Crow felt a wave of affection for Penelope when her features brightened at his agreement to learn how to read and write from her. Even though he didn’t care very much about the skill itself, he enjoyed seeing her get so excited about the prospect of teaching him. That alone was worth the effort of learning to be literate. He also liked the thought of being able to write to her if they ever found themselves apart for a long time during the war. It had already happened a couple of times, so even though he was going to try his hardest not to go so long without seeing her again, he figured it would be nice to have a way to keep in touch with her if it ever happened in the future.

He stood back as she pulled away from him to look over the various books and supplies on the shelves, watching from a distance as she retrieved some paper and tools that he had seen Hazel use to write in her journal before. It still felt a little strange to imagine himself learning how to use a quill, but he supposed it wasn’t too late for him to give it a try. He took her hand and followed her over to the table by the window, sitting down in the cushioned chair—it seemed all the furniture in the upper levels of the castle was padded for comfort—and waiting for her to pull up her own seat beside him.

As he did, he took some time to look over the things she had put on the table. Having watched Hazel write before, he remembered how the quill and ink worked together. The only thing left was for him to learn how to use them to make meaningful symbols, like the ones he had seen in the herbalist’s journal.

He glanced up as Penelope pulled up a chair beside him and set herself up with a fresh piece of paper. His eyes wandered to her hand that gripped the quill, studying the way she held the tool by letting the shaft rest against the crook between her thumb and index finger. Having learned plenty of other skills that required intricate work with one’s hands, he had learned that the position of a utensil could make all the difference sometimes, so he wanted to copy everything she did to the best of his ability.

When the knight began marking the paper with symbols, Crow leaned forward in his chair and observed her with interest. Every single character she made was different, although some looked quite similar to each other. He had a feeling the hardest part of writing was going to be remembering which symbol meant what. With spoken words, it was easy to tell what someone was saying because he could hear the difference in the syllables and phrases, but seeing that same difference in a visual form was going to take time.

[i]And if I take my father’s job offer, I’ll have to learn the written languages of multiple kingdoms,[/i] he thought with a faint wince, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Deciding it was too much to focus on right now, he turned his attention back to Penelope as she explained that she had written out all of the ‘letters’ in order. At that, the thief quirked a brow in surprise. He had thought there would be many more than the ones she had already written down. After all, the Missenar language was full of a number of different articulations—certainly more than the few characters she had just shown him. Perhaps some symbols accounted for multiple sounds? [i]Oh gods,[/i] he cringed. [i]This might be harder than I thought.[/i]

As Penelope asked him to give her a word, Crow drummed his fingers on the table in thought. After a moment, he met her gaze again with a grin. “Your name,” he decided. “Show me how to write ‘Penelope.’”