BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As a silence fell over the group, Penelope let out a quiet sigh, glad that Gavin had finally stopped pushing the subject. Though she was firm in her decision to be with Crow, it did cause for her a feeling of unease to build in her when she thought about the job that she was leaving behind as well as how much she might have been able to do if she stayed. Even as the conversation ended, her thoughts about her plan and helping the outer villages lingered. The knight hoped Gavin would be willing to take over the idea she had, still believing it would be the best way to help all of the villages recover from the war.

As Crow spoke up, she finally broke away from her thoughts and welcomed the distraction quickly. She looked up at Crow and returned his smile. "Sounds good to me." she agreed. "Let's stop over there." Penelope nodded her head towards a clearing ahead of them. Gavin gave a small nod of acknowledgement to her words as he headed over to the small clearing. Once they reached it, the female knight placed her bag on the ground and rolled her shoulders.

She watched as the others got settled in. Olivia was quick to sit down and lean back against a nearby tree, still clearly dealing with her hangover. Gavin glanced over at her before moving to dig into his bag, pulling out an apple for himself to eat. Penelope moved to sit down in a grassy spot that was located in the shade of nearby tree. Glancing over at Crow, she patted the ground next to her, gesturing for him to join her.

"If you're hungry there should be some food in my bag here." she offered him as she leaned back on the palms of her hands. The knight had had a rather large breakfast so she wasn't feeling particularly hungry and decided that she could wait until they camped for the night before eating again.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Very cx

True lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope smiled up at Crow as he pressed a kiss to her head. She gave a small nod of agreement as he spoke about working from inside the village. She liked the sound of working with Crow to repair the villages while Gavin took charge of her previous plan. It sounded like it had the potential to be quite effective so the knight perked up a bit despite Gavin's comment afterwards. She glanced over at the male knight as he mentioned they could use her in the king's court and gave a small shrug.

However, she faltered slightly as he turned to her and insisted she'd be able to accomplish much more if she stuck around. The knight's smile faded and she shifted her gaze to the ground. "Don't think I haven't." she muttered with an edge in her voice. She was getting frustrated by his determination to try and make her see the possibilities she would be giving up. Though his words did stirr a bit of guilt in her, she had taken three days to figure out what she wanted for her future and she had already determined that it was Crow.

"Call me selfish but it isn't what I want." she stated, lifting her gaze to meet Gavin's sternly. "I didn't make my choice lightly, Gavin. I thought about it and took into consideration what I would be giving up and I still choose him." Penelope glanced up at Crow and gave the thief a small smile. "I'll still help the outer villages.. Just in a slightly different way."

Gavin frowned and looked back ahead. "The kingdom will lose a good knight then.."

"You'll just have to figure out a way to make up for my absence then. Surely it won't be that difficult." Penelope responded with a shrug.

Olivia suddenly let out a long groan. "You guys are so dull today." she sighed, clearly getting bored with the topic.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Gavin didn't stop easy xD mainly because it's actually a topic he cares about too lol

Also I kinda had this planned a bit but I'm thinking one of the reasons Penelope will spend so much time away from the frontlines with Crow at the castle is to try and work on getting a sorta relief program for the outer villages set up x3 She'll originally try to hand the plan over to Gavin until Crow decides to accept his father's offer then she'll pretty much realize that she can take it over again.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope glanced over at Crow as he began to speak about the king. The female knight frowned slightly, quick to recall exactly who the king was to him. It had been a bit of a shock to see the viceroy take over the throne after the old king's death, especially when she knew about what he had done in the past. She hadn't been the only one to dislike the new king either. Her father had also seemed rather displeased to learn who had become their new ruler. However, like him, they didn't voice their opinions and merely went about their work as usual.

After having just faced a failed noble rebellion, neither wanted word of their disapproval of the new king to get out. Luckily, Penelope didn't have to interact with him much at the time since most of her time back at the inner kingdom had been spent working with Mia and preparing for war. She let out a small sigh and glanced up at Crow, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

"There's only so much the villagers can do on their own." Gavin pointed out with a glance at Crow. "And it's not like they were thriving before either. The king is new and might be different from the last. He could just need a bit of a push before he'd be willing to help the outer villages."

Penelope shook her head. "I doubt it. Especially after a war when he's spent a good deal of gold funding it." she paused and gave a small shrug. "I know you want him to help the outer villages, Gavin, but you should know how tightly the king holds onto his money and power."

"If you believe that then why did you want to rise in status before?" Gavin asked her with a frown. "I thought you wanted to use it to help them too. Like I did."

Penelope flinched slightly at his words. There was a hint of hurt in them that was genuine that made her feel a bit guilty. They had had similar goals of helping the peasants, it was part of the reason she had grown so close to Gavin during her time apart from Crow, so she didn't doubt that her less than optimistic words stung a bit to the male knight.

"I did.." she mumbled averting her gaze. "I'm still trying to... But I just doubt it'll work with the king. If anything, I had plans to try and build a group of nobles that were willing to use a bit of their personal wealth and time to help the peasants after the war. I figure it would be the best way of approaching.. I mean, there's clearly nobles that care like us. Mia was willing to listen to me and try to protect the villagers with the new rule. Tomas is kind enough. All we would need is to get the king's permission to leave, which I figured would have been easier than asking for both time and money."

Before getting back together with Crow, it had been her plan for after the war. She had pictured her life after the war much differently than she did now. She would have married Gavin and then worked with him on the idea to help the outer villages. The male knight was rather charismatic when he wanted to be so she didn't doubt they could have worked together to convince a few nobles to pitch in. However, those plans were gone now. She only spoke of them now in hopes that Gavin might still use them after the war.

Gavin looked back ahead. "It's not a bad idea." he mused. "It might work."

"Well, after the war you should give it a try. I can help you develop it more before then." Penelope commented as she shifted closer to Crow, making it clear that she was firm in her decision.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Aww cx

Gavin's decided to switch up tactics a bit since he's trying to refrain from accusing Crow xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope listened as Crow talked about the village. She smiled as he described Aramoor to be quite the welcoming place by the sound of it. However, her smiled died down a bit as he went on to speak about how the war might have been affecting the village. The female knight shifted her gaze down for a moment as she thought about how much destruction the village must have been seeing. She had heard of the other battalion being stationed there and could already guess that the knights there didn't have a rule against fighting recklessly with the peasants around.

It was a rather gloomy reminder that, even though she had tried to help the villages, her high rank didn't extend very far and didn't do as much as she would have liked. She sympathized with Crow as he went on to quietly voice his concern about the villagers. Penelope gave him a half-hearted smile. His care for the outer villages had always been something that she greatly admired in him and she guessed that not being able to defend them all all the time was likely hard for the thief.

"Hopefully they're doing alright." she told him softly. Penelope doubted the war had been easy on the village but she wanted to ease his worry a bit. Besides, she was beginning to notice how hardy the peasants were despite the danger they and their homes were in because of the war. The people of Whitebridge were lively despite having gone through a few battles so perhaps Aramoor wasn't much different.

Penelope focused her gaze back ahead as they walked and let out a soft sigh. "I can't imagine how long it's going to take for the villages closest to the border to fully recover after this war."

"With any luck not too long.." Gavin mumbled, jumping in as he heard Penelope speak up. he glanced over his shoulder at her before quickly looking back ahead as he walked. "They should be offered some type of aid after this."

"That would be nice.. But we both know that's a bit unlikely." Penelope frowned.

Gavin shrugged his shoulders. "Unlikely but not impossible. Perhaps the king will see reason and help the villages recover." he paused before adding, "He just might need someone to help him see that reason."

He briefly met her gaze and Penelope quickly shifted her eyes away from his, already picking up what he was hinting at. Gavin thought it should be her. Part of her guessed that the male knight was trying to hint at one of the reasons why she should stay rather than leave with Crow. She hated to admit that a bit of what he was saying did still tempt her, especially when she thought about how what she would do once she left behind her life as a knight. However, she knew she wouldn't be happy if she left Crow again. Perhaps it was a bit selfish but he was what she wanted. Besides, Crow helped the villages despite his status, so she was certain she could do the same.

"Perhaps you should speak with him then." Penelope replied, with a bit of edge to her voice so Gavin wouldn't push the subject.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope gave a small chuckle at Crow's words and leaned into him as he touched a kiss to her lips. Caught up in her excitement, the knight had nearly forgotten about Gavin so as the male knight cleared his throat, she blinked and took a step back from Crow. She nodded her head in agreement, avoiding meeting Gavin's gaze out of mild embarrassment for getting a bit caught up in the moment, one she had wished would have lasted just a little longer. However, she settled for walking at Crow's side with his hand in hers.

She listened as the two discussed the river. She was glad to see that neither of them seemed to be prodding each other. There was still a bit of tension, mainly from Gavin, but if things continued as they were, it wouldn't be much to worry about. She felt a bit relieved to know that Crow was keeping his word to her. Penelope looked over at the thief as he changed the subject.

"No I haven't." She replied with a small shake of her head. She smiled up at him. "I look forward to seeing it then.. Even if it'll only really be a passing glance." The knight doubted they'd have much free time once they reached the village. They'd be busy trying to find out what they could about the band of thieves after all. However, she was still looking forward to seeing another part of the outer villages with Crow just like she had back when they had first made plans to be together.

Penelope shifted a little closer to him as they walked. "WHat's it like there anyways? I haven't heard much about Aramoor before."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

No worries! I had work all day anyways cx I'll get started on my reply in a moment!