In the brief silence that followed his words, Crow worried that his fear had been right and that he had just imagined Penelope’s voice beside him. However, his fright was quickly put to rest when he suddenly felt her wrap an arm around his back and kiss him on the forehead. The sensation of her touch grounded him just enough to realize that she really was present with him. It wasn’t his imagination playing tricks. Even though the images of his nightmare were vivid, he had never been able to feel anything that happened to him in them. The knight had to have been next to him if he could feel the warmth and pressure of her embrace.

Reassured by the thought, he leaned into her slightly, taking comfort in her touch. Her gentle voice was soothing to him as well, and he felt a fresh surge of confidence as she spoke to him. She sounded like she thought he could handle getting his breathing under control, so maybe he really could do it. He certainly wanted to. After all, if calming down was the way to make the nightmare stop, then he didn’t want to give up after just one failure. He had to keep trying.

In the next moment, Crow felt Penelope reach for his hand. He wished he could take hers as well, but he was still too shaky to move his arms. Instead, he offered her a weak nod to indicate that he was listening to her as she went on to give him instructions to breathe again. This time, with the assurance of her touch and voice, he managed to inhale without losing control. He couldn’t breathe in as deeply as he felt her do beside him, but he was able to hold in the air until they exhaled together.

At first, he didn’t feel anything different—he was still trembling from panic—but the success of the exercise was enough to encourage him to press on. He repeated taking slow breaths a few more times until his heartbeat began to slow down with his breathing. As it did, he realized the odor of blood that had been so strong before had faded away. He felt a bubble of hope rise up in his chest. The trick was working after all.

It took a few more minutes, but eventually, Crow’s panic simmered down and disappeared as well. Once it was gone, he leaned a bit more heavily into Penelope’s side, exhausted from the effort of fighting. His jaw hung open slightly and he panted to get his heartrate back to its normal speed.

“I hate this,” he murmured, shaking his head and wrapping his arms around the knight’s waist to pull her closer. He stayed still for a moment longer, waiting until it felt like the episode had fully passed, before he looked up to meet her gaze. “Well, I guess you found something that works,” he spoke softly with a halfhearted smile. “Thank you for helping me calm down.”