“Despite common belief, I do have a serious side,” Crow rolled his eyes when Penelope said she was surprised he didn’t relax first. “I just prefer not to use it much.” He lapsed into silence as she started telling him about her life before their mission. Some of the details he had already heard, but much of her story was new. He found it interesting that she had been a palace guard for the Brerratic king and wondered if she might have some knowledge that could help them in the raid of the Younisian castle. He made a mental note to ask her more about that as they got closer.

“I think I heard about that thief too,” Crow nodded sagely. “But I’d say he was more daring than crazy. I also heard he was quite the looker.” He winked at her wryly.

As Penelope finished recounting how she and the other two knights had been chosen to guard him in Younis, he crossed his arms, “I suppose I owe William a debt of gratitude. If he hadn’t recommended you to the king, we never would have met.”

He paused to think when Penelope asked him about his life before prison, “I’ve told you a bit about when I was young, but I don’t think I’ve told you anything about my more recent past, have I?” he glanced at her in amusement. “I’m originally from a village called Myrefall. It’s actually not too far from the place we stayed right before we crossed into Younis. However, I consider the outer villages as a whole to be my home because I’ve lived in so many of them over the years.

“As I’ve told you before, I’ve always been a thief—it’s the only way of life my mother taught me—but my reputation really started after the incident with the crows. I think it was because the local knights realized all of the robberies in the village were being done by the same person, rather than by a few different people as they had previously thought.

“I have a lot of good stories from that time, but it was mostly all the same. I stole to survive, to put the knights in their place, and to help the other villagers. I also went on large raids to spread my name to the inner parts of the kingdom, where my father lives. I may be a thief because I was born into this life, but I use what I know for a lot of different purposes.” He shrugged.

“I got more ambitious within the last three years before I was caught. Before, I only robbed nobles in the inner kingdom about once or twice per season at the very most. Four years ago, however, I decided I wanted to do more. I knew I had the skills to get away with it, so I started raiding dukes, barons, lords, vassals, anyone whose name carried weight in Brerra. I’ve even gotten away with a few small heists in the king’s palace, though you might already know about those.” He smirked. “I took weapons from the vault you palace guards used—usually the quivers of the archers, but sometimes swords or other blades too.

“Those difficult raids gave me invaluable experience. I know a lot of… [i]unorthodox[/i] methods to stealing that most thieves would never even consider using. That’s why knights from Brerra have had such a hard time trying to catch me. Traps that work against regular thieves won’t do anything to me.” His smile faltered. “Unfortunately, my constant success made me a little too cocky. I’ve heard it said that a criminal will always make a mistake if given enough time. I guess I just thought that didn’t apply to me.

“It was my own fault for getting arrested when I tried to steal the king’s crown. The night before I left for my carefully planned raid, I visited a tavern in a small town just outside of the inner kingdom. I was confident that I would get away with it, so I ran my mouth a little too much. I told everyone when I would be stealing the crown, and I didn’t realize that one of the king’s informants was among the audience. He told the king, who prepared the palace guards to stop me when I made my attempt, and that was that,” he shrugged.

“I’m glad I got caught now though,” Crow’s smile returned as he met Penelope’s gaze. “Prison was awful, but it was worth it to meet you.” He paused, thinking of another question to ask her now that he had answered hers. “You said your mother was a peasant, right? Do you know anything else about her?”