“Thank gods,” Crow sighed as Penelope said they were getting close to the border. While he wasn’t particularly excited about parting ways with her, he was definitely looking forward to returning to the security of the outer villages. After three weeks of travelling and getting attacked almost nonstop, he was ready for a well-deserved break. It would be nice to just rest and recover for a while without worrying about getting killed by mercenaries.

As she went on to say that she was looking forward to being able to settle down, he smiled to himself, sharing in her excitement. The prospect of really settling down would be hard to reach for a while, simply because of their circumstances, but he was hopeful that they would find a way to do it anyhow. He was already starting to strategize ways in which they could get away from all of the people who would be after them when they reunited in the outer villages. For one thing, he could stop stealing from high profile targets so the local knights would be less inclined to go after him. Then, once the uproar that Penelope’s disappearance would inevitably cause died down, they would be in a good place to try and make the dream of settling down into a reality. He couldn’t wait.

[color=fff79a][b]“I’m wondering if we should get three beds tonight,”[/b][/color] Penelope’s words made him knit his brow in confusion until she went on to explain: [color=fff79a][b]“With that wound, it might be better for you to have a bed to yourself.”[/b][/color]

Crow lowered his gaze, thinking over her suggestion. He preferred to lay next to her—especially after being attacked again for the umpteenth time—but she did have a good point. If either of them shifted in their sleep, they might risk inadvertently bumping his stitching and reopening the wound. Perhaps it would be better for them to sleep apart, at least until his body healed a bit more.

“You’re probably right,” he admitted after a moment’s pause, meeting her gaze again. “I’ll sleep in my own bed tonight.”

--

After they had traveled a bit farther down the road, William spotted an inn where they could stop and rest for the night. They stopped at the entrance, and Crow climbed down from the stallion’s back. He repeated the routine he had come up with the night before, taking both horses around to the stables behind the inn, hiding the staff and bow behind the hay bales, and returning to meet up with the knights in the parlor.

By this point, the thief’s exhaustion from the day’s activities had finally begun to catch up with him. His back ached from falling off of the horse, he could feel multiple bruises on various parts of his body, the stab wound in his chest still pained him in short bursts, and the older arrow wound in his leg seemed to have gotten irritated again as well.

[i]I’m a complete mess,[/i] he shook his head as he walked around to the front of the inn. He was relieved that it wouldn’t be long before he was lying down on a soft bed within the safety of the inn walls.