Crow settled down comfortably in the wagon with Penelope and Hartley. He could already tell that this leg of their journey would be far more pleasant than the last. Without William breathing down his neck or Abraxas fumbling for control, he could finally let down the guard he had been keeping up for the last two days. He leaned into the pile of blankets, feeling at ease.

Naturally, Hartley sat himself down next to Penelope. They spoke for a while as the knight asked what had happened when Abraxas was on guard. Hartley simply answered that he and Crow had been ‘messing around,’ to which the older thief shrugged in agreement. He let out an exaggerated sigh when Penelope spoke about how neither of them would be stuck with William or Abraxas again for a while, “Thank the gods for that. I don’t know how much longer I could go without giving William a reason to kill me.”

“On the subject of people killing you,” Hartley spoke up brightly. “Why can’t William? I remember you mentioning you have a king’s protection.” His dark brown eyes lit up excitedly. “What’s that all about?”

“Let’s just say I need to steal something for the King of Brerra,” Crow said nonchalantly. “And if I die before I get it, that king is going to be pretty angry.”

“What do you need to steal?” Hartley pressed.

Crow hesitated. The kid seemed innocent enough, but he was still a Younisian. He might have been loyal to the Younisian king, and Crow didn’t want to risk making him turn against them. “Don’t worry about it,” he waved a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing special. The King of Brerra is a collector of weird things, and he just wanted me to get him something from Younis.”

“Fine, don’t tell me,” Hartley pouted. He turned to Penelope, smiling coyly, “Whatever it is, I bet its beauty doesn’t come close to yours.”

Crow snorted as he watched the boy flirt. Hartley was insatiable. Although, he was thankful Hartley was as young and tactless as he was, or he may have actually been competition to worry about. The thief shook his head, [i]Who am I kidding? It wouldn’t matter either way. Penelope isn’t interested in criminals like us. She’s a noblewoman; and noblewomen end up with noblemen. Thieves like us aren’t good enough for someone of her status.[/i]