Crow cursed under his breath when he heard Penelope call out orders for a search. He had barely slipped under the wagon before his absence had been noticed, and he hadn’t made any headway in plotting his escape. Crouching in the shadows as a set of boots walked past him, his eyes flicked from one side of the carriage to the other. Time was running out, but it wasn’t over yet. If he thought fast, he could still make it out before one of the knights grew clever enough to take a look underneath the wagon. He’d come this far already. No sense in letting the opportunity for freedom slip through his fingers.

Carefully watching the feet of Abraxas and Penelope—William had gone off somewhere else—Crow angled himself to make a run for it on the northwest side of the wagon. He held still until the two knights were further away and weren’t looking in his direction and then darted out from beneath the cart, sprinting into the woods. Though he moved quickly, his footsteps were quiet with practiced precision from the years he’d spent dodging enemies before his arrest. The muscle memory paid off this time as he managed to duck behind a cluster of thick bushes without being seen.

Risking a quick glance back at the road, he could see the two knights still searching for him on the south side of the cart. He smirked to himself. Although he hadn’t been able to fully plan it out, his escape was going perfectly so far. Now all he had to do was figure out the rest of the way back to the outer villages without getting caught. Easy.

The thief was making his way into the deeper parts of the woods, weaving between the trees to leave a confusing trail in case one of the knights had managed to follow him, when it suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea where he was. He was unfamiliar with this part of the kingdom, and even though he knew the forests of his homeland like the back of his hand, he had trouble navigating heavily wooded areas when he hadn’t walked through them before. Having used a different route to get to and from the citadel in the past, he didn’t know where he was going now.

“We were travelling north towards the border, and now I’m headed northwest…” Crow muttered, trying to form a mental map of the area. He stopped and looked around again. Even if he knew where he was in perspective with the castle, he still didn’t know if there were any towns in the area where he could take refuge. It also didn’t help that he couldn’t read real maps very easily. Trying to conjure one up in his head was nearly impossible, and there weren’t even any landmarks that he could use to direct himself. All the trees looked the same to him.

He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a frustrated huff. It was starting to look like he should have waited until they were closer to the outer villages before he made his escape. At least then he would have known how to get back to the parts of the kingdom he was familiar with. Instead, he was roughing it through unknown terrain, trying to figure out the best place to find shelter after losing touch with the world for an entire year in prison. It wasn’t the smartest snap decision he had ever made.

“What are you doing out here?”

Crow jumped at the abrupt sound of a voice and spun around to find an angry William pointing a sword at his chest. Impulsively, he shot his hands into the air and took a step back from the blade to keep from getting cut. His gaze dropped to the ground. In his concern about finding a path of escape, he hadn’t even realized that he was standing on the side of an old, overgrown road. The knight must have spotted him when he was on his way back to join the others.

Looking back up, he met William’s narrowed eyes with a lopsided smile, “I don’t suppose you would believe me if I told you I was sightseeing?”

“If the king hadn’t ordered me against it, I would run you through right now,” William growled, pressing the point of his sword against Crow’s chest once more. The metal felt icy through the tattered fabric. “Get back to the wagon.” He shoved the thief along the road and grabbed the reins of his waiting horse, tugging the animal along as they walked while his captive glowered at the foliage, frustrated with his own sloppy escape attempt.

William didn’t take his eyes off of Crow until he was inside the back of the wagon again. Once he was sitting down again, the knight shot him one more threatening glare, “The next time you pull a stunt like that, I won’t be so merciful.” With that, he spun around to face Penelope, extending his wrath to her. “Watch the thief more carefully next time. We can’t let him slip away like that again,” he barked. Hitching his horse to the front of the wagon again, he climbed back on while Abraxas did the same with his. “Let’s keep going. We’re behind schedule, and we need to reach the next village before sundown.”