Crow nodded faintly when Mia said the barons would make their decision the following morning, feeling a sense of foreboding rise up inside of him. That wasn’t very much time for her to persuade the others to listen to reason. If Layth was still demanding blood, they might just decide it wasn’t worth it to keep him around any longer than they already had to. He dreaded to think that the remaining two barons had already made up their minds unchangeably.

Still, he couldn’t give up hope yet. With one of the knights’ leaders in his corner, he had a fighting chance to make it out of this with his body intact. Plus, Penelope would be there too. Even if she was on shaky ground with the barons lately, she was still a lieutenant, so her voice had to carry some weight. The thought relaxed him a bit. Layth may have been calling for his execution, but there were two knights who would want to take up his offer to help them in the war.

After Mia left the tent, Philip was quick to replace her. The young knight took up his usual guard spot near the entrance of the space, as if he expected the bedridden thief to jump up and make a run for the woods. Crow found his watchfulness almost comical, but he was in no mood to prod at the boy while he had so much else on his mind. Right now, he could barely keep his thoughts straight as they all tangled together in a mixture of unresolved questions and battling emotions. The uncertainties of everything made him feel nauseated, and he closed his eyes, deciding it would be better to sleep than lie awake when he couldn’t do anything but worry about a situation he had almost no control over. Even though it took a while, he eventually managed to drift off into a fitful slumber.

--

Crow slept through the rest of the day, only to wake again when he heard someone else approaching the tent. He stretched tiredly, feeling like he hadn’t gotten much rest at all after enduring a long nap filled with nightmares of what the barons were going to do with him. However, he perked up right away when he realized that the person at the entrance was Penelope, who had finally come to visit him. After everything that had happened, he was glad to see her again. Her presence brought him comfort in the midst of all the uncertainties.

He waited impatiently as she dismissed the younger guard, itching to be close to her again. Fortunately, Philip didn’t linger, and it wasn’t long before the knight was at his side once more. He was just about to greet her, but she spoke up first, asking urgently about his conversation with her baroness. The mention of the talk made him shift uncomfortably. “She did,” he said softly, looking up to hold her gaze. “And she told me about the decision she and the other barons were considering.” Reflexively, he clenched his hands into fists at his sides as he thought about the lingering possibility of losing them for his crimes.

“But it wasn’t all bad,” he went on a little more hopefully. “I sort of made a proposition… to make the same deal that Jaxon did with the Younisians.” He smiled at her lopsidedly. “Basically, if they let me go, I’ll be indentured to work for them and sabotage the other battalions.” He shrugged. “She seemed to like the idea and even said that she’d argue in my favor during your next meeting tomorrow.”