A silence fell over the trio as Penelope trailed behind Olivia and Rory through the camp. Still simmering down from the confrontation with her brother, a new emotion began to take over. Her face was slightly red, not from anger but from embarrassment. Layth may have spat some hateful words at her first, but she was the one that made a scene out of it this time and in front of the prisoner no less. [i]Gods... we must seem dysfunctional.[/i] she groaned inwardly. The female knight snuck a glance towards Rory, attempting to gauge the enemy knight's reaction to the scuffle. Surprisingly, she found that Rory was glancing her way, looking curiously towards her. "Sooo.... that was your brother?" Rory finally worked up the nerve to speak. "Unfortunately, yes." Penelope sighed. "He seems...like a lot." Penelope snorted and Olivia didn't bother to hold back a short laugh. "Oh kid you have no idea. You should be glad her brother didn't have more say in the matter regarding your time here. I can assure you it would not be pleasant." Olivia snickered. "I picked up on that during the meeting." Rory admitted with a slight cringe. His attention quickly turned back to Penelope. "I understand why though, considering I am from the enemy kingdom but...why was he on your case so badly? And what's this about a thief playing noble?" Penelope paused as he questioned her, unsure why he would even care about their personal affairs. Perhaps he was just nosy or he was looking for subtle ways to learn more about Brerra for whenever he was able to get back to his battalion. Regardless, the knight didn't feel comfortable with giving him any details into her personal life. "I'm not sure why you're asking but it's none of your business." she replied with a sigh. Rory shrugged and shifted his gaze away. "I was just wondering... we heard a rumor from one of our southern battalions that a local thief had become the viceroy... I thought maybe it was regarding him." At the mention of Crow, Penelope whipped her gaze back over to the enemy knight with newfound interest. "You've heard about him? Does that mean he's safely past your borders now?" she asked without restraint. Her previous hesitation to speak went out the window as soon as the opportunity to find out if Crow and the others had made it safely into Younis presented itself. She busied herself to keep her mind from worrying about the potential threats Crow may be facing on his journey so any information about his travel she could get was instantly appreciated. The sight of her caving so easily made Olivia give a soft laugh as she glanced over at the two. Rory raised an eyebrow at them. "As far as I know, yeah. I know they sent some knights to escort the group and that everyone's been talking about how he used to steal from us and now he's one of the highest ranks one can receive... So it was him that your brother was referring to afterall?" he asked. With brief hesitation, Penelope merely nodded her head. There was no sense in denying it now. The only additional information this Younisian had was that she was courting the thief turned viceroy, something that was likely a very minor detail in the grand scheme of things. For a moment, Rory didn't say anything and let a brief silence fall over the group. He finally broke it by quietly muttering, "Gods, Brerra is so strange." Neither of the female knights replied to him though as their focus instead turned to leading him onward through the camp. Penelope could still feel Rory’s gaze lingering on her as she walked but she refused to address it further. The less this random Younisian knight knew about her, the better. Eventually the trio made it to where Gavin organized the holding tent. The makeshift prison wasn’t much different from any other tent aside from the fact that there was a set of cuffs and chains to keep the prisoner from wandering too far without permission. Since this was merely an enemy knight and not an infamous thief, Penelope doubted they had to worry too much about some grand escape but in this case, it was better safe than sorry. She stood to the side as Olivia escorted Rory over to the chains and turned to face Gavin as he stepped over to her side. “I can help you with setting up a proper guard schedule for him.” Gavin offered and gave a small sigh. “Hopefully he doesn’t have to stay here too long though.” “With any luck, things will simmer down in the coming weeks and he can be released.” Penelope murmured in agreement. “And I’ll take you up on that offer. Actually, if you could start setting that up for the rest of the day, I’d be grateful. I can watch over him until then.” “I’ll get to it then.” Gavin nodded before turning to see himself out of the tent. “And make sure the night guards bring him something for supper!” Penelope called over her shoulder. As Gavin gave a quick thumbs up as he walked off, she smiled a little and then turned her attention back over to Olivia and Rory, listening into whatever conversation the other female knight must have started with the Younisian knight. “I mean, sure I was scouting the area too but it’s not like I was trying to spy on anyone. Had I known it would turn into this, I would have just slept in late this morning.” Rory pouted, while Olivia snickered. Penelope sighed, knowing her friend well enough to guess that now that things were quieting down she was taking stabs at the enemy knight’s pride. “It was truly poor timing but with a bit of patience you’ll be back with your kingdom soon and unscathed.” Penelope added on a hopeful note as she decided to jump into the conversation. Rory shifted his gaze over to her and then lowered it slightly to the chains that were now attached to his wrists. “I guess… I just don’t understand why I have to be kept here. All I heard was that you guys weren’t planning on attacking for sometime. I don’t see how that information could affect anything. We’re the ones still recovering from the last battle after all.” he said pleadingly as he glanced nervously between the two female knights. Penelope studied him for a moment. The knight knew she wasn’t the best at judging when a person was lying or not-it was a craft she had yet to master-but the young knight in front of her seemed to genuinely think that the information he had heard was harmless. She let out a long sigh and crossed her arms. A serious expression crossed her visage as she met his gaze. “Your leaders will know how to use that information to your battalion’s advantage though. Especially if they know we’re only acting defensively right now. It might even encourage them to attack sooner. Our kingdom is trying to find a peaceful resolution to this war right now and if information like that was used to turn the tides of this war, peace might not come. So that’s why we have to keep you here.” Rory frowned at her words, shrinking slightly as she spoke with conviction. Despite this, the knight still noticed him give a moment to pause and mull over her words. The young knight didn’t appear to want to throw in the towel on this discussion quite yet, which was a bit surprising since he hadn’t seemed very stubborn. Penelope could nearly picture the wheels of his mind spinning fast as he stared at the ground for a moment with his lips pressed into a thin line. When an idea finally sparked, he lifted his head back up eagerly to meet her gaze. “W-Well what if our battalions made a truce then?” he asked, stuttering over his words with excitement. “A truce?” Olivia echoed confusedly. “Yeah! I mean, this war has been dragging on for so long some of my own comrades have been out here nearly a year and it’s not like we particularly enjoy battles either,” Rory rambled on. “But if your kingdom is seeking peace right now and your battalion doesn’t want to fight, you might be able to convince my barons into setting up a truce until further notice. T-that way no more blood is shed until either our kingdoms reach a peaceful agreement or..or we keep fighting for sure. What do you think?” “It would be a nice break.” Olivia mused, not bothering to hide her interest at the idea. “Maybe… But if the Younisians don’t agree, we might be put at a disadvantage…” Penelope mumbled hesitantly. It’d be lying to say the suggestion didn’t entice her. A truce until negotiations were done would mean both battalions could be at ease for a bit and the outer villages could also get a break from being part of the gruesome battlefields. However, if the Younisians rejected the idea, her battalion may be pushed into acting offensively sooner rather than later. “I-It’s something to think about! You wouldn’t even have to mention the thing about your battalion backing off from the war and I promise I won’t mention anything… If you let me go back, I mean.” Rory said, seeming encouraged by the reactions he was getting. Penelope opened her mouth to say something more but was cut off as the flap of the tent shifted and two knights walked in. One carried a small bowl of stew in his hands, a simple detail that let her know that these were guards sent by Gavin. As they dipped their head to her and announced they were there to take over watch, Penelope nodded her head and exchanged a glance with Olivia before moving to leave the tent. The two women headed out into their camp in a silence that didn’t last long. “Sooooooo…. Are you going to try to get a truce set up?” Olivia asked curiously. “I don’t know… It’s not a bad idea, but I’m not sure I, or any of us, could convince our own enemies to lay down their weapons for a peace that hasn’t been negotiated yet..” Penelope sighed. “You convinced many snotty nobles and the king himself. What’s a couple more Younisian barons?” Olivia smirked, elbowing her friend encouragingly. “I say go for it! Plus if we’re in a truce, that means we can really make the most of our stay in the outer villages! I’m thinking we visit all those taverns again but for play not for work.” Penelope laughed at Olivia’s suggestion. “I’ll think about it, I promise. Still, it’s a bit different than convincing people of the same kingdom. I don’t really know anyone over there.” Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out… Anyways, let's go get dinner! I’m starving and someone’s got a big duel in the morning! Come on!” she grinned as she hooked one arm around her friend’s shoulders to drag her towards the dining area. “Oh gods don’t remind me.” Penelope groaned as she allowed her friend to drag her along to supper. With a lot to consider and the duel she had challenged her brother to set for tomorrow morning, Penelope made quick work of her meal and retired to her tent at an early hour. Sleep did not come easy though. Her mind kept thinking of various angles at which she could possibly convince the Younisian nobles to stand down from attacking until word was received from the negotiations. While she ran through different scenarios, Layth would occasionally come to mind. The knight mentally kicked herself for challenging him to a duel in the first place. Though there wasn’t much on the line other than pride, she felt ashamed for ever setting it up in the first place.[i] Gods if only I had kept my big mouth shut… damnit I need to sleep.. [/i]Penelope groaned and buried her face into her pillow. After a while of tossing and turning to try and settle her mind, the knight eventually drifted off into a light slumber with her stomach churning anxiously for the duel that she’d be facing off with in the morning.