Crow wasn’t sure when he woke the next day, since there was no natural light in the tent. All he knew was that he was in pain again. Almost as soon as his eyes opened, he was aware of a deep soreness in his wound that made him cringe and forced him to take slow breaths. Closing his eyes again, he brought a hand to his chest, trying to breathe through the ache until it began to pass. Even though he knew he was healing, it looked like this injury was going to pain him for quite a while.

Secondarily, the thief began to take notice of how cold he was. The inside of the tent was frigid. He shivered involuntarily. With no blanket on the bed and only a pair of pants to cover himself, he’d had no good way to keep warm during the cooling night. He let out his breath in an irritable huff. That would explain why he was aching so badly—he must have tensed up in his sleep as his body had tried to stay warm, which had in turn strained his wound. He guessed that Jane had “overlooked” giving him reasonable accommodations for the weather, since she probably wanted him to take longer to recover.

[i]Ridiculous noblewoman,[/i] he thought with a grimace as his injury sent an especially sharp burst of pain through his middle.

“Are you okay?”

Crow blinked at the sound of a voice and turned to see Gavin sitting off to the side. The knight was wearing an expression that was difficult for the thief to read as he watched him. “I can get Jane if something’s wrong,” the ginger man went on, shifting to stand up.

“No,” Crow said through gritted teeth. He took a moment longer to wait for the pain to subside before he went on. “It’s nothing,” he shook his head. “Just stressed the wound a little is all. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Gavin knitted his brow, seeming unconvinced as he hovered on the edge of his seat.

“Yes,” the thief nodded, closing one eye as he winced again. “It’s just the damn cold… I can’t relax.”

The knight studied him for a moment before rising to his feet, “In any case, I need to tell Jane you’re awake, so she can check on your progress.” He stepped towards the opening of the tent and then turned back to him to add: “I’ll request that she brings you a blanket.” With that, he exited the tent, leaving no time for the thief to respond.

Crow stared at the tent opening in mild surprise. He had been expecting Gavin to drop the subject after he’d insisted he didn’t need anything, but instead, it seemed like the knight was intent on making sure he was treated probably for his injury. He laid his head back on the bed to gaze up at the canopy in thought. Even though he’d noticed Gavin had accepted that he wasn’t an enemy, he was still getting used to being treated like a comrade by the stubborn man. After all, the knight had been certain he was just a loathsome snake until this point. His new attitude was going to take some getting used to.

Still, the change wasn’t a bad one. He closed his eyes again as another wave of pain wracked his body, suddenly hoping Gavin could convince Jane to give him better accommodations. It would be nice to spend the coming nights comfortable and warm instead of waking up cold and sore as he had today. He let out his breath in a long sigh, longing for the end of his recovery so he could get out of the knights’ camp for good.