Crow was a bit surprised when Penelope told him so much about her friendship with Olivia. He had been expecting her to dodge around the question, as she had with the last, but instead, the way she shared it all with him reminded him of their conversations two years ago. He found himself relaxing to the soothing sound of her voice as he listened to her story, reminded of better times with her in their long wagon rides to Younis.

He was slightly concerned when she said she had talked to Olivia about their relationship, but his worries were quickly laid to rest when she assured him that she had kept his secrets from the other knight. Even though they weren’t together anymore, he was glad she hadn’t told anyone else about the things he had opened up to her about in confidence. It was good to know that his past had been kept solely between the two of them, as he had hoped it would be.

At her next question, he hesitated again. It was a topic he had avoided the last time it had been brought up, but it was one that he knew he wanted to talk to her about. Perhaps it was because of her openness with him, or the knowledge that she had kept his secrets for two years, or his weariness from the long day, or some combination of all three, but he found that, despite the fact that he knew he shouldn’t be so open with her anymore, he wanted her to know at least some of the things he had been through.

“It’s not gone,” he said with an amused smile. “I’ve just learned to handle it better.” His smile faded as he thought about the battles he had been in, and he sighed. “When the war started last year, the other thieves and I knew right away that we wanted to protect the villagers. It started out a lot more innocent though. We usually found ourselves in the middle of battles on accident, so we would just do what we could to help the women and children evacuate safely. There wasn’t much else we could do at that point. Simon, Rikki, And Alistair already knew how to fight to some degree, but none of them were a match for the knights, so they avoided fighting unless they could catch them by surprise.

“However, I was even worse off than they were,” he lowered his gaze. “I thought I could handle war. After all, I had been in a couple of fights before, so how much worse could a real battle be, right?” He snorted. “I had no idea what I was in for back then. My fear… it got much worse in the beginning. During the first battle, I completely froze. The flashbacks from my childhood came back, more vivid than they ever had been before. At one point, I couldn’t tell what was real from what was fake.

“And the next battles weren’t any better,” he frowned as the memories came back and then looked up again to meet Penelope’s gaze. “I was too stubborn to admit that the fighting was too much for me to handle, so I continued to put myself in dangerous positions even though I froze every time.” The corner of his lip turned upward in a small smile. “I honestly owe my life to Rikki. She’s incredibly sharp, and she noticed my issue without me having to tell her anything. She never told the others either. She just helped me snap out of it whenever the flashbacks happened so I could get to safety.

“Between her help and my foolish stubbornness to get over my aversion, it eventually just went away on its own for the most part,” he stretched his legs in front of himself, trying to stave off his weariness. “It still happens sometimes—it even did in the last battle—but I’ve gotten better at talking myself out of it, so it’s hardly ever a problem anymore.”

Unable to hold it back anymore, Crow let out the yawn he had been trying to stifle. He felt much better after confiding the personal story in Penelope, even though it hadn’t been his original intention to tell her about it at all. It was nice to be on good enough terms with her that he could speak openly again.

Glancing outside of the hollow once more, he saw that it was still just as dark as it had been before, and he groaned inwardly. It was probably still the middle of the night, yet he was completely exhausted. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay awake if they stayed much longer. Turning back to Penelope, he eyed her foot contemplatively. They were hoping to leave before morning, but even then, there was no guarantee that she would feel well enough to walk on it. There had to be something they could do.

After thinking for a moment, he blinked as an idea came to him. “I think I’ve got it,” he said, looking up at her again. “I might have a way for you to get back to your camp on your own.”