Vaunivor
Tlazolteotl
Syrenrei
AHeartlessNobody
nachonacho
VampiretwilightFor Crow, the net two weeks were excruciatingly dull. With John taking over almost all the guard shifts to keep a close watch of him, he and Penelope hardly ever got any time alone. He hated being trapped around another knight he didn’t know or like, but there was nothing he could do to get the man to leave his side. As long as John saw him as his ward, the knight wasn’t going to go anywhere. So, since there was nothing else for him to do, the thief ended up sleeping through most of the following days to make the time go by more quickly. The only good that came out of it was that because of all the extra rest he was getting, his recovery went by much faster than he’d been expecting.
After about five days, he was finally able to both sit up on his own and stomach real food again, which was a huge step forward for Crow. He’d lost quite a bit of weight during the week and half when he couldn’t eat, and his energy level wasn’t anywhere near what it had been before. To make up for it, he ended up eating quite a bit of food at each meal—John made sure he was provided with large portions to aid in his recovery—and practicing some simple stretches to loosen the muscles that had grown stiff from disuse. After all, no matter what his decision ended up being, he wanted to be in good enough condition to carry it out. Fortunately for him, the knight never protested his efforts to regain his fitness since he seemed to still believe that the thief had come to terms with visiting the king. He would just cast him occasional glances to make sure he wasn’t causing trouble and otherwise ignore him.
If that had been the only content of his days, it wouldn’t have been completely unbearable. However, what made the already bad situation worse was the fact that John spent a portion of his time every day speaking with Penelope and Gavin about their ‘upcoming wedding’ in the tent with him. Watching them talk together was difficult for Crow for a number of reasons. One of which was that their discussions of the ceremony drew up a bit of envy in him. He didn’t often care what anyone thought about him, but if he was honest, there was a small part of him that wished he was someone a father would give his blessing to. Perhaps it was because of the traditions of Brerratic society that had been pounded into him as a child—it certainly wasn’t because of the dowry. He didn’t care about getting anything out of a marriage besides the woman he loved—but knowing that no man would ever permit a thief like him to take his daughter’s hand in marriage made him strangely melancholic.
Unfortunately, though it was difficult to accept, the opinion of Penelope’s father was the least of his worries. Every time they all gathered together, Penelope and Gavin had to pretend like they were still courting, which meant that Crow had to watch them get friendlier with each other than he was comfortable with. Most of the time, he tried to ignore them or even look away, so he wouldn’t have to watch her with another man, but he couldn’t keep himself from looking at them from the corner of his eye. It was like a bad accident he could turn away from. He didn’t want to watch, but he simply couldn’t help himself.
Most of the time, the knights weren’t too physical with each other, but there was one time when he had seen Penelope kiss Gavin that had nearly made him leap up from his bed to stop them. It had taken all of his resolve to stay still, and he had forced himself to turn away, reminding himself that he was the one who had given her permission to go that far with her former suitor. She wasn’t being unfaithful to him. It was all for the sake of fooling her father. Still, though he would never admit it to her, seeing her kiss another man left him with a bitter taste in his mouth that took quite a while for him to shake off.
During the hours when he was awake and not distracted by watching Gavin and Penelope, Crow often mulled over the dilemma of whether he was going to see his father or escape when he was healed enough to walk. It was a hard choice to make—much harder than he had expected. Initially, he’d thought the decision was obvious: He should run. He’d been dodging his father’s attempts to reach out to him for the past year now, so surely he could do it again. After all, why should he accept an invitation sent by the man who had abandoned him and his mother? But he couldn’t bring himself to let it go.
Despite everything he told himself, there was a flame of curiosity inside of the thief that refused to die. He wanted to know why Albin was trying to contact him after twenty-three years of silence. The more he pondered over it, the more tempting it became to go to the castle, if only to hear the reason from the man, himself. He couldn’t believe he was really considering it, but as the days went on, he began to feel more swayed to take the offer.
--
At the end of the two weeks, John had Jane unbind Crow from his bed to see if he was well enough to walk on his own. The physician was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of letting the thief go while she was standing next to him, but the knight eased her fears by keeping his sword drawn, so he could intervene if Crow tried anything funny.
Once she had removed the chains from his wrist and ankle, Crow felt his heartbeat quicken in anticipation. Sitting upright, he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and slid off the bed to stand on the ground. As he expected, the motion felt almost unnatural after he’d laid on his back for nearly three weeks, but it was exhilarating to know that he’d healed enough to move again. John seemed pleased as well.
“It appears I’ll finally be able to bring you back to the king,” he mused, watching from across the room as Crow paced to exercise his legs a bit.
“Seems so,” Crow shrugged noncommittally without looking at the knight. He bent down to stretch some more, taking advantage of the fact that he was free from his restraints and could fully loosen his muscles.
“I’m just glad he’s finally going to be out of my hands,” Jane muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed the thief with a disgusted expression.
Crow rolled his eyes at her gibe but said nothing as continued to stretch. He didn’t care what some arrogant noblewoman thought of him. Even if she had been reluctant, she had still treated his wounds, and that was good enough for him.
After a bit of time had passed, John spoke up again, “Alright, Lockton. That’s enough.” He stepped over to retrieve one of the chain cuffs and fastened one end around the bedpost. “Come here,” he ordered. “I need to speak with the barons about our departure, and I can’t have you wandering about unsupervised.”
Crow frowned, studying the metal restraint with a disappointed expression, “I’ve already agreed to come with you though. Is there really any need to keep me locked up?”
“Of course there is!” Jane scoffed, turning to John. “I refuse to let a criminal have free reign in my tent. Please don’t leave until he’s in chains again.”
“You may have said that,” John said, ignoring the physician’s outburst. “But I’m not so foolish as to believe the word of a thief. Now then, I would advise you not to waste any more of my time and come here.”
Crow hesitated for a moment longer before he let out an irritable huff. “Fine,” he growled, stepped over to the knight and offering his wrist. He averted his gaze obstinately as he felt John fasten the chain around it once more.
“There,” the knight nodded in satisfaction and stepped away from the thief, who stood at the side of the bed staring down at his bound hand with an annoyed look. “He’s not going anywhere.” He sheathed his sword and made his way to the entrance of the tent with Jane following closely at his heels. It was obvious that the physician was eager to get away from her criminal patient as fast as she could.
Crow watched them both until they disappeared from the tent and then sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bed as he gazed boredly over the tent. He supposed he should have been grateful that John had left him with a wide enough range of motion to choose whether he would stand or lay down, but he still wished the knight wouldn’t have chained him up at all.
With nothing else to do, he toyed absently with the metal around his wrist as he thought again about whether he would accept the king’s invitation or escape back to his hideout. After taking two weeks to weigh his options—he still couldn’t believe he had even come to this conclusion—he was starting to think he should actually take the offer and go to the castle. Even though the thought of facing Albin turned his stomach, he had to find out why his estranged father was trying to reach out to him after all this time. If he didn’t, it was just going to eat at him forever. For his own peace of mind, he had to know the answer.
I guess I’m going to the inner kingdom after all, he thought, staring thoughtfully at the chain on his wrist with an amused smile.
After about five days, he was finally able to both sit up on his own and stomach real food again, which was a huge step forward for Crow. He’d lost quite a bit of weight during the week and half when he couldn’t eat, and his energy level wasn’t anywhere near what it had been before. To make up for it, he ended up eating quite a bit of food at each meal—John made sure he was provided with large portions to aid in his recovery—and practicing some simple stretches to loosen the muscles that had grown stiff from disuse. After all, no matter what his decision ended up being, he wanted to be in good enough condition to carry it out. Fortunately for him, the knight never protested his efforts to regain his fitness since he seemed to still believe that the thief had come to terms with visiting the king. He would just cast him occasional glances to make sure he wasn’t causing trouble and otherwise ignore him.
If that had been the only content of his days, it wouldn’t have been completely unbearable. However, what made the already bad situation worse was the fact that John spent a portion of his time every day speaking with Penelope and Gavin about their ‘upcoming wedding’ in the tent with him. Watching them talk together was difficult for Crow for a number of reasons. One of which was that their discussions of the ceremony drew up a bit of envy in him. He didn’t often care what anyone thought about him, but if he was honest, there was a small part of him that wished he was someone a father would give his blessing to. Perhaps it was because of the traditions of Brerratic society that had been pounded into him as a child—it certainly wasn’t because of the dowry. He didn’t care about getting anything out of a marriage besides the woman he loved—but knowing that no man would ever permit a thief like him to take his daughter’s hand in marriage made him strangely melancholic.
Unfortunately, though it was difficult to accept, the opinion of Penelope’s father was the least of his worries. Every time they all gathered together, Penelope and Gavin had to pretend like they were still courting, which meant that Crow had to watch them get friendlier with each other than he was comfortable with. Most of the time, he tried to ignore them or even look away, so he wouldn’t have to watch her with another man, but he couldn’t keep himself from looking at them from the corner of his eye. It was like a bad accident he could turn away from. He didn’t want to watch, but he simply couldn’t help himself.
Most of the time, the knights weren’t too physical with each other, but there was one time when he had seen Penelope kiss Gavin that had nearly made him leap up from his bed to stop them. It had taken all of his resolve to stay still, and he had forced himself to turn away, reminding himself that he was the one who had given her permission to go that far with her former suitor. She wasn’t being unfaithful to him. It was all for the sake of fooling her father. Still, though he would never admit it to her, seeing her kiss another man left him with a bitter taste in his mouth that took quite a while for him to shake off.
During the hours when he was awake and not distracted by watching Gavin and Penelope, Crow often mulled over the dilemma of whether he was going to see his father or escape when he was healed enough to walk. It was a hard choice to make—much harder than he had expected. Initially, he’d thought the decision was obvious: He should run. He’d been dodging his father’s attempts to reach out to him for the past year now, so surely he could do it again. After all, why should he accept an invitation sent by the man who had abandoned him and his mother? But he couldn’t bring himself to let it go.
Despite everything he told himself, there was a flame of curiosity inside of the thief that refused to die. He wanted to know why Albin was trying to contact him after twenty-three years of silence. The more he pondered over it, the more tempting it became to go to the castle, if only to hear the reason from the man, himself. He couldn’t believe he was really considering it, but as the days went on, he began to feel more swayed to take the offer.
--
At the end of the two weeks, John had Jane unbind Crow from his bed to see if he was well enough to walk on his own. The physician was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of letting the thief go while she was standing next to him, but the knight eased her fears by keeping his sword drawn, so he could intervene if Crow tried anything funny.
Once she had removed the chains from his wrist and ankle, Crow felt his heartbeat quicken in anticipation. Sitting upright, he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and slid off the bed to stand on the ground. As he expected, the motion felt almost unnatural after he’d laid on his back for nearly three weeks, but it was exhilarating to know that he’d healed enough to move again. John seemed pleased as well.
“It appears I’ll finally be able to bring you back to the king,” he mused, watching from across the room as Crow paced to exercise his legs a bit.
“Seems so,” Crow shrugged noncommittally without looking at the knight. He bent down to stretch some more, taking advantage of the fact that he was free from his restraints and could fully loosen his muscles.
“I’m just glad he’s finally going to be out of my hands,” Jane muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed the thief with a disgusted expression.
Crow rolled his eyes at her gibe but said nothing as continued to stretch. He didn’t care what some arrogant noblewoman thought of him. Even if she had been reluctant, she had still treated his wounds, and that was good enough for him.
After a bit of time had passed, John spoke up again, “Alright, Lockton. That’s enough.” He stepped over to retrieve one of the chain cuffs and fastened one end around the bedpost. “Come here,” he ordered. “I need to speak with the barons about our departure, and I can’t have you wandering about unsupervised.”
Crow frowned, studying the metal restraint with a disappointed expression, “I’ve already agreed to come with you though. Is there really any need to keep me locked up?”
“Of course there is!” Jane scoffed, turning to John. “I refuse to let a criminal have free reign in my tent. Please don’t leave until he’s in chains again.”
“You may have said that,” John said, ignoring the physician’s outburst. “But I’m not so foolish as to believe the word of a thief. Now then, I would advise you not to waste any more of my time and come here.”
Crow hesitated for a moment longer before he let out an irritable huff. “Fine,” he growled, stepped over to the knight and offering his wrist. He averted his gaze obstinately as he felt John fasten the chain around it once more.
“There,” the knight nodded in satisfaction and stepped away from the thief, who stood at the side of the bed staring down at his bound hand with an annoyed look. “He’s not going anywhere.” He sheathed his sword and made his way to the entrance of the tent with Jane following closely at his heels. It was obvious that the physician was eager to get away from her criminal patient as fast as she could.
Crow watched them both until they disappeared from the tent and then sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bed as he gazed boredly over the tent. He supposed he should have been grateful that John had left him with a wide enough range of motion to choose whether he would stand or lay down, but he still wished the knight wouldn’t have chained him up at all.
With nothing else to do, he toyed absently with the metal around his wrist as he thought again about whether he would accept the king’s invitation or escape back to his hideout. After taking two weeks to weigh his options—he still couldn’t believe he had even come to this conclusion—he was starting to think he should actually take the offer and go to the castle. Even though the thought of facing Albin turned his stomach, he had to find out why his estranged father was trying to reach out to him after all this time. If he didn’t, it was just going to eat at him forever. For his own peace of mind, he had to know the answer.
I guess I’m going to the inner kingdom after all, he thought, staring thoughtfully at the chain on his wrist with an amused smile.