“I will,” Crow agreed when Penelope asked him to wake her up when they needed to leave. He sat down next to the fire again with his supplies in hand. After tending to the flames a bit more, he poured the almond oil into the pot and dropped the dried henbane plant in with it. All that was left now was to sit back and wait for the liquid to boil long enough for it to be an effective poison. He leaned back on his palms and sighed, halfheartedly looking around his surroundings for signs of motion. Of course, there was none, so he busied himself by picking up a stick and tracing meaningless patterns in the dirt.

Time passed slowly by as he watched small bubbles begin to rise in the pot.  The sun sank lower in the sky, and he yawned as his body habitually prepared to sleep. He quietly stood up and paced around the edge of the small clearing, using the movement to keep himself alert. With nothing else to do, his mind wandered absently to memories of the past. It was strange to think that this moment was the most similar to how he had lived before, yet it felt so much lonelier now. He was so used to Penelope’s warm company that doing anything by himself felt unnatural.

[i]I went so many years without knowing what I was missing out on,[/i] he mused, kicking a small rock with his foot. [i]And now that I’ve found it, I can’t imagine going back.[/i] His eyes wandered to Penelope who laid sleeping by the fire, and he smiled. Who would have thought that one person could have so much of an impact on another? Despite his arrest and imprisonment, he was glad things had turned out this way. It was all worth it to meet her.

--

After a while of waiting, Crow sat down by the pot again to see if it was done. By this point, the sun had almost reached the horizon, and the fire would be visible to anyone who happened to pass nearby. He swirled a stick in the oil, but having never tried to make a poison out of henbane before, he wasn’t sure how to tell if it needed more time. He drummed his fingers on his knee, trying to remember what Hazel had taught him about herbs.

[i]Mix the plant with a cooking oil and leave it boiling over a fire,[/i] he recalled unhelpfully. [i]Damn it, she never said how long to let it sit.[/i] He let out his breath and glanced up at the darkening sky. Whether the solution was done or not, he couldn’t let the fire burn any longer or he would risk getting spotted by a knight. Setting the pot aside, he threw dirt over the flames to put them out, covering any trace that they had been there.

Once that was done, he sat back and looked at Penelope again. It was getting dark out, but there was still some time to spare before they needed to leave, so he didn’t want to wake her up just yet. He glanced back at the pot of henbane oil. He still didn’t know if it had cooked long enough to work, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving his plan up to chance either. [i]Maybe I can test it,[/i] he thought, tapping his index finger on the ground. [i]It’s poison, but I only threw in one plant. It can’t be[/i] that [i]potent, right?[/i]

Crow picked up the stick he had been using to draw in the dirt and dipped the tip in the pot. When he pulled it back out, it was slick with golden oil. He held it still for a moment before, succumbing to his curiosity, he brought it to his mouth and let a couple of drops fall on his tongue.

At first, he felt nothing but a slight tingling sensation from the warmth of the liquid, and he worried it hadn’t boiled long enough after all. However, after a few seconds, he started to feel light headed. He blinked in surprise. The unusual feeling continued to spread, until he became disconnected from both his surroundings and his own body. He tried to raise a hand to his head, but his arm wouldn’t comply. Suddenly lethargic, he laid down on the ground, staring up at the dark blue sky as the henbane took its course through his body.

[i]At least… I know it works now,[/i] he thought sluggishly, his breaths coming to him in the form of soft panting. For a moment, he worried he might have made it too potent after all, but he quickly put the fear to rest. Even though he found it difficult to breathe, it didn’t feel like his lungs were seizing up. He would be fine once the poison worked its way out of his system.

He winced, realizing he was in no shape to keep watch anymore. From what he knew about henbane, it wouldn’t be long before he started hallucinating, and once that happened, he wouldn’t be able to tell a knight from a tree. Forcing himself to move, he reached for Penelope’s shoulder to wake her up. “Hey,” he said slowly. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. “Keep watch for a bit… Henbane works.”