Crow languidly stretched out his legs as he sat down at the table in his bedchamber to write his letter to Hazel. The page she had written to him—it was a bit of a wrinkled mess after riding in his trouser pocket all day—had been laid out alongside the quill and stationary from Penelope and Naida. Just looking at the set brought a swell of affection to the former thief. Sometimes he felt lonely in the world of the upper class, but seeing all the gifts his friends had given to him reminded him just how much support he really had. He was eager to communicate back to his peasant companions and find out how things had progressed since their last correspondence.

Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, the viceroy picked up the feather quill and dipped it in the inkpot. It was the first time he had ever attempted to write something without supervision, so he hoped the letter would turn out alright. He liked to think he had progressed enough that the herbalist would at least be able to understand it, even if he misspelled a few words and forgot some punctuation marks. Deciding there was no point in overthinking it, he put his utensil to the paper:

[indent][i]Dear friends:

No news is good news. I’m relieved to hear that not much has changed since I left and that the knights have been leaving you alone. I hope everything has continued to be uneventfull. I’m also thrilled to hear that you have made head way on a cure for the people of Myrefall. If you have started using it: Has it been effective?[/i][/indent]

He paused, drumming his fingers on the table before he scribbled:

[indent][i]When I arrived at the castle a healer saw me to treat my coff. He had a cure that got rid of it completely. I might be able to steal a vile of it if you think it could help you refine your medisin. Just say the word and I’ll send it with my next letter.

Not much has changed here since I wrote to you last. I still have lessons every day. The biggest difference is that I have more teachers now and my father is one of them. He wants me to go to Gorm to negociate an aliance with their king so he’s been teaching me to read and write in their language. I also just started horse back riding today. The skills have been interesting but I hope he doesn’t actually send me. Penelope and I want to convinse him to end the war with Younis peacefully insted.

Going along with that there’s going to be a party in the castle within the next week. Penelope wants to use it as a platform to gain suport from the other nobles. If it works it might just be enough to make my father listen and negociate with Younis rather than Gorm. I’ll tell you what happens when it’s over.

I enjoyed hearing back from you and I look forward to getting your next letter. Stay safe in the war and the upcoming winter. Also I’m sorry if this letter was harder to read than my last one. I didn’t have Penelope here to help me with my spelling. I hope there weren’t to many mistakes.

-Collin[/i][/indent]

Setting the quill down, the viceroy let out his breath and rolled his wrist. He had noticed lately that the temperature had been dropping more substantially, especially at night. His room was colder than it had been even the week before. He glanced toward the window, though it was too dark to see through the glass. It was hard to get a sense of what the weather was doing from inside the thick walls of the palace, but he had a suspicion that it wouldn’t be much longer before they saw the first snowfall.

He brought a hand to his mouth as another broad yawn stretched his jaw. With his final task of the day completed, he was ready to get some much needed sleep. He got up from his seat and changed into the linen nightclothes Preston had set out on his bed sometime during the day. The fabric of this set was slightly thicker than the ones he had worn previously, and he guessed noblemen had outfits to keep them comfortable in every season of the year.

Too tired to ponder over the detail any further, he put out the candle that had been flickering steadily on the table and climbed into bed, pulling the smooth sheets all the way up to his chin to keep out the cold air. It was easy to settle comfortably into the plush mattress, and in no time, he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.