The next morning, Crow was awoken by a knock on his door, followed by the familiar figure of Hunter, who had come inside to clean away the plates from supper. The thief stretched tiredly and sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of him palm as his lingering weariness began to subside. The attendant glanced in his direction when he noticed him move, his brown eyes flickering down to the bandages around his chest before returning to his face with a slightly uncomfortable expression, as if he was imagining the suturing beneath them again.

Crow studied the nervous servant for a moment before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to get up. “’Morning,” he greeted him in a friendly manner as he put his clothes back on, hoping to distract the uncomfortable attendant by covering up the bandages and making small talk with him.

“Good morning,” Hunter dipped his head slightly, averting his gaze from the thief as he began setting up the breakfast dishes he’d brought. There was a brief pause before he added: “How are you feeling today?”

Crow eyed him with an amused look. It was obvious that the attendant was referring to his wound when he asked the question, even though he had assured him that his injury was healing well enough. “Fine,” he answered with a casual shrug, making his way over to the table once he’d finished getting dressed. Like always, there was a wide assortment of dishes for him to try. His mouth watered as he spotted bread with butter: yet another luxury peasants of the outer villages couldn’t afford. Aside from the two or three times he’d managed to swipe some from the local guards, he never got the chance to eat it either.

“I’ll leave you to your meal,” Hunter dipped his head again and turned to leave.

Snapping out of his distraction, Crow quickly looked up from the food, “Wait. I’ve got a request.”

“Yes?” Hunter frowned, turning back around with a curious expression.

Crow hesitated for a moment before going on, “Could you tell King Mannering that I’d like to speak with him this morning?”

Hunter stared at him contemplatively for a moment before giving a curt nod, “Of course. I’ll speak with him right away.”

“Thank you,” Crow offered him a half smile, feeling both relieved and nervous about meeting with his father. He watched as the attendant exited the room and then sat down at the table, filling a plate with food to eat for breakfast. As usual, he finished everything off quickly, but before he could reach for a second helping, he heard another knock on the door.

The thief looked up and grinned when he saw that it was Penelope who had come to see him this time. Standing up from the table, he stepped over to meet her halfway in an eager embrace. “Long time no see,” he smirked at her jokingly, leaning down to kiss her on the nose. “Want to help me finish all this food again?”