Crow awoke in the evening of the next day to the smell of food. He blinked his eyes open and yawned, stretching languidly as he saw that someone had left two plates of food next to his bed. Recalling his conversation with Hazel the previous night, he guessed she must have asked Simon to bring him the leftovers from their lunch and supper. His stomach growled in anticipation, and he forced himself to sit up. After not having eaten anything the day before, he devoured his food ravenously, finishing off both plates in no time at all.

With a pleasantly full belly for the first time in days, he let out a content exhale and pushed the empty plates aside, finally taking a moment to look around the camp. This time, he wasn’t alone. Near the hearth at the front of the cavern, he saw all four of his companions lounging around a glowing fire. The sounds of their idle talking and laughter echoed to him across the stony walls. The sight made him feel a bit outcast, since he guessed they probably met like this often to enjoy each other’s company while he was asleep. However, not wanting to let the feeling get him down, he decided to take the opportunity to visit with them now.

Taking a steeling breath, he pushed himself to his feet and used the support of the nearby cave wall to make his way over to the fireplace. Alistair was the first to notice him approaching, so he shifted over to make room for Crow in the half-circle they had formed. “How’s it going?” he offered Crow a friendly grin.

“Same as always,” the thief answered simply, appreciating his companion’s effort to treat him normally despite his illness. Amongst all of them, Alistair had been the most consistent in his behavior since he had told them all about it. Even when he volunteered to help his leader get up from his bed, he always gave him a chance to try standing on his own first before he moved in to offer his support. It was nice to know that, at least outwardly, the wily thief wasn’t going to look at him any differently because of his affliction.

“Well, change is overrated anyway,” Alistair said, turning back to watch the burning fire. “Personally, I think if a day isn’t bad, there’s no reason to do anything different.”

“Is that so?” Crow eyed him in amusement. “And here I thought you liked a change of pace.”

“Maybe I changed my mind,” Alistair shrugged.

“Hm,” Crow smirked, looking over at the fire as well. He didn’t have to prod to know that the other thief was going through this “change” because of a woman. He had figured out long ago that whenever Alistair met someone he thought was special, he started calming down from his usual antics. Crow suspected he did it to look more mature to whomever he was seeing at the time. The phase never lasted though. As soon as he moved on from the woman or she grew tired of him, he always returned to his usual rowdy self, as if nothing had ever happened.

He glanced across the group to see Simon and Hazel sitting closely together on the other side of the hearth. Ever since the night when Simon had worked up the nerve to start courting her, they had been spending quite a bit of time together. Crow was glad that things seemed to be going so well for them, not just because they were happy, but also because the two had become much more pleasant company to be around. Both Simon and Hazel had tongues like daggers when they were irritable, but now that they were in such good spirits with each other, they weren’t nearly as abrasive towards him or the others.

As he observed them quietly for a moment, he noticed Hazel’s blue eyes flick towards the opening of the cave every once in a while, as if she was checking the progress of the sun’s journey across the sky. He wondered why she was keeping such close track of the time. Perhaps he could convince her to tell him.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Crow asked from across the fireplace, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

Hazel turned towards him and pursed her lips together before answering his question, “I’m meeting with that knight of yours and her physician tonight.”

“Oh,” the thief blinked in surprise. He remembered her mention that she was going to work with the physician that Penelope had found, but he hadn’t expected the meeting to come so soon. He averted his gaze, wishing that he was able to come with her. It had been nearly ten days since the last time he had seen Penelope. Part of him was tempted to ask Hazel to find out if there was any way she could get the knight to come visit him in the camp, but he couldn’t make such a request in front of the others. It would be a dead giveaway to Simon and Alistair about their relationship, and to Rikki, it would be like rubbing salt in an open wound. So, instead, he forced a halfhearted smile, “Well, good luck.”

“Thanks,” the herbalist nodded. She casted one last glance out the cave entrance before rising to her feet. “I should probably get going. The sooner I meet with these nobles, the sooner it will all be over.” She gave an exaggerated shudder and reached down to give Simon’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Alright,” he nodded, looking up at her with an affectionate smile. “Don’t be long.”

“I hope I won’t be,” Hazel said as she moved to grab her cloak. Drawing the hood over her head, she headed out into the night without a word of goodbye to anyone else.

Crow watched her until she vanished around the corner and then lowered his gaze with a quiet sigh. He hoped this physician that Penelope had told them about was as talented as she had made her seem to be. If she could help Hazel find a cure, he would finally be able to put this whole illness behind him.