Crow bit back a smug grin when Penelope sided with him and told Gavin to let him be a part of the conversation. Now that it was two against one, her former suitor would have no choice but to listen to their demands. He turned back to the knight, a bit surprised when the man tried one more time to convince Penelope to speak with him alone. Usually, he had noticed that Gavin would just give in to whatever she wanted to do. It was strange for him to be so firm in his decision, and his persistence only made the thief more certain that he’d figured something out that he wasn’t supposed to know about.
Eventually, the knight relented and, after a moment of hesitation, began to relay what he had learned at the tavern. As he described how the villagers had acted guardedly around him and mentioned that they had been instructed to lie, Crow fought the urge to shift his weight uncomfortably. He vaguely remembered hearing the same thing when he and Penelope had asked around too. Fortunately, his name hadn’t come up at that time, and he’d guessed that the tavern keeper had kept his identity a secret, but there was no way to know that for sure. It was possible that the table they had questioned just didn’t remember that he had been the one to start the lies. Perhaps Gavin had found some people who weren’t as forgetful.
He tensed slightly as Gavin went on to say that there was more that he had learned and casted the thief a cold look. If he was right, and one of the peasants in the tavern really had let slip his name, it was going to be difficult to explain that away to the knights. If that was what Gavin was prepared to tell them, he had to make sure he stayed a step ahead.
“Now that you mention it, I remember that woman too,” Crow spoke up suddenly before the knight had a chance to finish sharing his thought. He glanced between the two knights, drumming his fingers contemplatively against his bicep while his arms were still folded over his chest. “I’m starting to think that Jaxon may not be as unaware that he’s being hunted as we first thought. He or some of his other followers must have started spreading false rumors about their location to throw off the patrols your barons have been sending out. I’d bet anything that’s why the people in this village have been acting so strangely around us.”
“Perhaps,” Gavin growled, clearly unconvinced by the thief’s words and growing impatient at his interruptions. “If there’s even another group of thieves at all.”
Crow glared at him, “What are you talking about? Of course there is.”
“I’m not so sure I believe that,” that knowing smirk reappeared on Gavin’s lips as he went on. “I’ve got some pretty solid evidence that a certain thief here has been causing us more trouble than he’d like us to believe.”
“Are you accusing me of something?” Crow curled his lip at the knight, trying to fight back against the seed of worry that was growing inside of his chest.
“Yes, I am,” Gavin admitted without hesitation, holding the thief’s gaze evenly. “And I can prove it too.” He turned back to Penelope with new fire in his eyes. “I think he tampered with our food two nights ago. I’m not quite sure what he did to it, but it’s the only thing that explains why we all slept through the morning yesterday. I’ve never been on a patrol in my life where every single person, even the night guard, slept so soundly. It’s too strange to be a coincidence.”
“Great theory,” Crow drawled with a roll of his eyes. “But unfortunately for you, it doesn’t hold any water. In case you forgot, I ate the same supper as the rest of you, detective.”
“Did you really?” Gavin said, excitement edging his voice as he caught sight of a brief, surprised look in the thief’s eyes. “Then why did I find a portion of the food beneath a bush next to your belongings?”
Crow’s breath caught in his throat and he shot the knight a glare. He hadn’t expected that the knight was perceptive enough to have found the spot where he had disposed of his supper. It’s no matter, he thought calmly. I can still come back from this. He held his tongue, forcing himself to wait patiently for Gavin to finish explaining his accusation.
“I believe you tampered with our food so you could sneak off to sabotage us in the village,” Gavin continued proudly. “When you were drunk last night, you practically admitted to it. You said you took over Penelope’s watch because she was tired, but I’m certain you did it to sneak off while the rest of us were asleep. You’re the one who told the villagers to lie about seeing a group that was headed to Azmar, because you want us to keep following these phantom thieves you made up, so we’d be too distracted to realize it was you all along. Just admit it. You and your band of criminals were the ones who raided our camp and killed our comrades. There are no others.”
“Are you quite finished yet?” Crow growled, acting unamused by the knight’s accusations.
“Do you really think you can get out of it this time?” Gavin scoffed. “I could show Penelope where I found your supper, if you’d prefer.”
“No, that’s alright,” Crow shrugged. “I admit it. The food you found was mine.”
“So you did tamper with it,” Gavin smirked victoriously.
“Of course not,” Crow shook his head and turned to Penelope with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, love. I didn’t want to tell you because it was the first meal you helped prepare.” He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “When I left to redress my wound, I accidentally dropped my plate. I knew there was only enough for all of us to have one serving, so I pretended that I had eaten it, so you wouldn’t feel like you had to give me your portion. I never intended for you to find out… especially in a ridiculous interrogation.” He shot Gavin a cold look. “The rest is just the conjecture of a man with a rather wild imagination.”
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