Penelope raised an eyebrow at Crow as she noticed his brief silence. Thinking it must have something to do still with his companions, she didn't make any comment on it and instead shifted to take a bite from her food. As he finally spoke up again, the knight smirked in amusement at his words. "I'll be sure to include that when I write her back." she mused with a soft chuckle. Knowing how Olivia was against admitting any sort of feelings towards Alistair, she was sure it'd likely get an entertaining reaction from her friend. 

"I doubt your offer will be very appreciated though." she pointed out amusedly. She shrugged her shoulders and let her gaze drift over to the second, unopened letter. Pausing from eating, she picked it up and began to unfold it, curious to see what Gavin had written. "I suppose I should get to reading this one too." the knight mumbled, partially to herself. "I have a feeling Gavin will likely give me a more detailed response to how things are going on the warfront than Olivia." Her gaze flickered over the paper as she began to read:

[indent][i]Dear Penelope,

It's good to hear that your efforts to end the war are going well. I hope that by the time this letter reaches you, that you have made even more progress. Things could be better here. Since you last wrote, we've had two battles. Both were hard on our battalion even though we did win one. The constant winning and losing is definitely hurt morale, but I think that goes for both sides. Most here are too stubborn to admit it though. I think a peaceful end to all of this is exactly what we need and if anyone can convince the king, it's you. 

On another note, things have been... interesting here. Talk about Collin's promotion has calmed quite a bit since we spoke, although your brother is still fuming. He tried to corner me about your involvement with Collin. Of course, I didn't give him any information, rest assured. Albeit, I have a feeling I didn't do the best job of convincing him that you barely knew anything about him. You know I'm not as skilled in spinning lies as others. Regardless, I doubt you have much to worry about. I'm sure you're planning to court soon enough anyways, right?

Speaking of your brother, he's been trying to dismantle that rule passed by the barons to keep from harming the peasants since you've left. He nearly got away with it after our last loss but luckily Tomas and I were able to keep that from happening for now. I worry that could change if we have a losing streak. I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't though. 

All that aside, I hope your time at the castle is going well and I look forward to hearing about your progress. 

Sincerely, 
Gavin Hyde[/i][/indent]

Penelope furrowed her brows slightly, a bit discouraged to hear how things were on the battlefront as well as about all the trouble her brother seemed to be causing. She let out a sigh and looked over at Crow with a small frown. "Well it seems like the battles have been a bit rough according to Gavin... Also apparently Layth has been causing him quite a bit of trouble. Asking about my involvement with you and trying to get the barons to retract the rule about being mindful of the villagers during battle." she explained with a shake of her head. "Gods I hope this party goes well so we can end this mess of a war."