Penelope looked over at Crow as they stepped into the castle and returned his halfhearted smile. "See you." she mumbled nodding. The knight watched as he walked off to retire to his room and then turned to one of the guards that had opened the door for them. Now that she was alone, she didn't want to waste any time in finding her father and Tybalt. Mostly because the knight was eager to get some rest after their many days of travel. 

"Excuse me, do you happen to know where Tybalt or John Vermillion are? I need to speak with them." Penelope asked with a polite dip of her head to the guard. 

He shifted his gaze down to her and nodded. "Tybalt has retired to his quarters for now but John was placed on guard duty near the great hall." he explained with small dip of his head towards the staircase. 

She pursed her lips together, a bit disappointed to hear that Tybalt wasn't working. She supposed she'd just have to catch him the next day then. "I see. Thank you." she said. Penelope was about to turn to leave when the guard smirked and addressed her again, his smug expression returning to his face. 

"So... how long does that thief got before the king ends him?" 

The female knight rolled her eyes. It seemed her guess about castle gossip had be fairly accurate. "Who knows... It's difficult to say if that's even what the king is planning."

"It has to be! What else would he possibly be planning for that cur." The other guard jumped in now with a huff. 

"Well, I doubt he'd let the thief leave if he was planning to kill him in the first place. He clearly didn't return just to be hanged." Penelope pointed out. She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the two guards. "I suggest you start thinking of some other reasoning." With that said, the knight turned and began her climb up the staircase to find her father, leaving behind the two stumped guards who were no displeased by the thought of the thief receiving anything less than such punishment. 

As she ascended the stairs, her legs ached from the upward climb. Part of her was suddenly glad she'd be able to wait until the next day to speak with Tybalt. At least now she could speak with her father, grab supper and then retire to her room for the night. [i]And I won't have to worry about waking up early tomorrow..[/i] she thought blissfully. 

"You're back."

She blinked, quickly pulled out of her thoughts as she barely reached the top of the stairs. Her gaze fell on John who had spotted her quickly. It was difficult to say if the older knight was pleased to see her again or still furious about her for leaving so abruptly in the first place. With his usual stoic expression, the female knight decided it was best for her to tread carefully. Penelope offered her father a small smile and dipped her head to him as she stepped over. 

"I am..I'll be back for at least two months now actually.." she mused as she pulled out one of the letters from Mia.

John eyed it before looking back to her. "I see... And, where's that thief?" he asked with a disapproving grumble. 

"We parted ways once we got back into the castle... He went to his room." Penelope shuffled her feet slightly and lowered her voice. "We'll be spending time apart now to avoid our relationship getting out any further while he begins his training."

John raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Smart move." he muttered glancing around the hallway before looking back to her. "I just hope you two will be wise enough not to push for more to quickly." he stated warningly. The older knight let out a sigh as he decided to switch the topic. "I take it things went well with Mia?"

"Yeah. I even got her support for ending the war. Now I just have to focus on getting the king on board." Penelope explained with an eager nod, glad for the change of topics. The two continued to speak briefly about her plans for her stay at the castle. She was glad that her father's anger from before seemed to have died down and that he approved of her plans. Eventually she parted from him so he could carry out the rest of his shift undisturbed while she headed off to grab some supper from the great hall, enticed by the savory scents that wafted out into the corridor.