Crow leaned his cheek into Penelope’s hand, enjoying the chance to be so close to her again after everything that had happened. At her words, he nodded, understanding that, while they would be near to each other as long as he was bound to her camp, she would raise some suspicion if she spent all of her time with him. She was going to have to tread carefully around her comrades until things settled down, if they ever did. Still, he was glad that she would be close by.

“Even if you can’t be here often, it’s better than meeting every four days in the middle of the night,” he pointed out with an optimistic smile. In the next moment, he tensed reflexively as he heard the sound of footsteps outside the tent. Penelope seemed to have noticed them too, as he felt her move away from him to make it seem like they had just been talking formally. Glancing towards the entrance of the tent, he was mildly surprised to see that it wasn’t Jane, but Olivia and Gavin who had come to join them.

At Olivia’s comment, Crow returned her grin. “I couldn’t stay down forever,” he quipped with a shrug. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

At Gavin’s following words, Crow glanced at Penelope, curious what he was talking about. From her response, it sounded like she hadn’t been the only one to get caught working with him. He wondered what their barons had said about it. After all, they couldn’t have been happy to find out that some of their subordinates—even one lieutenant—had been colluding with a criminal behind their backs. Even if the information he’d ended up giving them had ended the sabotage of their battalion, nobles were too proud to admit that a thief like himself could be a valuable ally. They probably would have preferred to suffer on their own until they found Jaxon without any unsavory help.

The thief listened quietly as the knights began to talk amongst themselves. [i]So that’s why they came here,[/i] he thought, glancing at the bowl of food in Olivia’s hand as the female knight explained that they had brought it for Penelope. He looked up at her with a frown upon hearing that she hadn’t eaten yet. It was difficult to tell the time from inside the tent, since the space was only lit with a dimly glowing lantern, but based on what he could see through the opening whenever someone entered or left, it was quite dark outside—well past the time when supper was normally eaten. He was glad her comrades had thought to bring her some food.

Crow was further concerned when Gavin added that Penelope hadn’t rested very much since the battle against the thieves. He supposed he could understand that she had been worried—if their positions had been reversed, and she had been the one to receive a near fatal wound, he would have been just as scared—but he didn’t want her to forego her own needs for him. He had seen her get injured during her fight with Jaxon too. Even if it wasn’t to the same degree as what he’d received, she still needed to take care of herself.

[color=fdc68a][b]“Have you eaten?”[/b][/color]

Crow blinked and looked up at Gavin, surprised to hear such a question come out of his mouth. Ever since the knight had caught him meeting with Jaxon, tensions between them had risen to an all-time high. He had thought the man wanted him dead. Suddenly, he recalled what Penelope had said about Gavin being one of the knights to help carry him to their camp, and he wondered if her former suitor’s opinion of him had changed too.

“I haven’t,” he answered, shifting slightly on the bed. The chains on his wrist and ankle clattered obnoxiously against each other, and he winced, the noise reminding him of his time in prison again. “To be honest, I’m not sure I can though,” he added as he looked down at the bandages around his middle. Given where his wound was located and his lack of appetite, he guessed it was going to be at least a few days before he was healed enough to eat. He turned back to the knights with a hapless smile, “I don’t think I can stomach anything while I’ve got a hole in my gut.”