It was the best sleep she had gotten in the last two days. Although, that wasn’t saying much considering the past nights had been worse than normal due to the hard floor and Naida’s less than kind sleeping habits. Regardless, Penelope woke up feeling a little more energized than before. As she rose from her bedroll, she stretched out her limbs and then began to put on her armor once more. The knight made sure to slip the necklace on as well. Crow may not have been around to see it but she had every intention to keep her word to him about wearing every day they were apart. 

Just as the pendant settled against her, a harsh voice sounded from right outside her tent. “Penelope? I heard you were back.” The female knight bit back a groan as she recognized the voice almost immediately. It was Layth. [i]Good thing I slept decently last night if I have to deal with this first thing…[/i] She thought dryly. She had been hoping that her brother would start pestering her until the meeting but it seemed that she wouldn’t be so lucky that morning. Letting out a breath, she straightened her appearance and the pulled back the flap of her tent to step outside. Immediately, her gaze fell onto Layth, who was standing rather rigidly with his arms crossed over his chest.

Penelope bit back a sigh and instead met his gaze evenly. “You heard correct.. Did you need something from me, Layth?” she asked with a hint of exasperation in her tone. It wasn’t hard for her to guess what he had come to badger her about after the warning she had received from Gavin. 

“Yes. I need to know what the hell is going on?” Layth growled, narrowing his gaze on her. “You and father leave with a rotten thief and then next thing I know, that bastard is the viceroy.”

“So?” she said raising an eyebrow at him. “It’s not like father or I gave him the position.”

Layth clenched his jaw. “That’s not what I’m accusing you of you dolt. I used to think you were a traitor for working with him but now I suspect that you knew something prior.” He explained shaking his head. “I want to know, did father send you some word about what was going on before? That’s why you were so insistent on healing that cur isn’t it?”

It seemed that Gavin hadn’t been lying when he had said that Layth was still investigating what had happened. Crow’s rise to viceroy clearly had her brother both agitated as well as floundering for answers. His perfect world of who was in power and who was below them had been turned upside down. After all his insults and trouble that he had caused, it was difficult for the female knight to feel any sympathy for him though. Perhaps this would help him see that social status didn’t deem one person more important than the other.“While that might make me look better, I’m afraid that didn’t happen. Father never sent me anything. I just helped him because he helped me.” she explained with a shrug. 

“Bull shit.” he snorted in clear disbelief. “Who in their right mind would help the enemy otherwise?”

“I had my reasons.” Penelope said airily. “Besides, he wasn’t the enemy. Those other thieves were.” She shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave. While Layth would one day soon learn about her relationship with the former thief, putting it off felt like the better option in that moment.  If he was upset now, she could only imagine his reaction once she announced that she was being courted by the very man he loathed so much.  Hopefully her return and lack of answers would allow him to simmer down before she let that come to light.  “Anyways, I’m getting breakfast before the meeting begins so if you have anything more to say you’re going to have to do it over a hot bowl of porridge.” she said decisively.

For a moment, the male knight seemed to debate joining her as he shifted his weight. In the next instant though he decided against it and shook his head. “I’ll see you at the meeting.” he grumbled before turning to stalk off. 

Penelope followed him with her gaze for a moment before continuing on her way to get food. She was glad that he was willing to relent for now. It was her first day back at the camp and the last thing she wanted to do was spend it defending herself against an all too furious brother. Picking up a bowl from the cooks, she grabbed her meal and moved to take up a seat alone near one of the fire pits. She was just beginning to indulge in her breakfast when she was soon joined by Olivia, who came hurrying over to join her friend. “Gods it’s nice to have you back.” Olivia said with a sigh as she plopped down on the left of Penelope. “I’ve been stuck with only Gavin for a month and you know how dull that gets!”

“Well you’ve got me around for at least two weeks.” Penelope said with a small chuckle. Her green eyes drifted over to her friend and mischievous smirk crossed her lips. “Besides, it can’t be all that dull. You’re still seeing Alistair aren’t you?”

Olivia blinked and then rolled her eyes as she caught on to what Penelope was doing. “You know it’s rude to pry about private affairs.” she huffed. 

“Says the woman that constantly badgered me about my own.” Penelope snorted.

“Yes but we’re talking about you not me.” Olivia grinned.

The female knight rolled her eyes at her friend and gave her a soft shove. “Doesn’t matter.  I want to know how things have been between you and Alistair. Sounds like he’s real smitten with you.” Penelope said with a suggestive nudge.

Olivia pursed her lips, giving an annoyed look before finally sighing in defeat. “Yeah well… As I’m sure you’ve deduced we’re still seeing each other. Only occasionally though. In fact, it’s been a while due to the past couple battles. I’m hoping we can see each other before the next one though.” she admitted with a faint frown. Her tone was uncharacteristically serious as she spoke about the thief. It made Penelope give a knowing smirk. Olivia caught her expression and gave a small huff despite the light pink twinge that was developing on her cheeks. “Oh knock it off with that look. He’s just fun to be around. A lot less dull than the company you’ve left me with at least.”

“You know I don’t buy that for a second, right?” Penelope laughed before taking another bite of her food. 

“Unfortunately, yes.” Olivia said, making a face at her friend. She then shrugged her shoulders. “You can keep pestering me about it but my answer isn’t changing.”

“We’ll see.” Penelope snickered. 

Olivia opened her mouth to argue further but her attention was drawn away as someone approached them. The two female knights turned away from each other to see Gavin walking up. He them a small nod in greeting before stopping in front of them. “Morning.” he said before shifting his gaze onto Penelope. “Sorry if I’m interrupting. I just came so we could go to the meeting together.”

Penelope blinked and nodded her head. “Right, we should get going. I’ll see you later Olivia.” she said as she rose up to her feet. As the two parted ways from the other female knight, Penelope fell in step besides Gavin as they made their way towards the large tent at the center of camp. A silence fell between the two that made Penelope feel a bit awkward. It was the first time the two had been stuck alone since they had pretended to still be courting. She was glad that it looked like Gavin was intent on remaining as her friend but she couldn’t help but wonder where he was at emotionally now. The lieutenant glanced towards him, tempted to bring up the topic but also worried that it might undo any progress they had made. Deciding to keep her thoughts to herself, she focused her gaze ahead as the two arrived at the large tent.

As Gavin held back the flap for her, she stepped inside and looked to see that everyone else had already gathered. The barons were in their usual spots. Layth turned his head to send her a distrustful glare before looking away. Tomas shot her a warm smile. “Welcome back Penelope.” he greeted with a small nod. 

“Welcome back indeed.” Edward grumbled, narrowing his gaze on her. “Why did you not send us a letter before you returned?”

“Things happened so fast at the castle I didn’t get the chance to.” Penelope responded with a small shrug. 

Mia casted a glance at Edward before looking back to her lieutenant. “Regardless, we’re happy to have you back.” she assured with a hint of underlying sternness to her voice. Clearing her throat, the baroness glance around at the others gathered and gave a small smile. “Now that we’re all here, let us pick up where we last left off…”