Crow closed his eyes when Penelope kissed him on the cheek, and he leaned his head against hers as she nestled closer to him. No matter what might be coming in regard to Layth, he was content that he could at least be near her while he recovered from his wound. It was much more tolerable than when he had been bedridden in his own camp from his illness. Back then, he had been completely on his own, since his companions had had better things to do than sit around and wait for him to get better. Even Hazel’s presence hadn’t helped much, since the herbalist had been focused on making sure he healed and wasn’t very good at small talk. Being close to Penelope was much nicer and made the waiting more bearable for the thief.

When the knight spoke up again, Crow opened his eyes to look at her. Her words stirred mixed feelings inside of him. He was hopeful that she might find a way to keep her brother away from his tent, but he was also worried about the risks she could be planning to take to accomplish that. “Just be careful,” he warned, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her back instead. He rubbed his hand soothingly along her shoulders as he went on in a low voice, “I know you’ll do your best, but it’s more important that you keep your position right now. I don’t want to get you labeled as a traitor while there’s still so much you can do here.”

A brief moment of silence passed before he heard her speak again. “Gavin?” he mused, unsure why she was bringing her former suitor up now. “Well, he seems to have stopped threatening me, so I’d say he was fine.” He studied her curiously, suddenly wondering if her earlier stiffness had something to do with the other knight. “Why do you—” He didn’t have a chance to finish the question before he felt his chest tighten with a familiar sensation. In the next moment, his eyes widened slightly, and he turned his head away from her as another coughing fit wracked his body. The motion sent a sharp pain through his middle, making him wince, but there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a long episode. However, when it passed, Crow was left cringing as the more serious wound had begun to send an intense ache through his abdomen. “Ow… Gods, that hurts,” he whimpered in a strained voice, closing his eyes and bringing his hand down to the bandages. “Being ill and getting run through with a sword is [i]not[/i] a fun combination…” Suddenly, he frowned as he noticed something else and lifted his head slightly to look down at himself. Lifting his hand from the wrapping, he saw that the cloth was beginning to turn red over his wound.

“I think I busted my stitching,” he muttered with another wince, glancing up at Penelope again.