Crow slept soundly through the night, his slumber filled with dreams of his homeland. In them, he had returned triumphantly from prison, having escaped from the king by his own cunning. He had stolen gold from the king’s vault as well, and brought enough to pay the village’s taxes for years to come. He was just as successful of a thief as he had been before he was arrested. And on top of everything else, he was married to a beautiful peasant woman with brown hair and green eyes. It was perfect; he had everything he wanted in life.

The thief was disappointed when the fantasy was cut short by a prod in his side. He opened one eye and pulled the blanket down from over his head, groaning as the bright morning sunlight hit his face. William stood over him, his foot cocked back to kick him again, “Time to get up. You can’t sleep all day, fool.”

“Five more minutes,” Crow complained, drawing the blanket over his eyes. He yelped as the knight’s foot collided with his side again. “Okay, okay! I’m up!” He scrambled to his feet. William snorted, shaking his head in disgust, and walked away to continue packing up their camp. Crow made at face at his back. He yawned sleepily, raising his arms over his head in a long stretch, and looked around. The knights had already made quite a bit of progress on the demolition of the camp. All the blankets and mats—except for his—had been packed up, and the contents of the fire pit had been scattered, making it more difficult to tell that they were ever there.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Olivia sang into Crow’s ear, causing him to jump in surprise. She giggled and then pouted with a sigh. “Oh, I’m going to miss you. It’s really too bad it didn’t work out between us.”

“Mhm,” Crow grunted, gathering his bearings after being startled by her sudden appearance.

“Well, I just wanted to say goodbye to you before I head back to the king,” the knight said. “I’d steal one more kiss if I could, but… you know.” She tipped her head in Penelope’s direction, and held out her hand in a formal manner. “See you around, Crow. It’s been fun.”

Crow shook her hand, “Have a safe journey back.”

The knight walked back into the forest towards her camp, and Crow turned back to Penelope. She was sitting by herself again. He wondered if she was still upset about yesterday. He [i]had[/i] hurt her pretty badly by spending so much time with Olivia, after all. He wanted to try and make it up to her somehow. Perhaps she would cheer up if he gave her more of his time.

Crow moved to sit down next to the knight, throwing his arm around her shoulders in a friendly manner, “Good morning, love. Did you sleep well last night?” He offered her a friendly grin. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the towns of Younis. I’ve heard they’re beautiful.”