Penelope listened as Crow talked about the village. She smiled as he described Aramoor to be quite the welcoming place by the sound of it. However, her smiled died down a bit as he went on to speak about how the war might have been affecting the village. The female knight shifted her gaze down for a moment as she thought about how much destruction the village must have been seeing.   She had heard of the other battalion being stationed there and could already guess that the knights there didn't have a rule against fighting recklessly with the peasants around. 

It was a rather gloomy reminder that, even though she had tried to help the villages, her high rank didn't extend very far and didn't do as much as she would have liked. She sympathized with Crow as he went on to quietly voice his concern about the villagers. Penelope gave him a half-hearted smile. His care for the outer villages had always been something that she greatly admired in him and she guessed that not being able to defend them all all the time was likely hard for the thief.  

"Hopefully they're doing alright." she told him softly. Penelope doubted the war had been easy on the village but she wanted to ease his worry a bit. Besides, she was beginning to notice how hardy the peasants were despite the danger they and their homes were in because of the war. The people of Whitebridge were lively despite having gone through a few battles so perhaps Aramoor wasn't much different. 

Penelope focused her gaze back ahead as they walked and let out a soft sigh. "I can't imagine how long it's going to take for the villages closest to the border to fully recover after this war." 

"With any luck not too long.." Gavin mumbled, jumping in as he heard Penelope speak up. he glanced over his shoulder at her before quickly looking back ahead as he walked. "They should be offered some type of aid after this."

"That would be nice.. But we both know that's a bit unlikely." Penelope frowned.

Gavin shrugged his shoulders. "Unlikely but not impossible. Perhaps the king will see reason and help the villages recover." he paused before adding, "He just might need someone to help him see that reason." 

He briefly met her gaze and Penelope quickly shifted her eyes away from his, already picking up what he was hinting at. Gavin thought it should be her. Part of her guessed that the male knight was trying to hint at one of the reasons why she should stay rather than leave with Crow. She hated to admit that a bit of what he was saying did still tempt her, especially when she thought about how what she would do once she left behind her life as a knight. However, she knew she wouldn't be happy if she left Crow again. Perhaps it was a bit selfish but he was what she wanted. Besides, Crow helped the villages despite his status, so she was certain she could do the same. 

"Perhaps you should speak with him then." Penelope replied, with a bit of edge to her voice so Gavin wouldn't push the subject.