“It’s henbane,” Crow explained, slinging his bow over his shoulder again. “Do you remember Evelyn—the tavern keeper from the village we stayed in before we crossed into Younis? Her daughter, Hazel, is an herbalist. She makes medicines for the people in their village, since there’s a lot of illness there. She and I used to—” he trailed off, turning slightly red. “Err… we used to know each other when I lived there. Anyway, she taught me about plants like this one. Henbane is really useful for a lot of things, but I used it as a pain killer.”

He plucked one of the flowers from the stalk, spinning it between his fingers. “If you rub the petals on your skin, it causes numbness. It’s great for taking away pain.” He looked up again to meet her gaze. “Sometimes, it’ll make you hallucinate too, but if you have a dagger in your side, it’s a small price to pay for the relief. Here, I’ll show you,” he pulled one of the small yellow petals off of the flower and reached for Penelope’s arm, pressing the petal to the inside of her forearm and massaging it along her skin with his thumb.

“Don’t worry,” he smirked at her. “This isn’t enough to make you hallucinate. At the most, you might feel a little lightheaded for a few minutes. But you can’t feel me touching your arm there anymore, can you?” He let go of her and dropped the petal, watching it flutter down to the grass at their feet. “That’s not why I took it though,” he eyed the plant in his hand contemplatively.

“Henbane can be used in battle too,” Crow said, meeting Penelope’s gaze seriously. “It’s tricky to work with, but if you apply the right amount to the edge of a blade, you can make your enemies become too delirious to fight when you cut them. You just have to be careful not to use too much if you don’t want to kill them, because if too much henbane gets in your body, it can paralyze your lungs and make you stop breathing.” He held up the arrow in his other hand. “I think we should use it when we get to the castle. I’ve had enough practice with it on myself that I think I can turn it into a nonlethal weapon.

“What do you think?” he asked, looking up at her once more. “Want to try it?”