The next morning, Crow slept in a little later than usual. However, his drowsiness wasn’t caused by his illness this time, but rather because of how late he and the other thieves had stayed out at the tavern the night before. They had dropped off their stolen supplies without any trouble and headed up to Myrefall right after they’d finished. To Crow’s relief, Rikki had ended up spending most of her time with Hazel and Simon instead of flirting with him, so he had been free to drink a little more excessively than he had initially expected. Of course, he still didn’t get drunk, but he did let go enough to have an enjoyable time with Alistair and a few other men from the village whom had come to join them.

Finally awake, he sat up tiredly on his bed and stretched languidly, feeling good after their raid had gone so smoothly the night before. He glanced around to find that Alistair, Rikki, and Hazel were still passed out on their mats. Amongst the five of them, they had gotten the drunkest, and he didn’t doubt they would all be hungover when they did wake up. He shook his head amusedly and got up to head outside, wanting to enjoy the peaceful morning while it lasted.

Outside, he found Simon reading another book in the shade of a tree. The thief glanced up when he saw him walking over. “I’m surprised you’re up,” he mused. “I would have thought you’d sleep until noon like everyone else.”

“I wasn’t drunk last night,” Crow rolled his eyes as he sat down next to the other man.

“Really? You and Alistair were quite rowdy with those villagers,” Simon quirked a brow at him in obvious disbelief.

“We were just having a bit of fun,” Crow smirked. “You should try it sometime.”

“No thank you,” Simon wrinkled his nose. “I wouldn’t call being unnecessarily loud ‘fun.’”

“Suit yourself,” Crow shrugged apathetically. Switching topics, he went on more seriously, “I am glad the raid went so well though. From the looks of it all, we should have just enough food and bandages to get through the rest of the season.”

“Easily so,” Simon agreed. “All that’s left is to sell off the medicines.”

“I’m planning to make the trip to Wheldrake tomorrow,” Crow said, picking up a rock and absently tossing it into the river. “If all goes well, I’ll be able to see everything off at the market and be back in time for the next battle.”

“Why not leave today?” Simon glanced at him curiously. “You would have more time if you go a day in advance.”

“We were all out late last night,” Crow explained nonchalantly. “I’d rather stay here and rest for a day before I leave for such a long trip.” In truth, he wanted to stay because he was planning to meet with Penelope that night, but he wasn’t going to tell Simon that. Assuming they wouldn’t have much time to be together due to the upcoming battle, he didn’t want to waste any of it going over formalities with the knight. So, he intended to keep this rendezvous a secret and sneak out after all of his companions went to bed. Hopefully, they would do so early after getting sick from how much alcohol they had consumed the night before.

“I still think you should leave as soon as possible,” Simon frowned. “But I suppose it won’t matter too much. Even if you don’t sell all of it before the battle, you can always go back when it’s over.”

“Exactly,” Crow grinned at him and hurled another rock into the river, following it with his eyes as it made a satisfying splash. “We don’t need to buy anything until the weather gets colder, so there’s no rush.”

“That’s assuming the knights don’t come after us again,” Simon muttered pessimistically.

“I doubt they will. We only took the bare minimum of what we needed to get by this time. They would be fools to waste their time hunting us down when they still have more than enough supplies to get through the next battle.”

“You would think, but nobles are fools,” Simon exhaled. “They may be blindsided by their anger and hunt us down regardless of wisdom.”

“Well, even if they do, we’ll be ready for them,” Crow turned to him with a grin. “We’ve learned the routes of the tunnels well enough now to defend them easily if we’re discovered again. If they come to take their supplies back, those knights won’t know what hit them.”

“I suppose so,” Simon turned back to keep reading his book, seeming to lose interest in the conversation.

Crow laid back in the grass and rested his head on his arms, lazily staring up at the blue sky. With Simon’s reclusive side coming out and his other companions still hungover from their night at the tavern, he let his mind roam to pass the time until he could meet with Penelope again.

--

For the rest of the day, Crow spent his time in the company of the other thieves. Since three of them were feeling ill, they didn’t do much aside from lay around by the waterfall. It wasn’t the most entertaining day, but at least it was peaceful. Even Rikki was too weary to chase him as persistently as she usually did, which he was grateful for. For the first time in a while, he was able to enjoy their company without keeping his guard up.

So, when night fell and it came time for him to see Penelope again, Crow was already in a good mood. He laid in his bed with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep while his companions settled down for the night. His heart raced with excitement, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from letting a matching expression cross his face. He didn’t want anyone to know he was meeting with the knight, so he wouldn’t have to bring back any more news for them of the battle.

Eventually, he glanced up to see that all of them were breathing slowly and evenly, indicating that they were asleep. He smiled to himself and silently got up from his bed, only pausing by the entrance of the cavern to put on his boots and cloak and arm himself with his usual set of daggers. Once he was ready, he slipped out into the forest, walking briskly in his eagerness to get to see Penelope again.