Crow spent most of the following three days sleeping as he recovered from his injuries. Between the battle and his encounter with the knights, he was too sore to do much else. During this time, Simon took over his command of the thieves, leading Alistair and Rikki on patrols of their own to keep watch for enemies. After learning about the additional scouts the knights had started sending out, the anxious thief wanted to make sure they didn’t get anywhere close to the ravine where their camp was hidden. Fortunately, all remained quiet on the southern side of the outer villages, and they didn’t run into any trouble.

Whenever she wasn’t helping Alistair and Simon on their patrols, Rikki stayed close to Crow’s side during his recovery. The day after he had returned to the camp, she admitted to him that she had felt somewhat responsible for his capture because he had gotten caught while he was trying to protect her. Despite his numerous assurances that it wasn’t her fault, she chose to stay by his side anyway, bringing him food and water and redressing his wounds while he stayed in the shelter.

Even though he didn’t agree with her reasoning, Crow found that he did enjoy Rikki’s company. She had a comforting presence, and he liked having her around to talk whenever he wasn’t sleeping. Chatting with her made the time go by faster and took his mind off of the pain of his injuries, which was something he greatly appreciated.

On the evening of the third day, Crow got up to have dinner with the other thieves in the center of the camp instead of eating in his bed as he normally did as of late. Knowing the time was drawing near for him to meet with Penelope again, he wanted to get his body used to moving again so he would be prepared to make the trip to Myrefall. He felt stiff from lying around all day, but otherwise the soreness of his wounds had faded enough that he didn’t think he would have any trouble getting there and back on his own.

As he walked over to them, Alistair looked up to greet him, “Hey, Crow. Finally feeling better, I see.”

“Much,” he nodded, sitting down by the fire pit and reaching for a bowl to serve himself his portion of dinner.

“Do your wounds still hurt?” Rikki frowned concernedly as she moved to get up. “I can get your food for you.”

“Sit down,” Crow rolled his eyes at her teasingly. “I’m fine. A little sore, but it’s nothing compared to two days ago. Don’t worry.”

“I take it you’re still planning to meet with that knight then?” Simon said as he lifted a spoonful of stew to his mouth. Crow had told them all when his next meeting with Penelope would be a couple days ago.

“Of course,” he shrugged, filling his own bowl up and taking a bite.

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?” Rikki asked. “I could go in your place, if you want.”

“Calm down, love,” Crow chuckled. “I really am fine.”

“Okay,” Rikki reluctantly dropped the subject.

The thieves spent the rest of the dinner conversing idly until night fell and it was time for Crow to leave. He got up to put his cloak on and arm himself with one of the spare sets of daggers they kept in their small store of weapons. The blades weren’t as high quality as the ones he had lost to the knights, but for now, they would have to suffice.

Once he was ready to go, he said his goodbyes and headed up the side of the ravine to meet with Penelope in Myrefall.