Hazel rose from the table and trailed after the nobles as they headed towards the entrance of the tavern. As she walked, her mind was already working to come up with new ways to incorporate the herbs Jane had recommended. She was pleased to hear that they were so close to finding a cure for the thief’s illness. With the success of the last medicine and Jane’s knowledge of how to cure blood clotting—a symptom the herbalist had never heard of before—she felt confident that the next remedy she created would be the one to heal him of his disease.

She stepped onto the road, closing the door to the Ivory Hatchet behind her and drawing her cloak around her shoulders. As she turned to head northwest to the thieves’ camp, she hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder at the tavern. Following a hunch, she narrowed her eyes and hissed, “Crow.”

There was a moment of silence before a figure rounded the corner of the building. The thief’s eyes were fixed on the ground and his hands were shoved in his pockets as he stepped into her view. “How did you know I followed you?” he asked in a low voice.

“I didn’t until just now,” she smirked, pleased with herself for outsmarting him.

With a slight flush on his cheeks, Crow shot her a glare before averting his gaze again, “I know you told me to stay behind, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see her.”

“Uh huh,” Hazel crossed her arms irritably. Earlier that night, when she had been preparing to leave the cavern, the thief had insisted on joining her on her trip to Myrefall now that he was able to walk again. She had adamantly denied his request, since he wasn’t well enough to travel in her opinion, and she wasn’t sure how Jane would have reacted if she had seen him. If the physician recognized him, she might realize that Hazel and Crow knew each other—or worse, that Crow knew Penelope—and stop agreeing to meet with her altogether. She wasn’t about to let him ruin her chance at finding a cure for his illness just because he was too impatient to wait until he was feeling better to see his lover again.

“Tell me something,” she went on, curling her lip slightly. “Do any of the others know you’re here?”

“No,” Crow shifted his weight. “I left after they fell asleep.”

“What would you have done if something went wrong?” she asked. “No one knew you were out here. If your illness had gotten worse, or if a knight had caught you, none of us would have ever known what happened. Did you think about that?”

“I suppose not,” he answered and then shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter. You don’t understand, love. I haven’t seen Penelope in two weeks. I couldn’t miss this opportunity.”

“Was it really worth it, just to catch a glimpse of her back?” Hazel said dryly.

“I was hoping to stop her before she left,” he admitted. “But I couldn’t get close with that physician at her side.”

“Gods,” Hazel pinched the bridge of her nose. “You really didn’t think this through, did you, moron?”

“I’m doing the best I can,” Crow glowered at her. “Let’s see you try to go two weeks without seeing Simon without losing some of your rationality.”

The herbalist wavered at that. As much as she hated to admit it, she could understand his point. If she had to be separated from Simon for so long, it would drive her mad. After a moment, she let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine,” her gaze softened slightly. “I have a compromise: If—and only if—your next batch of medicine has positive results, I’ll talk to Penelope after our next meeting to arrange a time for you two to see each other. Until then, you will keep your nose out of my business. Deal?”

“Deal,” Crow nodded eagerly, visibly relaxing at the idea of seeing his noble lover again.

“Glad we got that sorted out,” she muttered, turning back towards the camp. “Come on, let’s go. It’s late, and I’m tired.”

Crow nodded again and trotted to catch up with her. The two talked idly as they made their way back to the tunnels to get some sleep for the night.

The following days went by slowly for Penelope despite the work she had to focus on. First and foremost was the replacing of Bran. Mia seemed to approve of the choices she presented her, though was a bit wary about promoting Gavin due to his inexperience. Penelope, rooting for her friend to get the position, spoke to Bran himself about it and got him to weigh in on the matter during the meeting between the barons. In the end, the barons settled on giving Gavin a chance after hearing Bran's support for him. The male knight was admittedly thrilled to receive the temporary job and immediately put all his focus in taking over the duties Bran previously had.

Due to this, he was usually more busy than before which meant Penelope was unable to spend as much time with him as she was before. Still, the two often joined each other for dinner, making a bit of time during their usually busy days. Between not seeing Crow for so long and spending more time with Gavin, it nearly felt like how life would have been if she had never run back into the thief. Though not particularly bad in any way, it felt rather lonely to her now as she continued to miss Crow. It made her hope that the day they could finally be together in Farhill would come sooner rather than later.

Penelope also started going on patrols with Layth again. Though it was unlikely that the knight would actually find the thieves, she couldn't help but worry due to Crow's current state. She might have been powerless to do much about the illness herself but she could at least try to keep him and his comrades safe from the other knights. Over the course of four days she began to wear down Layth's resolve in finding the thieves and tried to get him focused on the threat of Younis instead. While he didn't completely give up, Penelope did notice most of his patrols stuck closer to the border than before. It wasn't much but it at least made her hopeful that his stubbornness to find the thieves was dying down for now.

The fifth day finally came and the knight felt her stomach churn nervously. She remained hopeful about the last batch of medicine and with any luck, Crow would be feeling better. After going on a long patrol with Layth again, she returned to camp and headed off to find Jane as the sun began to sink. It was nearly time for them to leave.

The knight stepped over to Jane's tent, finding the physician scrambling to gather her things as she walked in. Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah. A meeting with Roger just ran a little late. His wound hasn't been healing properly because he refuses to listen to me so I spent more time treating him that I thought I would." Jane explained shaking her head. She finished packing and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I swear, some of these knights are no better than children."

"That's true." Penelope mused with a smirk.

"Don't say that like you're innocent." Jane laughed. "I still remember you wanting to charge out of the bed when we first met two years ago... You have a near death experience and yet I could barely get you to stay still. You know, for most people, it's a wake up call to be more careful with their life not more reckless."

Penelope blushed a little and averted her gaze. She had forgotten about that. Most of the time, she was careful in handling her wounds, especially serious ones. But back then, the knight had had only one thing on her mind and that was finding out any way she could to prevent the war so she could get back to Crow. An image of him came to mind and she let out a long sigh, wondering how she had ever been able to go two full years without seeing him when almost three weeks was torture enough.

"Oh I'm just teasing." Jane waved her hand dismissively, mistaking Penelope's prolonged silence for embarrassment. "You're not so bad anymore. You actually listen to me most of the time."

"I try." Penelope said with a small smile as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Are you ready to go now?" She asked, eager to find out how Crow was doing.

"Yeah, let's go." Jane nodded.

The two noblewomen headed out of the camp and towards Myrefall. They chatted a bit but Penelope's focus was mainly on getting to the tavern to meet with Hazel. She hoped that the herbalist would bring them good news about how the herbs had worked. If she did, it likely meant that she'd be able to see Crow soon once they were able to arrange a meeting away from the physician and herbalist. The thought was something that made her heart beat excitedly as she remained hopeful that the medicine had worked.

The five days following the last meeting, Crow did his best to be patient as Hazel worked on refining his medicine. He itched to ask her about how Penelope seemed to be doing, since he couldn’t see her himself, but in the interest of not making her change her mind about arranging a meeting for them, he kept his mouth shut and focused on recovering instead.

The first day after their trip to Myrefall hadn’t been the most encouraging. He had woken up in the late morning but had immediately gone into another severe coughing fit that had tired him out enough to go back to sleep until later in the afternoon. The episode had concerned Hazel enough that she called Simon directly afterwards to come with her to the forest south of Myrefall to look for new herbs. Between the two of them, they managed to find enough to prepare medicine for at least a week, if not longer.

By that night, Hazel had finished making the first round of the adapted medicine and had Crow try it out. He didn’t like the taste nearly as much as the last draught—the combination of the ginger with the feverfew and turmeric created a strange spicy, bitter mix that he nearly choked on in surprise—but as long as it worked, he didn’t care how foul it was. He just wanted something to cure his illness, so he could see Penelope again.

Over the course of the following four days, it was hard to tell if Crow was doing better or worse. He exhibited no outward signs of recovery, but the blood in his occasional coughing fits seemed to have lessened. So, when the day finally came for Hazel to meet with the nobles again, he was nervous that she might decide he wasn’t well enough to meet with Penelope after all.

As she was preparing to leave, he approached her hesitantly near the opening of the cave. “Do you think this new medicine is working?” he asked her in a tentative voice as he eyed her face to see if her expression would tell him her answer.

“I don’t know,” the herbalist shook her head as she packed her bag. “Your illness is frustrating because it’s all internal. Unless I cut you open, I can’t tell if you’re actually healing or not.”

Crow shuddered at the thought. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do that,” he said and then shifted his weight as he went on. “But I’m not coughing up as much blood lately. That seems like a good sign, right?”

“Maybe,” Hazel shrugged. “But you’re still coughing. I don’t know enough about this symptom of yours to say for sure if you’re getting better. Perhaps you are, or perhaps nothing has changed besides the amount of blood. It doesn’t necessarily mean the medicine is affecting you.”

“So, what are you saying?” he frowned, worried that his hunch had been correct after all. If Hazel didn’t deem him fit enough to travel, there was no way she would talk to Penelope for him about meeting up again. He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

“I’m not saying anything,” she finally looked up from her bag to meet his gaze. “I’m going to speak with the physician about it and see what her thoughts are. She seems to have experience with this type of symptom, so she’ll be able to say if you’re healing or not much more definitively than I can. Until then, we know nothing, and we will assume nothing.”

Crow fell silent and lowered his gaze. His prospects of seeing Penelope again were looking worse and worse. “Does that mean you aren’t going to speak to her for me?” he finally asked in a soft voice, unable to keep beating around the bush any longer. He had to know what she was planning.

“I can’t say,” Hazel admitted. “It depends on what the physician tells me.” She pursed her lips slightly as she looked at him, going on seriously, “But I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you. It could still happen, but it probably won’t. Until you’re healed, your recovery comes first and foremost, so if you’re not well enough to travel on your own, then I will not be the one to send you out on a trip that could get you killed.”

“Why do you think it’s so dangerous?” Crow narrowed his eyes. “I feel fine aside from the coughing, and that only seems to happen about every other day anyway.”

“It’s a precautionary measure,” Hazel explained with a hint of exasperation in her voice. “Until I’m sure you’re better, you’re not going anywhere, and that’s final. Ah!” She held up her finger as he opened his mouth to argue. “Don’t even bother. You can’t change my mind on this.”

Crow wavered for a moment and then shot her a wordless glare.

Hazel just rolled her eyes as she shouldered her packed bag. “I know you hate this, but it’s for your own good, so I don’t give a damn. Now then,” she narrowed her eyes at him in a warning look. “Don’t you dare follow me again, or I won’t talk to your knight for you even if it turns out you’re well enough to go.”

“Fine,” Crow spat, curling his lip at her hostilely.

Hazel ignored the gesture and just shook her head as she made her way out of the camp without a word of goodbye. Crow watched her leave and let out an irritable huff, turning around to walk back to his bed mat and lay down. He glanced around the cavern to see that his companions were already beginning to settle down for the night as well.

He closed his eyes, pretending to sleep as the other thieves laid down around him. He listened closely until he heard their breathing even out, indicating that they were asleep for the night, before he carefully and quietly rose from his bed and crept towards the cave entrance. Hastily throwing on his boots and a cloak and arming himself with his daggers for safety, he slipped out into the night.

As he walked along the riverbank, he smiled to himself, proud of his own cleverness. Hazel had only made him promise not to follow her. As long as he didn’t go to the tavern, he wouldn’t be breaking his word. He quickened his pace, heart racing excitedly as he made his way through the forest. He would find a way to see Penelope again. After learning from his failure to catch her the last time, he had a new plan that he was sure would work to separate her from that physician.

The two women eventually reached the tavern and took a seat down at one of the empty tables in the back. It seemed they had beaten the herbalist there this time so they relaxed for a moment as they waited for Hazel to arrive. Jane pulled out her book as usual, planning to pass the time with reading. Penelope sighed and leaned her elbow against the table as she watched the tavern door.

"Hmm.. Penelope?" Jane suddenly mumbled as she looked up from her book and over at the knight. "Do you happen to know when the next battle is occurring?"

"Well it's not completely certain yet but I believe in about a week or so." Penelope responded with a shrug. "Why?"

"Just curious.. Hazel might be on her own for a while if the new batch of medicine didn't improve her patient enough. Hopefully there won't be much to change this meeting." Jane shrugged and looked back down at her book.

Penelope raised an eyebrow at the physician, surprised to hear her even sound faintly concerned. However, she didn't get a chance to question her more about it as the front door of the tavern opened and the herbalist stepped inside. The knight gave a small wave to catch her attention before leaning back in her seat as Hazel joined them at the table. Jane lowered her book and gave a small nod of greeting to the herbalist.

"Hello." The physician gave a small smile. "So how did the medicine go this time?"

As Hazel made her way to Myrefall, she frequently glanced back over her shoulder to check for movement in the trees. Even though Crow had told her that he wouldn’t follow her to the meeting, she was skeptical. In all the years she had known him, she had learned that the thief had a surprising amount of integrity for a criminal. Whenever he made a promise, he always tried his hardest to stay true to his word. However, she also knew that he could be quite the fox when he wanted to be. If there was a way for him to get what he wanted without breaking their deal, he would find it.

She narrowed her eyes as she caught a flicker of movement in the shadow of a tree behind her. In the next moment, a deer stepped into view, craned its neck to look at her, and then bounded away. She let out her breath in a quiet sigh, turning around to keep walking. Even if he was tailing her to the village, she didn’t know why she was even bothering to try to catch him. The thief knew how to slip past bounty hunters who based their livelihood on capturing criminals like him, so she, an herbalist with no training in hunting anyone, had no chance at even catching a glimpse of him.

After a while, she decided it wasn’t worth the effort to keep trying, so she gave up and hastened her pace to reach Myrefall faster.

When she finally arrived at the tavern, she was quick to spot the two noblewomen at a table near the back of the room. She weaved between the other tables and chairs until she reached the two and then sat down in an open seat across from them. Like the last time, Jane got right down to business by asking how the medicine was working now that they had adjusted it. The herbalist shook her head as she responded, “I’m honestly not sure. There hasn’t been as much of a change as I was expecting. My patient’s symptoms seem to have stagnated. He’s still coughing blood every other day, even after taking the improved poultice for almost a week. There’s slightly less blood than before, but other than that, nothing has changed.”

“That’s not too surprising,” Jane said with a faint smile, as if she was amused by something. “It will probably take longer than a week for you to see any real changes this time. The herbs you’ve been giving your patient are blood thinners. They don’t work overnight. If they’re doing their job, the results will come gradually as the blood clots are removed.”

“How long does that take?” Hazel frowned, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

“It depends on the person,” Jane shrugged. “Sometimes the symptom is more severe and takes longer to heal from, and sometimes a patient’s blood is just slow to thin. It’s impossible to give an exact range of time for you to expect to see any difference.”

“I see,” Hazel said thoughtfully. “But there will be a difference eventually?”

“Even that is hard to say,” the physician shook her head. “Sometimes the herbs don’t cure the disease; they simply prevent it from getting worse. Since you said you’ve seen no change in your patient for better or for worse, it is also possible that he won’t ever fully heal, but as long as he continues to take the remedy, he won’t die either.”

Crow won’t be happy to hear that, Hazel thought with a grimace as she imagined the thief’s reaction to learning he might stay sickly for the rest of his life. “So how should I approach it from here?” she asked, taking out her journal. “Just keep doing the same thing until something happens?”

“Pretty much,” Jane nodded. “You can experiment with how much of the blood thinning herbs you add to the medicine too, but aside from that, the best you can do is keep trying and pray that your patient improves.”

“Alright then,” Hazel said, jotting down a couple of quick notes and putting her book and quill away. She pursed her lips in thought for a moment as she held the physician’s gaze across the table. “It seems like we’ve reached the closest thing to a cure for this illness as we can get from our shared knowledge. I suppose this means we no longer need to meet, does it not?”

Penelope listened as the two spoke. Though Crow hadn't gone through much change, it sounded like he would be alright. As Jane mentioned that he might never fully heal, the knight shifted her gaze to the ground momentarily. She couldn't imagine Crow being sick for the rest of his life would go over well. Despite the less than encouraging news, Penelope felt incredibly relieved to hear that the thief would likely live now, even if he was forced to take medicine for the rest of his life. There was still some uncertainty about the medicine's effect but Jane made it sound like it would work if given enough time.

Jane paused at Hazel's words before nodding her head. "I suppose so." she agreed. The physician shifted a bit, preparing to get up but instead hesitated as she looked across at the herbalist. She flashed a friendly smile. "It was nice meeting you, Hazel. If you ever need help again or something new comes up, feel free to come to our camp to find me.. Or get in touch with Penelope again. However that happened." she shrugged as she casted a glance towards the knight, who just gave a small smile in return.

As the physician got up to leave, Penelope didn't move as quick to leave. Now that the meetings between Hazel and Jane were ending, that meant she had no way of getting in touch with Crow again or knowing how he was doing unless she went looking for him herself. He had told her where their camp was before but figuring it was too risky to go wandering off to find him, the knight hoped Hazel wouldn't mind arranging a meeting. "Go ahead. I'll catch up with you in a minute." Penelope told the physician. Jane hesitated, looking confused at why Penelope was hanging back.

"I just have a couple questions about the village. It won't take long." Penelope lied with a reassuring smile. Luckily, the physician didn't question her and merely nodded her head as she headed off to wait for the knight by the entrance. Penelope watched her go, making sure she was far enough away before turning back to Hazel.

"I wanted to ask you about seeing him again." Penelope said softly as she looked across the table at Hazel with a pleading gaze. "If.. If he's well enough I mean. I don't want to push anything if he still needs time to recover. And," the knight paused and frowned a little. "if he can't meet with me, could we at least meet again? I don't have any other way of hearing about him except from you and I doubt it'd be a wise idea for me to go looking for your camp."

As the meeting came to an end, Hazel moved to collect her things and get up from the table. As always, she was tired because of how late it was, and the thought of her warm bed back in the thieves’ camp sounded heavenly. Simon had also pulled his mat up next to hers since they had slept together five days ago, and she was eager to fall asleep in his embrace again. It would be nice to do so every night now that she didn’t have to worry about meeting with the nobles anymore. She appreciated their help, but she much preferred to have nowhere to go after the sun went down each day.

She was just about to stand up from her chair, when Penelope spoke up and told Jane to go on ahead of her. The herbalist eyed her curiously, wondering what she was so eager to talk about that it couldn’t wait. Whatever it was, she hoped the knight would make it quick, so she could get going back to her own camp.

Hazel tapped her foot impatiently beneath the table as Penelope waited for the physician to leave before launching into her question about seeing Crow again. She frowned and shook her head. “Gods, what is it with you two?” she grumbled. First Crow and now Penelope were begging her to mediate a time for them to see each other again. Didn’t they understand that he needed to put his health before their little romance? It was much more important that he finished healing before they started meeting up again in the dead of night when he was supposed to be resting.

“Look,” she exhaled, meeting Penelope’s gaze across the table. “I understand that you’re frustrated, but I can’t give a sick man permission to venture out by himself, no matter how well he thinks he’s feeling. It’s dangerous and unwise. Until I start getting some definitive results, he needs to stay close to the camp, where he can recover, and I can keep an eye on him.” She paused, pursing her lips slightly before going on through her teeth. “Although, if you two insist on being reckless and finding a way to meet up anyways, I suppose I can arrange something.”

She paused for a moment to think. “There’s a clearing in the woods to the north of our camp. If you follow the river from the waterfall, you’ll run right into it. I’ll tell him to find you there in three days on the condition that you will take him no further from that point, and he won’t stay out late enough to compromise his sleep.” With her arms still folded over her chest, she drummed her fingers irritably against her bicep. “Is that good enough for you, rat?”

Penelope looked confused by Hazel's first words. It took her a moment to realize that Crow had likely been wondering when he could see her again too. She felt a small burst of affection for the thief, hoping that they wouldn't have to wait for too many more days before they'd be able to meet up again. However, as Hazel went on, it seemed that wouldn't be likely. The knight deflated slightly at Hazel's words and gave a small nod of understanding. Despite how much she missed him, she didn't want to put him in any danger and it seemed that she'd just have to wait a while longer.

She was about to ask Hazel about a meeting between them when the herbalist spoke up again. Penelope blinked in surprise as she agreed to set up a meeting between her and Crow. She felt her heartbeat race excitedly at the thought of seeing him again. "Yes, of course." Penelope agreed to her terms with an eager nod. The meeting might have been a bit restricting but the knight hardly cared about that. Adhering to Hazel's terms would be a small price to pay if it meant she didn't have to wait even more weeks to meet up with Crow. "Thank you." She added appreciatively before getting up to catch up with Jane.

The physician was still waiting by the door and gave a curious look as Penelope caught up with her. "So what exactly did you have to ask her?"

"Oh nothing much." Penelope said dismissively. She hoped the physician would let it go easily but feeling her gaze still burning into her the knight shrugged her shoulder before going on, "Just more about the disease and if she would need any help distributing the medicine here. She's got it covered though."

"Good. I was worried you were going to start abandoning your duties there for a moment." Jane shook her head and focused her gaze ahead of them as they walked out of the tavern.

"I can still handle my duties and help if I want to." Penelope responded with a roll of her eyes as she followed the physician. The two began to walk down the street in the direction of their camp, chatting idly.

“Mhm,” Hazel grunted with a curt nod as Penelope thanked her for setting up a meeting between her and Crow. She hadn’t really done so out of the goodness of her heart, since she knew the thief would most likely just continue to sneak out on his own if she refused to arrange something for them. This way was simply the safer option. He wouldn’t risk wandering all the way to the knights’ camp to find her, and he would stay close enough that if something went wrong, she and his other friends would all be close enough to help if he needed them.

With her meeting with the nobles finally reaching its close, the herbalist got up from the table and followed Penelope to the door of the tavern. She stepped out onto the street but hesitated for a moment instead of going back to her camp right away. She followed the two noblewomen with her eyes, waiting until they were far enough away before she circled around the side of the Ivory Hatchet to check if Crow had followed her again and was lingering nearby.

Since she had called out to him the last time, and she knew he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice, she decided to try sneaking up on him if he was in fact behind the building. However, as she completed her circuit, she found no one. Letting out a quiet huff, she propped her hands on her hips and glanced over the other buildings in the village and then up at the roof of the tavern. He wasn’t there either.

Guess he didn’t follow me after all, she thought with a satisfied smirk, turning to head back to the hideout to get some sleep for the night.

--

Crow traveled cautiously through the forest north of Myrefall with his hood drawn over his head and one hand resting loosely on the hilt of his dagger. His eyes flickered over the shadows of the trees around him in search of movement. With his illness sticking around like a stubborn tick, he wanted to make sure there weren’t any patrols nearby that might spot him out by himself. It had been a while since the last time he’d had a fainting spell, but he wasn’t about to take any chances that another one could still happen. That meant making sure he didn’t run into any trouble that would force him to strain himself in a fight.

Fortunately, the forest remained quiet, and the only movement he saw was a small herd of deer slightly south of where he was headed. It seemed like there were no patrols nearby, so he was able to relax a bit as he continued weaving through the trees of a dense area in the woods. When he did, his mind naturally wandered to Penelope, and his heart beat excitedly at the thought of seeing her again. It had been so long. Even if he was only able to talk to her for a moment, he looked forward to having at least some time with her again. It was better than waiting for gods knew how long until his illness was cured.

He climbed nimbly over a fallen tree as he continued to the northernmost side of the village. Despite the occasional coughing episodes that didn’t seem to fade, he felt almost as good as he had before he’d caught the disease to begin with. Hazel had to reason to be so protective of him. As long as he was careful to take care of himself, making a short trip like this was nothing, and he could easily do it again once he made plans to meet up with Penelope later on.

The thief kept walking until he reached a midway point between Myrefall and the knights’ camp to the north. Here, he stopped to contemplate the trickier part of this trip: separating Penelope from that physician she was with. He already had a nearly complete plan in mind.

Knowing that noble healers didn’t specialize in fighting, he guessed that part of the reason why Penelope continued to accompany this physician to Myrefall every time she met with Hazel was for her protection. If he could give them a reason to think they were under attack, he might be able to coax the knight into parting with the physician for her own safety. However, while the plan was good, it wasn’t enough by itself.

For one thing, Penelope might stay even closer to the other woman in order to keep her safe if she thought whoever was attacking them was after the healer. For another, the plan could go terribly wrong if she went after him before she realized who he was. He had to find a way to trick the physician into thinking she was in danger while also sending the knight a sign, so she would know it was him. It was the only way his plan would work.

Lost in thought as he tried to come up with a way to solve his dilemma, Crow flinched at the sound of an owl’s loud hoot overhead. He craned his neck to peer up into the branches of the tree where the bird was perched and shot it a glare, annoyed that the animal had managed to catch him off guard. The owl just stared back at him with wide, unblinking eyes and then spread its large wings to take off into the night sky. The thief scoffed and shook his head, still feeling slightly embarrassed at having been so startled by a bird.

Suddenly, he blinked as a small flash of motion caught his eye. A feather was fluttering down from where the owl had been perched just a moment ago, landing softly at his feet. He looked down at it, a smile slowly spreading across his lips as an idea formed in his head.

--

Once he was ready, Crow took up a position behind a wide tree near the route he suspected Penelope and the physician would take to get back to their camp. With his dagger in his hand, he leaned just far enough around the trunk to watch the trodden path without being in sight, himself. His heart skipped nervously in his chest as he waited for the two nobles to appear. Even though he had refined his plan, he still didn’t know if it would be enough. It all depended on whether or not Penelope noticed the sign.

His eyes flicked towards the southern side of the path as he caught sight of two figures making their way towards him from Myrefall. He held his breath as his gaze landed on Penelope’s face for the first time in almost three weeks, and he had to force himself not to lose focus. Gripping his weapon tightly in his right hand, he edged a bit farther behind the tree as the women passed his hiding spot, so they wouldn’t be able to see him.

As soon as their backs were turned to him, the thief cocked back his dagger, his green eyes fixed on the healer, and threw the blade at her head. It cut seamlessly through the air and embedded itself deep in the trunk of a tree just in front of her face. The dagger’s silver blade glinted sinisterly in the moonlight, a stark contrast with its dark leather hilt and the gray-and-black speckled owl feather haphazardly tied to it.

Crow swallowed nervously and crouched behind the tree, his eyes locked on Penelope as he hoped to catch a glimpse of recognition in her gaze. It had been two years since he had told her the story behind his name, and the feather he had attached to the weapon didn’t belong to a crow, but he hoped it was enough for her to remember what it meant.

The two noblewomen continued on their normal path back to camp. Their talking died down a bit as they headed through the forest and a comfortable silence fell over them. That is, until a dagger suddenly cut past Jane's head and sunk into a tree in front of them. The physician let out a startled yelp and quickly shifted behind Penelope with wide eyes. Instinctively, the knight drew her sword and whirled around to face their unknown attacker.

"What the hell is going on?" Jane asked warily as her gaze flickered around the forest, looking for a sign of movement.

"I'm not sure.." Penelope mumbled as she eyed the direction from where the dagger had come from. Despite the sudden attack the forest was quiet and it seemed no one was coming forward to attack them again. She found it a bit strange since their attacker had waited much too long to take advantage of their initial surprise. The knight's gaze wandered back over to the dagger that was embedded in the tree. After looking at it a second time, she noticed the owl feather that was tied to it. "Strange.." She muttered to herself.

It seemed to indicate that the dagger had been a message rather than an actual attack. The thought made her eyes widen slightly. She didn't know many people who would have used a bird's feather as a message but she did have one guess. Is it Crow? She wondered, glancing back in the direction the dagger had come from. Perhaps she was just too desperate to see him but she did recall his story about his name so it seemed possible enough. Her heart raced excitedly but the knight tried to keep a level head. After all, it was difficult to tell from just a feather, which wasn't even a crow's feather. There could very easily be an actual enemy waiting to attack them.

"Jane, get back to camp. I'll deal with whoever's trying to attack us." she finally ordered to the physician. Regardless if it was Crow or an enemy, the physician needed to get back safely. Luckily Jane didn't question her and nodded her head before quickly taking off towards the camp. Penelope watched her go for a moment before turning back to face the unknown person. Uncertain if it was truly Crow, she kept her sword drawn as she stepped towards where the dagger had come from, ready to fight if it wasn't him. "Crow?" She called out cautiously.

Come on, Penelope, Crow thought desperately, biting his lip as he watched her look around for an attacker. It didn’t seem like she had gotten the message. Turn around, he silently pleaded. Look at it again. You have to get it. Fortunately, after no one jumped out to ambush them, Penelope seemed to second guess her initial assumption and did in fact turn around to look at the dagger again. He watched her rigidly, looking for a sign that she understood what it meant. Still, there was nothing, but she seemed more confused than aggressive now, which he supposed wasn’t quite so bad. All he had to worry about now was the physician.

Staying put in his hiding place, he continued to observe the nobles with unwavering focus as he waited to see if Penelope would remain with the healer or choose to separate. After a moment, he felt a wave of relief as the knight instructed her to go back to the camp. The physician didn’t even bother to question the order as she ran ahead to get away from the potential danger. He smiled to himself. As long as Penelope didn’t attack him now, everything was going according to the plan.

He rose slowly to his feet, lingering behind the tree since he didn’t want to jump out and startle the knight while she was holding a sword in her hands. In the next moment, he blinked in surprise as she tentatively called out his name. She has gotten his message after all. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, glad that the owl feather had worked.

Sheathing his remaining dagger—he had kept it in his hand just in case Penelope had tried to come at him without thinking—Crow stepped out from behind the tree and smiled a bit lopsidedly. “Long time, huh?” he said, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. Suddenly, the weight of seeing her again for the first time in so long struck him at once, and before he had a chance to think, he hurried to close the distance between them. Brushing her sword arm aside to wrap his arms around her body, he pulled her close and leaned in to kiss her passionately.

The thief sighed against her lips, trailing his hands over her shoulders and back as he melted into her touch. It had been far too long. He pressed into her deeply, as if trying to make up for all the time they had been apart in just one moment.

After a while—he lost track of time in his fervor—Crow pulled back just enough to catch his breath. He leaned his forehead against hers and laughed dazedly, “Gods, it’s good to see you again.”

Penelope remained tense as she heard movement come from behind a nearby. However, the knight immediately relaxed as an all too familiar figure stepped into view. "So it was you." she smiled back at him as she lowered her sword. Before anymore could be said, the thief suddenly closed the distance between them. She automatically let her weapon drop to the ground besides them as she moved to wrap her arms around him as she kissed him back.

After nearly three weeks apart, she was quick to lose herself in his touch. The feeling of his lips against hers, his arms wrapped around her, the warmth of his embrace, all of it she had missed dearly during their time apart. She became rather joyful that she didn't have to wait another three days to see him again. As he finally pulled back, she smiled up at him and gave a small nod of agreement. Her green eyes studied him for a brief moment, thinking about when Hazel had met with her in his place when his illness was at its worse.

Her expression became more serious and she let out a soft sigh, "You have no idea.. Gods for a moment, I thought I was going to lose you." The knight pressed into him, finding comfort in his touch. Even though he wasn't completely over the illness yet, him being there at least meant he was out of immediate danger for now and was better than what Hazel had described to her after the battles. It was nice to finally see that for herself. Penelope pressed a kiss to his cheek before pulling back slightly to look over her shoulder.

A frown crossed over her lips and she looked back to Crow. "You should get going soon." she told him reluctantly. There was a lot she wanted to talk to him about after being apart for so long and she also didn't want to move out of his embrace, however, it would be dangerous for them to stay like that for too long. Jane would likely alert the guards on duty as soon as she reached the camp, which meant they'd be coming to help her deal with the attacker.

"I'm sure the guards will be charging out here to help once the physician alerts them and from what I hear you're still sick." she paused and reached one hand up to brush back a strand of hair from his face. "I don't want to part with you so soon but, with any luck it won't be for as long as before. I spoke to Hazel earlier about setting up a meeting with you in three days."

As they stood wrapped in each other’s embrace, Crow found himself unable to keep from staring at Penelope. His eyes wandered over her face, taking in every detail of the features he hadn’t seen in nearly three weeks. After so much time had passed, he had nearly forgotten how beautiful she was, or at least, he was starting to think he was exaggerating her image in his mind whenever he’d thought about her when he had been trapped in his bed. Seeing her again in person reminded him that he definitely hadn’t worked her memory up in his head. She was just as breathtaking as he remembered her to be.

He ran his hand slowly down the length of her back as she pressed into his chest, murmuring about how she had thought she was going to lose him. Her words sent a pang of sadness through him. While he had been at his worst, he hadn’t had time to think about how the knight had been taking everything. Looking back on it all now, he realized she must have been worried sick after hearing from Hazel that his illness had progressed, and that he couldn’t see her.

“I made you a promise,” he said, offering her a comforting smile. “It’s going to take a lot more than a simple disease to keep me from breaking my word to you, love.” He held her tightly for a moment, his grin widening slightly as she kissed his cheek. After going for so long without her touch, every small brush of her lips or stroke of her fingers was like lightning to him. He wished they could just stay there forever and forget about their responsibilities and problems.

Unfortunately, her following words forced him to stay grounded. He let out his breath in a soft exhale as he looked over her shoulder at the forest between her camp. As nice as it would be to let go, she was right; they didn’t have the luxury. Still, he was reluctant to part with her just yet. They still had some time left before the knights would show up and he would have to separate from her to go back to his camp. There was no reason to rush.

He looked down to meet her gaze again as she finished by saying that she had spoken to Hazel about meeting with him again in three days. The comment made him quirk a brow in surprise. “She talked to you about that after all, huh?” he mused aloud. After the last medicine had done little to nothing to improve his health, he had thought for sure that the herbalist would refuse to set anything up between them. It was the whole reason why he had snuck out again in the first place. To find out that she had been willing to speak with the knight was good to hear.

Still his trip that night hadn’t been completely pointless.

Crow leaned in and pressed a series of affectionate kisses to Penelope’s skin, working his way from her cheek to her neck as he savored the dwindling time they had left. “I hope we never have to part for so long again,” he breathed, resting his head against hers, cheek to cheek. He remained there for a moment with his eyes closed as he enjoyed being in her presence.

After a short while, he glanced up again as the distant sounds of shouting interrupted the tranquil silence. He clicked his tongue and hesitantly pulled back from the knight. “Sounds like I need to go,” he sighed, meeting her gaze with a smile. “I love you, Penelope, and I’ll see you again in three days.” With no more time to wait around, he touched one last fleeting kiss to her lips and moved quickly to retrieve his dagger from the tree trunk. Once the blade was free, he spun around on his heel and ran back into the forest, disappearing from sight just as the first knights started to arrive.

Penelope closed her eyes serenely as Crow trailed kisses from her cheek to her neck. Though reluctant to part from him, she had wanted him to get a head start before the other knights came as she was afraid that he'd have to overexert himself to get away if he waited too long. However, she found it hard to argue as his lips pressed against her skin. Distracted, she forgot her concern rather quickly and instead enjoyed the time they had left. "Me too." she sighed in agreement as she leaned her head against his.

It wasn't long before the sounds of knights approaching reached their ears. The peaceful moment was quickly broken and the knight frowned a little as she looked over her shoulder. "Yeah." she agreed, turning back to look over at him. She met his gaze and smiled back at him, leaning in to meet his lips for one last kiss. "I love you too, Collin and I'll see you then." As the thief moved to retrieve his dagger, she moved to pick her sword up from the ground.

Penelope watched him race off as the knights drew closer. Her gaze held a bit of concern as she was still worried he wasn't well enough to be running off like he was. However, as he disappeared from sight, it seemed that he would be alright so the knight relaxed a little and turned to face her comrades as they reached her. It was three guards that came hurrying to her aid and amongst them was Gavin and Nina. All of them had their weapons drawn, ready to attack only to falter as they found her alone.

"Penelope! What's going on? Jane told us you two were attacked." Nina asked, her gaze scanning around the forest.

"We were. But it was just a lone bandit who bit off more than he could chew." Penelope responded with a casual shrug. She looked over at Gavin, noticing him eying her with worry, and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"I'm sure." Gavin smiled a bit in return then glanced around at the others. "We should get back to camp then."

Nina surveyed the area one more time before she nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

The three knights turned to head back to camp. Penelope hung back for a moment as she sheathed her sword and glanced back over her shoulder in the direction Crow had disappeared. The knight smiled to herself, glad that she had gotten to see him again even if it wasn't for very long. She turned and picked up her pace to catch up with the others as they returned to camp for the night.

As Crow made his way back towards the thieves’ camp, he glanced back over his shoulder to make sure the knights hadn’t followed him. As far as he could tell, the forest was clear. He slowed his pace slightly to a steady jog, blinking in realization as it clicked in his head that he had just run without getting dizzy for the first time in months. His heartbeat quickened with excitement. When he had heard the sounds of the nobles coming towards him, he hadn’t even thought twice before taking off at such a speed. It had just felt natural, like it used to before he had gotten sick. He felt a shiver of elation at the thought that he was recovering so well. All that was left now was for him to get rid of his persistent cough and he would be good as new.

Enjoying the freedom of being able to run again, he picked up his pace once more, weaving effortlessly through the trees on his way to the river. He expected the trip to be easy, but after a while, he noticed his breaths were beginning to come to him a bit more labored than they normally did. Perhaps he was a little out of shape after going so long without moving at this pace? Inhaling deeply, he tried to offset the weariness in his lungs by taking in more air, but it didn’t seem to help. Instead, he felt a slight twinge of pain in the left side of his chest that convinced him that his shortness of breath was probably linked to what remained of his illness rather than his own endurance.

Not wanting to risk pushing himself past his limits, he slowed to a walk and focused on steadying his breathing until the pinprick in his chest faded away of its own accord. He smiled to himself, turning the dagger over in his hand and untying the owl feather he had attached to it earlier. All things considered, he was doing much better than he had been since the second phase of the illness had started long ago. Compared to when he used to pass out from running, dealing with a bit of pain and panting was nothing. He wondered offhandedly how well he would perform in a fight if he tried to spar with anyone now. At the rate he was improving, he wouldn’t have been surprised if he was near to his natural capabilities again.

Maybe I can convince one of the others to test me tomorrow, he thought, dropping the now untied feather behind him and sheathing his blade at his waist. The thief yawned and stretched his arms over his head as he saw the waterfall come into view up ahead. He could think of a way to get one of his companions to spar with him in the morning. After staying out much later than he normally did to see Penelope, he was exhausted and ready to get some sleep.

Moving quietly so as not to disturb the others, he slipped inside the cavern and headed over to the supplies to drop off everything he had taken with him where he had found it. Even though he knew he was well enough to travel, he didn’t want Hazel to know he had snuck out again, since she was still under the impression he couldn’t function on his own.

Once he had placed everything back where it had come from, he stepped silently over to the sleeping area and laid down on his bed, drawing his blanket over himself and closing his eyes as he drifted off to sleep.

--

The next day, Crow got up around mid-morning. Over the course of the past ten days, he seemed to be returning to a somewhat normal rhythm of rising and falling with the sun, something Hazel had attributed to his steadily improving health. He filled his stomach with a quick meal that Rikki had left at his bedside—he wasn’t waking up quite early enough to join the others for breakfast yet—and then climbed to his feet to go outside and look for his companions.

The first person he happened to find was Hazel, who was kneeling on the riverbank near the camp entrance to wash some freshly picked herbs in the water. She looked up as she saw him walking towards her. “How are you doing today?” she asked. “Any better?”

“Well,” he exhaled, sitting down heavily at her side and taking some of the plants from her basket to help her clean them. “I haven’t had any coughing today. Although, I did just wake up, so I don’t think it really counts.” He nudged her teasingly. “Give me a little longer, darling, and I’ll have a better answer for you later.”

“As long as you’re not getting worse, that’s all I care about,” Hazel muttered, ignoring his cheeky attitude.

Crow rolled his eyes and set aside the herbs he had just washed, reaching into the basket to take another handful. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “So, how did your meeting go last night?” he asked airily, feigning ignorance while trying to coax her into telling him about her conversation with Penelope. With the limited time he’d had with the knight, he never got the chance to ask her more about it, and he still wanted to know the rest of the details.

She glanced at him furtively out of the corner of her eye before answering his question with a shrug, “Same as always. The physician thinks we should just keep trying the medicine you’re currently taking. Hopefully, with time, it will start to work the way we want it to.”

Crow eyed her warily. “I see,” he said, turning away again. “I hope it does.” She’s testing me, he thought with a pang of annoyance. She’s trying to see if I react to her withholding information from me. Well, he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of catching him in his own lie. He took a stabilizing breath as he forced himself to keep a neutral expression. “So, if I just keep taking this stuff, I’ll get better?” he asked, twirling the stalk of an herbal flower between his fingers.

Hazel wavered for a moment, pursing her lips together before giving a curt nod, “That is the hope, yes.”

“You keep saying that,” Crow set aside the herbs in his hand and turned to her with a frown. “Hope. Why do we need to ‘hope’ that I’ll get better? Isn’t this the cure we’ve been looking for?”

“In theory,” Hazel said slowly, avoiding his gaze as she inspected the leaves of a plant. “These are the herbs you need to heal. However, there is a small chance that nothing will change.”

“What?” Crow stared at her in unbridled surprise. “You mean there’s a chance I won’t ever fully heal?”

“Technically, yes,” Hazel grimaced as she gave him the bad news. “From what I understand, if the herbs don’t thin your blood enough to remove the clots that formed in your lungs, you’ll have to live with them and keep taking this medicine to cope for the rest of your life.”

“Well, that’s just great,” the thief muttered, drawing his legs to his chest and folding his arms over his knees. “And here I thought we were finally on track to curing me of this wretched disease.”

“We still are,” Hazel narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t discount all of the work I’ve put into this medicine for you. Just because there’s a possibility that you won’t be cured doesn’t mean you should give up all hope.”

“I know,” he shook his head, keeping his green eyes fixed on the river rather than meeting her gaze. “I’m just getting tired of dealing with this illness. I want to feel like myself again.”

“I understand that,” Hazel’s voice softened slightly. “And with any luck, you will. Just be patient.” She reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “By the way, my meeting with those nobles wasn’t all doom and gloom. I spoke with your knight. She’s going to meet with you in the clearing north of our camp two days from now at nightfall.” She offered him a comforting smile, seeming to have given up on baiting him into revealing that he had snuck out last night.

Crow nodded, forcing a slight upward curl of his lip. Normally, he would have tried harder to convince her that the news was unexpected and exciting, but after finding out he might be chronically sick, he didn’t feel like putting in the effort. “Thanks for letting me know,” he said mutedly. “It will be good to see her again.”

Hazel studied him for a moment and withdrew her hand from his shoulder. “Look at it this way,” she said, leaning forward to wash another handful of herbs. “Not even two weeks ago, you thought you were going to die. Now the worst thing that might happen is that you have to keep taking this medicine for the rest of your life. I’d say that’s a pretty damn good outcome of contracting a fatal disease.”

Crow just grunted in response, bringing a hand up to rest his head against as he continued to stare out at the water. He knew she had a point, but it didn’t change the fact that he was disappointed with this update. After the last remedies had brought improvement to his health, he had thought for sure that meant he was going to be cured. His expectations had inflated, and it was going to take some time for him to bring them back down.

Suddenly feeling restless, he stood up and brushed off his pants. “I’m going for a walk,” he said. “I’ll be back in time for lunch.”

“Okay,” Hazel nodded, casting him a quick glance before returning to her task. “Don’t go far.”

“I don’t plan to,” he said, nodding curtly in goodbye before turning to head into the forest north of the camp. After finding out he might never recover from his illness, he needed some time to clear his head.

The next morning, Penelope woke up early as usual. After learning that the healers had gotten close enough to curing the illness and seeing Crow, the knight felt more energetic and relaxed than she had been in a while. There was still plenty to worry about, they were in the middle of a war after all and Crow could end up being sickly for the rest of his life, but at the very least, she was going to enjoy it the small victory while she could.

"Are you coming or what?" growled Layth.

Apparently, she wouldn't be able to enjoy it for too long. She had nearly forgotten that she had told her brother she'd go on patrol with him the day before. The male knight stood with his arms crossed over his chest with an impatient look in his gaze as he waited for a reply. Penelope let out a small sigh and nodded her head. It wouldn't be too bad, as she had gotten a bit used to patrolling with him over the recent days, but her brother had never been pleasant company, even if she did care for him.

"Let's go then." he grumbled before turning and beginning to lead the way out of camp. Today they were headed north near Whitebridge and the border, which was luckily far from where the thieves were actually located. It also meant that Penelope would likely have a rather laid back day. The two traveled in silence for a while, something that was rather common as neither seemed too willing to discuss much with each other. Surprisingly though, the silence didn't last as long as usual and Layth was the one that broke it.

"I heard you and that physician ran into a bandit last night." Layth glanced over his shoulder at Penelope. "Do you think he was one of those thieves?"

Penelope quickly shook her head. "I doubt it. Those thieves usually don't directly attack attack like that unless they get caught by us.. Plus he wasn't organized. The thieves are more skilled in choosing when to target us, even you have to admit that after they've had quite a bit of success."

"I guess." Layth said with his lip curling up slightly in annoyance. She was glad that her brother seemed to buy her words, afraid that he would be all too quick to turn the patrol around to search for the thieves down near Myrefall if he thought she had encountered one the night before.

"At this rate, I doubt we'll have to deal with them again before the next battle." she shrugged and focused her gaze ahead. "Speaking of which, have you heard any talk of it yet from our uncle? Mia hasn't mentioned it yet but I think she's still working on plans."

"Only a little. Edward's been trying to figure out where to attack next. I think he has his eyes set on striking a little further south this time since we've managed to secure two victories in the north." Layth responded as he glanced over at her. "We have the meeting in a day don't we? They'll probably speak more about it then."

"Probably." Penelope agreed quietly. Her thoughts wandered to previous battles and what future battles might look like. A moment of silence fell over the two until she looked over at Layth with a curious gaze. "Layth.. I know you don't agree with me but I'm curious, why are you so against being mindful of the villagers in battle?"

Her brother stiffened slightly and shot a glare at her. "Because we're the ones fighting a war. They should be mindful of us and not get in our way in the first place."

"They're just trying to protect their homes." Penelope argued. "We might be fighting but our homes are far from here and safe from the damage of the war. Surely you can understand some kind of desire to protect your home."

"I can which is why I'm out here fighting in the first place. Difference is, I'm trained to fight." Layth snorted. "They just have to understand that they're in an unlucky situation and stay out of our way. It's not like we want the battles to end up in the villages anyways."

"Of course not but clearly it's not something we can completely avoid either." Penelope frowned. "They don't have to be so unlucky, you know. We are trained to fight, so shouldn't that be why we're able to both protect the villagers while also handling the battle? Besides, is it really right to just force them to accept the damage of the war? It'll leave the outer villages in an even worse state than before."

Her brother paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Our job is to win battles, not to needlessly fret about the villages around us." Layth grumbled.

"Perhaps you need to look past your job title then." Penelope snapped back, feeling a bit of anger rise in her at her brother's lack of care for those affected by the war. "Our father taught us that being a knight means to enforce the law as well as protect those in it, did he not?"

"We're protecting them enough by fighting this war." Layth growled.

"We're hurting them more by fighting this war. This war was only a decision made by the king not by the people." Her gaze narrowed challengingly at her brother. "Is it really that difficult for you to sympathize with these people? Everytime a battle strays into their village, their home, they do everything in their power to protect it and themselves. Instead looking at them like obstacles, you should, at the very least, start looking at them like allies. They're defending their homes from the Younisian forces just like we are.. Unfortunately they're also having to defend it from us as well, but I'm trying to change that." She let out a sigh and gave him a hopeful look. "You could try to change that too."

Layth glared at her but remained silent. There might not have been any point in arguing with her brother, as he had never been the most sympathetic person, but she remained hopeful that her words had gotten through to him. The silence dragged on for a moment longer before Layth snorted and shook his head before abruptly turning his back to her.

"Enough of this nonsense.. Focus on the patrol." He ordered harshly as he began to storm on ahead. Penelope sighed and followed behind him. It seemed that he still refused to listen to her so there was no sense in arguing any further with him for now. Instead, she let a heavy silence fall over them again, this one more tense than peaceful like before, as they carried out the rest of their uneventful patrol.

Crow wandered aimlessly through the trees, having no destination in mind as he made his way east of the camp. All he wanted to do was get away for a while to process through everything Hazel had told him. He was still reeling from the fact that there was a chance he would never heal from his illness. Before, he had thought he would either recover completely or die trying. To find out that there was an unexpected third option wasn’t the best way to start the day.

He sighed, brushing a low-hanging tree branch aside as he walked through a particularly thick part of the woods. Of all the news Hazel could have given him, he supposed this wasn’t the worst. Even if he never got better, at least they seemed to know for sure that he wasn’t going to die from the disease. He could still have the future he wanted with Penelope; it just might not look exactly the same as what he had pictured before. He should still be grateful that he could be with her at all.

After a while, he slowed to a stop and looked up, realizing that while he had been lost in thought, he had wandered a bit farther than he had intended. He was currently standing near to the spot where he had intercepted Penelope on her way back from Myrefall the night before. He glanced in the direction of the knights’ camp. Not wanting to linger so close to them while he was alone, he turned around to make his way back to the river, his stomach growling to remind him that it was almost time for lunch.

--

When he arrived back at the thieves’ camp, he found his companions all sitting outside in the shade of the trees, eating a simple meal of dark bread and freshly picked blueberries that it looked like Rikki had found. When the female thief noticed him approach, she greeted him with a friendly grin and gestured for him to come sit by her. “Hazel told me you went out for a walk,” she said, handing him a full plate of food. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be back in time to eat with us, so I got this for you.”

“Thanks,” he nodded appreciatively as he accepted the plate. Popping a handful of blueberries into his mouth, he turned to her in surprise. “These are pretty good. Where’d you find them?”

“Near the Younisian border,” Rikki sat up proudly. “There’s a whole bunch of bushes over there that no one else seems to know about. As long as it stays that way, the harvest will last the five of us for the rest of the summer.”

“Nice job,” Crow said, swallowing another mouthful. “It’ll be helpful for us to have at least a few food sources that don’t require us to steal from the knights.”

“I think so too,” Rikki agreed. “I don’t want to give them a reason to come after us again—especially not after what happened last time.” She shuddered. “We got lucky that Penelope was so quick to warn us. I’d rather not risk it all over again.”

Crow eyed her curiously, “I’ve never heard you so hesitant to steal. You’re not getting soft on me, are you?”

“Not a chance,” she gave him a playful shove. “I just think we should be a little more careful.” Her lighthearted expression faded as she went on. “This is the longest we’ve ever gone stealing from the same group of people. I suppose I’m just a little concerned about giving them a reason to retaliate.”

Crow nodded, understanding what she meant. Before the war, they used to travel near the central kingdom to rob nobles of their excess wealth. They never hit the same manor twice, and they moved around frequently enough that the local guards could never pin them down. Now, they were consistently raiding the same knights and had planted themselves down in an immobile camp because they often harbored too many war supplies to carry in one trip. It was a much riskier method of living.

“We’ll be alright,” he offered her a reassuring smile. “Trust me. The tunnels we’re living in now are safer than the ravine ever was. Even if the knights somehow manage to find us again, it’ll be easy to keep them out of our camp.”

“I guess so,” Rikki sighed, biting into her piece of bread and chewing thoughtfully.

The two thieves passed the rest of the time eating and chatting idly. Once Crow was finished with his lunch, he set his plate aside and met her gaze challengingly. “What do you say we go work off this food with a sparring match?” Recalling how well he had been able to keep up his stamina when running last night, he hoped she would be willing to help him test his fighting abilities today.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to spar until you’re better?” Rikki prodded him teasingly.

“Well, I feel better now,” he retorted, smirking at her snidely. “What? You’re not afraid of losing to an ill man, are you?” Since their fighting styles were so similar—he still used his speed to overpower an opponent as Penelope had taught him long ago—Crow always won when he sparred against Rikki simply because he had the advantage of strength over her. He hoped that by flaunting this fact, he might get under her skin just enough that she would throw caution aside and give in to his request.

“Please,” Rikki snorted. “I nearly won against Alistair recently, and he’s the best swordsman in our group. If anything, I’m worried I’ll beat you so badly, you won’t be able to recover.”

“Sounds like an excuse to me,” Crow shrugged nonchalantly. “But it’s fine. I understand if you’d prefer to save face. I’ll just ask Alistair or Simon instead. They’re better competition anyway.”

“Gods, you’re infuriating,” Rikki groaned and shot him a glare as his words finally got to her. “Fine. If you really want to get trounced that badly, I’ll spar with you.”

“I can’t say no to that,” Crow grinned.

“I can,” Hazel spoke up from where she was sitting with Simon beneath a nearby tree. The herbalist crossed her arms over her chest. “You know you’re supposed to be resting, Crow. That means no fighting.”

The thief turned towards her, ready to argue, but then paused, his eyes flicking towards the others as a thought crossed his mind. “Can I speak with you privately?” he asked, changing his approach at the last second, as he decided he preferred not to have this conversation with her so publicly.

Hazel pursed her lips for a moment and then nodded. “Fine,” she said, rising to her feet. “I just hope you know that if this is to change my mind, you’re wasting your time.”

“Perhaps,” he said vaguely, standing up as well to walk with her. Once they were far enough away from the other thieves that they wouldn’t be overheard, he stopped and turned to face her again. “Why are you so opposed to the idea of me doing anything besides resting in the camp?” he narrowed his eyes accusingly. “This is the best I’ve felt since before I came to find you in Silverpool, yet you’re acting like I’m still on my deathbed.”

“I just don’t want to see all of this progress go to waste,” Hazel answered curtly. “If you strain yourself and get worse again, I don’t know if there’s anything more I can do to heal you.”

Crow held her gaze contemplatively for a moment before speaking up again, “This is about what happened in the last battle, isn’t it?”

“What?” the herbalist blinked, caught off guard.

“I knew it,” he sighed. “You’ve been acting different ever since that accident happened. It’s like you think I’ve suddenly turned into some fragile creature that needs protecting from the big bad world.” He shook his head. “Well, despite what you seem to think of me, I can take care of myself. I have no intention of getting worse again. I know my limits, and I won’t push myself past what I can handle.”

“How can you possibly know what your limits are?” this time it was Hazel’s turn to accuse him. She knitted her brow suspiciously. “I thought you’ve been following my orders to rest.”

Crow faltered slightly as he realized the slip of his tongue. “When I went on that walk earlier today, I tried running again, just to see if I could,” he lied, lowering his gaze to the ground as if embarrassed for having been caught. “I figured out that I can keep going until I get a pain in my chest right here.” He gestured to the spot in the left side of his ribcage where he had felt the twinge before.

“That must be where the worst blood clot is,” Hazel mused, seeming interested in this new information. She looked up to meet his gaze with a frown. “While I don’t approve of your reckless method of finding this out, I suppose it does give us a way to better track your progress.”

“Does that mean you’ll stop forcing me to rest all day?” he asked hopefully.

“As long as you continue to be careful not to push yourself too far, then yes,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Great,” he smiled. “I’ll let Raven know.”

The two walked back to rejoin the others, and Crow headed over to where Rikki was sitting. He shot her a competitive smirk, “I hope you’re ready to surrender, love, because our match is still on.”

The rest of the patrol felt longer than usual due to the uncomfortable silence. At least, for Penelope. Layth didn't seem too bothered by it, aside from an angry expression that didn't seem to fade from his face. As suspected, they didn't find anything of concern and eventually returned to camp. Layth headed off without a goodbye as soon as they returned, leaving Penelope alone for a moment as she walked off to find her friends before supper was served.

She walked off towards where Bran's tent was. Ever since Gavin took the position from him, the male knight often visited with Bran, both to make sure the captain was doing alright as well as get approval on how he was handling his duties. from what Penelope could tell, Bran wasn't too bothered by it and instead enjoyed the occasional visit. As she neared, she spotted Gavin standing outside the tent and waved to get his attention as she walked over. The male knight spotted her and smiled as he walked over to meet her halfway.

"How'd your patrol go?" he asked.

"Alright." she shrugged then paused. "I might have got into a bit of an argument with Layth but I suppose that's not too strange."

"Considering how your brother is, not really." he smirked a little. "What was it about?"

"How he doesn't like the rule meant to protect the villagers." she explained to him as they began to walk. "It didn't go very well of course."

"I can imagine." Gavin frowned and shook his head. "Well, you got through to the barons so that's what really counts."

Penelope nodded her head. "I suppose so.. It's just he's my brother, so I was hoping that out of all people, I could get him to understand."

Gavin sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Not everyone can change unfortunately. But your brother will at least obey the rule enough so you shouldn't let it bother you too much."

"Ah! There you two are!"

The exclamation ahead made the two knights look ahead to see Olivia bounding over to them. The other female knight eyed them for a moment as Gavin removed his arm from around Penelope before giving a cheerful smile. Penelope caught the look and rolled her eyes. Olivia smirked, "I was nearly thinking I'd have to eat by myself."

"I'm sure you'd find company of some kind." Gavin rolled his eyes, making Olivia shoot an annoyed look at him.

"Well, we're here now." Penelope smiled as she moved in between her two friends. "Come on then."

Gavin and Olivia still didn't get along very well but most of their arguing had died down as of late. Luckily, neither seemed intent on arguing with the other so they followed after Penelope without any hesitation or additional comments. The three made their way to grab a plate and moved to sit down by a small campfire that had been started by another small group of knights as the sun was beginning to set.

Crow stood across from Rikki in the middle of the northern clearing with one dagger clenched in each hand and his eyes fixed on her body as he watched her for sudden movement. They circled around each other slowly, each thief waiting for the other to make the first move. Off to the side, Alistair, Simon, and Hazel all stood by the tree line to watch. It had been a while since the last time Crow had been able to fight, so they all wanted to observe the match to see how he would perform.

In addition to that, he suspected they were hoping for an entertaining match. Alistair had once told him that his fights against Rikki were the most exciting to watch because of how fast-paced and wild they were. Both of them had the same fighting style of striking at their opponents in rapid succession to wear them down and using cheap tricks to knock them off their feet. Of course, he couldn’t watch himself fight, but he supposed he could understand why the others would find it interesting to observe.

Focusing on the match at hand, Crow’s eyes wandered critically over Rikki’s arms and legs as he searched for weak points in her posture. However, before he could move in to strike at one he found on her right side, she charged at him first with her short sword aimed at his wounded leg. He smirked to himself. It looked like she wasn’t going to go easy on him.

Sidestepping her attack, he brought the dagger in his left hand around to swing at her right shoulder. She ducked to dodge his strike and lunged at him with her sword raised. Their blades clashed loudly as the fight commenced. Crow gritted his teeth, focusing intently to keep track of her swift movements while also looking for opportunities to cut through her defense with his own weapons. She hadn’t been lying when she said she had improved earlier. They met each other blow for blow, neither thief able to gain an edge over the other. That is, until Crow felt Rikki slide her foot behind his ankle.

He cursed, shifting his weight to try and offset her attempt to unbalance him, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. As she pulled her foot back towards herself, he could already tell he wasn’t going to be able to stay on his feet. However, that didn’t mean he was going to let her take him down by himself. While she dragged his leg out from under him, he leaned unsteadily onto his back foot, freeing up his other leg to catch her behind the knee. She inhaled sharply as he pulled her to the ground with him.

Taking advantage of his fleeting opportunity to get the upper hand in the fight, Crow rolled over and hurried to get back up, but Rikki wouldn’t let him. Before he could get his feet underneath him, she lashed out with her sword, sending him off balance and toppling over once again when he tried to dodge. He spat in the grass, frustrated at how easily she was keeping him down. Very well, he thought, keeping her in his sight so she couldn’t catch him by surprise again. If this is how she wants it, we can play by her rules.

Just as Rikki tensed to get up, he lunged at her, bowling her over in the grass and sending her sword clattering from her hand. He was careful to keep his own daggers away from her skin, finding it more difficult not to hurt her while they were fighting like this. With a sly grin, he pinned her down with his weight and moved to aim the blade in his right hand at her throat. However, she wasn’t about to give up so easily.

While he was distracted in thinking he had won, she slipped her arm free from his grasp and struck him hard in the wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon. He grimaced and tried to restrain her again, but she was too quick. Before he could catch hold of her arm, she drove her elbow into the crook of the arm he had been using to hold himself up and forced him to fall. Now that he no longer had a secure hold on her, she slipped out from beneath him and began looking for her sword in the long grass.

Unwilling to give up, Crow scrambled to his feet and ran over to where he remembered the sword had fallen, kicking it away just before Rikki could wrap her fingers around the hilt. She muttered something foul and sprang to get up as well, coming at him with her bare hands as they continued the fight without weapons.

Close combat wasn’t a specialty of Crow’s, but since he had an advantage of strength over her, it gave him just the edge he needed to finally put an end to the match. He caught her by the wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, quickly following the motion by grabbing her free arm and repeating the process until he had both of her hands pinned. Then, holding both of her narrow wrists in one hand, he hooked his boot beneath the blade of the sword at his feet and carefully lifted it up to his free hand.

“Yield,” he panted, pointing the tip of the weapon at her throat.

“Fine,” Rikki said breathily. “You win.”

Crow nodded, dropping the sword and glancing off to the side as he heard Alistair whistle. “What a show,” the thief grinned at him. “Looks like you haven’t lost it after all.”

“Did you think I had?” Crow snorted, letting go of Rikki’s arms and taking a step away from her as they made their way over to join the others.

“Maybe,” Alistair shrugged. “But I definitely don’t now.”

“How do you feel?” Hazel asked, her blue eyes sweeping over him analytically.

“Honestly, I feel great,” Crow said. “No pain or fatigue or anything.”

“Good,” Hazel laced her fingers with Simon’s and turned to the blonde thief with a smile. “Just watching that made me hungry. I’m ready for supper.”

“Me too,” Simon agreed.

“All in favor of chicken for dinner, say ‘I’,” Alistair raised his hand.

“I,” Crow said in unison with everyone else. After such an intense sparring match, having a meal with meat in it sounded delicious.

He and Rikki collected their weapons from the clearing and hung back slightly as they followed the others back to the camp. “How are you doing?” he asked, glancing her over for injuries. In his intent to win the match, he had been a bit rough with her, and he hoped she hadn’t been hurt too badly.

“I’m fine aside from my wounded pride,” she smirked at him jokingly and then turned a bit more serious. “Putting my embarrassing loss aside, I’m glad you’re feeling better, Crow. It’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I am too.”

Rikki hesitated for a moment, chewing on the inside of her lip, and then stepped closer to Crow and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle. He blinked in surprise as she pulled away again, “What was that for?”

“Just happy, I suppose,” she shrugged and then hastened her pace. “Come on. Let’s catch up to the others. I need to make sure Alistair isn’t talking badly about me behind my back.”

“Alright,” Crow eyed her curiously as she trotted ahead. She was a difficult woman to read. Whenever she made gestures like that, he couldn’t tell if she was still vying for his attention or if she was merely being friendly. He hoped it was the latter, but he made a mental note to keep an eye on her just in case she was still clinging to some faint hope of being with him.

Putting the thought aside for now, he hurried to catch up with the others so he could talk with them on their way back for supper.

"Sooooo," Olivia drawled as she looked over at Penelope. "what are you going to do about lover boy there?"

Gavin had just left to retire to his tent, leaving the two female knights alone. Penelope looked over at Olivia and raised an eyebrow at her with a mild look of confusion. "What are you talking about? We're just friends now, you know that." she responded, shaking her head.

Olivia laughed a little. "Does he know that?"

"Of course. I ended things as soon as I made my decision." Penelope paused for a moment, her gaze becoming a bit troubled as she recalled ending the relationship with Gavin. Though she was rather certain that he knew she was still with Crow, part of her did worry that he was waiting for her to come back around to him. She had told him not to but perhaps that hadn't been enough to deter the male knight. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought that he was still hoping she would change her mind. "At least.. I think so.." she added with less confidence now.

"Well you might want to double check that." Olivia smirked as she leaned back on the palms of her hands. "At this rate, he might think you're changing your mind.. I don't like the guy but leading him on like that seems a little harsh."

"I'm not." Penelope rolled her eyes. "I just.. I don't want to make things awkward by bringing it up if he does understand we're just friends, you know? Aside from your opinions, I do like hanging out with him."

"You're in quite the pickle then." Olivia mused. She thought about it for a moment then smirked. "There might be one solution to your problem that might work though."

"What is it?"

"Well the best way to make him understand without telling him directly is by talking to him about Crow." Olivia told her with a confident smirk. "It's a great way to get the message across without having to bring it up to him directly. You can thank me later."

"Well.. I guess I could try that.." Penelope said reluctantly. She didn't quite like the idea of talking about Crow to Gavin, mainly because she wasn't even sure what she could tell him. There was very little she could share with him, both because she needed to keep Crow's secrets as well as a few of her own, but the knight guessed she could start by telling him when she was going to meet the thief again. She didn't want his involvement like he had offered before but perhaps telling him would be enough to make the male knight understand her commitment to the thief and her decision. "You seem to know a little too much about stuff like this for someone who says they're not interested in committed relationships." Penelope shook her head.

"Even short term ones have their flaws." Olivia shrugged.

Penelope gave a small nod and eyed her friend for a moment. "I've been meaning to ask you but what's with the necklace?" she asked with a small gesture to the thin chain around Olivia's neck. It was barely visible since most of the necklace tucked beneath the collar of the shirt she wore but some of it still remained visible and it hadn't escaped Penelope's gaze. Olivia didn't often wear jewelry, much like Penelope, and what surprised her even more was that Olivia had been wearing it for a couple days in a row now.

"Oh this?" Olivia blinked and pulled up the necklace into view. At the end of it, a rusty looking pendant was at the end of it. All in all, it didn't look like anything expensive or valuable. "Alistair came across it before our last... 'meeting'. I guess it didn't have much value so he let me have it." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Penelope raised an eyebrow curiously at Olivia. "Oh really?" she smirked.

"Yeah.." Olivia looked down at the pendant for a moment longer before looking at Penelope. She gave a snort. "Stop looking at me like that."

"I thought you said you weren't getting attached."

Olivia flushed. "I'm not. I just thought it'd be rude to refuse it and besides there's not much jewelry to be found out here in all places."

"Uh huh. So why have you been wearing it so much? This isn't the first day I've seen it on you." Penelope snickered.

"Ok maybe I like him a little bit but I'm not like you and your lovestruck ass ok?" Olivia huffed before quickly recovering and flashing her a smirk. "I've had a fun time with him is all and figured I might as well have a souvenir to remember it by."

"I guess." Penelope said as she eyed Olivia. As Olivia held her gaze, it was difficult to tell if her words were true. Olivia was a difficult person to read when it came to her emotions so perhaps she was just being a little sentimental because she knew she'd eventually move on from Alistair like she had done with other men. However, Penelope still had a small feeling that wasn't the case. She decided not to push it, still too uncertain how deep her friend's attachment to the thief went. "Just don't go getting too soft on me." she teased her as she stood up to go head off to her tent.

"Me? Never." Olivia laughed.

"Good." Penelope smirked. "I'll see you tomorrow Olivia." She waved goodbye to her friend and then walked off to her tent, ready to lay down for the night

----

The next day went by quick and without much problem. The barons held their usual meeting and more firm discussions of the next battle were held between the knights. It became clear that the next strike would likely be in the southern part of the outer villages as Layth had suspected. Plans were being mapped out on how to go about the attack and the details were hashed out between the barons and their lieutenants. All that was left was to ready the knights and set a date, however that would come in the next meeting.

Penelope also attempted to follow Olivia's advice with handling Gavin. That evening she had attempted to speak about how she was looking forward to seeing Crow the following day. It hadn't been a comfortable conversation but at the very least, Gavin didn't seem too troubled or hurt by it. It made her wonder if she had misjudged him and that he did truly understand that they were just friends. She decided to wait a while before mentioning anything about Crow again after that.

The day finally came when she'd meet up with Crow again and the knight felt a rush of excitement. Their last meeting had been far too short due to Jane alerting the guards so Penelope hoped they'd have a bit more time this time around. Even though Hazel had been rather strict with the conditions, the knight was certain they would be able to make the most of the time they were allotted.

She stretched a bit as she walked through the camp, heading over to join Tomas for another lesson. Her gaze occasionally flickered up to the sky, hoping the day would go by fast enough.