Crow smiled as Penelope kissed his cheek and then moved to sit down with her beneath the tree when she gestured for him to join her. Leaning against her shoulder to shoulder, he tucked his left knee to his chest and stretched out his right leg, keeping it straight since his wound was still healing. He sank back against the tree trunk, and glanced at the knight, noticing her gaze wander up to the sky. Not wanting to interrupt the comfortable silence they had lapsed into, he did the same.

Sitting with her like this reminded him of when they had been riding in the wagon to Younis two years ago and had exchanged stories about their beliefs about the stars. Back then, they hadn’t even confessed their feelings for each other yet. He shook his head, reminded of how oblivious they had both been, but thankful they had ended up where they were now.

His eyes flicked back to Penelope as he felt her reach to take his hand, and he leaned contentedly into her side, enjoying the closeness he had missed for the last three weeks. At her question, he paused to think before answering. “Yes, that wasn’t one of my proudest moments,” he grimaced at the memory of his accident in the stables. Unsure if Hazel had given her many details, he supposed he should explain a little more about what had happened, just in case the herbalist had made him come off like he had broken his promise to stay safe during the fighting.

“I was using a bow during the last battle to stay away from the worst of the fight,” he said, turning to meet her gaze. “I climbed up the rafters in a stable because there was a window at the top that gave me a direct view of the main road. It seemed sturdy enough to hold my weight, but I suppose I overestimated it.” He shook his head. “The beam I was standing on broke when I was going to climb back down to retrieve my arrows, and when it fell, part of it snapped off and drove itself right through my leg.” He rested his free hand on his thigh to indicate where the splinter had stabbed him. “I had to pull it out, and after that, some Younisian knights found me. I tried to fight them off, which of course, didn’t go well, and in the end, Rikki was the one who killed them.”

He shifted his weight. “Unfortunately, by the time she’d found me, I’d already lost quite a lot of blood from my wound. I think the stress it put on my body was what made my illness worse, not the fight with the knights.” He shook his head. “It was unlucky, to say the least, but I’m glad Hazel and your physician friend were so quick to find a medicine that worked. I was only bedridden for about a week because of their efforts.”

He sighed, squeezing her hand and trailing his free hand absently up the length of her forearm, “I still have a bit of a cough on occasion, so I’m not cured yet, but I’m hoping it won’t be long before I’m fully healed of his cursed disease.” Leaning a bit closer to her, he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and then grinned at her amusedly. “Enough about me. Tell me what you’ve been up to for the past three weeks. Hazel hasn’t told me anything aside from that you didn’t seem to have any visible injuries from the battle.”