Crow was glad that Elizabeth seemed to finally be backing down in her attempts to win him over. He much preferred spending the morning in conversation with Penelope than fending off the persistent noblewoman’s flirting. Now that they were alone, he wouldn’t have to worry about putting on an act either. There was no one else around who was near enough to overhear them speak, so he didn’t have to pretend he wasn’t close to her. It would be nice to continue the old habits they’d fallen back into yesterday.

“Hopefully we won’t even have to worry about that for much longer,” Crow added when Penelope said it was getting easier to shake Liz off. “She wasn’t dumb when I knew her before. She has to take the hint that I’m not going to change my mind about her at some point.” The only thing keeping the noblewoman around this long was her stubbornness, he guessed. She had always been determined to get her way, no matter the risks. It had been the entire reason why she’d wanted to sleep with him seven years ago. By crossing that line with a known criminal, she had gotten back at her controlling father, who never let her do or learn the things she wanted.

It seemed that rebellious streak of hers hadn’t faded in the time since then.

Crow casted the thought aside when Penelope asked him about his dreams. He brightened at the change in topic, eager to share his thoughts with her and find out if she agreed with his theory. “I don’t know,” he shook his head at her follow up question. “They didn’t disappear all at once the last time I had this problem, but the fact that I made it through one night without any nightmares is progress to me.”

He fell quiet for a moment, glancing up as Preston and another castle servant walked over with their food. As soon as they were gone, he continued, “I’m not really certain why it went away last night either, but I have an idea. I think it was all that running around we did in Bellmare. You said your captain told you that training could help, right? That trick might actually work for me.”

He tore off a piece of bread from his plate and popped it into his mouth, “I think I want to start running in the evenings whenever I can find the time. If that was what helped last night, it could be what I need to get rid of these dreams again.”