As Crow waited for Zenith’s daughters to return with news of the thieves, he almost felt tempted to take a real nap. There wasn’t much else to do in the small house, and Zenith had begun humming a song from the village as she knitted her blanket that was beginning to lull him to sleep. He yawned tiredly and stretched his limbs, sinking a little further down the wall as he did so. It would probably be a while before Letha and Alice came back with any word from the knights, so perhaps he could fit in a little extra sleep…

“I noticed you and that woman seem to be close,” Zenith’s soft voice caught his attention. He looked up to see her eyeing him with a curious expression, having set down her unfinished blanket to take a break.

“You did, huh?” Crow smiled tiredly and stretched again, sitting up a little straighter now that the prospect of napping had grown dimmer.

“She’s different than the one you were traveling with before, right?” Zenith pressed, obviously eager to get more information out of him.

“Yes,” he nodded, understanding that she was referring to Rikki.

Zenith rolled her eyes and nudged him teasingly, “Well? Are you going to tell me about her or just keep me waiting all day?”

Crow chuckled softly and shook his head, “I see you still like to gossip just as much as the last time I saw you.”

“What do you expect?” Zenith grinned. “I’m a mother of two with an overprotective husband who won’t let me out of the house while I’ve got our third on the way.” She rested a hand on her round stomach, her gaze softening briefly before she looked up at him again. “Your visit has been the most entertainment I’ve had in months, so [i]out with it[/i] already. Who’s the new lady in your life? Is she just another fling or something more?”

Crow laughed again, finding her enthusiasm amusing. “Fine, I suppose I can tell you,” he caved, feigning a reluctant sigh. “She’s not a fling. In fact, she’s the first woman I’ve ever been with who isn’t.” His expression softened as Penelope’s face flashed through his mind, and he went on quietly, “She’s far too special to me for something that trivial.”

“Are you courting her then?” Zenith asked.

“Not quite,” he answered with a shrug. “Trust me, I would if I could, but with the war going on, things are too complicated for that. I can’t say much on it, but we’re both heavily involved in our own ways. There’s just no room for something like courting right now.”

“Hmm,” Zenith frowned thoughtfully. “If she’s not a fling, but you’re not courting her either, then what are you two?”

“I’m not really sure,” Crow shook his head. “But I don’t think that labels would make our feelings for each other any more or less real.” He looked up at her with a smirk. “Besides, I’ve never been orthodox in anything I do. What we have now just feels natural, so I don’t see any reason to change it.”

“So,” Zenith’s eyes turned slightly mischievous, and she leaned a little closer to him. “Do you intend to marry her?”

“You really want every detail, don’t you?” Crow snorted.

“You’re avoiding my question,” Zenith pointed out, refusing to let him change the subject. “You say you’re not orthodox, so does that mean you plan to keep things as they are indefinitely, or are you going to marry this woman?”

“Well,” Crow shifted his weight. “Not [i]indefinitely[/i], but I’m also not sure when I’ll be able to ask her—”

“Ah!” Zenith clapped her hands together, her features alight with excitement. “So you [i]do[/i] intend to marry her.”

“Alright, alright,” Crow held up his hands in defeat. “You got me.” He met her gaze with a wry grin, though there was a faint blush on his cheeks. “You’re pretty nosy, you know that?”

Zenith opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by the sound of the door handle rattling followed by the pounding of feet as her daughters returned to the house. Crow looked up as they ran over to him, fidgeting excitedly.

“We got something,” Alice said eagerly.

“What did you find out?” Crow asked.

“They talked about two groups,” the girl explained. “One with five people from another kingdom, and another with seven people heading towards Wheldrake.”

“Wheldrake?” Crow quirked a brow. If it was Jaxon’s group, he wondered what they would have been going there for.

“There was also one with ten people!” Letha added, slapping one hand to her forehead.

Crow exchanged a knowing glance with Zenith and then turned back to the girl, prodding her playfully in the stomach, “Liar.” He reached into his pocket and retrieved two copper coins, handing one to each of them. “Good work so far. Keep it up, and I have more where those came from.”

“Thanks, Thief,” Letha beamed. The two stowed away the money he had given them and then hurried off to keep spying for him.

“Well, at least they’re staying out of trouble,” Zenith sighed, picking up her blanket to resume knitting once her daughters were gone.

“You looked like you needed a break from them,” Crow said simply, leaning back into the wall again. “I’m happy to help.”

“I’m not sure if I should thank you or slap you for that comment,” she rolled her eyes.

“You know what I meant,” he chuckled, gesturing at her pregnant belly.

“Alright, I’ll let it slide this time,” Zenith’s looked at him with a bemused smirk before going back to her knitting.

Another silence fell over them, and Crow closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall and exhaling softly. Even though he knew he couldn’t leave the house without risking getting spotted by the knights—Aramoor was too small of a village for him to conduct a separate interrogation on his own—he wished there was more that he could do to pass the time. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the best way for him to prove to Gavin that he really wasn’t sabotaging their efforts to find the culprits behind the raid. It was boring, but at least afterward, the knight might give him more freedom to make decisions. It was worth a shot.