"Let me guess... You're expected to escort Crow back to the inner kingdom, correct?" Mia questioned as soon as they stepped into her tent. The baroness walked over to her desk and let out a small sigh. "Well if it's ordered by the king, there's not much I can say against it so don't worry about your duties here."
"I'm not... Not exactly at least." Penelope answered shaking her head. Seeming to catch Mia off guard with her reply, the baroness turned around to face her lieutenant with a questioning gaze. Penelope met her gaze with a look of determination. She had to get Mia to understand that the war needed to end and that it was more reasonable for her to return to the inner kingdom. "When I traveled to the inner kingdom, I-I began to realize that this war needs to end. With how's it's going right now, there will be no victors. It's a constant back and forth with no one gaining the upper hand. Both kingdoms will be weakened greatly by it and the only difference between winner and loser will be who just barely manages to hold out longer."
Mia studied Penelope with an intrigued gaze. "So... what are you suggesting we do to end it?"
"A peaceful resolution." she responded. The lieutenant paused for a moment and shuffled her feet. "I actually spoke to the king about this while I was at the castle.."
"And what did he think?"
"I'm not sure.. He wanted time to think on it but he didn't outright reject the idea." Penelope explained. "And that's why I want to return to the inner kingdom. I think I can get him to look for a peaceful end to this war. So.. I was hoping, you'd let me take a leave from this battalion."
"I see.." Mia frowned a little. "And how do you plan on persuading him?"
"Well, hopefully through gaining the support of other nobles. Namely barons that are on the frontlines and I'm not just talking about the ones in this battalion. If I can dedicate my time to campaigning for the wars end in the inner kingdom and gain enough support, the king won't see any reason to continue the war. Not only that, but I also want to start preparing my plans for the end of this war to help the outer villages." Penelope gave her a pleading smile. "What do you think?"
"It's not bad.. I agree that this war has been a stalemate for far too long.. But I am reluctant to lose my lieutenant." Mia sighed.
"I know but with any luck, the war won't last much longer if I'm able to leave... Besides, it seems Gavin was taking my place just fine anyways. Perhaps he could continue to fill in for me?" she mused hopefully.
Mia pursed her lips together for a long while and let out a sigh. "He's been doing well... But I still need time to think this over... Give me until the end of the day. I'm sure you're hoping to leave again tomorrow with that thief."
"Yes.. Thank you Mia." Penelope said with a polite smile. It wasn't a yes yet but hopefully by the end of the day it would be. She dipped her head gratefully to her baroness and then turned to head out of the tent. Almost as soon as she stepped outside she was quickly crowded by Olivia and Gavin, both clearly looking for answers. She was a bit surprised to see Gavin so curious about what was happening but she supposed it was because even he couldn't come up with a solid explanation.
"Soooo~ Are you going to tell us what the hell is going on or not?" Olivia grinned giving her friend a nudge.
"I'd like to at least be prepared if it's some other crazy plan.." Gavin mumbled.
"No crazy plans to worry about this time." Penelope assured him with a small smile. Her gaze shifted over to Olivia and she narrowed her eyes. "I think I let you hang in suspense a little longer. Consider it pay back for never telling me about Naida being a princess." She shook her head and glanced over at Gavin. "Sorry, you're just a casualty."
"Oh so you finally found out?" Olivia snickered.
"Hold on, Naida is King Mannering's daughter?" Gavin gawked in sudden surprise. He shot Olivia a small glare. "Why didn't you mention something to us before?"
"I thought it was common knowledge... And if it wasn't, I didn't want to miss out on you making that exact expression." Olivia laugh and then gave a disappointed sigh as she looked back to Penelope. "I'm bummed that I didn't get to see your reaction to it though. Such a waste."
Penelope rolled her eyes at her friend. "Whatever. Come on there's still work to do. I'm certain no one's going to get a tent ready for him and we still need to spread word around that he isn't to be harmed."
---
After spending most the day setting up a tent and making sure the night guards knew not to attack Crow, she grabbed a quick supper and then headed off to see Mia, feeling rather nervous. Crow would likely be arriving soon after she spoke to the baroness and she could only hope that she'd have good news for him. At the very least, she was glad they wouldn't have to wait until the next morning to find out if she'd be staying or going.
Penelope stepped into Mia's tent again and dipped her head to the baroness. Mia looked up from her desk and gestured for her to come closer. Walking over, she subtly eyed the piece of paper that Mia was writing on before focusing her gaze on her baroness.
"I've made my decision." Mia sighed and rolled up the two pieces of paper neatly before turning to face Penelope. "I will allow you to go to the inner kingdom but only for two months. If there is no sign of the war ceasing by then, I expect you to return to the battlefront here... Here. One of these is for the king, I wrote to him in support of your decision to end the war, and the other is excusing you from the warfront. Just in case anyone questions your stay in the inner kingdom." She held out the rolled up pages to Penelope.
The knight felt a wave of relief and excitement wash over her as Mia gave her approval to take a leave from the warfront. Unable to hold it back, the knight smiled as she graciously took the paper Mia offered to her. "Thank you, Mia. I promise I'll do everything I can to get the king to end this war." she promised.
"I'm sure you will... Now then, carry on with whatever you were doing. I'm assuming that thief is coming soon, correct?" Mia asked.
"I believe so." she nodded.
"Well, I hope so." Mia sighed and turned back to her desk. "I've heard Layth is keeping an eye out for his arrival... With a small patrol readied if he doesn't come. I'd suggest you join your brother. Knowing him, he'll still try to use what force he can."
"Right." Penelope gave a small frown before nodding her head. She turned and headed out of the tent towards where Layth had taken up a guard station. Upon reaching her brother, she noticed he was barely even keeping an eye out and was instead speaking with a comrade about plans on where to search for the thief. The knight rolled her eyes and stepped over to the two.
"Those plans of yours are going to be useless once he gets here." she mused casually as she stepped over to them.
Layth turned to her and let out a snort. "We'll see. I'm not gullible enough to believe that he'd just willingly return."
"No.. But perhaps you are foolish enough to believe he won't." Penelope muttered under her breath, focusing her gaze on the distance ahead of them as she waited alongside Layth and his comrade for Crow's arrival.
