Crow found William’s discomfort with stealing to be quite amusing. It seemed like the haughty knight’s pride was taking a bit of a hit from the knowledge that his comrade knew a bit about stealing. The spiteful side of him hoped that they would need to resort to more thievery and other lawlessness just because it might take William’s pride down a peg or two. Maybe then he would be more pleasant to be around—or the thief could use it as leverage the next time the knight tried to lord his ‘justice’ over him. He smiled to himself. Either way, he was going to enjoy this.

After the stable boy had gone, Crow followed the two knights as they snuck into the stable. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of pride for Penelope. She seemed to have picked up quite a bit from him during the course of their travels, even to the point where he felt content to sit back and let her take the lead on this one. [i]At the rate she’s improving, she would make a talented thief,[/i] he thought with a pleased smile. [i]Maybe I can teach her more when we get back—if she chooses to come with me, that is.[/i] His smile faltered slightly as he recalled that they might not still be together by then, and he quickly pushed the disheartening thought aside.

Now inside of the stable, Crow walked along the row of horses, eyeing the animals curiously. He had stolen a lot of things in his lifetime, but living animals weren’t on the list. It wasn’t because he never had the opportunity, but rather because he never had a need to take them. Besides, it was far more convenient to steal something that didn’t need to be fed and couldn’t run away. He turned to the knights expectantly, “Do we just take the horses, or do we need anything else?”

William grunted and crossed his arms, still upset about the situation, “So, there is something you don’t know how to steal.”

“This may be a little outside of my field of expertise,” Crow admitted. “But I’m perfectly capable of learning.” His expression changed suddenly as he took on a mischievous smirk. “Think of it as an honor. [i]You[/i] get to teach [i]me[/i] how to steal a horse.”

William grimaced at the thought and turned to Penelope, “Are you sure you can’t think of any other way to lose the Younisians?” He glanced back at the thief, who was now eyeing a black stallion with interest, ignoring the knights’ conversation. “Anything at all?”