Crow leaned into the pile of blankets, stifling the triumphant smile that threatened to take over his lips. This was far too easy. Both William and Penelope, the most observant of his guards, had failed to notice his simple practice exercises! As one who preferred not to get his hands dirty, he had absolutely no need for a dagger. He had just wanted to test what he could get away with in the confinement of the wagon by rifling through the knights’ supply of weapons. The little experiment proved to be quite informative, telling him that his keepers obviously weren’t used to guarding a thief of his caliber. If they had been, they would have searched him numerous times by now. His old prison guards certainly would have done just that. If he’d tried the same trick with them, they would have confiscated the weapons from him immediately and inspected every fold of his clothes for odd bulges. This was good news for him, since he was relying on their incompetence in order to make his escape in the coming days. Considering how things had been going so far, it was starting to look like he would have no trouble slipping away when they reached his homeland. He just wished the wagon would move faster, so he wouldn’t have to wait so long to run. Not only was the ride boring, but his excitement about returning to the outer villages increased with every turn of the wheels. He didn’t want to delay it any more than he had to. As the group traveled further down the road, the large houses beyond the cart walls were slowly replaced with leafy, deciduous trees. They were entering a forest, though it wasn’t one the thief recognized. He yawned and closed his eyes. The scene outside was repetitive and therefore boring, and he had nothing left to say to the knights. Knowing the border was still a long way away, he decided he might as well take a nap to make the time go by faster. It was better than enduring the tense silence that had fallen between him and Penelope. To his delight, something even more entertaining than dreaming roused him from his brief slumber. Crow jumped when he heard the thump of an arrow striking one of the posts of the wagon, narrowly missing Penelope’s head. In the next moment, William shouted from outside about an ambush. He grinned and hit the floor as a second arrow zipped through the caravan and flew out the opposite window. It seemed the trip wouldn’t be as uneventful as he’d thought. Lifting his head just enough to peek outside, he saw an unusually large group of bandits springing toward them from the woods. They were all rugged looking and carried miscellaneous weapons he guessed they had looted off the bodies of their past victims. As threatening as they were, the thief wasn’t frightened. He snickered to himself and ducked down again as another arrow shot past his head. The attack was obviously coordinated, but he was traveling with three trained knights. If he’d had money to bet, he would have put everything on the armored warriors who had spent their lives preparing to handle assaults like this. His green eyes flicked toward Penelope. They were still far from the outer villages, but perhaps he could use this raid to his advantage. “What are you waiting for?” he waved a dismissive hand at her. “Go on, get rid of them. [i]I[/i] can’t do it. I’m just a common criminal.”