“I’ll be here,” Crow waved his chained hand when Penelope said her goodbyes to him. He watched as the three knights exited the house before finally letting a victorious smirk take over his lips. While he would have liked to go with the others as they searched for information about Jaxon, this situation might actually work out in his favor. Now that Gavin believed he was napping at Silas’s place, he couldn’t accuse him of trying to ruin their interrogation again.

He crouched down to retrieve his pick lock key from his boot and popped open the simple lock on the chains that Gavin had used to bind him. [i]Child’s play,[/i] he thought with a roll of his eyes as he let the metal restraint fall to the floor. Like almost all of the other knights he had dealt with before, Gavin obviously didn’t have much experience dealing with a thief such as himself. He put his key back in its hiding place and straightened his posture again.

“Your friends don’t seem to trust you very much,” Zenith spoke up from where she sat with her daughters.

“It’s just the one,” Crow shrugged, stepping over to sit beside her. “I let him have his way sometimes though. He’s more bearable to be around when he thinks he’s won.”

“Are you going out then?”

“No,” he shook his head and leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of himself. “I’m staying right here.”

“So, you are letting him win?” Zenith quirked a brow in amusement.

“Wrong again,” Crow grinned at her mischievously. “Speaking of which, do you mind if I borrow your daughters?” As he mentioned them, both of the girls looked up from their knitting to listen in.

“Letha and Alice?” Zenith frowned confusedly. “What do you need them for?”

“Just a game I thought they might enjoy,” he said casually, glancing back at the two girls with a wink. “I might also have some rewards for them if they’re good at it.”

“I want to play,” Letha perked up, turning to Zenith with pleading eyes. “Please, mother, can we?”

“Me too,” Alice nodded vigorously in agreement.

Zenith sighed and feigned an exasperated look at the thief. “Fine. As long as he doesn’t get you both into trouble, you can play his game.”

The girls stumbled over each other in their thanks towards their mother and then turned towards Crow expectantly as they awaited him to explain what he wanted them to do.

“The game is simple,” he started, shifting to lean against the wall beside Zenith. “All you have to do is follow those people who were here with me earlier and listen to their conversations with the other villagers. If you hear anyone tell them about a big group of people, come back and tell me what was said. For every bit of information you bring me, I’ll give you one of these.” He held up a copper coin that he had drawn from his coin purse, smirking as their eyes grew round at the sight of it.

“Now, here are the rules,” he dropped the money into his pocket as he went on. “You can’t let any of them see you when you’re listening, and if you lie to me about any information, you won’t get any rewards.”

“How will you know if we’re lying?” Alice crossed her arms.

“I have a trick,” Crow shrugged airily. “But I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

“Tell us!” Letha scooted closer to him.

“Fine,” he sighed in mock defeat. “Whenever you lie, you get a red dot on your forehead that only I can see, right here.” He poked each of them between the eyes. “It happens every time you don’t tell the truth, so don’t bother trying to get around it.”

The two girls gasped and looked at each other in astonishment.

“Think you understand the game?” Crow asked. He waited for them to nod before he waved a dismissive hand. “Go on then, get started.”

As the two raced out the front door, Zenith turned to him with amusement, “You know they’re going to lie to you anyways, right? How will you [i]really[/i] be able to tell if they’re trying to trick you?”

Crow met her gaze with a devilish grin, “Because now, every time they lie, they’re going to do this.” He pressed one hand to his forehead.

“Clever,” Zenith laughed. “Where did you come up with that idea? I didn’t think you had any children.”

“I don’t,” he shook his head. “It was a trick my mother used on me when I was young. I’m sorry to say it worked for much longer than it should have.”

“Well, I think I’m going to have to borrow it,” Zenith chuckled again and leaned back against the wall.

“Go ahead,” Crow did the same, closing his eyes and letting out his breath in a long exhale. With Zenith’s daughters doing all the work for him, all he had to do now was sit back and wait. It was turning out to be a peaceful morning.