Crow dug his heels into the ground, fighting back against the knight as he was shoved towards the cart, “I changed my mind. I don’t want to go back to prison, after all.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Penelope running towards them from the road. [i]Way to keep me waiting until the last second,[/i] he thought with a smirk, turning back to the knights. “Look!” he shouted, getting their attention. “A pretty woman!”

“Nice try,” the knight holding him scoffed. “You really think we’d fall for—[i]argh[/i]!” He let out a howl as Penelope’s fist collided with his head. He staggered, releasing the thief as he tried to recover. Before he had a chance to do so, Penelope struck again, knocking him off his feet with a precise sweep of her leg. The knight crashed to the ground, staring dazedly up at the sky.

Crow trotted up and leaned over him, smirking snidely, “I warned you.” He crouched down and retrieved the three coin purses from the knight’s bag. “Thanks for keeping those safe for me. I’ll be taking them back now.” He winked at the half conscious man and stepped back, pocketing the stolen money. In the next instant, he felt someone take him by the hand and drag him away from the knights. Stumbling to catch his balance, he looked up to see Penelope sprinting ahead of him. 

[color=fff79a][b]“Time to go!”[/b][/color] she called hurriedly.

“You sure do know how to keep a man on his toes, love,” Crow teased as he ran after her. “I was beginning to think you were going to let me get arrested back there.” He peered back to see one of the knights pursuing them. The man’s sword was drawn and he was slowly gaining ground. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and searched the surroundings ahead of them, looking for a place to lose the knight. Unfortunately, the landscape was flat and the trees weren’t thick enough to hide them. They couldn’t go back to the marketplace either, since the peasants were practically untrained knights as well. He muttered a curse, hastening his pace and tightening his grip on Penelope’s hand as he pulled ahead of her.

“Hey!” a new voice called out, drawing Crow’s attention. “Over here—quick!” He turned to see the hooded figure from before beckoning them towards a building near the market. With no time to think about it, Crow tugged on Penelope’s hand and changed direction, sprinting towards the stranger.

As they rounded the corner, the man in the hood waved his hand again, “This way.” He ducked into a low, arched opening in the wall, disappearing from sight. Crow cast Penelope a wary look and then followed after him. With the knight hot on their trail, they didn’t have time to question the stranger’s intentions. He just hoped they weren’t walking into another trap.

In the darkness, Crow felt the hooded man press a hand to his chest, forcing his back against the wall. “What are you—” he began to protest, but stopped when the man shushed him. Outside, he could hear the knight’s boots pounding against the road as he ran up to the tunnel… and then past it. They were in the clear for now.

With the immediate threat gone, Crow had time to think again. He eyed the hooded man cautiously and stepped closer to the exit, his instincts kicking in. Sure, the stranger had helped them get away from the knight, but why? He wasn’t about to trust a man he didn’t know. From his experience, most people didn’t just help each other out of the goodness of their hearts.

“Who are you?” Crow asked sharply. “Why did you help us?”

“Cool it,” the man held up his hands. He reached up and removed the hood of his cloak. “My name’s Hartley. I’m a thief… like you.”

Crow stared at Hartley’s face in surprise. He was surprisingly young, no more than in his late teens. He had dark skin and curly black hair, with a friendly smile that almost convinced Crow to relax… until another detail about him set the thief on edge again. He narrowed his eyes, “Wait a minute… I recognize that voice. You’re the one who sold me out at the market!” He took a step towards Hartley. “If you’re a thief too, why would you do that?”

“Um, yeah,” Hartley averted his gaze bashfully. “Sorry about that. I’ve been trying to get those knights off my ass for a while… I guess I just figured putting the wrong face to my name would be the easiest way to do that, and then you showed up.” He shrugged. “Didn’t really think about it, you know?”

“Uh huh,” Crow glared at him suspiciously. “So, now what? You’re going to turn me in, yourself, for the reward on [i]your[/i] head?”

“No, no,” Hartley shook his head vigorously, causing his dark curls to bounce against his forehead. “Nothing like that—I swear. I just saw you guys escape from the knights, and I thought it was pretty impressive.” He turned to Penelope and smiled. “I’ve never seen a woman fight like you. Hell, I’ve never seen [i]anyone[/i] fight like you.” He reached for her hand, lifting it to his lips as he planted a gentlemanly kiss, “Hartley Bennett. Charmed.”

Crow felt a pang of annoyance at the boy’s too-friendly gesture with Penelope. He put himself between them, so Hartley had to take a step back. “Alright, kid,” he said dryly. “Why don’t you show us how to get out of here?”

“Oh, sorry,” Hartley scratched the back of his neck. “Didn’t realize you guys were together.”

“[i]What[/i]?” Crow flushed, suddenly thankful for the darkness that concealed his face. He cleared his throat awkwardly, “We’re not… I mean, we’re just friends.”

“So the lady is single?” Hartley looked at Penelope with a coy grin. “It must be my lucky day.” He sidled up next to her and waved his hand towards the deeper part of the tunnel. “If we follow the sewer this way, it’ll take us back to that wagon I saw you both climb out of earlier.”

“This is a sewer?” Crow wrinkled his nose and looked down at the water he was standing in.

“Don’t worry,” Hartley laughed. “They never finished building it. That’s just rainwater. Why do you think you can’t smell anything?” He tapped his nose knowingly. “Come on, follow me.” He started walking into the tunnel, resting one hand flirtatiously on Penelope’s waist as he struck up a conversation with her.

Crow lagged behind, watching the exchange with distaste. [i]For a kid, this guy is pretty audacious…[/i]