Crow took the lead with Hartley and Penelope as they walked down the hallway to find their room. Though choosing a room for the night wasn’t necessarily a huge decision, he felt good about being the one to make it. It was the most power he had been given since the journey began, since he had previously been forced to follow along with whatever William and the other knights arranged to do. If their stay in Younis continued like this, he was going to enjoy it quite a bit.

When they arrived at the door to their room, Hartley took charge. He reached quickly for the knob, opening it for Penelope to step through first. Crow was about to enter with the other two knights, but the boy—one-track minded as he was—let the door fall behind him, nearly hitting Abraxas in the nose. William opened the door again and shook his head, “Idiotic boy…”

Crow was the last to walk into the room. He looked around the space. Like the lobby, it was sparsely decorated, but unusually clean. There were five beds sheeted with white, linen cloth, three on the right and two on the left. At the far end of the room was a single window that opened up to a stable behind the inn.

Finding the others, he saw that Penelope had taken the bed at the end of the room on the right; Hartley had, of course, chosen to occupy the bed directly next to hers; and William took the spot closest to the door. That left the two beds on the left for Crow and Abraxas. He moved to take the empty bed by the window. It was across from Penelope and as far from William as the small room allowed him to get.

Not much talking went on as the group prepared themselves to sleep. Crow laid down on his bed, throwing the blanket over himself and yawning tiredly. He relished the warmth of the linen and the softness of the mattress beneath his body. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so fortunately as to spend the night in something so luxurious. Even before he had gone to prison, he had been living in a makeshift hovel in the outskirts of a village. He had built up such a widespread reputation for himself that he couldn’t afford to show his face at an inn without risking arrest. It had been years since he had last slept in a bed like this.

[i]I could get used to this,[/i] he thought, stretching out contentedly. He gazed out the window at the starry night sky as he drifted off to sleep.

--

The morning came all too soon for Crow. He awoke to the sounds of William and Abraxas putting on their armor. Rolling over lazily, he pulled the blanket farther over his head. He didn’t want to get up from the comfort of the mattress until he absolutely had to.

Crow was just beginning to get lulled back to sleep when he felt someone yank the sheets down from his head. William stood over him, impatiently tapping his foot, “Get up, thief. We’re leaving.”

“Just a little longer,” Crow groaned, shoving the pillow over his head.

“Move it, or I’m going to use that to smother you,” William growled humorlessly.

“Fine,” Crow glared at him and forced his weary body into a sitting position.

Once everyone was ready to go, they headed down to the front of the inn, where Abraxas had brought the wagon around to pick them up. Crow climbed into the back with Hartley and Penelope while the other two knights took up their usual spots on the horses. He sat down, meeting Penelope’s gaze across the cart as he attempted to strike up a conversation, “I wish William would have let us sleep in. Those beds were heavenly.” He offered her a friendly smile. “How did you sleep, love?”