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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He decided she needed to know the truth anyway.
He's honestly a little afraid of Jaxon, and thinks she needs to know how dangerous he is

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded in agreement when Penelope said his companions wouldn’t work well with the knights anyway. While it was a minor concern compared with the issue of Jaxon’s thieves, he still believed she was right. The worlds of knights and criminals didn’t easily mix. The only reason he was able to work with them all was because he’d had experience in dealing with nobles from his last mission in Younis. If it wasn’t for that, he would have been much more reluctant to hunt down the other thieves with them. He probably would have refused to even offer his help unless he could work solely with Penelope.

At her following question, the thief cringed and averted his gaze again. He had been hoping she wouldn’t ask him about his history with the criminals they were after since she hadn’t pressed him for details when he had initially brought up the subject. Unfortunately, it seemed like that hope had been too good to be true. He casted her a sideways glance, toying with the idea of telling her that he didn’t want to talk to her about it, but he knew he couldn’t brush it off so easily. She would be persistent to find out why he was holding back from her, and he also believed she needed to know the rest of the story. If she was going to go after these dangerous people with him, he couldn’t let her go in blind.

“I’ll tell you,” he murmured reluctantly. “But I’d rather not discuss this out in the open.” Lowering his gaze again, he fell silent for the remainder of the trip until they came to their destination. He pulled open the door of the house for the knight to step through and then entered after her, walking across the room to sit in one of the chairs at the dusty old table in the corner. Once he had settled down, he gestured for her to sit across from him.

“I hope you’re ready, because this is a long story,” Crow offered Penelope a halfhearted smile. He wavered for a moment longer before starting into his tale, “After our mission together two years ago, I went back to stealing on my own as I had before. I raided knights in the outer villages and nobles in the inner kingdom. That’s how my reputation came back so quickly and also why the former king raised my bounty.

“For a while, life was good, and I was making enough money to support the villages as well as keep some leftover for myself. The only problem was that I just wasn’t happy with it anymore,” he frowned as the memories played through his head. “I honestly think traveling with you in Younis changed me. I found my old life to be lonely and unsatisfying, and I wanted something more.

“Unfortunately, this was when I crossed paths with Jaxon,” his expression darkened. “He knew of my reputation and wanted me to join his band of thieves. I think he just wanted the bragging right of having my name amongst his ranks, but at the time, I was too caught up in the prospect of having comrades again to realize what I was walking into. I lived and worked with them for two seasons without noticing how cruel and merciless they all were. I mean, there was always a part of me that felt like something was off, but it took something drastic for me to realize I was associating with true murderers.

Crow let out his breath in a sigh, going on quietly, “The day I left them was when a young noble boy from the inner kingdom happened to stumble into our camp. He had been playing a game with some other children in the woods, but their ball had rolled just close enough that he saw us.” He closed his eyes as the image flashed through his mind. “I told Jaxon not to do it. We almost came to blows… but in the end, he refused to let the kid go.

“You see, he had a rule that if anyone found our camp, they were to be killed on the spot. I just didn’t realize he truly meant anyone,” he shook his head. “Two of his other thieves held me back as he ran the boy through with his sword, and that was when I knew I didn’t want anything more to do with them. I just couldn’t keep working with murderers who would take an innocent life. So, the same night, I made my escape.”

Finally lifting his gaze from the table, Crow met Penelope’s eyes with a pained expression, “I swear, I never would have joined them if I had known what sort of people they were. I’m not like that—I never have been. I’ll always regret the two seasons I spent as part of their ranks.” He shook his head again, adding on in a low voice, “The only good that came out of it was the companions I have now. Alistair, Simon, and Rikki were all part of Jaxon’s group too, and they left with me when I fled because they didn’t want to follow him anymore either.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow doesn't like talking about his past with Jaxon, even if he barely mentioned it ^^;

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow blinked as Penelope brought up how their situation now reminded her of the past. “That’s true, isn’t it?” he mused, realizing how similar their mission was now to the one they had embarked on two years ago. While their end goal was quite different compared to then, there were a surprising amount of correlations. In addition to the ones she had mentioned, they might also find themselves crossing the border into Younis again if it came down to that.

At the knight’s observation that he had stored his supplies at the house, he nodded. “Yes,” he said, glancing down at her again. “It’s the closest place to our meeting point where I could hide everything without worrying about it being found.” He shifted slightly, averting his gaze as he went on. “Besides that, I was going to stay there until we find the thieves who raided your camp,” he spoke in a softer tone. “I’ve decided I don’t want to get my companions involved in this… We’ve all got a history with this group, and I don’t want any of them to get blinded by the past and do anything reckless. It’s better if they don’t know they’re here right now.”

He felt a bit uncomfortable admitting he was lying to his companions about Jaxon’s group, but he knew he could trust Penelope to keep his secret. Looking up at her again, he shrugged faintly, “They all think I’m in Wheldrake selling off the medicine we took from your camp. I had made plans to go before the next battle anyway, so they didn’t even question it. As long as we take down these thieves before the end of the week, they won’t ever know what really happened.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Sorry that took a while. Some people stopped by looking for a guy who went missing

Crow doesn't want her to be sad xc

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Penelope agreed to go with him to get the bag he had left behind, Crow grinned. He was eager to have some time alone with her, even if it was only going to be for a short while. As they turned to walk down the road that led into Myrefall, he glanced back over his shoulder to see Gavin watching them with a concerned expression. He rolled his eyes. The knight looked like he thought the thief was going to kill her. Unable to help himself, he smirked back at him and subtly casted a rude gesture with his free hand, earning a snort from Olivia, who had caught it as well.

Feeling satisfied, he fell in step beside Penelope and lapsed into a comfortable silence as he enjoyed finally being alone with her. As long as Gavin and Olivia were traveling with them, he doubted they would have many more opportunities to get away like this for the next few days. He wanted to make the most of it while he still could.

As Penelope spoke up, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to her head. “It’s kind of like a small taste of the future… except your former suitor and nosy friend are there.” He shook his head, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste. “I can’t wait for the real thing, when we won’t be bothered anymore.”

At her following words, he looked at her thoughtfully. He could tell that she was still feeling guilty about how she had confronted him the night before. It had been a bit impulsive of her to assume that he was the one who had done so much damage to her camp, but he could understand why she had jumped to such a conclusion. After all, he and his companions had built up quite a reputation in the outer villages, and they had stolen from the knights many times before. Besides that, there was no way she could have possibly known about Jaxon and his band of thieves. Until this point, as far as he knew, they had been operating out of the inner kingdom. If they had come to this part of Brerra, it had only been a recent change.

“Don’t worry about it,” Crow shook his head, meeting her gaze with a fond smile. “It was just an unfortunate coincidence that these thieves attacked on the same night I raided your camp. You couldn’t have known it was them—you didn’t even know they existed.” He let go of her hand to wrap one arm around her shoulders in a comforting embrace. “I’m not upset. It’s in the past now anyway, so let’s just focus on here and now, alright?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

For real xD

Crow isn't having any of it lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded when Penelope said they should search Whitebridge first. His mind wandered back to the bag he had stowed away in his house in Myrefall, as he wondered if it would be wise to pick it up before they left. Both Aramoor and Whitebridge were quite a long way from the village—at least a full day’s walk, if not more. While the knights could get back to their camp easily enough, he would be far from where he had originally planned to sleep for the night. It would be easier to just set up camp somewhere in the village they were going to search rather than spend the whole night walking all the way back to Myrefall.

Having come to a decision, he listened in to the rest of the knights’ conversation. When Penelope suggested that the southern patrols might push the thieves north, he nodded in agreement. Jaxon’s thieves may have been ruthless, but they were no fools. If the nobles outnumbered them too heavily on the southern part of the border, they would have no choice but to find another route. After all, they could only kill so many knights before they began to lose members as well, and he knew Jaxon wouldn’t put them in such a position. The band leader seemed to consider his strength to be in his numbers, so he would want to avoid losing any if possible.

Thinking about Jaxon again, Crow wondered what he would do if or when they found him. After slipping out of the man’s group a year ago, he had made every effort to stay away from him. To purposefully go looking for him felt strange, and part of him was anxious about what the band leader’s reaction would be upon seeing him again. Jaxon wasn’t a man who took betrayal lightly. Whatever was going to happen, it couldn’t be good.

He blinked as he felt Penelope slip her hand into his and looked down to meet her gaze. “Almost,” he smiled, pushing his worrisome thoughts aside to focus on her instead. “But if we’re going to Whitebridge, I need to get something first.” He paused for a moment and then brightened slightly as an idea came to him. “Why don’t you come with me? With so many patrols around, I wouldn’t mind having an extra pair of eyes.”

“What’s so important that you have to get it right now?” Gavin frowned at him, seeming put off by the idea of the thief going anywhere alone with Penelope.

“Let’s see,” Crow looked up at the tree in exaggerated thoughtfulness, counting off on his fingers. “A bedroll, a water flask, some food, flint to start a fire…” He turned back to the knight with a cheeky smirk. “Relax, tough guy. I packed a bag earlier today just in case I’d need to set up camp. It’s not far from here, and it won’t take long to get.” He gave Penelope’s hand a tug. “Come on, love. Let’s get out of here before he finds a way to accuse me of killing someone with camping supplies.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Gavin is trying so hard to make Crow into the bad guy xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow held eye contact with Gavin as the knight didn’t agree to his condition right away. Considering how the knight was acting, he was glad he had brought up his need for secrecy before jumping into telling them all about what he knew. It was starting to look like Gavin wasn’t as willing to keep information from his comrades as the Penelope and Olivia were. He narrowed his eyes, noticing the knight’s jaw clench slightly as if he was preparing to refuse the condition. If he did, it would be much more difficult for the thief to offer any assistance to the others, because he wouldn’t be able to explain the thought processes of criminals in his trade. He simply couldn’t afford to let that information get back to the other knights because it would just end up hurting him and his companions in the long run.

After a tense moment of silence, Penelope spoke up and managed to convince her former suitor to accept Crow’s terms. While he still didn’t know if Gavin would keep his word, he relaxed slightly. Now that the knight had verbally agreed to keep quiet, he trusted that he could count on Penelope to make sure he didn’t spill anything to the others in their camp. After all, he was certain that Gavin still had feelings for her. He was stubborn, but he likely wouldn’t do anything to turn her against him.

I suppose there is one perk of his infatuation, Crow mused, sweeping his gaze over the three knights as he readied himself to speak.

“Your idea was good,” he said to Penelope. “But if we do that, we should limit ourselves to the villages closest to the Younisian border. For them to have taken so many of your supplies, those thieves are out for a profit, and the Younisians pay a high price for Brerratic weaponry. I’d bet anything they’re on their way right now to sell everything off.”

“And exactly how would you know that?” Gavin growled accusatively. He seemed to have already made the connection and just wanted to hear the thief confess to it, himself.

“Because I’ve done it too,” Crow shrugged apathetically. He couldn’t have cared less what Gavin thought about what he did with their stolen supplies. In fact, he even felt a twinge of satisfaction watching him squirm under the discomfort of knowing his battalion’s weapons had been handed over to the enemy kingdom. “It’s good money,” he explained simply. “Any halfway decent thief would be a fool to pass it up.”

“So, all it takes to convince you to sabotage your homeland is a few gold coins?” Gavin went on angrily.

“No, not sabotage,” Crow shook his head. “We steal from you, yes, but never enough to greatly hinder your efforts in the war. We just need money, and you all just happen to be the richest targets in the outer villages. It’s as simple as that.” He waved a hand dismissively. “But you’re missing my point. I only brought this up because I know these thieves. They’re greedy, and they have little to no stake in this war. They probably saw this as an opportunity to secure a handsome pay from the Younisians in exchange for all of your stolen supplies.”

“Alright,” Olivia spoke up, crossing her arms. “If they are going to Younis, which path would they take?”

“If they’re headed to the same baron who’s been paying me and my thieves, the fastest route is through the forest between Aramoor and Whitebridge,” Crow said thoughtfully. “I can’t say exactly which way they would have gone, since that all depends on where they’ve been camping. It’s also a vast area to cover, so it could take some time to narrow down exactly where they are.”

“What I’m hearing is that we should leave now,” Olivia smirked, turning to Penelope with a mischievous glint in her eye. “It was your idea to interrogate the villagers, so what do you say? Which one should we try first? You’ve got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. No pressure, or anything.”