“Hey. Time to get up.”

Crow groaned and rolled over on his bed, brushing Hazel’s hand off his shoulder. The herbalist let out an impatient huff and shook him again, “In case you forgot, you’re the one who wanted me to wake you up this morning. If you’re going to be difficult, I can just leave.”

“No, no, I’m up,” he mumbled, blinking tiredly as he forced himself to sit up. Even though he knew he had gotten a full night of sleep, he felt like he had barely rested at all. His illness was become a real pain to deal with.

“Good,” Hazel rocked back on her heels. “Everyone else got up just a little while ago. I waited them out, so they wouldn’t know I was the one who woke you.”

“Thanks,” he said, grateful for her effort to keep his secret. Sitting up a bit straighter, he stretched out his limbs and torso in an attempt to shake off the lingering weariness. When he was finished, he still felt a little tired, but he was awake enough to get up. He turned back to Hazel, “You should go on ahead of me. I’ll meet you all outside in a bit.”

“Okay,” she nodded and rose to her feet, heading out to join the other thieves in the camp.

Crow got up as well, but took a few minutes before he left, so he could put some distance between himself and Hazel. Once he felt like a plausible amount of time had passed, he walked out of the shelter to meet up with the others. They were already sitting by the fire pit as Alistair prepared what smelled like a chicken and vegetable stew.

As he approached, Rikki took notice of him and shifted to make room for him to sit beside her. She flashed him a friendly smile, “Glad to see you’re up early again. I was started to get tired of talking to Simon and Alistair every morning.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore,” he smirked at her.

“I take it you’re feeling better then?” she asked as she moved a little closer to him.

“Starting to, anyway,” he answered with a shrug. “Either way, I don’t intend to keep sleeping through the mornings.”

“That’s good,” her dark eyes flicked to the others for a moment before she leaned a little closer to him and went on in a lowered voice. “I was thinking… maybe we could ‘take a walk’ later. It’s been a while since the last time we’ve gotten away.”

Crow shifted uncomfortably. It had only been four days since he had gotten back together with Penelope, and he was already going to have to start dodging Rikki’s attempts to sleep with him. “I’d like to,” he offered her a helpless smile. “But I don’t think I’m feeling quite that well yet. I’m sorry, love.”

“Oh,” Rikki frowned. “No, it’s okay. I understand.” She returned his smile with one of her own. “You just let me know when you’re feeling better, and we can go then.”

“I will,” he lied.

Having settled the matter with the female thief easily, Crow enjoyed a peaceful breakfast with his companions. They shared stories of the raids they had gone on and discussed options of what to do with their massive stockpile of stolen supplies. As they talked, he felt a pang of envy for all the morning conversations he had missed while he had been sleeping in due to his illness. Since they often separated to do their own things after breakfast, he hadn’t been able to keep up with their lives in over a week. It was nice to finally be able to catch up with them again.

After everyone had finished eating, the thieves went off to different part of the camp to rest in their own ways. Since they had all gone on raids the day before, they all wanted to stay in the ravine to recuperate for their next tasks, whatever they may be. Simon sat in the shade of a tree, practicing his writing, while Rikki and Alistair sparred with short swords for a while and then sat around to gamble. Crow, still feeling a little tired, opted to head back into the shelter to take a nap.

However, just as he was about to lay down, Hazel came in after him. He turned to her curiously, “Did you need something?”

“I wanted to talk to you some more,” she said.

“Oh?” he raised a brow at her in amusement. “Are you starting to enjoy my company?”

“You wish, snake,” she snorted. “I meant, I wanted to talk to you about your illness some more. I need all the details, everything you’re experiencing, so I can make the best decision about how to approach it.”

“Sure,” he nodded and then glanced at the entrance to the shelter. “We probably shouldn’t do this here though. I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

“You and your secrets,” she shook her head. “Fine. Where do you want to go?”

“Nowhere in particular,” he shrugged, moving to put his boots back on in preparation to leave. “I just want to get far enough way that we won’t be eavesdropped on.”

“Walk and talk?” Hazel suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Crow agreed. He led the way as they stepped back outside, heading for the side of the ravine. Just as he began to climb up the side, he heard a voice call out from behind him.

“Hey, Crow!” Rikki trotted over with a confused look as she glanced between him and Hazel. “Where are you going?”

“Just out to talk about something,” he answered her vaguely.

“Oh,” she frowned, averting her gaze. “I see… Well, I guess I’ll catch you when you come back.”

Crow casted a glance at Hazel and then stepped closer to the female thief, lowering his voice so that only she would hear him, “It’s not like that. We really are just leaving to talk. I promise I didn’t turn you down just so I could ‘take a walk’ with her.” He offered her a reassuring smile. “Feel better?”

Rikki seemed to relax at his words. “Yeah,” she nodded, perking up a bit. “See you soon.”

“See you,” he raised his hand in a lazy wave and turned to head out of the camp with Hazel.

Once they were far enough away that they could speak freely, she turned to him with an inquisitive look, “You two seem pretty close.”

“I suppose you could say that,” he said casually. “She’s a good friend.”

“Just a friend?” the herbalist rolled her eyes. “Come on, even I could tell there’s something going on between you two, and I barely know the girl.”

“Nothing is going on,” he said. “Sure, we’ve slept together every once in a while, but that’s as far as it goes.” He turned to her in amusement. “You really like to accuse me of things, don’t you?”

“And you really don’t know how to commit to a woman, do you?” she retorted coldly, shaking her head. “I don’t understand you, Crow. You sleep around with whoever you want, and you don’t seem to have any interest in having a meaningful relationship with someone. Don’t you want to settle down someday and stop fooling around?”

[i]You have no idea,[/i] he thought. “I don’t know,” he said carelessly. “Maybe if I meet the right woman.” His expression softened as Penelope’s face appeared in his mind. Everything he was saying to Hazel now reminded him of how he had been two years ago before he had met the knight. Now, he couldn’t imagine going on with his life without her by his side. It was interesting just how much she had changed him in such a short period of time.

Hazel eyed him for a moment, seeming to catch the change in his face. She averted her gaze wistfully. “No, that’s not it,” she murmured. “You’ve already found someone, haven’t you?”

Crow blinked, surprised she had caught onto him so easily. He turned to her, prepared to lie and tell her she was wrong, but the somber expression on her face made him falter. Instead, he nodded wordlessly, unable to bring himself to deceive her.

“I see,” she said softly. A short moment of silence fell between them before she spoke up again. “Tell me something… Why was I not enough?” She looked up to meet his gaze with pained eyes. “What does this woman have that I don’t? I really cared about you—I did everything I could to win your heart. What’s so wrong with me that you couldn’t stay?”

“Darling, there’s nothing wrong with you,” he frowned. “You’re beautiful and talented, and I’m sure you’re going to make a great wife to another man someday.”

“Then why couldn’t I be that for you?” she said softly.

Crow looked away from her before he answered, “Because you shouldn’t marry a man who doesn’t love you.”

Hazel pursed her lips, staring down at the ground as they walked on. Another brief silence fell between them before she asked, “Do you love her... this other woman?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “More than my own life.”

“Well then, she’s a lucky girl.”

For a while, neither one of them said anything more. Hazel seemed to be working through some emotions on her own, so Crow left her alone to process without interruption. However, after some time had passed, she seemed to be ready to move onto the reason why they had left the camp in the first place. She pulled out a piece of blank paper and a writing quill, turning to him with fiery determination, “Alright, tell me again what this illness does to you, and don’t leave out any details. I’m going to find you a cure, even if I have to stay in this hellhole for years.”