The rest of the meeting was interesting to say the least. With her uncle suddenly offering unwavering support, Penelope found convincing the other two barons much easier. Mia eventually came to agree with her, while Bennet seemed to blindly follow the lead of the older barons. All in all, things seemed to be going in her favor now that Edward saw value in her. Off-handedly, it made her wonder how far his loosely founded and power hungry loyalty would go. After all, her uncle had been her strongest opposition in the past when suggesting plans and ideas to the barons. The lieutenant could only hope that this new development would mean her remaining time on the war front would go smoothly.

"Alright, it's settled then. We'll only act defensively until further notice." Mia announced once the barons had all come to agreement. 

"This is absurd.." Layth growled under his breath. One glance at the lieutenant and could easily tell he was fuming over the decision as his face was scrunched into an furious expression and his gaze was ice cold. Still, with so many voices against himself, he didn't protest any further. 

"For now, you four will be tasked with organizing scouts and making sure our battalion remains on alert. We may be playing defensive but that's no excuse to get sloppy or let our guard down." Edward grunted. 

"Of course. Consider it taken care of." Tomas said with a firm nod. 

As the meeting was dismissed, the lieutenants gathered outside the tent to discuss the tasks at hand. In the end, Tomas and Gavin went on to take over organizing the scouts and left the two siblings to make sure the battalion remained battle ready. Penelope crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Tomas and Gavin walk off before slowly turning her head to face her brother. The female knight let out a sigh, far from thrilled to be stuck working with her irritable brother.

"So... I'm thinking we could start by taking note of our weapon and armor inventory. Playing defense is going to rough on the metal since Younis will likely be encouraged to strike more often." Penelope suggested.

"No. We'll start with gathering some of our knights for a sparring session. Thanks to your oh so wonderful idea, they're going to need to be kept sharp and battle ready at all times." Layth growled, his tone making it clear that he didn't want any arguments. 

Penelope narrowed her eyes at her brother but didn't fight against his decision and merely gave a curt nod. Though making their comrades go through sparring more regularly wasn't at the top of her list, his idea wasn't completely terrible and it wasn't something worth fighting him about. "Fine by me." she muttered. Layth didn't say anything and just gave a faint nod before stiffly turning to lead the way off to the camp's sparring grounds. Letting him have his way, the female lieutenant fell in behind her brother.

---

The rest of the day went by relatively smoothly. Despite having to work with a bitter half brother, the two lieutenants managed to keep their focus on overseeing the sparring sessions. For the most part at least. Layth occasionally belittled her whenever the opportunity presented itself and Penelope found it difficult to always keep her tongue restrained so she did lash out to defend herself a couple times. Once the sparring session ended, Penelope wasted no time in separating from her brother, both due to his foul attitude as well as her own hunger that had built up over the course of the day. 

Penelope grabbed a plate of food and sat down near one of the fires, letting out a breath of relief as she was finally able to relax after the long day. Uncommitedly, she glanced around to see if she could spot Olivia or Gavin before ultimately giving up. It seemed that she would be enjoy supper alone that evening. The lieutenant let her thoughts wander as she thought over what actions to take next now that the barons had approved her idea. Though she wanted to make sure the war ended peacefully, she still had to make sure her battalion remained prepared for the attacks from Younis. As she sat in thought, she ate her meal, letting her mind roam over possible strategies as well as what she could work on in the coming days. 

Eventually, the knight finished her meal and decided it was time to retire to her bed. Stepping into her tent, she took off her armour and settled in for the night. It was long after she laid down that she fell into a rather deep sleep.