Penelope let out a small yawn as she sat down to enjoy her breakfast. It was the next morning and she was supposed to meet up with the other barons and lieutenants for a meeting soon. However, she was hoping to catch a small break in her morning as she enjoyed her meal and a bit of solitude as she ate alone. Unfortunately, it didn't last long though. Someone sat down across from her, making her jump slightly as she hadn't noticed them approach. As she looked up to see who had joined her, her gaze fell upon  Gavin. The female knight tensed slightly. She hadn't spoken to him since after trying to tell him he was wrong about Crow and wasn't sure how he was handling her firm trust in the thief. 

"Good morning." Gavin mumbled softly, picking up on the slight tension. 

"Morning." Penelope replied as she lowered her gaze down to her food. 

"Penelope, I need you to listen to-"

She let out a groan. "Gavin isn't it too early to be trying to throw around accusations again?"

Gavin frowned as he met her annoyed gaze. "I won't stop until you see the truth. You're being used and it's putting everyone in danger... Even if you don't believe my words at least let me try to prove it to you. It's only a few more days until it'll be a week."

"I'm not discussing this right now." Penelope sighed. "I have a meeting to go to."

"Then suggest they put out extra guards because we might be getting attacked again soon. Or get on guard duty so you can accompany me to see if they're meeting." Gavin insisted. 

Penelope rolled her eyes at him before rising up to her feet to signal she was done with their conversation. It seemed the only thing Gavin was interested in discussing with her was Crow being the enemy, which wasn't a topic they agreed on. Since he seemed unwilling to let it go, she decided it was best to just let it go for now and hoped that, with time, he would too. She turned and began to walk off towards the main tent at the center of camp, deciding it was close enough to time to join the others for their meeting. She hoped it would go by fast. It was mainly just a lot of reporting on how the camp's recovery was going, which she believed was going well from what she had seen. Soon it would just be a waiting game for the supplies to arrive and the thieves to be caught. 

--

"I'm glad to hear that we're recovering nicely." Mia mused as she glanced around at the others. The meeting was in full swing now, though it mainly consisted of Tomas and Penelope reporting as Layth, being injured, hadn't been able to do much of his regular duties not to mention the additional ones that the attack had created. 

"Yes, soon it'll only be a matter of waiting for the supplies to coming in." Bennet agreed.

"If we even get them." Layth grumbled, gaining the attention of the others. He winced as he tried to sit up a bit straighter. "We have to capture those bastards that took them before they strike again. What's the plan for dealing with them?"

"We've searched in multiple places but there doesn't seem to be much of a trace of them. Even Penelope's lead ran cold." Mia sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure what else there is to do aside from continuing to send out patrols and hoping that one eventually discovers them."

"Perhaps we should look into hiring a few mercenaries to hunt them down." Edward advised as he crossed his arms. "It could be expensive but it might be the difference between winning or losing this war."

Penelope stiffened slightly, disliking the idea right away. Aside from her general dislike of mercenaries due to her past run ins with them, the barons would be sending them after the wrong thieves. She was a bit surprised her uncle would stoop so low as to even suggest using them but then again, he was likely starting to sweat under the looming threat of Younis winning. "Mercenaries can't be trusted." she stated with an edge of bitterness. "Hiring them will get them involved in the war and when that happens, Younis will only need to offer them a better price before they start working for them instead."

Layth crossed his arms over his chest with a bitter look. "She's probably right." he muttered in agreement as if reluctant to side with his sister. Penelope felt a small swell of relief to hear her brother speak out against the idea.  "Besides, we can handle them on our own. I'll figure a way to set up a trap that will catch those bastards."

"Once you've healed." Tomas reminded him. He looked between the barons. "I agree though. We can't risk getting professional murderers involved in this war."

"I don't think we should." Mia agreed with a glance towards Bennet who nodded as well. 

Edward seemed a little frustrated that his idea was shot down so unanimously, even by his own lieutenant. "I still say we keep it in mind." he insisted. 

Penelope relaxed as the discussion about what to do with the thieves went on without any further mention of using mercenaries. It seemed the knights were a bit stuck, both because they only had their patrols to rely on as well as the fact that they couldn't afford to send out as many patrols as before due to the battle. As it ended, Penelope found herself praying that Crow's lead to Black Hollow wouldn't be another dead end.