The next morning, Crow stirred at the sound of his door opening and closing again, followed by the quiet voices of two people. He shifted tiredly on his bed, only opening one eye to see who had come into his room. Despite Naida’s constant reassurances that he was safe in the castle, he didn’t trust anyone to watch his back beside himself, so he wanted to make sure whoever had come into his bed chamber wasn’t going to try to smother him in his sleep.

Fortunately, the two men who had come into his room were both people he recognized. Unfortunately, one of them was the court physician, Eldon. He groaned and buried his face against his pillow. Out of all the nobles he would want to greet him in the early morning, the healer was at the bottom of his list. He wondered if the arrogant man would go away if he pretended he was still asleep.

“Collin, there’s someone here to see you.”

No such luck.

“Tell him to come back later,” Crow muttered to Preston. “I’m busy.”

“You’re not busy,” the boy crossed his arms.

“I am busy,” the viceroy grumbled. “If you must know, I’m conducting a very important meeting in my head. We’re currently trying to decide what to do with the annoying servant who keeps waking me up so early in the morning.”

Preston ignored him. “Good luck,” he murmured under his breath to Eldon before moving to stand off to the side.

The physician said nothing in return as he approached the thief’s bedside and set down his bag of supplies. “Sit up, Lockton,” he said curtly. “The sooner you work with me, the sooner this will be over and we can both return to our separate lives.”

“What even needs to be done?” Crow frowned without complying. “I don’t need anything more from you.”

“Perhaps not,” Eldon replied. “But I need to make sure. The king instructed me to treat you until you’re fully cured of your ailments. Now, sit up.”

Crow hesitated for a moment longer before he reluctantly did as he was asked, sitting up on the bed with his back against the headboard. Though he disliked Eldon’s methods of treating him, he didn’t want the man to stick around any longer than he had to. If that meant complying with his demands, then he supposed that was what he was going to have to do.

Like the last time, the physician proceeded to examine his body, checking for any new health issues. Finding none, he moved on to his chest. The healer pressed down with two fingers on different places until he hit the spot that had triggered the thief’s coughing fit before. As expected, Crow doubled over coughing, but when the brief episode passed, he was surprised to see that hardly any blood had come up. The physician seemed pleased.

“Good,” Eldon nodded, reaching into his supply bag and digging around. “It seems that medicine is working perfectly.”

Crow said nothing in response as he stared at the small, scarlet droplets of blood in his palm. There was so little, he could have counted them all on one hand. He wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, he was elated to know that he was going to be healed after all, but on the other hand, this meant that there really had been a cure for the Creeping Death in the inner kingdom all along. The villagers of Myrefall shouldn’t have been dying—his mother shouldn’t have died either. The thought made him feel a mixture of sadness and anger over their unnecessary loss.

“Here,” Eldon’s voice drew him from his thoughts. He handed the viceroy another dose of medicine. “A few more of these will clear that cough right up.”

“Thanks,” Crow muttered with halfhearted sincerity. He lifted the vial to his lips and downed the whole thing, handing the container back to the physician after it was emptied.

Eldon dipped his head in a curt bow and then turned to exit the room. Crow watched him go until he disappeared through the door. The physician seemed to have at least a little more respect for him now that he was the viceroy, but he was still just as unfriendly as before. Of course, this didn’t bother the thief. He still wasn’t seeking to be liked, so he didn’t care what Eldon thought about him. He was just glad that the man had stopped making snide comments about his peasant background.

“Breakfast will be served in the Great Hall soon,” Preston spoke up as he picked a few clothes from the wardrobe to give him. “If you want to eat this morning, you should go towards the beginning. Your tutor will be arriving before midday, so you won’t have another chance until lunch.”

“Tutor?” Crow repeated with a frown. He got up from his bed to get dressed when the attendant handed him the clothes he’d selected.

“Yes,” Preston nodded. “The king said you need to be educated now that you’re his viceroy, so he’s assigned a tutor to begin teaching you.”

“I see,” Crow slid his shirt over his head and smoothed down his clothes. This time, the attendant had given him black trousers and a royal blue tunic adorned with a plainly decorated leather belt. It reminded him of the garments he had worn as a peasant—aside from the fact that these were much finer and more richly colored—and he found them to be more comfortable than the layered outfit he’d had to wear for the titling ceremony the day before.

But, of course, he could never get away with being comfortable in the castle.

Just as he was about to put on his boots, Preston walked up to him with one more piece of clothing in hand: a black hat with a short top and a feather from some sort of bird protruding from the side. Crow took one look at it and wrinkled his nose. “I’m not wearing that.”

“You have to,” the boy insisted. “It’s what distinguishes you as the viceroy. All high-ranking nobles have headdresses that set them apart from everyone else.”

“Well, I don’t need any more attention than I’m already getting,” Crow shook his head. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not going to put that thing on my head.”

“It’s not that bad,” Preston kept trying. “You only have to wear it when you’re in public. Just put it on for breakfast and take it off when you get back.”

“Public is exactly where I [i]don’t[/i] want to be seen wearing a hat like that,” Crow snorted.

“But the king said—”

“I don’t care,” Crow held up his hand. “It’s too early in the day for me to make a fool of myself. My answer is ‘no,’ and that’s final.”

Preston fell quiet for a moment before he gave a reluctant nod, “Fine.”

“Alright then,” Crow put on his boots and walked indignantly to the door. “Now that that’s settled, I’d like to have my breakfast.”