As Penelope walked over to the door, Crow trailed a short distance behind her with a hint of worry on his face. It could have already been too late for them to hide what had happened that morning if the next guard had already replaced her in the corridor. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do in such a case. It would be difficult to convince the knight to leave his post long enough to sneak her out. Nevertheless, his mind worked quickly as he tried to think of a good excuse, unwilling to give up without giving his best effort first.

Fortunately, it seemed like they wouldn’t need a plan at all as Penelope announced that she’d gotten lucky that morning. Crow felt his shoulders fall a little with relief. The last thing he wanted was to cause more trouble for her than he already had. If she’d been caught, not only would their relationship be found out, but she would also probably get in trouble for leaving her station in the hall. She didn’t deserve that.

 “Thank the gods,” he sighed, casting her a weary smile. “Bye, love.”

A brief silence followed when the knight left the room, which was eventually interrupted by Preston.

“So,” the attendant crossed his arms as he eyed the viceroy across the bedchamber. “You said you were going to tell me what’s going on. If I’m going to help you tomorrow, I need to know.”

“Fine,” Crow exhaled resignedly, too drained to continue fighting with the servant over the matter. He stepped away from the door to recline against the footboard of his bed, hesitating for a moment before he worked up the nerve to explain the situation. “Have you ever heard of a place called Tamsworth?”

“I think so,” Preston tipped his head slightly in thought. “It’s that cursed village to the east of Myrefall, right? The one where the people were all massacred by knights.”

“That’s it,” Crow nodded and then averted his gaze, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “Well… I was at that slaughter fifteen years ago.”

“Really?” Preston’s eyes widened.

The viceroy nodded again, “It’s where I got this.” He gestured to the jagged stripe of discoloration on his right side, where the tax collector’s sword had cut through his flesh as a child. “I was lucky to have survived that day,” he went on quietly, grimacing at the unpleasant memory. “But when I recovered… I started having nightmares of the attack.” 

“Wait, you’ve been having these for [i]fifteen years[/i]?” Preston’s brows raised in surprise.

“No” Crow shook his head. “They nightmares away for a long time after they initially appeared. It’s only been a few days since they started recurring again.”

“Oh,” the boy said contemplatively. “Why did they come back?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve been through a similar situation recently,” Crow lifted his shoulders in a shrug and tapped his torso, where the more recent scar from Jaxon marked his skin. “Whatever the reason may be, that’s why I’ve been waking up in a panic… Visions of the past keep coming back to haunt me.”

Preston fell quiet for a moment. “That’s awful,” he murmured. “I can’t even imagine—”

“Don’t,” Crow sighed. “I didn’t tell you to earn your pity. It was just to get you to stop pestering me, so please don’t try to coddle me, alright?”

The attendant pursed his lips, “Alright.”

“Thank you,” the viceroy stepped over to the boy. “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to get dressed so we can get something to eat.”

Preston dipped his head and handed over the clothes he was carrying for him. Once Crow was finished getting ready for the day, they headed down the corridor that led to the dining chamber. The two walked in silence for the most part, neither one in a talking mood after the stressful events of the morning. When they reached the Great Hall, Crow took a moment to look around. His gaze landed on Penelope, and he smiled to himself, happy to see that he hadn’t missed her.

Splitting up from his attendant, the viceroy made his way through the thin crowd of nobles to sit down across from her at the table. However, his eagerness faded slightly when he noticed that she looked just as tired as she had been earlier that day. He was beginning to think he should ask her if she was alright.

“Are you feeling okay?” Crow ventured curiously. “You look like you could pass out any moment now.”