Hazel worked diligently as she prepared the medicine to ease Crow’s pain, watching the pot closely until she could tell it had cooked for the proper amount of time. She couldn’t visit the thief in person, but she wanted to do everything she could from a distance to help him recover. After all, the sooner he got back to their camp, the sooner things could return to a state of normalcy amongst the group. She didn’t want to be the leader of the group forever. While she had the basic skills of decision-making, he had been much better at guiding the other thieves than she was. The criminals needed someone with his charisma to bring some form of order among them, and she simply didn’t have that quality.

Once the painkiller finished setting, she removed the pot from the fire and poured its contents into three separate jars, one for each dose. Almost as soon as she was done, she looked up to the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Can you check on the medicine for me?” Rikki asked in a quiet voice, looking off to the side as she spoke rather than meeting the herbalist’s gaze.

Hazel studied her for a moment in confusion but decided it was in her better judgment not to ask what was wrong. She had seen the thief talking to Penelope earlier, so she guessed her sudden change in mood was likely related to Crow. “Sure,” she nodded, rising to her feet and dusting off her skirt. Once she was up, she followed Rikki over to the other pot and knelt down, stirring the oil inside as she looked over the mixture. “It’s ready,” she announced, removing it from the makeshift firepit the thieves had set up.

Hazel made quick work of bottling up the contents of the pot in seven small jars, which she bundled together with the three painkillers in a small bag. Standing up again, she passed the satchel off to Penelope. “Here you are,” she said with a curt dip of her head. “Make sure Crow takes one of those white jars every day.” She paused for a moment before adding: “Oh, and just so you’re aware ahead of time, that painkiller is extremely potent. If you don’t want your comrades to know he’s taking it, make sure to only give it to him when no one else is around, because it will make him delirious.” Her lip curled upward in a slight smile. “Good luck, Penelope. If you’re able to stop by again, please do. Crow was my patient first, so I’d like to know how he’s improving.”