Crow ate ravenously as he was quite hungry after his river adventure with Penelope the night before. He finished his food long before the knights, so he sat back and idly listened to them converse. He had already gotten to know William and Penelope fairly well—not necessarily out of his own intent—but Abraxas was still something of an enigma to him. The young knight was not a man of many words, and when he did speak he always addressed his equals. The boy had yet to say a single word to the thief. Normally Crow would have taken every opportunity to prod at him about this, but he wasn’t sure if he was doing it out of malicious intent or if he was just shy around strangers. Somehow, the latter actually seemed more likely.

“Hey,” Crow spoke up to get Abraxas’s attention. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Um, sorry?” Abraxas looked puzzled.

“You know,” Crow shrugged one shoulder. “What are you trying to get out of this trip? I know William and Penelope volunteered so they could torment me, but you don’t seem to be interested in that.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “What exactly are you doing on this mission to Younis?”

“I don’t know,” Abraxas answered unhelpfully, shaking his head. “I guess I thought it would be a good experience for me to leave Brerra. I want to learn as much as I can about the other kingdoms because I’ll be training to succeed the king’s ambassador when I’m finished serving in his army.”

“Is that so?” Crow muttered, suddenly losing his interest in the conversation at Abraxas’s mention of his plans to take over the position his own father currently held.

If Abraxas noticed his abrupt attitude change, he didn’t care. “Yes. That’s why I need to gain as much experience as I can,” he went on excitedly and then paused. “I meant to ask you this before, but I haven’t had the chance. Why did you become a thief? It seems like the risks outweigh the rewards, even if you’re good at what you do. So why not put your skills to better use and work as a spy for the king? He would give you protection and pay you handsomely if you did well.”

“I don’t care about that,” Crow eyed him searchingly. While he wasn’t overly friendly, Abraxas didn’t seem to be questioning him out of any ulterior motive. Still, he wasn’t about to share anything about himself with a knight, even if he was just an innocently curious man. “I do it because I enjoy taking things from other people,” Crow lied, nonchalantly leaning back in his chair. “You really didn’t expect to hear a profound answer from a criminal like me, did you?”

“I suppose not,” Abraxas knit his brow, looking slightly disappointed. However, he didn’t push the matter, and that was all Crow cared about.

As they began preparing to head out, Crow listened in on William and Penelope’s conversation and frowned at what he heard. Her family had already gone back to work without saying so much as a simple goodbye to her. He wasn’t well-versed in the habits of knights, but it sounded quite rude for John and Layth to just take off like that. Penelope didn’t seem happy about it, either. Crow could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes when William told her the news, even though she said nothing about it.

When they began walking out to the wagon—a pair of local knights had wheeled it around to the front of the inn—Crow trotted up beside Penelope. “You know, I’ve heard that Younis is a beautiful kingdom,” he said with a grin. “Younisian travelers are always bragging about the olive forests. They say the trees stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction. Maybe we’ll be fortunate enough to see them for ourselves.”