Crow shuffled his feet uncomfortably beneath the table as he watched Penelope demonstrate how to write the word, ‘viceroy.’ He paid close attention to the way she spelled it, since he had a feeling he was going to need to remember that word for a long time to come. “Thanks,” he murmured absently as he copied it down into his own letter to Hazel and the others. When he was done, he snuck a glance at the knight’s paper and was surprised to see how much she had already written. He hoped he would be able to work as efficiently as she could once he had a better grasp of written language.

Turning his attention back to the page in front of him, Crow focused a little harder on thinking out what he wanted to say to his companions. [i]It’s just the same news I’d give them if I were visiting in person,[/i] he reminded himself, lowering his quill to the paper once again. As he continued to write, he intermittently asked Penelope for help whenever he came across words he couldn’t spell, but found that he was able to do most of it on his own:

[indent][i]…I was given the title of viceroy by the king so I’m formally a nobleman now. It still doesn’t feel very different though. Most of the people in the castle still hate me just as much as before and I’ve even been accused of stealing once. My family seems to think everyone will warm up to me soon though. I hope they’re right.

Also I’ve started going by my birthname again since I was titled viceroy. I suppose that means it’s finally time for me to tell you all that my real name is Collin. Unless Olivia already told you in which case I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me first.

As for myself and Penelope. We’ve both been doing well. Because the other nobles still hate me we’ve decided not to tell anyone that we’re together yet. She has been trying to garner support to end the war and it wouldn’t help her reputation if anyone found out about us right now. Sometimes it’s frustrating to keep waiting but I know it’s for the best so I’ve been bearing it.

There isn’t much else for me to tell you right now. My days mostly consist of lessons and training that you would all find boring. I think it is too. If anything important happens I’ll be sure to send word as soon as I can. In the meantime I look forward to hearing back from you soon and I hope you’ve all been faring well in the war.

-Crow[/i][/indent]
The viceroy looked over his letter, feeling pleased with the result. It was the first thing he’d ever written that consisted of more than just one or two sentences—that was as far as he’d gotten in his lesson with Udolf. It was strangely empowering to be able to record his thoughts and to be able to communicate them over a distance. He couldn’t wait to get a reply from Hazel and find out how the other thieves had been doing since he’d left them to become a nobleman.

“I’m done writing,” Crow said, turning to Penelope eagerly in wait to find out the next step. “Now what?”