The next day, Crow woke up to find that he wasn’t alone. Hazel was sitting on a bed on the other side of the room, chewing on the end of a writing quill as she stared down at an open book on her lap. He yawned and sat up as well, leaning back against the wall. Just like the previous morning, he felt much better rested than he normally did after having been able to sleep on a soft bed in the security of Evelyn’s house. On top of that, his wounds pained him even less than they had the day before. The rest seemed to have done quite a bit to aid in his recovery, and he felt confident that he could make the journey back to the thieves’ ravine without any trouble today. Feeling a bit more awake, he glanced over at Hazel. She was still poring over her book and didn’t seem to have noticed that he was up now. He cleared his throat to get her attention, “Do you remember who got that book for you?” The herbalist startled and looked up at him before regaining her composure again. “Some petty thief,” she shrugged carelessly. “I don’t remember who.” “Come on,” he rolled his eyes. “Why are you so dead set on only remembering the one thing I did to hurt you? I did plenty to help you as well, like steal that medicinal book from that traveling physician because you said you wanted it.” “Right,” she drawled. “Because a book is enough to make up for the fact that you took advantage of me and left without so much as a word of goodbye.” “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I was stupid and selfish, and I shouldn’t have done that. If I could take it back, I would, but unfortunately, I can’t change the past.” She pursed her lips for a moment before looking back down at her book, “Seven hundred and one.” “Really?” he sighed. “Is there nothing I can do to make it up to you?” “Hmm,” she tapped her quill to her chin. “No.” “I give up,” Crow groaned in exasperation. He turned to swing his legs over the side of the bed and got up, heading into the other room to get away from the stubborn woman for a bit. Her vengefulness was starting to grate on his nerves, and he wished he didn’t need her help to find a cure for his illness. Unfortunately, her skills as an herbalist were unmatched in the outer villages, so she was the best chance he had. He would just have to put up with her attitude for now and hope she found the cure quickly. In the adjoining room, Evelyn had prepared another breakfast of eggs with a side of dark bread. Three plates were already set out on the table, still fresh enough that he could see steam rising from the food. Stomach growling in anticipation, the thief sat down in one of the chairs and dug into the fullest plate. As he ate, Evelyn came over to join him. “I see Hazel hasn’t left yet,” the tavern keeper mused. “So, I take it that means your conversation didn’t go too poorly, hmm?” “It wasn’t completely terrible,” Crow admitted. “But you were right about her holding a grudge against me. She really doesn’t know how to let go of the past, does she?” “It is a bit of a weakness in her,” Evelyn nodded. “Well, she’s going to have to learn to get over it soon, because she’s going to come with me when I leave today.” “Really?” Evelyn smirked in amusement. “How did you manage that?” “It’s a long story,” he gave a one-shouldered shrug, not wanting to go into the details with the old woman. The less people knew about his illness, the better. “All that matters is that she agreed to come back to my camp to help me with something important.” “Well, I’m glad you were able to get through to my daughter,” the tavern keeper said. “I only hope she proves to be helpful to you.” “Me too,” he let out his breath quietly. After a while, Hazel came out of the spare room to eat her portion of breakfast. As she sat down at the table, a tense silence fell between the three. Crow refused to meet her gaze, still off-put by her harsh words, but Evelyn eventually made small talk with her daughter. Everyone relaxed slightly as the uncomfortable quiet was broken. Once Hazel had finished eating, she and Crow got ready to leave for the thieves’ camp. He put on his boots and shouldered the small bag he had brought, while she put together an assortment of medical supplies. He didn’t recognize all of it, but he did notice her stow away some dried plants, some cooking pots, and a few books that he guessed contained information she would use to figure out how to treat him. After she had gathered everything she needed, they said their goodbyes to Evelyn and began to long walk to the ravine. For a while, neither one of them said anything, but eventually, Hazel was the one to break the silence. “Are you still living with that band of thieves?” she asked curtly, casting him a sideways glance. “Yeah,” he said. “So…” she looked away from him. “Is that woman still with you too?” “Raven?” he turned to her with a frown. “Of course. Why do you ask?” “Just curious,” she muttered, suddenly seeming irritable. He watched her curiously for a moment. Was she jealous? He didn’t see why she would be. She had made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him anymore, so why would she care what he did with other women? It didn’t make sense. However, not wanting to risk upsetting her more by pressing for details, he let the subject drop, and they continued walking in silence again. After another long period of time passed, Crow was the one to speak up. “If you don’t mind, I have one more small favor to ask,” he said hesitantly. “What now?” Hazel groaned. “Please don’t mention anything about my illness to the others,” he said softly, ignoring her tone. “I haven’t told them about it, and I don’t want them to find out unless they absolutely have to.” “Still keeping secrets from the people you care about, I see,” she snorted. “You haven’t changed one bit.” “I’m serious,” he shot her a glare. “I don’t want them to know, because they’ll just end up worrying for no reason. Just tell them I asked you to help treat our wounds in the upcoming battles.” “Now you want me to lie for you?” she whistled. “You’re incorrigible.” “Darling, please,” he begged. “This is important to me.” Hazel held his gaze for a moment before she sighed, “Fine, but only if you let me take three items I want from the things you’ve stolen.” “Deal,” he agreed, visibly relaxing as she complied with his request. Feeling a bit more at ease now that he knew he could trust her to keep his secret, he lapsed into a peaceful silence that lasted the rest of their journey to the ravine. -- Crow and Hazel arrived in the thieves’ camp just after sunset. As he expected, the others were quick to question why the herbalist had come back with him, but they accepted his explanation that she was only there to treat their wounds even faster. With no reason to doubt her appearance, they helped make her feel welcome in the hideout. Alistair set out a bedroll and blanket for her in the shelter, Simon prepared a late dinner, and Rikki chatted with her while she set down her things. In the meantime, Crow slipped away from them all to continue working through his own dilemma in private. With the time fast approaching for his next meeting with Penelope, he needed to decide what he was going to do. After everything that had happened that day, he hadn’t had much time to think about it. He contemplated his discussion with Hazel again. The herbalist hadn’t been confident that she would be able to find a cure for him, but she seemed determined enough to try. Even though he didn’t know for sure if he would be healed, could he really shut down the opportunity to be with Penelope because of a chance? The more he thought about it, the more unreasonable the idea became. As long as no one caught them together, they had until the end of the war before the knight’s life would change at all. If his prospect of getting better didn’t improve by then, he could always back out later and spare her the pain of losing everything she had worked so hard to achieve. There was no point in ending things now, when he had no idea which direction his health would turn. Feeling more resolved, he headed back to the camp to get his cloak, ready to find out what Penelope’s decision would be.