For the first half of the night, Crow slept more soundly than he usually did. Between his own body heat and Percival’s, the bed they shared was comfortably warm against the cool night air that lowered the overall temperature in their room. He slumbered with one arm folded beneath his pillow, unperturbed by the rhythmic snores that came from somewhere in the middle of the room and the occasional tossing of the knight on the other side of the mattress—that is, until his regular nightmare made another appearance.

At the familiar fell swoop of Jaxon’s blade, he jolted upright on the bed with a quiet, strangled gasp and clutched his shirt as he tried to slow his racing heart. Distantly, he was aware of the other people in the room with him, and he took slow breaths to calm down before his panicking woke anyone else up. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite fast enough.

“Collin, are you okay?” Percival whispered, sitting up beside him and frowning concernedly.

Silently, Crow cursed his nightmare for making a return when he was in the company of so many other people. Until now, Preston and Penelope were the only ones who knew he suffered from occasional bad dreams, and he had been hoping to keep it that way. “I’m fine,” he murmured with a slight rasp. Everyone else still seemed to be sleeping, so he didn’t think he had screamed this time, but his mouth felt dry regardless. “Go back to sleep. It’s nothing.”

The knight studied him for a moment long before he prodded, “Nightmare?”

The viceroy rolled his eyes, “Nightmares [i]are[/i] nothing.”

“Not to the one who has them,” Percy rebutted. He paused again and then asked, “Do you get nightmares often?”

“I said go back to sleep,” Crow muttered cagily.

The knight pursed his lips. “If you insist,” he sighed, shifting his weight to lay down again.

As his bedmate complied with the request, the viceroy relaxed and laid on his back. His heart was still fluttering with residual anxiety, so he stared up at the dark ceiling as he waited for it to calm down. In the next moment, another thought came to him, and he turned his head toward the knight. “Percy?” he reached over to push the other man’s shoulder, testing whether he had fallen back asleep.

It seemed like he hadn’t. “Yes?” Percival rolled over to face him, lifting a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. He might not have been asleep yet, but he was obviously tired.

“Don’t… tell anyone about tonight,” Crow winced as he made the request under his breath.

The knight held his gaze contemplatively and then nodded, “You have my word.”

“Thanks,” he let out his breath in relief. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With the issue resolved, Crow tossed onto his side and closed his eyes to go back to sleep as well. However, before he could drift off, he stirred at the sound of the door opening and closing softly. Right away, he stiffened and opened one eye just enough to see a shadowy figure walk silently over to the middle bed and crouch down. In the lightless room, it was difficult for him to see the person, but after a moment, he realized the man was familiar. It was Otto, taking off his boots. The viceroy watched him with furrowed brows. He wondered what the baron had been doing out in the middle of the night after they had all gone to sleep. He didn’t remember hearing him leave the room.

Percival noticed as well. “Baron Theroulde?” he inquired, turning over again to look at the older knight. “Is there something wrong?”

Otto flinched at the unexpected sound of a voice and turned toward them. “Nothing is wrong,” responded softly, recovering his composure when he saw who had spoken. “There is no restroom here, so I went outside to use the privy.” He smiled at Percy amusedly. “Get some rest, Granger. There are still a few hours left before dawn.”

The knight grunted compliantly and turned over again, heaving his shoulders in a shrug when he caught sight of Crow’s open eyes in the darkness. The viceroy observed the baron for a moment longer before he drew the blanket back up to his chin and settled down to sleep as well. At least it hadn’t been a mercenary. Knowing that they were all still safe for now, he let himself drift off to catch a few more hours of rest before they had to leave in the morning.