Crow silently cursed as John went on to speak with Penelope. Far too many people were learning more about him than he was comfortable with. Now, there were three knights who knew his name aside from Penelope, when he had managed to keep that piece of himself a secret for more than a decade. He didn’t like it. After going all of his adult life by the alias, ‘Crow,’ he preferred to keep his real name to himself—well, and Penelope, since he trusted her too. It was unnerving to know that there were others who had found out about it through his own mistakes. He needed to be more careful about bringing it up in the future. As Penelope spoke to him, Crow nodded wordlessly, still reeling from the fact that yet another noble had learned his name, and met her lips in a quick kiss. “Goodnight, love,” he finally managed to say as she got up to follow her father out of the room. Watching them walk away, he waited until the two knights were gone before he leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair with a groan. He was getting far too complacent in a castle that was filled with his enemies. Just because Penelope was there with him didn’t mean he should be letting his guard down as much as he was. He needed to remember to stay more alert. Standing up from the table, the thief put out the lantern that had been lit there and made his way over to his bed, deciding he might as well go to sleep since there wasn’t anything else for him to do now that he was alone. He kicked off his boots and pulled back the layers of sheets and blankets to lay down. Despite his warnings to himself about keeping his guard up, he was immediately distracted by just how comfortable the massive bed was. As he settled down on the mattress—it felt like it was filled with feathers and animal hair rather than the straw that was used in the beds at the inns—he let out an involuntary sigh. Expensive luxuries like this were the very things he hated about nobles, but he couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the softness of the mattress or the smooth, silk sheets or even the [i]pillows[/i]—gods, he’d never slept on any bed with more than just a thin, straw-filled sack to rest his head on, and he’d used to think that was luxurious. Above that though, the bed was actually [i]warm[/i]. At this time of year, he’d always needed to sleep wearing the clothes on his back because the blankets and animal skins he used on his own bedroll weren’t enough to keep him warm. However, between the protective walls of the castle and the layers of blankets on top of him now, Crow found that he actually had to take [i]off[/i] his clothing to keep from getting too warm. It felt strange to be so comfortable using only the parts of the bed by itself, but it wasn’t a bad change. He closed his eyes, burying himself in the layers of blankets and pillows as he enjoyed the feeling of the silk sheets against his skin. Laying in a bed as comfortable as this, it didn’t take long before he drifted off into a contented slumber, though he still slept lightly out of habit. -- The next morning, Crow was roused by the sound of a knock at the door, followed by the jostling of the door handle. He moaned sleepily and rolled onto his stomach, not wanting to move from the comfortable bed unless he had to. Instead, he just cracked one eye open to see who had come to visit him this time. When he did, he spotted his father’s attendant, Hunter, making his way over to the table on the left side of the room to clear away the leftover food, of which there wasn’t much, thanks to Crow’s ravenous appetite and the help of the others. The servant seemed to catch him watching and dipped his head in a courteous gesture, “Good morning.” “Morning,” Crow yawned lazily in response, turning over to lay on his back again. As he did, he realized there was the smell of fresh food in the room. Suddenly more awake, he sat up on the bed to see that Hunter was setting out platters of breakfast food. Already, his mouth began to water as he recalled how good the dinner had been the night before. Assuming his father intended to continue feeding him only the best dishes, whatever the attendant was putting up for him now had to be good. Enticed by the prospect of eating more delicious food, the thief pushed the blankets off of himself and slipped off the mattress to gather his clothes that he had left piled at the foot of the bed the night before. However, he had only just put on his pants again when he realized Hunter was eyeing him from the other side of the room. He turned to meet the other man’s gaze, shifting his weight slightly as he asked a defensive: “What?” Hunter blinked and turned away, seeming embarrassed at having been caught staring. He busied himself by setting up the last plate as he replied, “S-Sorry. It’s just… no one told me you were injured.” Crow looked down at the bandages around his torso and shrugged, “I’m fine.” Sliding his tunic over his head, he made his way over to the table to get a closer look at the arrangement of food that had been laid out that morning. “I can alert the court physician,” Hunter went on, standing aside to let the thief freely circle the table. “At the very least, he can look you over to make sure your wound doesn’t get any worse.” “Mhm,” Crow grunted absently in response, too distracted by the rich-looking breakfast to pay attention to what the attendant was saying. “Say, is that wine?” He asked abruptly, pointing at another dish of red liquid. “There was some last night too, but I’m still not completely sure what it is.” “Yes, it’s wine,” Hunter answered with a nod. He studied the thief for a moment longer before seeming to realize that his focus was solely on the food. “I have other matters to attend to for the king this morning, so I’ll leave you to enjoy your breakfast. If you need anything else, please, come and let me know.” He dipped his head again and turned to exit the room, leaving Crow to work on the small feast in peace.