Crow leaned back on his hands again and nodded thoughtfully when John said there would be three guards in the wing that night. Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, the information was concerning to him. He could distract one guard easily enough. Two sometimes posed a problem. But three? That was going to take some creative thinking to overcome. Even if he managed to get one or two of them to chase a false tail to another part of the castle, the knights could choose to let one man stay to keep watch over the corridor. It wouldn’t be easy to coax all of them to abandon their posts.

His eyes flicked between John and Penelope as they discussed the reason why there were so many guards that night. Apparently, the noblemen in the palace were more paranoid than he’d thought. He nearly scoffed as the older knight explained that the other people in the wing were afraid of losing their valuables after their neighbors had been stolen from. No thief—not even himself—was brazen enough to waltz back onto the scene of their last crime just one day after he committed it. It was far safer to hit a different target or even wait a few days for everyone to lower their guards again before conducting a second heist.

Crow was drawn from his thoughts when he felt Penelope rest her hand on top of his. He turned to meet her gaze, casting her a fond smile as she expressed concern for his safety. At her offer to help, he mulled over his plan again, wondering if there was a way for him to take her up on the suggestion. A little more than two years ago, he would have denied her right away, but after she had aided him at the Younisian castle, he knew he could rely on her to get a job done. Plus, he had grown more used to accepting others’ help since he had been living with the other thieves. Perhaps there was a way he could use her skills now.

Suddenly, he blinked as an idea came to him and then laughed out loud. The plan was absurd, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect solution to getting rid of all three guards. He only hoped they would be [i]just[/i] unobservant enough for him to pull it off—or at least confused enough not to question anything.

“Actually, there is a way you could help,” he said with a grin. “I’ll need you to come back to my room with me though.”