For Crow, the rest was very much needed. He slept soundly throughout the night, drifting into a little deeper of a sleep than he normally did since his body was recovering from the battle the day before. So, when Penelope came over to wake him, he just stirred slightly and rolled over. “Not yet…” he murmured, burying his face against the pillow. The bed was so warm and inviting, and he was still sore from his injuries. He didn’t want to leave the comfort of the mattress until he absolutely had to.

“Get up, Lockton,” William’s now-awake voice spoke up from the other end of the room. The knight had already put on his boots and was currently inspecting the bandages on his arm to make sure they had held up overnight. “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we get back to the king.” He stood up and walked over to stand next to Penelope at the thief’s bedside, crossing his arms impatiently. “Besides that, I want to take a look at your chest again before we go. I’m sure you don’t want to die of infection the moment you get back to your cell, hm?”

“Fine,” Crow grumbled irritably, caving at the thought of leaving such a serious wound unchecked and getting worse in the outer villages, where there were no skilled healers. He forced himself to sit up and shifted to lean back against the headboard of the bed. With a bit of effort, he removed his tunic so the knight could have access to the bandages that were wrapped around his chest.

William worked efficiently, unraveling the bandages just enough that he could take a quick look at the thief’s suturing. Curious to see the extent of the wound for himself—he had kept his eyes closed during and after the removal of the dagger—Crow glanced down at his chest. A wide laceration ornamented his right side, sewn closed with catgut strands. Even though it looked like the knight had done a good job treating him, the sight of a fresh, gaping wound in his own body made him feel sick, and he had to look away again.

“Looks like you’re healing fine,” William said brusquely as he rewrapped the bandages around the thief’s chest. “I don’t think I’ll need to check it again before we get back. As long as you don’t mess with it, you’ll live.”

“Good to know,” Crow rolled his eyes and put his tunic back on after the knight had finished redressing his wound. Now wide awake after seeing the stitching in his side, he twisted at the waist to sit on the edge of the bed and bent down to put on his boots, grimacing slightly as the motion pained him yet again.

Once he was ready to go, he stood up and turned to Penelope, “I’ll go get the horses and meet you at the front.”