[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

The next day, Crow slept through the morning as usual. When he woke, he sat up and looked around to find that the camp was empty, which meant his companions must have already gone out for the day. He frowned, glancing at the entrance to the cavern with a fresh pang of longing to go outside. Since the last battle, the only time he was able to leave the tunnels was when someone else was around to assist him, and even then, he never went far before he became exhausted from the effort. It was frustrating to be so helpless.

For a while, he laid on his back with his head propped on his arms and stared up at the cavern ceiling, trying to make out patterns in the stalactites hanging above in an attempt to stave off his boredom. He had just found a shape that looked like a twisted deer when he heard the sound of footsteps near the front of the tunnel. He lifted his head curiously to see who had come back, only to spot Hazel making her way over to him with a bag of medicinal supplies

“Finally awake, I see,” she commented dryly as she sat down at his side.

“Of course,” he shrugged, lifting his gaze to the rock ceiling again. “I couldn’t miss out on such a beautiful day.”

Hazel snorted at his sarcastic words. “Naturally,” she said, setting down her bag and crossing her legs. “Looks like you got up just in time to catch the tail end of it.”

“What?” he turned to her with a confused frown.

“It’s almost sundown, Crow.”

“What?” his eyes widened in alarm. “You mean to tell me I nearly slept through the whole day?”

“That’s about the sum of it,” Hazel nodded.

“That does explain why I woke up so hungry,” he shook his head and met her gaze again. “I don’t suppose there’s any supper left, is there?”

“No,” Hazel tapped her index finger against her knee thoughtfully. “But I think I’m going to start having Simon save a portion for you. You’ve started to get thinner since you’re missing so many meals.”

“It’s not like it’s by my own choice,” Crow rolled his eyes.

“Well look on the bright side,” she smirked. “It’s a good sign that you still have an appetite. In my experience, as long as a patient has a will to eat, he’s still got time left.”

“If that’s the case, I don’t think I’ll ever die,” Crow rested a hand on his empty stomach, which had decided to chime in at that moment.

Hazel chuckled softly and reached into her bag, pulling out the all-too-familiar medicine jar. “Anyway, I just came over here to give you this,” she said as she handed it to him. “I added a couple more ingredients that might make a difference in how it affects you. Try it out and tell me how you feel tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he nodded, propping himself up on his elbows so he could drink down the medicine more easily. Once the container was empty, he passed it back to the herbalist. “By the way, you never told me about the rest of your meeting with Penelope,” he recalled.

“Right,” Hazel wrinkled her nose as if displeased with the thought of bringing the subject up again.

“What did she say?”

“A lot of different things,” she exhaled. “That knight of yours sure can talk when she wants to.”

“Okay, but specifically,” Crow frowned.

“She mostly asked about you—wanted to know how you’re feeling and all that. She also told me to tell you that the knights aren’t planning to attack Younis again for at least another three weeks.”

“That’s a relief,” he sighed.

“Mm,” she grunted and looked away. “At the end of the meeting, she brought up that physician of hers again. I… I told her that I’d be willing to meet with her to figure out what going on with you.”

Crow stared at her in thinly veiled surprise. Penelope had managed to convince the stubborn herbalist to work with a noble? He wondered what she had said to change her mind. However, not eager to say anything that might make her change it back, he simply nodded, “I hope she’s able to help you.”

“Me too,” Hazel agreed softly. In the next moment, she blinked, seeming to catch her moment of gentleness, and turned to him sharply. “I’ll be glad when I don’t have to worry about babysitting a helpless thief anymore.”

“Please,” he grinned at her teasingly. “I know you live for helping me walk to the bathroom.”

Hazel scoffed at him and opened her mouth to reply, but then paused and turned instead to look at the entrance of the cave as someone else stepped inside. Simon had returned from his evening patrol and was taking his boots off near the front.

With one last glare at Crow, Hazel climbed to her feet and dusted herself off to go meet him. “You just enjoy having the last word this time, snake,” she muttered. “I’ll get you back the next.” With that, she harrumphed cockily and headed over to Simon, who greeted her with a kiss when she reached his side.

Crow watched them from a distance, feeling a pang of envy as he laid down on his bed again. Being unable to meet with Penelope the day before also meant being unable set up another time to see her. At this rate, he didn’t know when he would be able to see her again, or if he ever would at all. His heart sank as he thought about the possibility of not being with her again before the illness took his life. At the rate his health was fading, it was looking more and more likely every day.

Hazel could still find a cure, he thought, trying to hold onto the small spark of hope he still had left. Who knows? Maybe the one she just gave me is it. With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off, his slumber filled with dreams of the future he longed for with Penelope in Farhill.

[BuzzingBee]

The next day came and Penelope was still focused on the chat with Hazel the night before. The knight couldn't shake her worry about Crow easily, even after getting some sleep. But along with her worry, there was also a slightly more selfish desire to see him again. Who knew how long it would be before she could see him again after all? Will I even get to? The question made the knight shudder. Though she didn't want to accept it, there was a good chance that his illness could kill him before they were able to find a cure. The thought was unpleasant alone but she also realized that she wanted to be at his side if his days were truly numbered.

Perhaps she could speak to Hazel about keeping her updated on his condition. If he took another turn for the worst, she wanted to know so she could figure out a way to visit him. Penelope was certain she could come up with some excuse, be it going on a patrol or merely a lone walk from camp, anything that would allow her to get away from camp long enough to be there for him. The knight sighed, hoping that it wouldn't come to that as she walked on towards the infirmary to speak with Jane. Hazel may have agreed, but she still have to get the physician to agree to the meeting. The last time she spoke with her, she had seemed reluctant but willing to meet with the herbalist. Penelope hoped that hadn't changed.

"Jane?" she called out as she poked her head into the physician's usual tent.

"Yes?" Jane asked, looking up calmly from the book she had been reading. Her gaze fell on Penelope and she raised an eyebrow at the knight questioningly. "What do you need dear? If your side bothering you?"

"Oh I'm fine." Penelope assured as she stepped further inside. "I came to talk to you about meeting with the herbalist about the illness in the village near here again."

Jane pursed her lips together and slowly closed her book, resting it on her lap. "I see.." she frowned. "You're really concerned with this illness aren't you?"

"I think it could prove a real threat to us if we're not careful." Penelope nodded. She paused before giving Jane a pleading look. "It couldn't hurt to be prepared.. You'll still meet with her right?"

The physician let out a tired sigh. "I suppose.. Do Mia or any of the other barons know about this?"

"I.. No I haven't mentioned it to them.."

"You better get their approval first. I'm not willing to go sneaking around their backs, Penelope." Jane said with a hint of accusation. It was clear to Penelope that she was referring to her day spent away from camp. It seemed that it hadn't been completely forgotten despite all she had done to try and make up for it.

She paused before nodding her head. "I understand.. But if I can get their approval, you'll meet with her for sure right?"

--

The sun was beginning to set and Penelope had finished making the arrangements for the coming meeting with Hazel. She had managed to get Mia's approval without much difficulty. She explained the situation to Mia in a similar way that she had with Jane and the baroness seemed to agree with her, even understanding that it would be a positive thing for both the villagers and the knights. Penelope didn't bother to seek approval from neither Bennet nor Edward though. Jane hadn't specified that she wanted the approval of all three barons so the knight figured it was best and faster to just settle with Mia's approval.

Relaying the message of the baroness' approving, she got Jane to agree to meet with Hazel in the coming day. Relieved that everything had worked out after a day of running around camp, Penelope quietly enjoyed her dinner with some of her comrades. As day turned to night, she eventually parted with them and headed off to her tent. She felt anxious for the next day to come, feeling a spark of hope that Jane would be able to help Hazel while also feeling a little worried about how well the two would get along. She let out a long sigh and eventually fell asleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow awoke in the evening of the next day to the smell of food. He blinked his eyes open and yawned, stretching languidly as he saw that someone had left two plates of food next to his bed. Recalling his conversation with Hazel the previous night, he guessed she must have asked Simon to bring him the leftovers from their lunch and supper. His stomach growled in anticipation, and he forced himself to sit up. After not having eaten anything the day before, he devoured his food ravenously, finishing off both plates in no time at all.

With a pleasantly full belly for the first time in days, he let out a content exhale and pushed the empty plates aside, finally taking a moment to look around the camp. This time, he wasn’t alone. Near the hearth at the front of the cavern, he saw all four of his companions lounging around a glowing fire. The sounds of their idle talking and laughter echoed to him across the stony walls. The sight made him feel a bit outcast, since he guessed they probably met like this often to enjoy each other’s company while he was asleep. However, not wanting to let the feeling get him down, he decided to take the opportunity to visit with them now.

Taking a steeling breath, he pushed himself to his feet and used the support of the nearby cave wall to make his way over to the fireplace. Alistair was the first to notice him approaching, so he shifted over to make room for Crow in the half-circle they had formed. “How’s it going?” he offered Crow a friendly grin.

“Same as always,” the thief answered simply, appreciating his companion’s effort to treat him normally despite his illness. Amongst all of them, Alistair had been the most consistent in his behavior since he had told them all about it. Even when he volunteered to help his leader get up from his bed, he always gave him a chance to try standing on his own first before he moved in to offer his support. It was nice to know that, at least outwardly, the wily thief wasn’t going to look at him any differently because of his affliction.

“Well, change is overrated anyway,” Alistair said, turning back to watch the burning fire. “Personally, I think if a day isn’t bad, there’s no reason to do anything different.”

“Is that so?” Crow eyed him in amusement. “And here I thought you liked a change of pace.”

“Maybe I changed my mind,” Alistair shrugged.

“Hm,” Crow smirked, looking over at the fire as well. He didn’t have to prod to know that the other thief was going through this “change” because of a woman. He had figured out long ago that whenever Alistair met someone he thought was special, he started calming down from his usual antics. Crow suspected he did it to look more mature to whomever he was seeing at the time. The phase never lasted though. As soon as he moved on from the woman or she grew tired of him, he always returned to his usual rowdy self, as if nothing had ever happened.

He glanced across the group to see Simon and Hazel sitting closely together on the other side of the hearth. Ever since the night when Simon had worked up the nerve to start courting her, they had been spending quite a bit of time together. Crow was glad that things seemed to be going so well for them, not just because they were happy, but also because the two had become much more pleasant company to be around. Both Simon and Hazel had tongues like daggers when they were irritable, but now that they were in such good spirits with each other, they weren’t nearly as abrasive towards him or the others.

As he observed them quietly for a moment, he noticed Hazel’s blue eyes flick towards the opening of the cave every once in a while, as if she was checking the progress of the sun’s journey across the sky. He wondered why she was keeping such close track of the time. Perhaps he could convince her to tell him.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Crow asked from across the fireplace, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

Hazel turned towards him and pursed her lips together before answering his question, “I’m meeting with that knight of yours and her physician tonight.”

“Oh,” the thief blinked in surprise. He remembered her mention that she was going to work with the physician that Penelope had found, but he hadn’t expected the meeting to come so soon. He averted his gaze, wishing that he was able to come with her. It had been nearly ten days since the last time he had seen Penelope. Part of him was tempted to ask Hazel to find out if there was any way she could get the knight to come visit him in the camp, but he couldn’t make such a request in front of the others. It would be a dead giveaway to Simon and Alistair about their relationship, and to Rikki, it would be like rubbing salt in an open wound. So, instead, he forced a halfhearted smile, “Well, good luck.”

“Thanks,” the herbalist nodded. She casted one last glance out the cave entrance before rising to her feet. “I should probably get going. The sooner I meet with these nobles, the sooner it will all be over.” She gave an exaggerated shudder and reached down to give Simon’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Alright,” he nodded, looking up at her with an affectionate smile. “Don’t be long.”

“I hope I won’t be,” Hazel said as she moved to grab her cloak. Drawing the hood over her head, she headed out into the night without a word of goodbye to anyone else.

Crow watched her until she vanished around the corner and then lowered his gaze with a quiet sigh. He hoped this physician that Penelope had told them about was as talented as she had made her seem to be. If she could help Hazel find a cure, he would finally be able to put this whole illness behind him.

[BuzzingBee]

"Are you ready?"

"Almost."

Penelope waited at the entrance of Jane's tent watching as the physician packed a small satchel of supplies. The knight was feeling a bit impatient. The day had been uneventful as she had spent most of it with Mia and Tomas. The meeting hadn't been very formal but they did discuss a bit about the war and the results of the last battle. Mia even expressed some worry about Bran, who had taken the news of his son's death rather difficulty. The baroness seemed to worry he would be fit to continue his job of overseeing the cavalry.

The meeting eventually ended and so did the day. The sun was sinking on the horizon which meant it was about time for her and Jane to meet with Hazel. The knight felt nervous, unsure what to expect. She hoped the two would managed to get along just enough to be able to work together decently, however, she knew that she might be overly hopeful. While Jane wasn't a hot-tempered person, the physician likely wouldn't completely ignore the red-head's foul attitude towards nobles. Penelope sighed, it was going to be a long night.

"Alright, I think I have everything." Jane announced, stepping over to Penelope as she slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder. Though Jane might have been reluctant to agree to this, Penelope had to give her credit for taking it so seriously. It was a bit encouraging to see the physician packing books and other supplies that might come in use during her meeting with Hazel.

"Great. We should get going then." Penelope said with a small nod.

--

The knight lead the way to Myrefall. It felt a bit strange to leave camp without having to worry about being caught. With Mia's approval, leaving camp to visit the village had never been easier. It was a shame that Penelope couldn't use the convenience of the baroness' knowledge to meet with Crow like before. She trekked carefully through the forest with Jane following. The two chatted idly as they walked together, speaking about the last battles and what Penelope knew about the illness.

The two eventually reached the tavern and headed inside. Penelope took a seat besides Jane as they waited for Hazel to arrive. The knight hoped that the herbalist kept her word and didn't back out of the meeting last minute. Jane didn't seem as concerned and merely took out one of her books as they waited, beginning to flip through the pages as she read up on a few different treatments for illnesses that shared similar symptoms to the one in Myrefall.

[Rogue Sloth]

Hazel adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she trekked through the woods to Myrefall. It was a bit heavier than usual, since she had packed more of her herbs and supplies than she normally did. Having never partnered with a physician before, she only had the faintest idea of what to expect from this woman, so on the off chance that the noble showed up unprepared, she wanted to be able to make up the difference by being overly so.

When she reached the edge of the village, she turned to head down the main road towards the Ivory Hatchet tavern, where she remembered Penelope had wanted to meet this time. She wondered absently why the knight had chosen to move the location. That dingy old house they had met in two days ago had seemed like a perfectly good spot to her. It was humble and out of the way, not the sort of place one would expect a secret rendezvous to take place.

Perhaps it has some sort of significance to her and Crow, she mused as she stepped up to the tavern door. Though she had no idea what a run-down, abandoned home could mean to anyone, it was the only explanation she could think of that made at least some sense. If the place was special to them for some reason, she could see why Penelope would have felt like the herbalist had been intruding on that space. Regardless, she had no qualms with the change of scenery, so they could keep their secret house to themselves if they wished.

Stepping inside the tavern, Hazel dropped her hood and took a brief look around. Off to the side, she spotted the all too familiar face of the knight she had met with before. She was seated beside a dark-haired woman with her nose in a book. Considering the fact that almost all peasants in the outer villages were incapable of reading—she, her mother, and Simon were the only ones she knew of that were even somewhat literate—she guessed that this stranger must be the physician.

Having already come this far, she let out her breath in a long exhale and made her way over to the table, pulling out a chair across from them and sitting down. Once she had settled down comfortably and removed her bag from her shoulder, she crossed her arms loosely over her chest and looked between the two nobles seated in front of her. “Alright, ladies,” she said curtly. “I’m sure you don’t want to be here any longer than I do, so let’s get this over with.”

[BuzzingBee]

As the door of the tavern opened again, Penelope flickered her gaze over to spot Hazel. She gave a small smile to her as she made her way to join them at the table. Though Hazel wasn't fond of her, the knight was hoping to at least keep any tension between the three to a minimum as she feared Hazel would be quick to back out of working with Jane if pushed even slightly. She had managed to get this far with bringing the two together so she wouldn't let anything interrupt that easily.

Jane looked up from her book at the sound of Hazel's voice. The corner of her lip quirked upward in an amused smirk as she lowered her book down, setting it on the table. "Well, nice to meet you too." She commented with a soft chuckle at Hazel's curtness.

"Jane this is Hazel and Hazel this is Jane." Penelope piped in, hurriedly introducing the two. She doubted the introduction meant much to the herbalist but at least it would keep Jane from bugging too much for a more formal greeting than the one she had been given. The knight leaned back in her seat and let out a small sigh. "Anyways, you're right. It's late out as it is so we shouldn't waste too much time. I'm not sure where you two need to start or anything but I told Jane a bit about the symptoms of the illness.. At least, what you've told me."

Jane nodded her head at Penelope's words. "I can't say I've dealt with anything quite like what Penelope described to me but I've cured other illnesses with similar symptoms so I figured referring to those might be a good place to start. Perhaps there's a similarity within the cures that can be applied to this one... At least that was my train of thought." The physician shrugged her shoulders, absentmindedly flipping through the book in front of her. "Penelope says you've been working on this illness for a bit, so what have you tried so far?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Hazel narrowed her eyes slightly at the physician, prepared to make a brusque retort, but Penelope intervened first. Her cold blue eyes flicked towards the knight as she introduced the two healers to each other. She couldn’t have cared less what the physician’s name was, but the change in subject was enough to make her forget what she was going to say before. So, she leaned back in her chair and tapped her boot on the floor in mild irritation instead.

Her gaze drifted back to Jane as the dark-haired woman began speaking about her knowledge on similar illnesses as the one that plagued Myrefall. She wasn’t surprised to learn that this healer had cured similar diseases. In fact, she would have been more surprised if Jane had been completely unfamiliar with any of the symptoms, since she had heard that noble physicians were supposed to be apprenticed by masters with more understanding of medicines than the herbalist could ever hope to glean in her lifetime.

When Jane went on to ask what she had tried so far, Hazel clenched her jaw, involuntarily hesitant to share her findings with a noble. She forced herself to take a calming breath, This is all for the good of the people of Myrefall… and of Crow. She’s not here to steal your work. After a moment’s pause, she finally answered the question: “I’ve prepared a few different herbal poultices for… a patient of mine.” She intentionally avoided using Crow’s name, since she remembered that he didn’t have the best reputation. It would be bad if word got back to the knights that the thief whose head was worth a small fortune was sick and vulnerable right now.

“This is what I’ve come up with so far,” she twisted at the waist to lean over and dig in her bag for the journal in which she had been keeping record of her medicinal recipes. Flipping to the page where she had written about the Creeping Death, she handed the book off to the physician, averting her gaze to ignore the surprised look in the other woman’s eyes. It was likely that Jane had never seen a literate peasant before.

Fortunately, the physician didn’t comment on it. Instead, she examined the writing with a critical expression. “Hawthorn, nettles, hibiscus, lobelia…” she read under her breath as she reviewed the herbalist’s work.

“I used herbs that target the heart and lungs,” Hazel explained with a shrug. “As far as I can tell, those are the parts of the body this illness hits the hardest.”

“I see,” Jane looked up at her contemplatively. “I happened to notice motherwort isn’t on this list.”

“Motherwort?” Hazel blinked, unfamiliar with the plant.

“Yes,” Jane nodded. “It’s an herb that regulates the heart.” She closed the journal and passed it back to the herbalist across the table. “I’m not surprised you don’t know about it. From my understanding, the plant only grows in the inner kingdom. Fortunately for us, I happen to have some with me.” Reaching into her own bag, she withdrew a dried plant with small, leathery-looking leaves and offered it to Hazel to examine it more closely. “The herbs you’ve been using are all good, but this one is much more potent. I’ve had great success with it in treating other illnesses of the heart.”

“Interesting,” Hazel mused as she rubbed one of the leaves between her thumb and forefinger. Momentarily forgetting her animosity towards the physician, she looked up at her curiously. “What do you usually mix it with?”

“See for yourself,” Jane handed the herbalist her own book, the pages of which were filled with neatly written herbal recipes. “I believe that if you pair this set of ingredients with the one on the next page—it’s for a lung disease—you’ll have a better foundation to build this cure on.”

Hazel nodded absently, her eyes skimming over the physician’s book as she memorized the herbs she needed. She knew most of the plants that were listed, but there were two that she didn’t recognize. “What are turmeric and chaparral?”

“Turmeric is another herbal heart remedy, and chaparral cleanses the lungs,” Jane explained. “I have some of those with me as well if you’d like to try them.”

“Please,” Hazel nodded gratefully. As the physician offered her the herbs, she was starting to think that perhaps it wasn’t such a waste of time to have agreed to meet with her after all. If what this woman said was true, these plants were quite a bit stronger than the ones she’d been using before, and she’d had no idea they even existed. She made a mental note to ask Simon to steal her some more up-to-date medical books later.

“I’ll start with these for now,” she said, looking up at the nobles again. “We should meet again in five days, so I have time to observe my patient for any changes. From there, we can refine it until we figure this out.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope fell quiet as the two healers began to speak with one another. Most of what they spoke of was beyond the knight's knowledge. However, she was pleased that they seemed to work together just fine. Hazel even seemed to relax slightly as they focused on discussing the herbs. Hearing Jane speak with the herbalist made the knight regain a little bit of hope that they'd be able to figure the cure out in time to save Crow. It sounded like the physician's knowledge had come in handy like Penelope had been hoping for. It was still too early to tell if the herbs Jane gave Hazel would help in finding a cure but they'd possibly get them on the right track.

"That works." Jane nodded with approval as the meeting reached its end. The physician gathered her belongs and slung her the strap of her bag back over her shoulder as she moved to stand up. "It was good meeting you, Hazel. Hopefully those herbs will give you some kind of results so we have a better idea of what we're working with when we meet next."

The knight stood up as well, giving a small nod of agreement with Jane's words. As Jane began to move towards the door, Penelope hung back for a moment and met Hazel's gaze appreciatively. "Thank you for meeting with her.. I hope it helps him." She said quietly to the herbalist before quickly turning and heading off to rejoin Jane, who had paused by the door to wait for the knight.

Jane raised an eyebrow questioningly for a moment before turning to lead the way out of the tavern. Once they had walked a little ways away, the physician let out a long sigh, "Well I have to admit I'm a bit impressed. That herbalist knew more than I was expecting. Her notes were missing a few things but overall, they weren't bad for someone who hasn't been properly trained."

"That's good." Penelope mused quietly as she glanced over at Jane.

---

The two chatted quietly with each other as they made their way back to camp. Hazel seemed to have left a decent impression on Jane, which Penelope hoped would continue during their future meetings together. They eventually parted ways once they reached camp. Penelope found it a bit difficult to not try to slip past the guards out of habit. It was strange to have approval to leave for nightly meetings.

The knight headed off to her tent. The meeting had calmed her a little, regaining a bit of hope that she had previously lost. She let out a tired yawn and laid down for the night, soon drifting off to sleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

The following day, Crow awoke late as usual. He opened his eyes and looked around the camp dazedly, trying to remember when he had fallen asleep. Having wanted to hear about the results of Hazel’s meeting with Penelope and that physician, he had tried to stay up and wait for her to return the night before. Apparently, that hadn’t happened.

He sighed and rolled over on his bed. From what he could see, it looked like all of his companions had gone out again for the day, so if he wanted to hear anything from Hazel, he would have to wait for her to come back from wherever it was she had gone. He shifted impatiently, the motion causing his injured leg to smart in response. He grimaced and made a mental note to ask the herbalist to change out the bandages for him later as well. In their focus on his illness, the wound had gone somewhat forgotten.

It didn’t take long before boredom began to set in. He rolled over again and let out his breath in a long exhale, toying with the idea of going back to sleep. There was no telling how long it would be before Hazel returned, and he had nothing to do until then. However, before he even had a chance to close his eyes, he felt his chest tighten, a familiar indication that he was going to have another coughing fit. Not again, he groaned inwardly. Ever since he had reached the third phase of the illness, the Myrefall herbalist’s medicine no longer worked to suppress the episodes.

In the next moment, he doubled over as the fit seized his body. Unable to do anything to fight it, he didn’t bother to try. Instead, he simply waited for it to pass, enduring the pain it triggered deep in his chest. That was another change he had noticed recently. Before, the coughing fits had been uncomfortable, but they had never caused him anything more than some bruising on his ribs, and even that had only happened once or twice when the episodes had been especially bad. But now, it felt like they were tied to something worse.

Dark scarlet droplets spattered the cave floor as the cough drew blood at last. Soon after, it finally passed, and he was able to lay his head down again. “Damn it,” he muttered, closing his eyes and breathing heavily from the exertion. He had been hoping the last medicine Hazel had made for him would be the one, but apparently it hadn’t worked either. It was getting harder to hold onto the hope that there was even a cure for his disease out there at all.

The metallic taste of blood lingered unpleasantly on his tongue, and the thief spat on the ground in a vain attempt to get rid of it. Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps echo near the entrance of the cavern, and he glanced up to see that Hazel had returned. The herbalist walked over to him with her bag of supplies and sat down, knitting her brow in a concerned frown as she looked him over. “It happened again, huh?” she mused as she set down her things.

“Yeah,” Crow sighed. He met her gaze curiously. “How’d you know?” The sleeping area of the cave was shadowed in darkness, so he doubted she had noticed the blood on the ground so quickly.

Hazel tapped the corner of her mouth, and the thief blinked. He reached up to drag the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping away the blood from his lip.

“Well, hopefully that’ll be the last time,” Hazel said with a smirk. “I’ve got a new medicine for you that I have a good feeling about.”

“So, I take it your meeting last night went well?” he raised a brow, finally able to ask the question that had been on his mind all day.

“Surprisingly, yes,” the herbalist nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, that physician knows her stuff. She gave me a few herbs that I included in your next batch of medicine.” She reached into her bag and withdrew the usual jar, handing it over to him. “Try this.”

Crow propped himself up on his elbows and took the container from her. Popping off the top, he lifted it to his lip and tilted his head back to down the whole thing. When it was empty, he looked down at the empty jar with a thoughtful expression, “Huh.”

“What?”

“This one didn’t taste nearly as bad,” he said, glancing up at her. “It’s kind of like mint.”

“That would be the motherwort,” Hazel explained. “It’s one of the herbs that noble gave me. I added a lot of it, since she said it’s effective at healing the heart.”

“Well, I hope it does the job on me,” he said as he handed the empty container back to her. “I’d much rather take this than that bitter stuff you were giving me before.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “Well excuse me for not making you a draught you enjoy,” she drawled sarcastically. “I was too busy trying to find ingredients that will actually heal you.”

“I’ll forgive you if you keep bringing me medicines like this,” he grinned at her teasingly.

“Just for that, I’m going to be sure your next one is extra bitter,” she snorted, rising to her feet.

“Oh, come on,” Crow rolled his eyes. “I was only kidding.”

“Too late,” the herbalist said with a wry smirk. “Consider this payback for all the attitude you’ve been giving me lately, snake.” With that, she turned and headed toward the fireplace, where the other thieves who had just gotten back to the camp were beginning to gather.

“Me and my big mouth,” Crow muttered, shaking his head. He laid back down on his bed and rolled over to face the wall. Regardless of how Hazel prepared the medicine to taste, he was glad that she finally seemed to be on the right track to finding a cure for his illness. He closed his eyes, eager to fall asleep so he could find out if the draught was working in the morning.

[BuzzingBee]

The next day went on normally for the knight, although not without some minor bumps. The guards that had known about Penelope and Jane's meeting with the herbalist didn't hesitate to spread the news and eventually it reached the ears of the other two barons. The two weren't quite as in favor of the meetings as Mia had been, but luckily it didn't take much to convince them otherwise as neither seemed particularly concerned about what the physician was doing so long as it didn't take away from healing the knights after combat.

As the day wore on, Penelope found out that a few other of the knights found it to be a waste of time. Unfortunately for them, she didn't care enough to take their criticisms and the majority didn't seem to care, which made it even easier to ignore those that disagreed. And, luckily there were a few that even agreed with the physician working to help with curing the disease. Of those that agreed, Gavin was one of them.

"So it affects a lot of the people in Myrefall, huh?" The male knight looked over curiously at her. The two sat comfortably in the grass, finishing up their dinners as they spoke. Ever since he had learned about the meetings, he had grown interested and quickly began to ask questions about what was going on in the village. It was a brief reminder of why she had been so content at his side during her time apart from Crow. He shared a similar desire to protect and aid the people in the outer villages, which was something she still admired in the knight despite choosing to leave him.

"From what I've heard, yeah." Penelope mumbled, thinking of Crow and what he had told her about his mother. "Apparently it's plagued that village for many years."

"Really?" Gavin frowned a little and leaned back on the palms of his hands. "I haven't been to Myrefall a lot so I never even knew.." He shook his head and then smiled at her. "Well, you continue to impress, Penelope. First getting the barons to pass the rule and now this.. The outer villages will have a lot to thank you for by the end of this war."

"Not really.." Penelope shrugged, shifting her gaze away from him. She didn't quite agree with his words. Though she had managed to help create one rule, it certainly wasn't enough in her opinion. Plus the only reason she had even been so dead set on having the physician aid in curing the disease was because of her selfish desperation to save Crow rather than some noble desire to help the people of Myrefall. "I haven't done much at all. The rule just makes knights more cautious it doesn't make them protect the villagers like they should and as for the illness.. Well, that herbalist is doing all of the work."

Gavin looked over at her and let out a soft sigh. "I guess.. But still, you're doing more than anyone else has and we've only been out here for a short while. And there's still time for you to do more if you really feel like you haven't done that much."

Penelope glanced over at him and smiled appreciatively at him. "Well, you might be onto something with that last part." She mused with a firm nod. The knight felt a little bit of inspiration from Gavin's words. Though she hadn't done much yet, there was still time for her to do more. It made her wonder if she could really push for the knights to do more that would help the outer villages during their time at the battlefront. She wasn't quite sure how much power she had or if the barons would even listen to her if she did come up with something, but his words made her hopeful that she'd be able to do more before the end of the war.

The two eventually parted ways and went to lay down for the night. Penelope felt her mind buzzing with thoughts as she laid on her mat. She thought of the war, the villages, the illness and of course, Crow. She wondered if the medicine would work now that Jane had given Hazel different herbs to try. She also wondered when she would see him again. The knight let out a long sigh and rolled over as she felt a pang of longing at the thought. She missed the thief and not knowing when she would see him again made the days go by even slower than before. As time passed, she eventually fell asleep as her thoughts died down and her weariness took over.

[Rogue Sloth]

When Crow woke up the next day, he yawned and rolled onto his back, reaching his arms over his head in a long stretch. He didn’t feel quite as terrible as he normally did when he rose this time. Aside from the ache in his wounded leg and a kink in his right shoulder—he guessed he had probably slept on it funny—he actually felt somewhat decent for once. His heartbeat quickened in excitement as he remembered the new medicine Hazel had given him the night before. Had she finally found something that worked?

Eager to test it out, he moved to sit up. However, he immediately regretted the decision when a sharp burst of dizziness forced him to squeeze his eyes shut. Clutching his head in one hand, he breathed slowly until it passed. It appeared that, even if the medicine had had some effect on him, it wasn’t healing him that quickly. He still couldn’t move very much without tiring himself out. Regardless, he was ecstatic to think that his slight improvement had been caused by the herbalist’s new remedy.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you sit up in a couple days,” Hazel’s voice caught his attention as she walked over from the other side of the camp. The red-haired woman grinned at him, “I take it you’re feeling better?”

“A bit,” Crow nodded, looking up at her as she sat down beside him. “What time is it?”

“Early evening,” she answered, smoothing out her dress over her crossed legs. “But even if you start to get better, I wouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon. You need a lot of rest to recover from this.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” he shrugged absently, flexing his hand as he observed the reaction of his muscles. It wasn’t much, but he could tell that his reflexes were slightly faster than before.

“How exactly are you feeling better?” Hazel asked, pulling out her journal and quill. “I need to make some notes, so I can keep refining your medicine.”

“Let’s see,” Crow glanced up at the cave ceiling in thought. “I woke up feeling more well-rested, and I don’t feel as tired as I usually do right now—at least, I don’t feel tired mentally. I still doubt I’d be able to stand up on my own.”

“Care to try?”

“I don’t think so,” he shook his head. “At least, not today. Just sitting up by myself was almost enough to take me down again.”

“Alright,” the herbalist scribbled down a few more notes and then closed her book. “I’m glad this medicine seems to be affecting you, because I’ve already got another batch ready for you tonight.” Reaching into her bag once more, she withdrew the container and handed it to him. “Let’s just hope it keeps working.”

“Hear hear,” Crow raised the jar to his lips and drained it of its contents. Once he had finished, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Gods, you actually kept your word yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Hazel winked at him mischievously. “You didn’t think I would actually let you get away with that attitude of yours, did you?”

“Lesson learned,” he coughed. “That was rancid.”

“I’m pleased you think so,” Hazel smirked.

Crow rolled his eyes and then met her gaze again as another thought came to him, “By the way, do you mind switching out my bandages again? The ones I’m wearing now have been on for a few days, and they’ve started to chafe.”

“Sure,” she retrieved a roll of fresh bandages from her bag. Working efficiently, she switched out the old wrapping on his leg for a new one. Once she was done, she put away her supplies and stood up to rejoin the others at the fire for dinner. Before she could leave, the thief spoke up again.

“One more thing,” he started.

“You’re expecting quite a few favors from me today, hmm?” Hazel quirked a brow at him.

“I would do these things for myself, but, you know,” Crow gestured to his own body in reference to the illness. “Anyway, could you help me up? I want to eat with you and the others, since I haven’t been able to in so long.”

“I guess,” she shrugged and offered him a hand to stand up.

“Thanks,” he said as he took her hand and rose unsteadily to his feet. Once he was up, he moved quickly to lean an open palm against the wall for support. Using the wall to stay upright, he followed Hazel over to the fireplace to enjoy a social dinner with his companions before he would go to bed that night.

[BuzzingBee]

"Ok, how does it feel so far? Not too heavy is it?"

Penelope shifted uneasily as she gripped a heavy wooden shield in one hand while drawing her sword with the other. It was the next day and she had been training when she noticed Tomas practicing as well. However, the older lieutenant had been skillfully wielding both a sword and shield as he practice, something she had seen him do on a few occasions. Interested by his technique, she decided to ask him about it, which eventually lead to her picking up a shield as well. Normally, she only used her sword, being more familiar with using it alone rather than with a shield that would also weigh her down greatly. Her swiftness was usually her greatest strength in battle so she often avoided things that would weaken that.

"It's a little heavy.. It'd definitely take a while to get used to." She answered him as she fixed her grip on the shield.

Tomas nodded his head. "It gets easier with practice but it really helps your defense during a battle." He paused and gave an eager smile. "Want me to show you a few moves?"

"Sure." Penelope nodded.

---

The two spent a good majority of the evening practicing with the shields. Tomas was a patient teacher and even seemed to find some enjoyment in mentoring her on how to use the shield effectively. He was forced to go slowly due to her lack of experience and often stop for breaks since her arm grew tired of moving the shield around so much. Penelope wasn't sure it was a weapon that she wanted to continue to training with, though she did find a bit of comfort in having a better defense. Tomas seemed willing to give her more lessons if she so desired though.

With the training over with, Penelope rested a bit before she'd have to take over a guard shift from Olivia. As it grew later, she headed out of her tent and traveled to the south part of their camp where Olivia was waiting for her. "Ah there you are." Olivia smiled as she saw her approaching. "Good time since I have to go soon."

Penelope raised an eyebrow at Olivia. "At this time? Where are you going?" She asked her confused. Olivia held her gaze and Penelope blinked with realization. With everything that had been happening, she had nearly forgotten that Olivia had been occasionally meeting with Alistair. "Oh... right." she mumbled.

"Took you long enough." Olivia laughed.

"I'm surprised you're still meeting up with him." she mused. "Especially after their camp got discovered and all."

"We have a meeting spot." Olivia shrugged. She winked at Penelope. "He's quite entertaining so I don't see any reason in ending things yet."

Penelope eyed Olivia for a moment. Despite the somewhat sultry words, Olivia seemed geniuenely enlivened about meeting with Alistair again. That and also a bit impatient to leave. The knight also noticed her friend shifting away slightly, likely hoping their conversation wouldn't drag on too long. She smirked teasingly. "Sounds like you're getting attached."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Olivia rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm just enjoying myself. Can you blame me?" she gave a suggestive smirk. "Feelings aside, even you know that those thieves can be quite skilled with-"

"Alright, alright." Penelope waved her hand dismissively. She shook her head a little and let out a small sigh.

Olivia laughed. "I'll see you later, Penelope."

"Bye Olivia." She nodded watched her friend slip out of camp before focusing on her guard duty as the night wore on.

[Rogue Sloth]

The evening of the following day, Crow awoke feeling even better than he had the day before. He was sure of it now: the medicine Hazel was using on him was finally working. He felt a rush of excitement as he managed to sit up on his bed without much trouble. It felt like his strength was finally coming back to him as well. Leaning back on the palms of his hands, he looked down at his legs and rolled his ankles thoughtfully. He wanted to try to stand on his own today. It had been a week since the last time he had been able to move without help, and the thought of being able to do so again was thrilling.

Just as he began to brace himself to try, he heard Hazel’s voice. “Still feeling better, huh?” she said with a pleased look as she made her way over to him.

“Much, actually,” he nodded. “I was going to try standing.”

“Great,” Hazel glanced back over her shoulder and gestured for Simon to come over. Turning back to Crow, she explained with a shrug, “I can’t catch you if you go down, so he agreed to make sure you don’t fall on your face for me.”

Crow nodded again, unbothered by Simon’s presence. He felt confident that he would be able to stand, but it was nice to have a backup just in case something went wrong. After all, he didn’t want to fall and risk reopening the wound in his leg. On top of being painful by itself, it would make it more difficult for him to try getting up again in the future. He didn’t need any more barriers to an already strenuous task.

Once he was ready to try, the thief braced his legs and forced himself to slowly rise from the ground. The effort was taxing, but he managed to stand up and remain on his feet without any help from Simon. His heartbeat quickened in excitement as he realized what he had just done. For the first time in a week, he could move without asking anyone to support him. That meant no more being trapped in bed, no more uncomfortable assisted walks to the bathroom, and best of all, no more being confined to the tunnels. He could finally go outside on his own to simply enjoy being out of the cavern.

“Looks like you’re doing much better,” Hazel looked him over clinically as she made notes in her journal. “I don’t see any shaking or other signs of weakness.” She looked up to meet his gaze and grinned. “If you keep up with his pace, you’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Thank gods,” Crow sighed. “I can’t wait to be done with all of this.”

“It will be good to have you back,” Simon agreed with a shake of his head. “Trying to keep Alistair and Rikki under control is exhausting. I don’t know how you’ve managed to do it for so long.”

“Who knows?” Crow shrugged, biting back a laugh. He was sure that Alistair and Rikki were just giving Simon a hard time to mess with him, since he was such an easy target. However, in the spirit of not ruining the wily thieves’ fun, he didn’t want to tell him the truth. Glancing toward the entrance of the cave, he went on to change the subject, “Since I don’t need help walking anymore, I’m going outside.”

“Alright,” Hazel said. “Just don’t go far. You may be alright for now, but I want you to stay within shouting distance in case you need help.”

“I will,” he agreed. Tipping his head to them in a curt goodbye, he made his way to the entrance of the cave, taking the trip slowly so he wouldn’t tire himself out while also relishing the feeling of being able to walk at all.

He circled around the edge of the waterfall and headed towards a fallen tree by the edge of the riverbank. When he reached it, he sat down and closed his eyes, dangling his legs over the water serenely. It was the first time in a while that he’d had this much hope about being cured of his illness, but with a medicine that was finally working, he felt confident that he would make it.

His enthusiasm wavered slightly as the memory of his mother came suddenly to his mind. He wished he had thought to have someone try to treat her back then, but being young and naïve, the idea had never even crossed his mind. He opened his eyes again to watch the river flow over the tumbled stones below his feet. It seemed unfair that he would be the one to survive the illness that took her life. His mother had been a kind and selfless woman who cared about the people of the outer villages just as much as he did, if not more. Part of him wished there was some way he could switch places with her, to offer his life in exchange to bring her back. Having empathy and a sense of what people needed—two qualities he lacked—she probably would have done more for the peasants of Brerra than he ever did. If she had lived and he had not, the people of the outer villages probably would have been better off.

He sighed, picking absently at the moss on the tree he was sitting on. He knew that such thoughts, however wistful they may be, were pointless. His mother had been gone for over a decade now, and nothing was going to change that. Besides, even if he couldn’t help the villagers the same way she would have, it wasn’t like his life was meaningless. He had done quite a bit for them in his own way, and there was no denying that they were better off for it. He wasn’t his mother, but he would do his best to emulate her values and protect the peasants of Brerra.

Tossing a ball of moss into the river, he smiled softly to himself as Penelope’s face appeared in his mind. Putting everything to do with the villagers aside, she was the one who gave his life more purpose than anything or anyone else. She was also the reason why he had even sought Hazel out in the first place. He wanted to live, not just for himself, but also for her. He wanted the life they dreamed about when the war was over.

Crow was so caught up in his introspective thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the sound of someone moving to sit next to him on the log. He looked up and blinked in surprise to see that it was Rikki. The female thief had her dark eyes fixed on the water as she took a moment to think before finally speaking up, “Hazel told me you were doing better.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, shifting his weight slightly. Given how tense things had been between them lately, he wasn’t sure what else to say to her.

“I’m glad,” she said in a soft voice that caught him off guard. Pausing again, she tightened her lips slightly. “Look, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve come to a conclusion.”

Crow glanced at her curiously. He recalled that Rikki had said she had a lot of thinking to do after she had found out about him and Penelope, but he had thought she would take much longer to approach him. Not wanting to make any assumptions, he remained quiet as he waited for her to explain what her decision was.

“I’m still hurt that you would have lied to me like that,” she said after a moment. “But I know you were just trying to handle this in your own way, and I know you weren’t trying to hurt me. I can’t stay mad at you for something you didn’t intentionally do, especially when I saw how upset you were when I told you I was hurt.” Looking up, she finally met his gaze. “I can’t promise that things will be the same between us… honestly, they probably won’t, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m not angry anymore.”

Crow stared at her as he took a moment to process everything she had just said. When he was done, he offered her a smile, “Thanks. I’m still really sorry I hurt you, love, but I’m glad we can start to move forward from this.” He reached out to wrap one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side in a brief embrace.

“Me too,” Rikki smiled softly as well, but the expression soon disappeared, and she lowered her gaze again.

Crow frowned as he watched her. It was easy to tell that she was thinking about how he was never going to be with her the way she wanted. She had come to a conclusion in her head, but her broken heart had yet to catch up. He removed his arm from her shoulders and dropped his hand in his lap. “I may not be able to return the feelings you have for me, but I’m still your friend,” he said quietly. “That’s not going to change.”

“I know,” Rikki took a calming breath. “It’s just going to take some time for me to accept that.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Take as much time as you need.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. Another brief moment of silence fell between them, and then she moved to stand up. “Dinner is going to be ready soon,” she said, casting him a quick glance. “If you want some, you should come back before Alistair eats your portion.”

“He’d better not try,” Crow snorted. “Now that I’m feeling better, I’ll fight him for it.”

Rikki cracked a small smile as she turned to leave, “I’ll be sure to pass along the warning. See you there, Crow.”

“See you,” he said, looking back at the river as she walked off. He spent a little while longer by the water’s edge, taking some time to relish how good of a day it had been, before he finally rose to his feet and headed back to the camp to join his companions the for dinner.

[BuzzingBee]

The following day came and Penelope spent most of it sleeping after her late guard shift. It was nearly midday before the knight woke up and began to catch up on the day's work. She took it fairly easy, since her arms were rather sore from practicing with Tomas for so long the previous day, and went on a quiet patrol with Nina, who wanted to check the border for any activity from Younis. The two knights kept close to the forest's edge as they neared the border.

"Do you really think they'd attack us now?" Penelope asked crossing her arms as she looked over at Nina. Nina was much different that her sister, Mia. She was quiet and very observant, something that Penelope had noticed after spending a bit more time with her.

"Hard to say. But after their supplies got stolen, it's not difficult to guess that they're expecting to receive more soon." Nina narrowed her gaze as she scanned the distance for movement. "After two defeats, I wouldn't be surprised if they try something sneaky to attack us."

"I guess so." Penelope shrugged. "But I doubt it'd be anytime soon. They need a lot of time to heal just like we do after all."

"Maybe. But desperation to win can also push that aside." Nina muttered. She took a step back and eyed the sky. The sun was close to beginning to set, which meant they'd have to leave soon if they wanted to get back to camp before nightfall. "Anyways, all seems quiet for now so let's head back to camp."

Penelope nodded her head in agreement and followed Nina as the older knight lead the way back to their camp. Glancing back over her shoulder, she wondered if the Younisians would be so quick to strike like Nina seemed to believe. Even if they did receive more supplies to replace the ones they had lost, the knights still had to heal from their wounds. The barons were already planning to attack again in about two weeks now, to have something sooner seemed would be really pushing the limits of both sides in her opinion.

The walk back to camp was uneventful. Both knights remained relatively quiet as they walked, leaving Penelope to her thoughts. They parted ways upon returning to camp. Nina walked off to find Bennet while Penelope moved to go join the other knights for dinner. It was nearly sunset now and most of the camp was either eating or socializing with each other. Grabbing a plate of her food she moved to sit down besides Olivia.

"Hey." Olivia greeted her. "Just got back?"

"Yeah." Penelope said with a nod before taking a bit of her food.

"Guessing nothing happened then huh?" She flickered her gaze around the camp falling into a brief moment of silence before looking back over to Penelope with a questioning gaze. "So what's up with this whole Jane meeting some herbalist thing? You still haven't told me anything about what's going on with that?"

"Well, what do you want to know?" Penelope chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "I just thought Jane could help her cure the disease."

"Yeah but how'd you even meet the herbalist? Last time I checked the time you spent in Myrefall was usually for something private." Olivia smirked.

"She's... a friend of a friend." Penelope responded carefully, shifting her gaze around the camp as she spoke. "She wasn't exactly looking for help but I just thought she'd have a bit more success if she worked with Jane."

"Oh." Olivia mused with an understanding nod. She let out a sigh. "I was hoping there was a bit more to the story."

Penelope laughed softly and shook her head. "Not this time Olivia." There was but Penelope didn't feel right sharing that with her friend. Crow had been reluctant to even tell her and his companions so it would be wrong to go telling Olivia, even though Penelope would have trusted her with the information. The two soon switched the subject and chatted quietly as they enjoyed their meals. After they finished, they parted ways as Olivia headed off on a guard shift while Penelope headed to bed.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow spent most of the following day outside watching his companions spar in the clearing north of their camp. He had woken up in the midafternoon, a bit earlier than usual, which Hazel took as a sign that he was healing well inside. Between the success of the new medicine and her courtship with Simon, the herbalist was in a much better mood lately, and Crow found her more enjoyable to be around. She had stopped calling him insulting nicknames and prodding him about the ways he had hurt her in the past. Now, she treated him no differently than anyone else.

There was never a verbal communication between them about her change in attitude nor an apology for the way she had held a grudge against him for so long, but he didn’t care. As long as they were on good terms now, he could live without hearing her say she was sorry or that she had finally forgiven him for the past. As far as he was concerned, it was all water under the bridge.

The improvement in Hazel’s attitude wasn’t the only good change he noticed that day. For the first time in a while, Rikki had saved him a portion of lunch as well, which gave him hope that they would be able to restore their friendship too. He missed having her around to banter with during the day and looked forward to a time when they would be able to talk so casually again.

The thief leaned back against a tree with his arms folded over his chest as he watched Rikki and Alistair come at each other with swords. He stood next to Simon and Hazel, who sat across from each other in the grass having their own conversation. They held hands and stared into each other’s eyes as they chatted and exchanged ‘I love you’s, occasionally leaning in to kiss during breaks in their discussion.

After a while of enduring their affectionate behavior, Crow rolled his eyes. “You two are disgusting, you know that?” he wrinkled his nose as they kissed again.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Hazel turned to him with a sarcastic smirk. She leaned in closer to Simon and went on in an intentionally loud whisper, “Sounds like someone’s jealous.”

“I am not jealous,” Crow snorted, averting his gaze. “I just wanted to make sure you’re aware of how nauseating you both are.” In truth, their mushy, lovestruck behavior reminded him of how much he longed to see Penelope again. It had been almost two weeks since the last time they had been together, and he missed her quite a bit. But, of course, he would never admit such a thing to Hazel.

“This is nothing,” Hazel grinned at him wryly and then turned back to her suitor. “Come on, Simon. Let’s show him just how ‘disgusting’ we can be.” She moved from where she was sitting to kiss the thief passionately, leaning into him until he fell backwards, and they were laying on top of each other in the grass.

“Real classy, guys,” Crow scoffed. Hazel raised a hand to shoot him a rude gesture, and he shook his head, turning back to watch the rest of Rikki and Alistair’s fight. He managed to catch the tail end of it just before Alistair pinned Rikki against a tree with his blade pointed at her ribcage, and she was forced to admit defeat.

Now finished with their sparring match, the two made their way over to the others to take a break. “We’re out,” Alistair panted, flopping down against the trunk of a tree. “Who wants to go next?”

“I’d offer,” Crow shrugged. “But apparently I’m still not allowed to fight.” He shot Hazel an accusative look.

“That’s right,” she said, meeting his gaze evenly as she smoothed down her dress. “No sparring for you until we know you’re healed.”

“I feel fine,” he muttered under his breath. However, he didn’t bother to argue with her since he knew she was too stubborn to cave.

“So, are we done here?” Alistair looked between them.

“Well,” Simon spoke up, glancing at Hazel. “You and I could go a round. I wanted to teach you a few tricks, remember?”

“Right,” she grinned at him challengingly. “Because you don’t think I can hold my own in a fight.”

“That’s not it,” Simon said in hasty defense. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just think I could teach you some things, that’s all.”

“Oh, so you don’t think I could hold my own in a fight against you?”

“Well…” Simon shifted his weight awkwardly.

“That’s it,” Hazel rose to her feet and turned to Rikki. “Give me that sword. I’m going to teach my lover boy here a thing or two about how a real woman fights.”

Rikki whistled and handed her blade off to the herbalist. She leaned over to Crow and Alistair and murmured with a smirk, “I have never been more excited to see Simon get his ass kicked in my life.”

“Wanna put some money on this?” Alistair grinned at her. “Five gold coins says Simon wins.”

“I’ll take some of that action,” Crow jumped in. “Ten on Hazel.”

The three thieves finished placing their bets on who would win the match and then turned back to watch as Simon and Hazel began sparring in the middle of the clearing. Alistair sat back against the tree trunk while Crow and Rikki stood nearby. The female thief turned to him with a curious smile, “I wasn’t expecting you to put your money on Hazel. What makes you think she’s going to win?”

“I’ve known her for a long time,” he said, glancing at her slyly. “She’s a terrible fighter, but Simon is too love-struck not to let her win.”

“Sneaky,” she laughed. “Well, I hope your right about that, because otherwise, Alistair is going to get all of our gold.”

“I know I’m right,” he shrugged cockily. “Alistair isn’t going to get so much as a copper coin out of us.”

Rikki looked up at him and then sighed softly, “I missed this.”

“Me too,” he agreed, glancing down to meet her gaze.

Rikki looked over her shoulder at Alistair for a moment and then shifted to stand closer to Crow. “I’ve been wondering,” she whispered, keeping her voice down so the other thief wouldn’t overhear her. “When you said you had plans to be with Penelope after the war… do those plans have us in the picture too?” She frowned as she held his gaze searchingly.

Crow averted his eyes uncomfortably. “Not exactly,” he answered her in a low voice. “I’m worried that she won’t be accepted here. Simon and Hazel are openly hostile to nobles, I have no idea what Alistair would do, and…” he glanced at her again. “Wouldn’t you be uncomfortable having her around after everything that’s happened between us?”

“Maybe,” she frowned. “But I’d rather have her around if it means I won’t have to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either—any of you,” he exhaled. “But it’s not that easy. We want to settle down together, and we can’t do that if we’re living with a band of thieves.”

“Oh,” Rikki lowered her gaze. She fell quiet for a moment in contemplative silence before looking up again with a halfhearted smile. “Well, I guess I just need to make the most of our time while I still have you, huh?”

“I guess so,” he mirrored her expression.

In the next moment, Crow blinked in surprise as he felt a familiar tingling sensation in his chest. Before he had a chance to react, he doubled over as another coughing fit wracked his body. He leaned against a nearby tree and covered his mouth with one hand as the metallic taste of blood wetted his tongue.

“Crow?” Rikki’s eyes widened and moved quickly to his side, resting a hand on his back. She inhaled sharply as she caught sight of the crimson droplets seeping between his fingers. “Hazel!” she called frantically. “Something’s wrong with Crow!”

The herbalist froze mid swing at the sound of Rikki’s panicked voice and turned to see what was going on. When she saw that the thief was having another episode, she cursed under her breath and dropped her sword, hurrying over to his other side.

“What’s going on?” Alistair knitted his brow worriedly and climbed to his feet.

“It looks like he’s not as healed as we thought,” Hazel grumbled, muttering another short string of curses as she looked him over.

“Will he be alright?” Rikki asked.

“Should be,” Hazel nodded. “This isn’t the first time this has happened. He just has to ride it out until it passes.”

Surrounded by all of his companions, Crow felt a wave of self-consciousness as the coughing fit dragged on. He silently pleaded for it to stop, hating how weak he looked whenever it happened. Fortunately, the tightness in his chest faded again not long after it began, and he was left panting as he caught his breath against the tree.

“Are you okay?” Rikki said as she rubbed his back.

“I’m fine,” he said breathily. Pulling his hand away from his mouth, he felt a pang of worry as he saw how much blood he had coughed up this time. He glanced at Hazel, who had a concerned look on her face as she took note of the amount on his hand as well.

“It looks like this new medicine has stopped your fatigue, but it isn’t stopping whatever keeps causing that to happen,” the herbalist mused, gesturing to his stained palm. “I’ll have to figure out why that is, but for now, let’s get back to the camp so you can rest.”

Crow nodded, feeling a bit tired from the toll the coughing fit had taken on him. He bent down to drag his hand across the grass and wipe off the blood. Straightening his posture again, he joined the others as they all headed back to the tunnels, finished sparring for the day.

[BuzzingBee]

The following day Penelope spent most of her time with Mia and Tomas. The three walked around the camp this time rather than staying in a tent as they discussed different topics. Penelope didn't say much as Tomas and Mia spoke about the last two battles and how the camp was doing in managing their supplies. Though they had retrieved most of what they had lost, the baroness clearly didn't want the knights to abuse it before they were able to get more from the king.

"Penelope, that meeting you spoke of between some herbalist and one of our physicians, they're still occuring right?" Mia asked suddenly, looking over her shoulder at her.

She nodded her head. "Yes. They're not too often though.. The next meeting is actually taking place tomorrow and that'll only be the second one."

"I see.." Mia mused thoughtfully. "While I'm glad this will keep us prepared and help the villagers of Myrefall, I do have one concern." The baroness stopped and turned to face her two lieutenants. "Jane spoke of giving this herbalist some herbs to use.. I worry that when they do find the cure, the herbalist might expect us to supply her with enough of said herbs to cure the villagers."

Penelope blinked at Mia's words and shook her head. "I doubt that. The herbalist is an independent person who I'm sure will do just fine on her own once they've discovered the cure." The knight doubted Hazel would openly ask for more of their herb supply from Jane once the cure was discovered. If anything, the herbalist would likely recruit the thieves to steal it from the camp if she couldn't already find the herbs on her own. However, Penelope couldn't help but wish the physician would just give her the herbs at the end of it all. She was certain the knights could spare a majority of them since most of their issues dealt with battle wounds rather than actual illness. Besides, they could always request for additional medicine from the king. Unfortunately, she doubted neither Jane nor Mia would see any reason in that.

"I hope you're right." Mia said after a small pause. "I don't mind helping but we can't afford to simply give away our supplies."

"It'll likely take them a while to even figure the cure out completely." Tomas pointed out with a reassuring smile. "And Jane is a smart woman who I'm sure wouldn't put us at any disadvantage when it comes to her medicine."

Mia looked over at him and nodded her head in agreement before turning and beginning to walk on. Penelope followed a couple steps behind the other two as Mia continued to lead them around the camp, quietly looking around at the activity that was going on inside it. They eventually slowed as they heard a thump and crash ahead of them. The three exchanged worried looks and picked up their pace to see what had happened. Rounding the corner, their gazes fell upon Bran, who was now on the ground with a rack of weapons now on the ground besides him. A couple of other knights stood by, exchanging looks of uncertainty.

"Bran?" Tomas blinked and moved over to lift the rack back up while Mia and Penelope moved to help up the captain.

"What happened?" Penelope asked.

"The s'upid hing got n 'm way!" Slurred the drunk noble.

Mia wrinkled her nose up. "Gods how much have you drank?"

"Jus' one."

"One whole barrel maybe." Mia snorted disapprovingly as she slung one of his arms around her shoulder. She eyed Bran for a moment and then let out a small sigh. "I was hoping you would manage yourself a little better than this Bran.."

Bran looked over at Mia for a moment, seeming to process her words. He curled his lip up in an angry snarl then suddenly hung his head tiredly. "'crew you." He breathed wearily. "I 'as tryin' to write to my wife so she d'know 'r boy's dead.. Though a ouple drinks would ake the edge off."

Mia shifted her gaze away from him and motioned to Tomas to take her spot. The older lieutenant nodded his head and quickly moved over to replace her at Bran's side. "You better go rest now. Tomas, help him back to his tent please." Mia said before motioning for Penelope to come with her. Penelope hesitated, feeling bad for leaving the grieving man alone even if Tomas would be helping him. For a moment, she considered getting Gavin, knowing that he was a family friend who'd likely be able to help Bran better than her or the others. However, as Tomas waved her off, she obeyed and gave a small nod before stepping away to follow Mia.

"I was afraid he'd end up like that." Mia sighed once they were out of earshot of the two.

"He lost his son. It's going to take more than just a week or two to get over." Penelope told her with a small frown at her baroness.

"It's war. We all lose people out here.. But we have to keep focused otherwise we'll lose this war and those deaths will mean nothing." Mia shook her head.

"There's nothing wrong with grieving.. Could you honestly say that you'd be fine if you lost your sister? Or even Tomas?" Penelope challenged, a bit surprised by Mia's cold nature.

"I wouldn't be fine but I wouldn't let it interrupt my duties." Mia said sternly as she looked over at Penelope. Seeming to realize they wouldn't see eye to eye, the baroness gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Anyways, it might be time to have someone take over his duties for a while. At least until he can manage himself again.. I'd like you to come up with at least three candidates and hopefully we'll find someone out of those three that the barons will agree on."

"Yes ma'am."

---

The two eventually parted ways and before long night had fallen. Penelope headed to her tent, feeling a bit nervous about the coming day. The meeting with Hazel was tomorrow, which meant it would be time to find out if the herbs Jane had given her were working for Crow. The knight held onto hope that the herbalist would meet them with good news. If the herbs had done nothing to help him, Penelope wasn't sure what would come next between their meetings. She let out a troubled sigh at the thought and closed her eyes tightly, eventually drifting off into a light sleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

As soon as Crow woke up the next day, Hazel was at his side to find out how he was feeling. She prodded him for specifics, wanting to know exactly how he felt better or worse than the day before. However, as much as she tried to narrow down a reason for his sudden coughing fit yesterday, he couldn’t give her any clues that would explain why the medicine wasn’t helping. As far as he knew, he felt just as good today as he did before. He had woken up around midafternoon again and had very little fatigue. The only thing that was different was that he had a bit of soreness in his chest from what he guessed was another bruised rib. Aside from that, it was almost as if the coughing fit had never even happened.

Eventually, Hazel gave up and left him alone, and he headed outside to look for the others. As he walked along the riverbank, he found them lounging around the fallen tree where he had spent his evening two days ago. Simon was reading a book, while Rikki watched Alistair try to cast a fishing line he had picked up at a market. The thief didn’t have a rod. Instead, he simply wrapped one end of the string around the palm of his hand while he threw the other end into the water. It was an amusing sight.

Crow stepped over to sit beside Rikki, who greeted him with a smile. “How are you doing?” she asked, glancing him over as if trying to figure out the state of his health just by looking at him.

“Better,” he said simply, watching as Alistair attempted to cast his makeshift fishing line again. “Has he caught anything?”

“Nope,” Rikki snorted. “But he’s convinced that he’s going to catch us a fish dinner, and he said he won’t stop until he does.”

“Doesn’t he know fish are easiest to catch in the early morning?” Crow turned to her in amusement as he recalled when the fishermen in Farhill would go out on their boats. “He’s not going to catch anything in the middle of the day.”

“That’s not going to stop him from trying,” Rikki laughed. Leaning a bit closer to him, she lowered her voice, “I’d bet anything he’s going to get frustrated soon and go after them with his bare hands.”

“I’d enjoy seeing that,” Crow grinned, looking back at Alistair as the thief cursed and drew in his empty line again.

“That’s the only reason Simon and I are still hanging around,” Rikki snickered. “Although I’m not sure how much longer Simon will stay now that Hazel is done with you.” She glanced over her shoulder at the blonde thief. “He’s been waiting for her, so they can go off somewhere to be alone.”

“Really?” Crow raised a brow, glancing over his shoulder as well. “I honestly didn’t expect him to move that fast.”

“He really loves her,” Rikki sighed, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

“It seems that way,” Crow nodded, turning back to her. “Although I never did take him as the type to sleep with a woman unless he really cares about her. In all the time we’ve been traveling together, I’ve never seen him sneak off to be with anyone.”

“Come to think of it, neither have I,” Rikki mused in agreement. She gave a small shudder. “Gods, either the man has the willpower of an ox, or he’s never slept with anyone before.”

Crow met her gaze and exchanged a look of surprise as they both made the connection at once. “Do you think—?”

“I’ve been living with him for a lot longer than you have, and even I’ve never seen him with anyone before,” Rikki shook her head. “I think she’s his first.”

Crow whistled softly, glancing furtively back at Simon, “Well, good for him, I suppose. I’m glad he found someone he thinks was worth the wait.”

“Me too,” Rikki agreed softly. As she spoke, her brown eyes wandered over Crow, and she bit her lip, looking away again with a faint blush on her cheeks. “We should take a walk,” she said suddenly. “Just to get away for a while.”

Crow looked back at her and frowned. “Darling, you know I can’t do that anymore,” he said quietly. “I’m faithful to Penelope now.”

“I know,” she met his gaze with a sly smile. “But no one else here knows that, and you said you don’t want them to figure it out, right? They’re going to find it suspicious if we suddenly stop sleeping together.” She leaned in a bit closer to him, keeping her voice low. “All we have to do is leave here together and they won’t know the difference. You get to keep your secret, and you’ll have me as a cover up if anyone starts to question you. It’s a win win.”

Crow shifted his weight, “I can’t ask you to do that for me.”

“Come on,” Rikki nudged him. “I’m offering. Besides, it will give me a chance to spend more time with you, which is the most I can get out of you these days.” Her smile faded slightly. “Now that I know our time is limited, I want to make the most of it while I still can.”

Crow held her gaze for a moment before giving a reluctant nod. “Alright,” he said. “If you’re certain you can handle it, then we can go for a walk together.” In the next moment, he chuckled softly, shaking his head. “You know, this is the first time we’ve ever said we were going on a walk and actually meant it.”

“Funny how times change,” Rikki murmured, averting her gaze to hide her wistful expression from him. However, it wasn’t long before she turned back to him with a grin, “Anyway, we should get going before Hazel comes and steals Simon away, or the whole point of this plan will be moot.”

Suddenly, they both jumped as Alistair cursed loudly and threw his fishing line aside. “That’s it,” he snarled. “I’m coming after you scaly bastards myself!” Haphazardly rolling up his pant legs, he stormed into the shallow water and plunged his hands in as he began trying to catch the fish by himself.

Crow and Rikki bursted out laughing at the sight. “Alright, I think that’s our cue to go,” Crow snickered, rising to his feet and offering Rikki a hand to stand up as well. He wanted their act to look believable, after all.

Their timing was perfect. As soon as Rikki was on her feet, Hazel walked up from the camp to collect Simon for their own retreat. Rikki glanced at them and laced her arm through Crow’s. “We’re going on a walk,” she said, smirking up at him coyly before returning her gaze to the others. “We’ll be back before dinner.”

“It’s about time you two made up,” Simon snorted, predictably assuming that ‘walk’ was an innuendo.

Hazel glanced between her suitor and the female thief before narrowing her eyes at Crow suspiciously. He gave a subtle shake of his head, silently praying she would understand his gesture and figure out it was all just a rouse. Considering the fact that she was supposed to be meeting with Penelope and the physician that night, he didn’t want her to go spreading any rumors that he had started hooking up with Rikki again.

Fortunately, Hazel seemed to pick up on it quickly enough. “Well, the same goes for us,” she said, wrapping her arms around Simon’s waist and looking up at him affectionately.

“Wait just a moment,” Alistair looked up at them all and frowned. “You’re all ditching me?”

“Looks like it,” Crow shrugged and then winked at him teasingly. “Good luck catching your fish.”

“I get it,” Alistair shot him a glare. “You all don’t think I can catch anything. Well, I’ll prove you wrong. Just wait—by dinnertime tonight, I’ll have caught enough fish to feed the whole lot of you!” As if to prove his point, he turned back to the river water and lunged at another trout that swam between his legs.

“You do that,” Rikki said blandly. Giving Crow’s arm a tug, she took the lead as they began walking into the woods. “Come on, let’s get out of here before he makes us join him in there.”

“No arguments here,” the thief nodded, hastily following after her as they headed away from the riverbank. Despite his words, he was quick to put distance between them and the others so he could distance himself from Rikki again as well. Even though he knew it was just an act, he felt uncomfortable about having her so close when he knew she still had feelings for him. If there was even the slightest chance that she would try to act on those feelings, he wanted to have a safe interval of space between them, so he could end it before anyone crossed any lines. He just hoped she was right that this trick would help him keep Simon and Alistair from ever realizing the truth about him and Penelope before the end of the war.

--

Around sunset after dinner, Hazel made her way through the forest to Myrefall. After being with Simon for the first time and having a pleasantly filling dinner—as expected, Alistair had only managed to catch one small fish, which he ate while the rest of the group enjoyed a hearty stew—she was in a much better mood coming into this meeting tonight. She was hardly even bothered by the fact that the two women she was going to meet with were of noble blood. As long as she and the physician managed to figure out what was wrong with the medicine she had been using on Crow, she had a feeling this wasn’t going to be such a terrible night.

When she reached the tavern, she found an empty table near the far-right corner of the room and sat down facing the door. Drumming her fingers impatiently on the wooden surface, she waited for the noblewomen to arrive so the meeting could begin.

[BuzzingBee]

The following day Penelope spent most of her time trying to figure out who would be able to take over as captain of cavalry for Bran. She walked around camp for a while trying to come up with who she would present to Mia. It wasn't easy though as she had barely any knowledge about how the cavalry operated anyways. At one point, she ceased her wandering and instead sat down near training area to watch a few knights clash swords as she thought.

"Uh oh, looks like you're having trouble with something."

She turned her head as Gavin stepped up besides her. The male knight offered a friendly smile and then moved to sit down, joining her as they watched others spar. Penelope shrugged her shoulders and let out a long sigh. "A little.. Mia wants someone to replace Bran and I've got to figure out some suggestions but I have no idea who."

"I'm glad she's giving him a break.. He needs it." Gavin frowned, his gaze becoming distant for a brief moment which was enough to tell her that he was thinking of Alan. She moved to rest a hand on his shoulder comfortingly and the knight snapped out of it. "But uh, anyways, I might be able to help you." He turned to her with another smile. "I've spent quite a bit of time around Bran and his unit so I might have some ideas if you want to hear them."

"Please." She nodded appreciatively.

"Well, there's Ben. He's an older knight who's work with Bran for a long time. He can be a bit lazy but he's likely got the experience you're looking for to fill in the position. Then there's Alice. She's young and ambitious but she's a quick learner and could probably figure out a way to handle the job.. I mean, most of Bran's work is just organization and making sure the horses, wagons and other such things are in good shape for the next battle." Gavin explained to her with a shrug. "Aside from him leading the force during a fight that is."

Penelope nodded as she listened to Gavin speak about the two different knights. However, she needed three options to give Mia. The female knight paused and eyed him for a moment before smirking. "They'll work... But I need a third option too... How do you feel about being it?" She asked hopefully.

"Me?" Gavin raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't know.."

"Why not? Sounds to me you spent enough time around Bran to know how to take over for him. Plus I'm sure even he'll agree your a good fit since it's temporary." Penelope assured him with a small smile. "I'll recommend you as well as Alice and Ben tomorrow."

"Alright. If you say so." Gavin nodded. The two went on to chat idly, though Penelope was quick to notice how upbeat Gavin was after she said she would put him as a candidate for the temporary job. She suddenly felt herself rooting for her friend, hopeful that the barons would find him to be the best candidate. It would potentially open up a path for him to attain higher ranks by the end of the war, which was something she hoped for him, knowing that he'd use that power to help the outer villages if he could.

---

As sunset came around, Penelope parted with Gavin and headed off to meet with Jane. She walked briskly, feeling a bit impatient to heard how the medicine had been working. She hoped that Hazel had been successful in treating Crow with the new herbs but couldn't help but feel a little nervous at the slivers of doubt that occasionally crossed her mind. Penelope focused her gaze ahead, trying not to get ahead of herself before they even heard from Hazel. The physician was already prepared to leave this time, having packed early. She turned her head as she heard the knight step into her tent. "Ah there you are. For a moment, I was worried you were sending me off alone tonight." Jane sighed

"Never. This was my idea after all." Penelope gave a small smile. "Ready to go?"

Jane nodded as she shifted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. Penelope turned and lead the way out of camp. The two walked quietly through the forest. Jane seemed to be deep in thought and the knight didn't bother to break it as she was focusing on getting to Myrefall. As they stepped out into the village, the knight felt a familiar pang of longing to see Crow again. She let out a small sigh as she tried to ignore it and focus on the tavern ahead. With any luck, it won't be much longer... And by then, he might even be cured. She thought hopefully. Keeping positive, she opened the door of the tavern and stepped inside with Jane. She glanced around until her gaze landed on Hazel and made her way over to the table.

The two sat down across from the herbalist. "So, how did the herbs work? Any results so far?" Jane spoke first as she dug into her bag to pull out her book. Penelope remained silent but she looked hopefully at Hazel as she awaited an answer.

[Rogue Sloth]

Hazel didn’t have to wait long before she saw the two nobles enter the tavern. When they looked around to see if she was there, she nodded to indicate her presence. Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms loosely while the noblewomen took their seats across from her. Even though she was in a better mood this time, she still hoped the meeting wouldn’t last too long. She wanted to hurry up and get back to Simon before the thief fell asleep for the night.

Fortunately, Jane seemed to be on the same page as she was. Without wasting any time with formalities, the physician got straight to the point by asking her about how the new herbs had been working. Hazel met her gaze, appreciative of her straightforwardness. It was a quality she admired in anyone—even a soft-palmed noble, she supposed.

“Oh, there have definitely been results,” the herbalist reported proudly. “Over the course of the five days my patient has taken the new medicine, his energy has returned almost to normal levels. He’s no longer confined to a bed and can move on his own without trouble. I’m not sure if he can handle being strained by exercise, but I don’t want to test that this early on, just in case it has an adverse effect.

“In addition to being mobile again, my patient is also beginning to sleep a bit less. Before, he would only wake for a couple hours of the day in the evening, but now he consistently rises in the midafternoon and doesn’t go to sleep again until nightfall.”

“Those are great improvements considering your patient has only been taking this medicine for less than a week,” Jane said with interest. “Do you think we even need to refine the medicine if he’s recovering so well now?”

“Well,” Hazel shifted her weight. “The results haven’t only been positive.” Her eyes flicked towards Penelope for a moment. She wished the knight wasn’t around, so she wouldn’t have to worry about concerning her with the news that wasn’t as good. She just hoped Penelope was level-headed enough not to panic when she shared the next part.

“What do you mean?” Jane frowned contemplatively. “From what you’ve said, it sounds like your patient is healing quickly.”

“It does seem that way on the outside,” Hazel turned to her. “But I think this medicine is only covering his symptoms. Whatever is happening inside of him, whatever is killing him, has not been healed.” She pursed her lips, her blue eyes flickering subtly towards Penelope one more time before she went on. “I believe this because yesterday, he had another coughing fit that drew more blood than I’ve seen from him before. Based on that, I think it’s safe to assume that the more dangerous part of this illness is still active and has been steadily progressing despite the work of the medicine.”

“I see,” Jane narrowed her eyes slightly in thought. “There are a few different things that can cause a symptom like that, but in my experience, the most common one is blood clotting in the lungs. Since the herbs you’ve already been using have not helped, I’d say it is more than likely that this is the problem.”

“Is it treatable?”

“Yes,” Jane nodded. “As long as you catch it before the clotting becomes of fatal proportions, you can still cure it. And since your patient hasn’t even started coughing up blood daily, it sounds like you still have time.”

“What do I need to treat it?” Hazel asked, retrieving her journal to make notes.

“The turmeric you’ve already been using will help,” Jane began. “Try adding more of that, but also include ginger and feverfew. Those three herbs together should be enough to at least stop the clotting from getting worse, if not reverse it completely.”

“I know both of those,” Hazel said as she jotted down notes on a blank page. “I have a supply near here, actually.”

“Perfect,” Jane nodded.

Hazel finished her notes and put her journal away again. “I’ll try that this time, and we can meet in another five days to go over the results,” she said, looking between the two nobles. Her gaze lingering on Penelope a bit longer as she added, “Hopefully this will be the recipe that heals my patient of this illness for good.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled a little as she listened to Hazel. The knight felt her heartbeat excitedly at the first half of the report, it sounded like the new medicine was truly working. It filled her with relief to know that Crow was making progress and it sounded like they might have just cured him. That is, until Hazel mentioned that the results weren't all positive. The knight looked over at her, meeting her gaze gaze for a brief moment before Hazel looked back to Jane.

As she went on to explain that Crow wasn't completely cured, the knight shifted uncomfortably. Her previous feeling of relief drained slightly as she learned that, though he was doing better, the disease could still kill him. However, with Jane around, Penelope remained silent and fairly stoic aside from a faint look of worry as the two continued to talk. Though Crow might not have been completely cured, it didn't sound like all hope was lost quite yet as the they spoke of how to handle him coughing up blood.

Penelope still felt concerned hearing that the disease was still killing him but hearing Jane and Hazel speak about treating it further made her relax a little. It was too much to expect them to find a complete treatment with only one meeting after all and by the sound of it, Crow still had time. However, she hoped that this refinement on the medicine would be the last one they needed. The knight looked over at Hazel and nodded her head in agreement with her parting words. "I hope so." The knight said softly.

"Hopefully." Jane agreed with a firm nod before she slowly stood up. Letting out a small yawn she looked over at Penelope. "Come on we should get back to camp."

Penelope paused before nodding her head in agreement. She wished she was able to speak with Hazel more privately, wanting to ask more about how Crow was doing aside from just the illness. However, it was rather impossible with Jane around, which was probably a good thing since the knight had a feeling Hazel would get much too easily annoyed by the pestering. So instead Penelope got up to her feet to leave with the physician. "See you in five days." She said with a small wave goodbye.

Jane lead the way out of the tavern and Penelope followed closely behind. The two stepped out onto the street and began to make their way back to camp. A silence fell over them, both clearly deep in thought as they walked. Penelope eventually spoke up, letting out a long sigh, "So you think those herbs will do the trick for her patient?"

"I think so." Jane shrugged and looked over at Penelope. "Unless it's something other than clotting in the lungs, I think it it'll work but medicine and illnesses are complicated so no one can say for sure until after we try it."

Penelope nodded her head understandingly and focused her gaze back ahead as they walked to camp. As they reached the camp, the two parted ways as they headed to their separate tents. Penelope moved to lay down for the night as she stepped into her tent, eager to get some sleep. The knight still remained hopeful about finding the cure for the illness despite the fact that the last medicine hadn't been a complete success. As she laid down for the night, she found it difficult to sleep as her mind continued to wander back to Crow and his health. She found the illness a bit frustrating the more she thought about. The knight wished she could do more to help him, more to protect him, but it wasn't an enemy that she could fight for him. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes tightly. Eventually the knight managed to drift off into a light sleep.