As they crossed through the water to the other side of the river, Crow was relieved to find that it seemed to stay consistently shallow. He was still tense with nervousness, since the riverbed could still drop off unexpectedly beneath his feet, but the water never rose past the middle of his thigh at its deepest point. It looked like Gavin had been right after all.

Penelope’s consistent presence at his side helped quite a bit as well. He was certain that if he had been crossing by himself, he would have been much more anxious. However, by focusing on the feeling of her stable arm around his and the occasional comforting strokes of her free hand, he managed to stay calm enough to focus on finding sure footing beneath the rapids. It was a good thing too, because not long after they reached the center of the river, he heard her warn him about fast currents.

He nodded wordlessly, grimacing as he felt a conveniently timed rush of water tug at his legs. Still, the depth never seemed to increase, so he kept moving, feeling a bit reassured that even if he did stumble, he could always regain his footing. The only real danger would be if he fell. He’d never seen it in person, but the thief had heard stories of other people getting their feet trapped beneath rocks on the riverbed and being forced beneath the surface by powerful rapids. If they couldn’t manage to free themselves, they would drown. The thought made him shudder, since he knew he would be in too much of a panic to pay attention to his footing if he fell in the river.

Suddenly more eager to get out of the water, he focused his attention on making it to the other bank with Penelope.

Fortunately, he only stumbled once by the time they made it back to solid ground. Crow was quick to hurry out of the river, his legs trembling slightly with a mixture of leftover adrenaline and relief. He wanted to sit down and take a break to recover from the stress of crossing the water, but he didn’t have a chance before Gavin addressed the group again.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s keep going,” the knight said mercilessly. He turned and kept walking without waiting for a reply.

Crow groaned and leaned his weight into Penelope’s side in a slightly exaggerated manner. “I can’t believe you almost married that guy,” he sighed. “Does he even know how to rest?”