Crow held Penelope’s gaze for a moment longer before he finally nodded, satisfied with her answer. Part of him still worried that she wouldn’t keep her word after she saw what he was about to do, but he also didn’t want to tell her beforehand, in case she thought his plan was too dangerous and didn’t want him to go through with it. He just hoped she trusted him enough to stay back no matter what.

“Just trust me,” he said with conviction, hoping to ease her worries. “I promise; I’ll be back before you know it.” He touched his lips to hers in a quick kiss and then walked into the marketplace.

At first, he did nothing. He pretended to browse the merchants’ wares like the other nobles in the area. However, as he worked his way down one row of vendors, he kept a pair of Younisian knights in the corner of his eye. They were engaged in a conversation with each other, not paying much attention to what was happening around them. He shifted his gaze to another set of knights on the far side of the marketplace, who were doing the same thing. All four had swords hanging in sheaths at their belts, but they appeared to be the only security in the market.

[i]This will be easy,[/i] Crow’s lip twitched upward in a smirk, and he turned to hide the expression from the merchant whose cart he was standing by at the moment. He slipped into the crowd of nobles, vanishing from sight as he made his way over to the closest pair of knights. They were still chatting idly, completely unaware of the thief in their midst. Perfect.

Once he had gotten close enough, Crow shot out from the edge of the crowd and sprinted towards the knights. One froze in surprise, while the other reached for the hilt of the sword at his side. However, the thief was quicker. He snatched both of the knights’ weapons right out of their scabbards, one in each hand, and bolted past them into a small orchard behind the market. Spinning around on his heel, he turned back to face the stunned guards. He brandished the blades like oversized dual wielders, grinning wildly.

“What’s the matter?” he taunted. “You two act like you’ve never seen a thief before.”

“Give those back,” one of the knights said, eyeing him warily. “If you don’t surrender, we’ll have no choice but to kill you.” The two spread out, walking around to either side of him but keeping their distance.

“That’s some big talk,” Crow said, though his eyes flicked cautiously between the knights on either side of him. “Forgive me if I’m not afraid of an unarmed tin can.”

“You’re some kind of stupid if you think you’re going to get away with this,” the other knight growled.

“Says the man who just had his sword stolen right out from his sheath,” Crow waggled the blade mockingly. He glanced back at the marketplace to see that the other two knights were finally making their way over to help their comrades. Their swords were drawn and they were moving to fill in the gaps around Crow to surround him. He took a step back, and the two knights that he had robbed tensed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the first one sneered.

Crow stared at him blankly, “If you think I’m going to wait here for your little buddies to join us, then you’re the idiot.” With that, he ran towards the knight and swung the sword in his left hand, forcing the man to jump out of his path. He made a beeline for the closest tree, put the blade of one sword between his teeth, and used his free hand to grab onto the lowest branch. Kicking off of the trunk, he swung up into the tree and clambered higher, just beyond the knights’ reach.

“Look at that,” one of the knights laughed from below. “He trapped himself.”

Crow took the sword out of his mouth and stabbed the blade into the tree just above his head. “Oh no,” he drawled sarcastically, sitting down on a bough and swinging his legs. “What am I going to do now?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Come on. I could do this all day. You geniuses know you can’t get me without losing a few fingers, don’t you?”

“You have to come down eventually,” another knight said.

“That’s true, but I know I can wait out you four.”

“I don’t have time for this,” a knight spat. “I’m going to get one of the archers.”

“I bet you regret climbing into that tree now, thief,” one of the knights smirked up at him.

“I’m shaking in my boots,” Crow said dryly, leaning against the tree trunk. He bit his tongue to keep from smiling. So far, his plan was going perfectly. He just needed to play the rest of it out without letting them touch him.

After a while, the knight who had said he would get an archer returned. He was alone, but that wasn’t surprising to Crow. More than likely, the bowman was probably setting up somewhere farther away, so he would be safe in case the situation turned ugly.

Crow scanned the buildings around them, trying to figure out where the archer might be hiding. Below him, the knights started jeering again: “Ten Tael says Algernon shoots him in the gut.”

“Twenty on his eye.”

“Twenty-five on his heart!”

The knights laughed cruelly, but Crow just shook his head, [i]Idiots.[/i] He looked up as a faint motion off to the left caught his eye. A subtle smile spread over his mouth. [i]Found you.[/i]

He stood up on the branch and gazed down at the knights, “I’m starting to grow tired of you jaded halfwits—Catch!” He pulled the sword back out of the tree and threw it down at them, causing them to scatter. As soon as there was an opening, he jumped down from the tree and took off running back towards the market, leaving the weapon behind.

As expected, the knights chased after him in pursuit. He bobbed and weaved through the crowd—fortunately, he had guessed right that the soft-palmed noblemen wouldn’t be as eager to catch him as the peasants on the border had—leaving a confusing trail for the knights to follow. He glanced up at the archer every once in a while. The man had set up on a low rooftop not too far away. His bow was cocked to fire, but he seemed to be waiting for a clear shot.

Now came the risky part.

Crow spotted a small clearing in the sea of people and headed for it. When he was standing in the middle, he turned around to face the four knights, holding up his remaining sword like a barrier between him and his opponents. The knights slowed to a stop, chuckling at him.

“Aw, I think he wants to fight,” one of the men crooned. “How cute.”

“You really think you can take all four of us, punk?” another snorted.

Crow ignored their taunting. His eyes were fixed on the archer, who was staring back down at him intently, the string of his bow held taut. He had a clear shot now, so there was no more reason for him to restrain himself. [i]Come on,[/i] Crow challenged silently. [i]Shoot me![/i]

As if on command, he saw the bowman let fly his arrow. The projectile whistled through the air, headed straight for the thief’s chest. He let out a howl of pain and staggered backwards, gripping the shaft of the arrow against his sternum. Falling forward, he dropped heavily to the ground, the shaft snapping beneath his weight.

“Looks like Algernon got him first,” one of the knights sighed.

“Did anyone see if he shot him in the heart?” another knight asked. “I want my twenty-five Tael if he did!”

Crow laid still, his heart pounding furiously. Even though he had managed to catch the arrow before it struck him, the head had come within a hairsbreadth of piercing his chest. Another half a second and his fake cry of pain would have been quite real. He just hoped the knights would keep bickering amongst themselves and forget to check if he was alive.

A short period of time passed, and Crow got his wish. He heard a fifth set of footsteps approach, signaling that the archer had come down from his perch.

Algernon clicked his tongue, “Tch, he broke my arrow…” He crouched down next to Crow’s unmoving body and reached for the splintered shaft that lay nearby. However, before he could pick it up, the thief shot up from the ground and swept out his leg, knocking the bowman to the ground.

“For me?” Crow quickly removed the man’s bow and quiver. “You shouldn’t have.”

Before the other knights had a chance to take in what had just happened, Crow was already sprinting back towards Penelope. “Run!” he shouted to her, peering back over his shoulder to see that the knights were giving chase once again. “Run now!”