Crow furtively studied Penelope’s face, gauging her reaction as he waited for her to reply. Despite his confident words, he was still worried that his efforts to change the outcome of the barons’ decision hadn’t been enough. He had only spoken to one of them, and he didn’t know how the other two would respond to his offer at all. Surely Penelope would have more insight, since she worked with them on a regular basis, and he hoped that she would be able to give him a clearer picture of what to expect.

So, when she seemed relieved and even leaned down to kiss him, the thief felt a wave of relief wash over him. It seemed like she thought his efforts had been worthwhile, so he relaxed a bit more, closing his eyes when her lips touched his skin. However, the moment of respite didn’t last long when he looked up at her again and noticed that her face was laced with worry. Seeing her look at him with such concern made him shift nervously, and he wondered if she thought his attempt, while good, wasn’t enough?”

His fears were confirmed when she went on to ask him what they were going to do if Mia couldn’t convince the other barons to listen to the alternate idea. He averted his gaze, finding it difficult to meet her eyes as his own worries flooded him again. Usually, whenever the knight got anxious about something, he was the one to keep a level head and come up with a solution, but he found it harder to do that this time. He felt so walled in by the knights, their barons, the chains on his body, and even the wound that had landed him here in the first place. Every instinct he had screamed at him that he was in danger, but there were so many obstacles in his way that he just couldn’t think of a way out. He was trapped.

After a moment of silence that seemed to drag on forever, Crow spoke in a low voice, “I don’t know.” He turned to meet her gaze again, the fear he had been trying to suppress seeping into his eyes. He felt helpless. The biggest obstacle he faced was the hole in his middle that had yet to even heal enough for him to sit up properly. As long as he was immobilized, there was no way for him to get out of the camp, even if they did come up with an escape plan. The best he could think of was that Penelope could go back to his camp again and recruit his companions to help her sneak him out during an upcoming night, but that would take at least two more days. The barons were making their decision tomorrow. They didn’t have that much time left.

Suddenly, he reached up with his free hand to wrap his arm around Penelope’s back, pulling her to him in a tight embrace and burying his head against her neck. His throat was tight with fear, so he couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. At the moment, all he wanted was to hold her close as he tried to find comfort in her warmth.