Lingering behind, Crow crouched in the shadows to watch the fight. Even though he knew Penelope was a knight, he had to take a moment to marvel at the sight before him. It was almost comical to see the men be overcome by what looked like one small peasant girl. She struck out at them with furious speed and skill. It was the first time he had ever watched her in battle, and he had to admit, she was a fearsome warrior. Despite being heavily outnumbered, she looked like she was doing quite well at holding her ground.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lip, but it quickly vanished when he noticed something else about her. From a distance it was hard to tell, but for a moment he thought he saw a flash of scarlet on her shoulder. He paled and looked away, silently chiding himself for his reaction. The sight of blood had always made him feel faint. It was the reason why he had avoided fighting and never injured his enemies. Of course, no man would ever want to admit something so pathetic, so he had kept the secret to himself under the guise of being a horrid fighter, which was technically also true. He was only useful when he caught his enemy by surprise.

[i]Catch them by surprise…[/i] Crow glanced up at the archer on the roof. The man had stopped loosing arrows, likely because he didn’t want to accidentally pierce one of his comrades in the skirmish, but his attention seemed to be solely focused on Penelope. No one was looking at the thief anymore.

He glanced back at the fight on the ground, counting seven enemies still standing, and then made his move. While everyone was looking elsewhere, he darted across the open road to take cover in a pocket of darkness between two houses on the other side. From there, he had a clearer view of the archer whom he had made his target. His heart raced with a mixture of nervousness and excitement as he moved silently towards the man and drew the dagger from his boot. It felt just like old times when he used to take out unsuspecting guards during his raids in the inner kingdom. The adrenaline rush that came with sneaking up on and knocking out an archer had always made him feel alive.

Moving silently, he lifted himself onto the roof of the house where the archer was perched. He paused for a moment, watching the man to see if he had taken notice of his presence yet. So far, so good. The bowman was still fixated on Penelope down below. However, he must have spotted an opening, because he began to raise his weapon, notching it with an arrow and taking aim. However, before he could draw back the bowstring, Crow jumped on him. The thief held his dagger to the archer’s throat, placing the blade just close enough to caress his skin, but not so close that he would pierce it.

“Drop your weapon,” he snarled. “Or I’ll pry it out of your cold, lifeless hands.” Of course, it was an empty threat, but the archer couldn’t know that. In his terror, the man released his bow and arrow, letting them both fall to the ground below.

Crow chuckled, keeping up his cruel façade for looks, “Wise choice. Now, why don’t you be a good lad and take a nap?” In one quick motion, he moved the dagger away from the man’s throat and used the butt of it to knock him unconscious.

The archer’s head lolled instantly, and his body fell slack, but before he could tumble off the rooftop, Crow caught hold of him by the fabric of his shirt. He dragged the man away from the edge and laid him down in a spot where he couldn’t fall.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked back down at the fighting below, but it was getting to be too dark and there were still too many moving people for him to easily make out what was going on. He didn’t have time to sit around and try to figure the scene out from the house, so he climbed back down to get a closer look. Slipping into a nearby shadow, he crouched down and inched closer to the battle, his eyes dancing from face to face as he tried to find Penelope. However, as he did this he began to notice something strange: There were still plenty of people left standing, but it didn’t look like anyone was fighting anymore. He felt a chill creep up his spine.

[i]Where is Penelope?[/i] he held his breath as he began to hunt for her more intently. It was strange, but the thought that she had been overcome in the battle caused a lump to form in his throat. He was actually [i]worried[/i] about the knight. He wondered why he cared so much. After all, it was in his best interest if she died at the hands of these assassins, because then he would be free to go home and forget about the king’s assignment. That was what he wanted. However, as much as he tried to convince himself to forget about her and save himself, something kept his feet glued to the ground.

“There’s the other one!” A voice cried out, shattering the quiet and making Crow flinch.

He’d been spotted.

In the next instant, every head turned in his direction, and the black-clad attackers began moving towards him. He jumped to his feet and took a step back, ready to spin around and run in the opposite direction before they could reach him, but he halted when he found himself face-to-face with two more enemies. They pointed their swords at his chest, smirking victoriously. He glanced back over his shoulder, but the others were too close now for him to get away. He was surrounded.

Crow held up his hands and offered them a half-hearted smile, “Would you believe me if I said I was just passing through?”

Unfortunately, his efforts only earned him a few chuckles from the men. One of them stepped forward and grabbed him by the wrists, binding both of his hands behind his back with a strand of rope and shoving him unceremoniously between the shoulder blades to force him to walk with the group. He shot the man an indignant glare, but otherwise said nothing. They could kill him at any second, and he didn’t want to give them a reason to do so.

As they walked, he noticed another figure nearby with her arms restrained behind her back as well. He let out a faint sigh of relief as he recognized who the figure was. “So, they got you, too, huh?” Crow said to a still-alive Penelope.