The next morning wasn’t the most pleasant for Crow. Almost as soon as he sat up on his bed, he was overcome with another violent coughing fit. Usually, he tried to go somewhere private when the episodes happened, so he wouldn’t bother his companions, but this one came on so suddenly that he didn’t have a chance to react. He squeezed his eyes shut and brought a hand to his mouth to stop the blood from spattering as he waited for the fit to pass.

As soon as he was able to catch his breath again, he felt a hand on his back. Panting softly, he looked up to see Rikki kneeling at his side with a concerned look in her wide, dark eyes. “Are you alright?” she asked, studying him worriedly.

“I’m fine,” he nodded, avoiding her gaze out of embarrassment that she had caught him like this.

“Are you sure?” she pressed, rubbing her hand along his shoulders. “That didn’t sound good.”

“Darling, please,” he sighed. “I’ve got it under control. Don’t worry about it, alright?”

“Under control, my ass,” another voice spoke up from across the room. Crow looked up to see Hazel eyeing him with a strange expression. After a moment, she looked away, going on in a quiet voice, “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let myself get so caught up in everything that’s happened… You haven’t had any medicine in almost two weeks.”

Crow frowned, “Don’t say that. You just lost your husband. No one expects you to work on making medicines while you’re mourning.”

“No,” Hazel shook her head. “I’m your healer, Crow. I shouldn’t have let anything get in the way of treating your illness. It’s disgraceful.” She rose to her feet from where she had been sitting and headed to the entrance of the cavern. “I’m going to make you a fresh batch right now.”

“O-okay,” Crow followed her with his eyes until she disappeared from his sight. He wished she wouldn’t be so hard on herself, but he knew there was no changing the stubborn herbalist’s mind once she had made it up. With Hazel gone, he turned his attention back to Rikki, who was still lingering close to his side with one hand resting on his back. He cleared his throat and tilted his head slightly, meeting her gaze with a warning look. Fortunately, she understood that he was gesturing for her to put some distance between them and scooted a little farther away.

Glancing at the front of the cavern, Crow spotted Alistair sitting with his back to the wall, carving something that he couldn’t make out between the darkness and the distance. With both of the other thieves around, he supposed it was as good a time as any to bring up the fake tip off to Black Hollow. He sighed to himself, wishing he could just tell Penelope that he had followed the lead and come up blank instead of actually going on the pointless trip. Unfortunately, he needed something a little more foolproof than that. If he lied about going and she questioned any of his companions, she would find out right away that it wasn’t true. So, as much as he would prefer to stay close to the knights’ camp to keep an eye on her, he had to go.

“I found out something interesting last night,” he spoke up after a moment’s pause. He waited for Alistair and Rikki to look his way before he went on. “I went to the Ivory Hatchet to meet with Penelope, and while we were there, one of the villagers overheard us talking about Jaxon. He said he heard a rumor about a band of thieves in Black Hollow.” His eyes flicked between his companions’ faces as he tried to gauge whether they believed the lie. “The knights can’t come with us this time, but I think it’s worth checking out. What do you think?”

“I think it’s obvious,” Alistair growled from across the cavern. “Of course we should go! That slippery murderer needs to be put in his place.”

“Yeah,” Rikki nodded in agreement, cracking her knuckled eagerly. “We don’t need the knights. We’re perfectly capable of handling our own kind. If we find him, we’ll just kill him ourselves.”

It seemed they were buying into the lie perfectly. Crow grinned, “Alright then. No point in wasting any more time here.” He climbed to his feet and headed over to the supplies to begin packing a bag. “Let’s get to work. As soon as Hazel gets back, we’re all going to Black Hollow.”