Crow slipped his arm around Penelope’s waist as Gavin led them to the tent. The gesture was done partly to help the knight walk in case she was still feeling light headed and partly to keep up the romantic act they were putting on. However, his eyes flicked between the other guards that stood around the camp. Very few of them were actually vigilant. Most of the men were eating or talking with one another in a casual manner, which just proved their lack of discipline. If everything went according to plan, that same lack of discipline would be the factor that allowed him and the knights to escape.

When they reached the tent, Gavin stepped aside to allow Crow and Penelope to enter by themselves. He obviously planned to wait outside until the thief brought the knight back to be chained with her comrades again. Stifling a smirk, Crow walked up to the opening flap and held it aside for Penelope to go in first. Once she had, he stepped over to Gavin and placed a hand on the guard’s shoulder, “I really owe you for this one. And don’t worry, we’ll be out soon.”

Crow turned away from the guard and entered the tent. As soon as the flap closed behind him, he grinned victoriously at Penelope and held up a set of keys stolen off of Gavin’s belt while the young man was distracted by the thief’s sordid words. He moved closer to the knight and spoke in a quiet voice, “Okay, so I’m still working out the rest of the plan, but I have a general idea. I still have my dagger, so we can use it to cut an opening in the back of the tent and sneak out that way. I also have the key to William and Abraxas’s chains, and I know the way back to the village. All we have to do now is think of a way to free the others without getting ourselves killed first.” He smiled, proud of his own cleverness. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, too, but these guards aren’t very competent, so it shouldn’t be very difficult to get past them. Do you have any idea as to how we should do that?”