Crow spent the remainder of his night catching up with Evelyn in the tavern while she cleaned up. Even though he was tired, he wanted to take the opportunity to find out how the village of Silverpool was faring in the war. From what the tavern keeper could tell him, it sounded like they were still doing alright. They had seen a few small battles, but so far there hadn’t been anything devastating enough to cause the villagers any serious problems. Of course, they had suffered a few losses, but apart from that, they were going on with their lives just fine.

After a while, he grew too weary to stay up, so he said his goodbyes to Evelyn and headed off to her house to get some rest. As he walked down the main road, he looked absently over the surrounding houses, his mind wandering back to his conversation with Penelope the night before. It still felt so surreal. For the last two years of his life, he had thought she was gone and that he would never even see her again. Then, just a few weeks ago, he had found her again, but she seemed to have moved on with her life and didn’t want to be with him anymore. Now, after all of that, the door had been opened again for them to be together once more. He shook his head. It was hard to believe it was real.

He knew he had told her to take all the time she needed to make her decision, but the wait was already getting hard to endure. He wished he had some way to predict what she was going to choose, but he really couldn’t say. She had been willing to give up everything for him before, but now she had so much more to lose: her power, her status, her reputation, even her nobleman suitor. Would she really sacrifice all of that for a thief? Even if she still loved him just as much as before, it was a lot to ask. Part of him even hoped she would choose not to be with him, just so he wouldn’t have to bear the weight of taking everything away from her.

Feeling conflicted, Crow pushed the thought aside. He couldn’t put that burden on himself. As he had told Penelope the other night: It was her decision to make. Regardless of what he thought she should do, the knight was the one who would ultimately decide her own fate. If she was still willing to give up her life as a knight for him, then he wasn’t going to try to change her mind.

He let out his breath in a sigh. He just wished he didn’t feel so trapped. If she chose to continue on with her life as it was, he would have to suffer through her rejection twice. However, if she chose to be with him, he would be happy that they were together, but he would also feel like he had stolen her life away from her. It was a difficult position to be in.

When he finally reached Evelyn’s house, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Since the old woman harbored thieves often, she usually left her door unlocked to make her home easier for them to access. In exchange, they promised not to steal anything from her. It was a simple system that worked well for everyone involved.

Having spent a lot of time in her house throughout varies parts of his life, Crow had no trouble navigating his way to the room she had set up for guests without lighting a lantern. He walked over to the bed, finding it already prepared with a pillow and blanket, and smiled to himself. Evelyn was always ready to have guests over, even when she had no notice of their arrival. It was one of the many qualities that he appreciated about the old woman. If he ever found himself in need of a place to stay, he knew he could count on her to take him in at the last minute.

He yawned tiredly and laid down on the bed, drawing the blanket over himself as he relaxed into the soft mattress. Being able to sleep on a real bed was luxurious to him in his sore and battered state. He knew he would have no trouble at all falling asleep on it, even with his concerns about Penelope’s decision.

And he wasn’t wrong. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, the thief drifted off into a sound slumber.

--

The next morning, Crow woke up feeling much better than he had the day before. His body still ached from his wounds, but the pain had dulled to the point where he could almost forget it was there if he distracted himself. He sat up and stretched languidly, enjoying the feeling of being so well rested for the first time in a while. It was a pleasant change from the way he usually woke up—stiff and cold from sleeping on the ground all night.

After taking a little while longer to wait for the last of his weariness to fade, he climbed down from the bed and made his way into the main room of Evelyn’s house. The old woman was preparing breakfast when he arrived. She looked up and greeted him with a nod, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” he yawned in return, sitting down at a table in the parlor.

A brief silence fell between them as Evelyn turned her attention back to making breakfast. When she finished, she brought over two plates of cooked eggs, setting one down in front of the thief before taking a seat across from him at the table. He mumbled a word of thanks and dug into his meal, grateful that she had given him quite a bit of food to sate his ravenous appetite.

When he finished his eggs, Crow leaned back in his chair and met Evelyn’s gaze to ask, “So, do you know when Hazel will be back today?”

“I’m not sure,” the tavern keeper answered. “She only wrote that she intended to be home before dusk.”

“I see,” Crow frowned, drumming his fingers on the table in thought. “Do you think she’ll stay if she sees me here?” He was concerned that, in her hate for him, Evelyn’s daughter might cut her visit short if she knew he was staying in Silverpool. The last time they had run into each other, Evelyn had been the one to convince Hazel not to leave, and even then, it had taken quite a bit of persuasion. The stubborn girl might not be so easily persuaded a second time.

“I can’t say,” Evelyn said honestly. “You’ll just have to hope she’s in a good mood, I suppose.”

“Hm,” he grunted. “Well, in any case, if she might be a while, there’s no point in me waiting around here.” He stood up from the table. “Thanks again for breakfast. I’m going to go for a walk.”

“Mhm,” she nodded. “If you need me for any reason, don’t be afraid to ask. I’ll be heading to the tavern to open up around midday.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Crow said appreciatively. “See you later, love.”

Dropping off his plate in her kitchen, he headed out to explore the town, intending to pass the time by checking up on the village as he waited for Hazel to arrive.