.”
“Oh, well that’s perfect,” Rikki said with a false note of cheerfulness. “I guess I had nothing to worry about!” She snorted. “Please. A suitor isn’t a spouse. I know that’s not going to stop you if you want her badly enough. All I’m trying to say is… be careful. She’s not one of us.”
Crow laid in silence for a moment, thinking over her words. He thought he had started to move on from Penelope, but was Rikki right? Was there still a part of him that was hoping they would get back together? No way, he thought stubbornly. I’ve accepted that it’s over. She’s wrong.
“Look,” he said after a moment, getting up from the ground to sit by her on the log. “I appreciate the concern, love, but there’s nothing between us.” To prove his point, he leaned in and pressed a deep kiss to her lips, wrapping one arm around her back while he traced the length of her thigh with his free hand. After a bit, he pulled back again and smirked, “See?”
Rikki chuckled breathlessly, “Good effort, but it’s going to take more than that to convince me.”
“You’re insatiable,” he laughed, nudging her playfully.
Even though it didn’t seem like he had convinced her, the tension between them had lifted, and they were able to spend the rest of the evening talking comfortably with each other until it came time for Crow to leave. Once darkness fell over the ravine, Crow got up to get his cloak and headed out to meet with Penelope in Myrefall.
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