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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's trying to help Penelope relax cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I guess so,” Crow shrugged when Penelope said that Eldon had been efficient. The physician’s skill at his job didn’t change the fact that he seemed more interested in protecting the other people in the castle than he did in healing a lowly peasant from the ‘filthy’ outer villages. The thief felt another twinge of annoyance as he recalled the prejudiced words the old man had used to describe the home he loved so much. It wasn’t their fault that there was so much sickness in the villages. If anything the problem was the king’s fault. Historically, none of Brerra’s rulers had ever done anything to aid the peasants in their suffering, and that had yet to change in his lifetime.

But maybe it could change now, he thought hopefully. Perhaps his father would be more willing than the previous kings to provide the outer villages with the help they had been craving for so long. After their talk the day before, Albin certainly seemed like a man who would listen to reason. However, he knew he couldn’t be sure about that, especially after the warning Penelope’s father had given him. If Albin was simply trying to manipulate him, then he wasn’t at all the kind of man he seemed to be.

But what about his offer to me? Crow thought with a frown. As hard as he wracked his brain, he couldn’t think of any good reason why Albin would want to choose him to be his viceroy over the nobles in the castle. Even if he supposedly had the talent for it—which he was still doubtful of after he had attempted to learn how to write with Penelope the night before—he was still a wanted criminal. Surely his reputation would do nothing but harm his father’s credibility. Why would he risk that, if his main goal wasn’t to reconnect with his son?

He let out a frustrated sigh, glancing up when John suddenly interrupted his muddled thoughts. As the knight told them that he had other matters to attend to, the thief nodded faintly and closed his eyes, leaning a little further into Penelope’s side. He heard the older man tell his daughter that she would do fine when she spoke to the king later followed by the sound of fading footsteps as John made his way to the door and exited the room, leaving them alone once more.

Crow opened his eyes again as Penelope spoke up in a quiet voice. He turned to look at her, resting his hand on her thigh as she added that she didn’t want to fail again. “Hey,” he said softly, bringing his hand up to brush aside a strand of her brunette hair. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure that if anyone can get my father to stop this war, it’s you.” He smiled at her confidently before leaning in to press a long and tender kiss to her lips.

“I have an idea,” he said when he pulled back again, shifting away from her to stand up from the table and offering her a hand. “Let’s take a walk. There’s still some time before you need to meet with him, and moving around will be better for you than just sitting here and thinking about it.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow really did not enjoy getting examined by the physician xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow turned to Penelope with a pleased smile, glad to hear that his father was willing to speak with her so quickly. However, his excited expression faded a bit when he noticed a hint of nervousness in her eyes. It seemed like she wasn’t feeling as confident about the meeting as he was. Wanting to reassure her, the thief subtly shifted to rest his hand on her leg beneath the table out of the line of sight of the two newcomers and gently stoked her thigh in a comforting gesture. As he did, he turned back to look at the servants, eyeing the unfamiliar man curiously when John asked if they needed anything else with one of them.

“Yes,” the stranger stepped forward, his eyes wandering to Crow. “My name is Eldon, and I’m the court physician. Hunter told me you were in need of a healer.”

Crow blinked as he recalled the attendant’s concern upon seeing his bandages. “I told him I’m fine,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s nothing I can’t take care of on my own.”

“Well, the king wants me to take a look at you regardless,” Eldon said authoritatively as he strode across the room to set his supply bag down beside the bed. “Come and sit. If it’s truly nothing to be concerned about, I’ll be quick.”

Crow hesitated for a moment before he glanced at Penelope with a helpless shrug and rose from the table, moving to comply with the healer’s demand and sit on the edge of the bed. He watched as the man retrieved a series of instruments from his bag that the thief had never seen before. However, he didn’t have a chance to ask about any of them before Eldon spoke up again: “Remove your tunic.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to fight the old man over the decision, Crow did as he was asked. He slid the clothing over his head and set it down on the bedside next to him. Once that was done, Eldon took a moment to look him over, squinting as he did so. “Hm,” the old man grunted. “Many of these scars could have been avoided if your wounds had been better taken care of.”

“Gee thanks,” Crow rolled his eyes sarcastically, finding the physician’s comment both arrogant and rude. He had been the one to treat nearly all of his own injuries, and he was quite proud of the fact that the worst he had come away with was some scarring. In his opinion, that was quite the accomplishment for someone with no proper training in healing, and he didn’t appreciate being belittled about it.

“Now then, let’s see what’s under here, shall we?” Eldon went on, ignoring the thief as he began to undress the wound in his middle. When he pulled the bandages away, Hunter made a squeaking sound off to the side. Crow looked up at him with a raised brow, only to find the attendant staring at the injury with wide eyes. It was obvious to him that the other man wasn’t used to seeing the grisly wounds that came from fighting near the battlefront, which he supposed made sense, since the servant had likely lived in the inner kingdom all his life. Still, he felt a pang of sympathy for him, since it hadn’t been that long ago that the sight of blood had made him freeze up completely. He could understand the discomfort the attendant must have been feeling upon seeing the stitched up hole in his torso now.

Turning back to the physician, Crow leaned back casually on the palms of his hands. “See? I’m healing fine.”

“It appears so,” Eldon nodded. “But while I have you here, I might as well perform a full check of your physical health.”

“I thought you said this was going to be quick?” Crow narrowed his eyes.

“And it was,” Eldon answered uncaringly. “But I’d like to make sure you didn’t bring any diseases with you from the peasant villages that could infect the people in this castle. Think of it as a precaution.” Without waiting for permission, he proceeded to examine the thief’s body in more thorough detail, looking him over for any other signs of illness. He started by taking Crow’s jaw in one hand to force him to turn his head as he studied his eyes, nose, and ears in a manner that reminded the thief of the way a buyer might look over a farm horse. Naturally, Crow didn’t appreciate being treated like an animal, so he curled his lip hostilely at the physician, who continued to ignore him as usual.

“You have good teeth,” Eldon mused as he worked his way down to the thief’s mouth. “Much better than the peasants I’ve come across before.”

“And you’ve got poor manners,” Crow growled snidely in response. “Much worse than the nobles I’ve come across before.” He stretched his jaw once the other man had finally released it to continue examining other parts of his body. This guy was really rubbing him the wrong way. It was almost as if Eldon thought he was just a disease-ridden mongrel that needed to be quarantined from the strong and healthy noblemen of the castle. He was just about to make another irritable comment about it, when the physician moved on to inspect his chest.

Eldon pressed one hand to the thief’s upper back while he used the other to prod at different parts of his torso. As soon as he pushed down on the left side of Crow’s ribcage, the thief felt an all too familiar discomfort rise up inside his lungs. His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly brought a hand to his mouth as the physician’s prodding brought on a sudden, uncontrollable coughing fit.

“Ah ha,” Eldon said sagely as he watched the thief endure the episode. “I knew there would be something. You peasants always bring something with you when you show up from those filthy villages.”

Crow shot him a venomous glare and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, panting as he fought to catch his breath. Eldon seemed to catch the movement, because in the next moment, he reached out to catch hold of the thief’s wrist, pulling it towards himself as he looked at his hand. “Blood?” he murmured, bringing a hand up to his chin in a contemplative gesture. “I’ll have to see what I’ve got for that.”

Seeming satisfied with his findings, the physician bent down to retrieve a roll of clean bandages from his supply bag. He quickly and efficiently redressed Crow’s wound before he gathered his things and rose to his feet again. “I’ll be back later with a medicine for that cough of yours,” he added to the thief. With a curt nod, he turned and walked with Hunter back out of the room, leaving the other three alone once more.

As soon as they were gone, Crow put his tunic back on and ambled over to the table where the knights were sitting. “Well that was unpleasant,” he grumbled moodily as he took a seat next to Penelope, leaning against her side as he used her touch to calm his still-simmering emotions.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is appreciative xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow glanced at John with a shrug when the knight denied his offer to eat the food the king had given him. He didn’t really care one way or the other if Penelope’s father joined him, since he’d just wanted to extend the invitation in case either of the knights were hungry. Casting a fond smile at Penelope, he walked with her over to the table and sat down again, filling his empty plate with a second helping of rye bread and fruit. Perhaps it was just the atmosphere of the room, but it felt like even the simple food had a richer flavor than the bread and fruit he ate in the outer villages.

Everything in the inner kingdom is fancier than what we have, he thought as he popped a grape into his mouth and chewed slowly, letting the flavorful juice of the fruit coat his tongue.

He looked up again at John as the older man announced that he had something to tell them while they were staying in the castle and listened attentively as the knight went on to explain what his privileges were. It wasn’t that surprising to learn that his father had chosen to give him free reign of the castle grounds, especially since it was so obvious that Albin was trying to convince him to take the job as the next viceroy. However, hadn’t been expecting to be allowed to wander without the company of the royal guards. Apparently, the king had decided to give him even more freedom than he’d thought.

As John continued on to tell the thief that he and Penelope would be acting as his guards, Crow sat up a little straighter with interest. While he felt rather certain that he could take of himself if any of his enemies decided to try and come after him while he was staying here, it was nice to know he’d have a couple extra sets of eyes watching his back. Plus, if Penelope was one of his guards, then that would give them the chance to spend even more time together, which was something that he was grateful for.

“Alright,” he nodded when John finished speaking. Leaning back in his chair, he lifted his glass to his lips to take a sip of the wine. Though the flavor of the drink had caught him by surprise initially, he found that it was starting to grow on him now that he knew what to expect. Just one more thing nobles get to enjoy that peasants never do, he mused thoughtfully as he set the goblet down again. Offhandedly, he wondered if he could find a way to take some of the drink with him back to his companions in the outer villages when he returned.

‘If’ I return, he silently corrected himself with a faint wince. It still felt strange to him that there was even a chance that he wouldn’t go back to his home, but he didn’t want to make up his mind yet. Just because he knew he would have preferred to return to the other thieves didn’t mean that was the best choice for both him and Penelope. He could tell she was excited by the prospect of getting to be with him without giving up her status, and he didn’t want to shut down the opportunity without giving it some serious thought first.

Suddenly, the thief’s thoughts were interrupted by yet another knock on the door. He looked up again to see that Hunter had returned, along with another man he didn’t recognize. The attendant looked between the three seated at the table, only to quickly avert his gaze when he realized John was with them. “Ah, good, you’re all here,” he muttered hurriedly. Turning towards Penelope, he lowered his head slightly in a respectful gesture, “I told His Highness about your request, and he agreed to have an audience with you at midday today.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow's liking all the special treatment a lot xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Whether his father was really trying to reconnect with him or not, Crow was quite pleased with the meals he was being provided with during his stay in the castle. It was obvious to him that the king was trying to get on his good side, and he couldn’t deny that it was working at least a bit. Still, good food and a comfortable bed weren’t going to make his decision for him. He liked the luxuries, but they were superficial compared to everything he had in the outer villages. His friendship with the other thieves and the meaningful work they were doing to help the villagers meant much more to him than anything he could gain by taking on a noble title.

He was just about to fill up his plate with a second helping of bread and fruit when another knock sounded at the door. Looking up from the small banquet, the thief brightened as his eyes fell on Penelope. Of course, he noticed that John was with her too, but he still wasn’t entirely sure how to act around the older knight, so he focused on her instead.

At her comment about the large breakfast, Crow laughed. “He really is,” he said, rising from his chair to meet her halfway in a warm embrace. “I have to say, meeting my father isn’t at all the experience I thought it was going to be.” He glanced back over his shoulder at the dishes of food. “He’s certainly figured out the way to my heart.” Turning back to Penelope, he stepped back from her and let his arms fall back to his sides, though he took one of her hands in his as he did.

“You both should have some,” he offered with an eager grin, looking between the two knights. “It’s too much for me to finish alone, and I wouldn’t want food this good to go to waste.” Fixing his gaze on Penelope once more, he shot her a playful wink, “Besides, I always enjoy the chance to spend more time in your company, love.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It won't even be a secret for much longer xD
Honestly, the fact that more people know about it will make it easier for him to give up trying to keep his real name a secret when his father asks him to stop going by Crow

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow silently cursed as John went on to speak with Penelope. Far too many people were learning more about him than he was comfortable with. Now, there were three knights who knew his name aside from Penelope, when he had managed to keep that piece of himself a secret for more than a decade. He didn’t like it. After going all of his adult life by the alias, ‘Crow,’ he preferred to keep his real name to himself—well, and Penelope, since he trusted her too. It was unnerving to know that there were others who had found out about it through his own mistakes. He needed to be more careful about bringing it up in the future.

As Penelope spoke to him, Crow nodded wordlessly, still reeling from the fact that yet another noble had learned his name, and met her lips in a quick kiss. “Goodnight, love,” he finally managed to say as she got up to follow her father out of the room. Watching them walk away, he waited until the two knights were gone before he leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair with a groan. He was getting far too complacent in a castle that was filled with his enemies. Just because Penelope was there with him didn’t mean he should be letting his guard down as much as he was. He needed to remember to stay more alert.

Standing up from the table, the thief put out the lantern that had been lit there and made his way over to his bed, deciding he might as well go to sleep since there wasn’t anything else for him to do now that he was alone. He kicked off his boots and pulled back the layers of sheets and blankets to lay down. Despite his warnings to himself about keeping his guard up, he was immediately distracted by just how comfortable the massive bed was.

As he settled down on the mattress—it felt like it was filled with feathers and animal hair rather than the straw that was used in the beds at the inns—he let out an involuntary sigh. Expensive luxuries like this were the very things he hated about nobles, but he couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the softness of the mattress or the smooth, silk sheets or even the pillows—gods, he’d never slept on any bed with more than just a thin, straw-filled sack to rest his head on, and he’d used to think that was luxurious. Above that though, the bed was actually warm.

At this time of year, he’d always needed to sleep wearing the clothes on his back because the blankets and animal skins he used on his own bedroll weren’t enough to keep him warm. However, between the protective walls of the castle and the layers of blankets on top of him now, Crow found that he actually had to take off his clothing to keep from getting too warm. It felt strange to be so comfortable using only the parts of the bed by itself, but it wasn’t a bad change.

He closed his eyes, burying himself in the layers of blankets and pillows as he enjoyed the feeling of the silk sheets against his skin. Laying in a bed as comfortable as this, it didn’t take long before he drifted off into a contented slumber, though he still slept lightly out of habit.

--

The next morning, Crow was roused by the sound of a knock at the door, followed by the jostling of the door handle. He moaned sleepily and rolled onto his stomach, not wanting to move from the comfortable bed unless he had to. Instead, he just cracked one eye open to see who had come to visit him this time. When he did, he spotted his father’s attendant, Hunter, making his way over to the table on the left side of the room to clear away the leftover food, of which there wasn’t much, thanks to Crow’s ravenous appetite and the help of the others.

The servant seemed to catch him watching and dipped his head in a courteous gesture, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Crow yawned lazily in response, turning over to lay on his back again. As he did, he realized there was the smell of fresh food in the room. Suddenly more awake, he sat up on the bed to see that Hunter was setting out platters of breakfast food. Already, his mouth began to water as he recalled how good the dinner had been the night before. Assuming his father intended to continue feeding him only the best dishes, whatever the attendant was putting up for him now had to be good.

Enticed by the prospect of eating more delicious food, the thief pushed the blankets off of himself and slipped off the mattress to gather his clothes that he had left piled at the foot of the bed the night before. However, he had only just put on his pants again when he realized Hunter was eyeing him from the other side of the room. He turned to meet the other man’s gaze, shifting his weight slightly as he asked a defensive: “What?”

Hunter blinked and turned away, seeming embarrassed at having been caught staring. He busied himself by setting up the last plate as he replied, “S-Sorry. It’s just… no one told me you were injured.”

Crow looked down at the bandages around his torso and shrugged, “I’m fine.” Sliding his tunic over his head, he made his way over to the table to get a closer look at the arrangement of food that had been laid out that morning.

“I can alert the court physician,” Hunter went on, standing aside to let the thief freely circle the table. “At the very least, he can look you over to make sure your wound doesn’t get any worse.”

“Mhm,” Crow grunted absently in response, too distracted by the rich-looking breakfast to pay attention to what the attendant was saying. “Say, is that wine?” He asked abruptly, pointing at another dish of red liquid. “There was some last night too, but I’m still not completely sure what it is.”

“Yes, it’s wine,” Hunter answered with a nod. He studied the thief for a moment longer before seeming to realize that his focus was solely on the food. “I have other matters to attend to for the king this morning, so I’ll leave you to enjoy your breakfast. If you need anything else, please, come and let me know.” He dipped his head again and turned to exit the room, leaving Crow to work on the small feast in peace.