As William began to press down with the edge of his sword, Crow felt time slow down. His mind wandered to things that were surprisingly unrelated to his situation: The typical near-death thoughts such as memories of the past and people he had left behind during his lifetime, but also strangely simple details such as the feeling of the wood beneath him and the smell of the air in the wagon. Above all, however, was the regret of leaving Penelope behind. The force of the emotion shocked him. He already knew they would be parting eventually, but somehow the idea of losing his remaining time with her stung more painfully than the sword at his throat.

[i]I guess my pride finally got the best of me,[/i] he thought as his mind grew hazy from a lack of air. William had been pressing down on his chest so heavily that he hadn’t been able to draw a breath for a while now. His eyelids fluttered as he began to fade from consciousness. [i]Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll pass out before he kills me…[/i]

Just as Crow was about to succumb to the darkness, the pressure lifted from his body and he was able to draw breath again. He gasped and rolled onto his side, coughing as his lungs filled with air. He opened his eyes to see Penelope standing between him and William. She had stopped the older knight from finishing him off. He sat up slowly, taking advantage of the knights’ fight to regain his composure. Still dazed, he only caught pieces of their argument.

[color=fff79a][b]“…do you think you were doing?! Can’t you… for one second!”[/b][/color]

[color=fdc68a][b]“My hot head? …dared to challenge me!”[/b][/color]

Crow shook his head, trying to clear away the fogginess. After a moment, he felt pretty clearheaded again, so he was able to follow the rest of their conversation with some focus. Penelope was telling William he shouldn’t have let the fight get so out of hand, to which the latter replied that she should stop treating the thief like a comrade. He shot William a glare for trying to shift the blame onto her. Penelope’s kindness hadn’t been the cause of his frustration. If anything, she was the reason why he hadn’t stood up for himself sooner. She made the trip much more bearable by treating him like a human.

He glanced at Penelope and was surprised to see how pale she looked after William’s comment. He tilted his head curiously. Did her comrade’s opinion still matter that much to her? He wondered why she was so distraught that William knew she had been nice to him. It wasn’t that big of a deal, right? He stared at her intently as he waited for her response.

[color=fff79a][b]“You’re right. I apologize, William.”[/b][/color]

The words sent a dagger through Crow’s heart. He averted his gaze. How could she turn against him like that—after everything they had been through? Just when he was beginning to think he could trust her, she turned on him like everyone else. [i]I should have known better,[/i] he thought bitterly, curling his fingers into fists at his sides. [i]She may have been nice to me, but her equals will always come first.[/i]

William nodded, seeming satisfied with Penelope’s answer, “Glad to see you’ve finally come to your senses.” He turned away from her. “Get back to your posts, you two. We’ve wasted enough time in this town.”

“Of course,” Abraxas said obediently, heading back to his horse.

Once the wagon was moving again, William took up his seat in the corner of the cart. He began addressing Hartley with questions, asking him about the Kingdom of Younis. Crow ignored the interrogation as he crawled to a spot that was as far away from William as he could get. With the knight distracted, he took the time alone to lick his wounds, inspecting his body for bruises—he had some on his head, back, and chest—and checking the severity of the cut on his neck. He gingerly touched a finger to the injury, grimacing as he came away with blood on his hand. It wasn’t deep, since Penelope had intervened before William could do any serious damage, but the sight of his own blood made him sick.

Crow drew his knees to his chest and gazed out the side of the wagon, attempting to distract himself so he wouldn’t throw up. He wasn’t about to give William the pleasure of watching him lose his breakfast over a small cut. Besides, as far as he knew, the knight still didn’t know about his aversion to blood, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Aside from the injury, Crow was also still reeling from what Penelope had said. Her words rang in his head over and over like an incessant bell. He couldn’t believe she would betray his trust like that. He had opened up to her more than anyone else in his life, and it meant nothing to her when compared with her companions’ opinions. [i]That’s what I get for trusting a noble,[/i] he closed his eyes as another pang of hurt stabbed at him. What made the pain worse were his feelings for the female knight. They made the ache in his heart all the more unbearable. [i]I should never have let myself fall for her.[/i]

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Lockton,” William spoke up. Crow looked to see that the knight had finished questioning Hartley—the boy had gone back to pestering Penelope, as usual—and was glaring at him from across the wagon. “Your little stunt just now only reaffirmed that you need to be chained up.”

“Go ahead,” Crow muttered dully. He didn’t care what William did to him anymore. If complying with the knight’s demands would make the journey go by faster, then so be it.

William was quiet for a moment, considering Crow’s change in attitude. “I see you’ve finally learned your place, thief. Good.” He crossed his arms and leaned back contentedly against the corner post of the wagon. “This will make the trip a lot easier.”

“I thought you were going to chain me up.”

“I was,” William said, examining the blade of his sword. “But I don’t think that’s necessary anymore.”

“Why’s that?” Crow eyed him warily.

William met the thief’s gaze and raised his sword, moving to stand up. Crow flinched. He smirked, “Breaking a criminal is just like breaking a horse, and I can see now that you’re quite tame.” He shook his head. “If Penelope had only done this sooner, I’m sure we would have avoided a lot of unnecessary trouble. She has a lot to learn about handling prisoners.”

Crow curled his lip hostilely at William. He didn’t appreciate being compared to a horse, and he didn’t like the fact that the knight believed he had “broken” him. [i]I have quite a bit of spirit left, thank you very much,[/i] he thought. [i]I just know how to pick my battles.[/i] He kept the thought to himself, however, biting his tongue and laying down with his back to William. If letting the knight have the final word meant he could stay out of chains a little while longer, then that’s what he would do. He closed his eyes to get some sleep.