Penelope intertwined her fingers with his as he took her hand. She gave a small nod of understanding at his words. Her own near fatal injury from the mercenary had taken her quite some time to heal from in the past. She could still recall being bedridden for over a week and how restricting it could be with both the inability to move as well as the pain that came from even moving slightly. She was about to reply to him but fell short as she noticed him frown and go on to ask her about speaking with her barons. 

"I just got done doing that actually." she admitted with a small nod. Thinking he was worried about the outcome of her meeting, she gave him a half-hearted smile. "It didn't go too terribly. The barons were a bit reluctant but they agreed to my choices for guards." she assured him then hesitated as she thought of the small issue with Layth and potentially other less than friendly knights. Her smile faded slightly and she moved to lean down against the bed so she could be closer to him. 

"There might be one problem though.." she admitted softly as she lowered her gaze. "I got control of the guard but they're only here to make sure you don't cause trouble... The barons made it clear that if other knights wanted a word with you, they were entitled to it.. Especially Layth." Penelope shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. "I couldn't argue against that and I'm not sure how much I or any other guard can protect you if they do choose to utilize that fact." 

Penelope gave his hand a soft squeeze and looked over at him with an apologetic gaze. "I'm sorry.. I would have fought them on it if I could but that'd just draw more attention to our relationship and I don't think we can risk much more of that right now."