Despite his stress about what the following day would bring, Crow slept unusually soundly through the night. He didn’t even wake when Gavin arrived in the early morning to change shifts with Penelope. Perhaps it was also due to the fact that his wound had been strained again during Layth’s last visit, but even then, it was out of character for him. So, when he eventually rose the next morning from his slumber, he was startled to see that there was a different knight in the tent with him.

Unprepared for the change, the thief flinched as his eyes fell on Gavin and moved to sit up without thinking, only to immediately regret the action when it sent a sharp burst of pain through his middle. He quickly laid back down on the bed and groaned through gritted teeth, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing a hand to his torso as the ache took its course.

Of course, the sudden flurry of movement drew Gavin’s attention. The other man shifted to the edge of his chair and studied him with a frown, “What wrong?”

It took Crow a moment before the pain subsided enough for him to answer. “Nothing,” he panted, shaking his head. “It was my fault… tried to move too quickly… I’m fine.” He fell silent for another long moment, waiting for the wound to return to its usual level of soreness, and then let out his breath in a slow exhale. “Where is Penelope?” he asked, turning to meet the knight’s gaze across the room.

“She went to a meeting with the barons,” Gavin replied, leaning back in his chair now that he knew the thief was fine.

“Oh,” Crow felt a flash of worry as he remembered that this was the meeting where the knights’ leaders would determine what they were going to do with him. The thought made him shudder. He hoped Mia and Penelope would be able to convince the others to have mercy and accept his offer rather than elect to cripple him for his crimes. If the two of them couldn’t persuade their comrades, he was going to have a bleak and excruciating future ahead of him.

From across the tent, Gavin observed him with an unreadable expression. It was hard to tell what was on his mind, but Crow knew it wasn’t unlikely that word had spread to other knights in the camp about the purpose of this meeting. After all, it was already big news that the most infamous thief in the kingdom was being held prisoner in their midst. He was sure all the nobles would be eager to find out what his fate was to be. In fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they even chose to make a spectacle of cutting off his hands, if that was the route they chose to go with. He grimaced at the mental image of Layth or some other cruel knight mutilating his body in front of an audience.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Crow blinked as Gavin’s low voice drew him from his thoughts, and he looked up to meet the other man’s gaze with mild surprise.

“Penelope cares about you too much to let them do anything too terrible,” the knight muttered. “I’m sure that if there’s a way for her to convince them to let you off easy, she’ll find it.” His face looked strange to the thief. There was a mixture of melancholy as well as respect in his dark eyes that made Crow wonder if he was thinking about his past with the female knight.

“Thanks” Crow offered him a half-smile. Hearing someone else speak confidently about the meeting made him relax slightly, but his lingering fears weren’t so easy disbanded. He sighed and gazed up at the canopy of the tent with a solemn expression as he added in a murmur, “I just hope you’re right about that.”