Crow frowned as he watched Penelope stumble sleepily down the corridor. He didn’t want to be left alone with William, but he knew he shouldn’t have expected her to stand guard over him when she could barely keep her eyes open. He heaved a sigh and inched a bit closer to the fireplace, trying to stave off the cold of his soaking clothes and block William from his line of sight. The knight had taken up a watchful position in a nearby chair, sitting rigidly and watching Crow’s every move. The intensity of his stare was slightly intimidating.

“Answer me this,” William spoke up after he let the silence drag out between them for a while. There was still a hint of anger in his voice as he went on, “If you were in my position, would you let a convicted criminal go unpunished after he tried to run away?”

Crow sat up and gave him a wary look. It was obviously a loaded question, but he wasn’t quite sure what type of reply William was searching for. “Let’s see,” he said slowly. “It depends on what type of person that criminal is and what he’s trying to accomplish by escaping.”

“But the law is the law,” William replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “If we make an exception for one convict, then what power do our rules hold over anyone at all?”

“I see your point,” Crow held the knight’s gaze. “But the law was intended to prevent people with malicious motives from harming others. What if this theoretical criminal you want to punish didn’t act out of bad intent? What if he felt he had no choice other than to break the law? Is the king really so cruel that he would punish a desperate man for trying to save himself? I think that if this criminal is a genuinely good and honest person, I would let him go without consequence.” He stifled a smirk when William just stared at him. The knight likely didn’t expect such a thoughtful answer from a peasant, let alone a peasant with a law-breaking background.

“Are you saying that you’re a good and honest person who should go without punishment?” William asked after he recovered from his initial surprise.

“That’s not at all what I said,” Crow replied with a shrug. “I only gave you an answer to your question. Although, I would appreciate it if you overlooked this last incident. Trust me, I already learned my lesson.” He shivered again from his soaking clothes. They were taking a while to dry, so he slipped his tunic over his head and laid it closer to the fire to warm it up more quickly.

“Oh, no,” William growled. “If you weren’t under the protection of the king, I would teach you a [i]real[/i] lesson, thief. I’m tired, so I will just give you a warning this time, but if you try anything like this again, I can always take a meal or two away from you.” He smirked, eyeing Crow’s narrow frame. “I would shape up if I were you. By the looks of it, you can’t afford to skip out on any more rations.”

“Why don’t you try living off of prison food for a year?” Crow mumbled defensively. He laid back down by the fire and closed his eyes, signaling that he was finished with their conversation. Fortunately, it seemed that William was done venting his frustration, so he didn’t speak up again, giving Crow a chance to get some sleep.

Despite William’s statement that he wouldn’t hurt him, Crow slept lightly.

--

The next morning, Crow woke up to the prod of a boot in his side. He blinked sleepily and looked up to see William glaring down at him. “Get up, thief,” the knight growled in his usual oh-so-pleasant manner.

Crow yawned and sat up, stretching lazily. He grabbed his tunic from beside the fireplace—to his relief, it had dried off enough to wear again—and put it back on, climbing to his feet and following William to the inn’s tavern for breakfast.

They found an empty table and sat down—Crow doing so with much less grace and poise than William, as he accidently hit his shin on a chair in his half-conscious state. By now, he truly regretted his late-night escapade. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, and he was thoroughly exhausted. He yawned again and rested his head on the table, closing his eyes to get some extra shut eye before Penelope and Abraxas joined them.