Hello! This is Buzzingbee! I used to be on here as BuzzBee but I had some trouble. I had issues in real life that made me go off for a while and then when I was going to come back on, passwords, emails, etc were forgotten and lost. xD But I'm back and ready to jump into where I left off!
The rest of her day went rather blandly. She spent all of it in the library writing letters to various nobles, both responses to the ones that had replied as well as new ones as she went down the list that Jonathan had given her. The knight was careful with her wording when it came to the couple of barons that the other lieutenant had marked for being difficult. She needed as much support as she could gather so she intended to tread carefully. If it took a couple more letters than just one to convince them, then so be it.
Eventually she finished with the business letters but by then it was already getting close to supper. She put her quill down for a moment and rubbed her right hand. It was beginning to get sore from all the writing she had been doing that day. Leaning back in her chair, she let out a long sigh and glanced towards one of the nearby windows. Due to the dip in the light coming in, she could tell it was getting close to time for her to leave. Luckily she had finished most of her letters. The only ones she had left to complete were the ones to Olivia and Gavin. A bit mentally tired, she decided that a break was necessary before she did those.
Figuring she could do them during the time she'd help Crow with his letter, she collected her things and neatly folded up her papers. She headed out of the library and to her room, putting away her letters with the intent of sending them off with a messenger in the morning. Once they were safe on her table, she headed out of her room and to the Great Hall for dinner.
When she reached it, she glanced around for any familiar faces but seeing neither Crow nor Naida—or even Cedric for that matter—she soon looked for an empty spot instead. Penelope located an empty table off to the side and headed over to it. Sitting down, she let out a small yawn and waited for her food to be served.
Penelope smiled a little more as she noticed him perk up at her suggestion. Though she didn't particularly like that he wouldn't speak to her about whatever was bothering him, she was at least glad her suggestion seemed to lift his spirits up a bit. She nodded her head as he said he could use the help. "We'll do that then." she promised. As his eyes suddenly widened, she raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what had suddenly hit him.
She blinked as he mentioned his lesson and nodded her head. "You better hurry then, he'll probably chew your head off you take too much longer." she smirked. The knight stretched her arms and stood as he readied to leave. "I better get going too.. I've got a lot of writing to do today. See you later." she said with a small smile before beginning to walk off her own way towards the library.
Now alone, she quietly studied the sealed letters in her hand as she walked, feeling a bit nervous about opening them. The library wasn't very far from the Great Hall so she reached the large room rather quickly, which didn't give her much time to dwell on her nervousness. She found an empty table and set her letters down there before moving to grab the supplies she would need to make responses. Once she had, she sat down and began to open up the letters, deciding it was time to see if she had made any progress.
The first letter she started out with reading was the one from the barons of her battalion. It was a rather basic response that was written by Mia, who also included details about how Gavin was doing in filling her space as well as how Edward refused to see reason when came to the war but the baroness made it fully clear that she wasn't giving up quite yet. Attached to the main letter was a letter from Bennett. It was formally written support for the war's end that made a smile spread across her lips. That was one more baron backing her than before.
She went on to read the other letters from the other nobles she had written to and found with joy that she had gotten a good number of positive responses. Two barons from the battalions west of her own wrote letters of support and so did a couple of the nobles from the inner kingdom. Of course, with good came bad though. A few letters of protest came in. There was one baron that had replied with a letter clearly filled with rage at her campaign and even demanded that she cease her attempt to call to a peaceful end to the war, claiming that 'if she was too cowardly to fight, she could always stay in the inner kingdom and become a proper lady rather than trying to make their kingdom cower to the enemy'. His scornful words made her roll her eyes and she was quick to merely toss the letter. The baron was a fool and she saw no point in dwelling on his words. The gods had given her a task to do and she planned to see it through to the end, even if she had to go through a few people on the way.
The other downside was that she never received anything from Oliver Lenz. She had really been hoping that the vassal would reply with support but she supposed that he likely ended up ignoring her letter due to his wife. She let out a soft sigh, a bit disappointed since he knew a great deal of other higher ranking nobles.
Saving personal for last, she eyed the two remaining letters which were from Gavin and Olivia. She opened Gavin's first and read over his letter. It seemed things were faring well enough for the male knight as he recounted how he had been adjusting to the new, more permanent position of lieutenant. He also responded to her previous letter with a word of congratulations. An amused smirk crossed her lips as he briefly mentioned the shock and upset that had taken over the battalion at the news of Crow becoming viceroy. He ended his letter by wishing her and Crow well and hoping that her efforts to end the war would pay off.
Dear Penelope,
I'm glad to hear that the ceremony went over well. I mean, as well as one could have expected. Congratulations to Collin—I hear he's going by that now, yes?—and you. Things here have been fine. War remains the same. A stalemate but at least we are no longer suffering from the missing supplies. As for taking over your job more fully, it's been a bit of a strange change. Tomas is encouraging and Mia's trust in me seems to be growing. Especially after the uproar that occurred when your letters arrived. Most people here were not happy to say the least. They were shocked by the news of a thief taking the position of viceroy and protests arose all over camp. Luckily Tomas and Mia managed to calm everyone down. Things aren't quite back to normal but with the war going on, I feel that they'll soon be distracted from who the new viceroy is. Regardless, I wish you and Collin well with your work in the inner kingdom. Hopefully your efforts to end the war will pay off soon.
Sincerely, Gavin Hyde.
Olivia's letter was a bit different. She described in detail the outrage that took over the camp, specifically from Penelope's own brother. Layth apparently had even tried to request a temporary leave so he could try and talk the king out of his decision and it had nearly been approved until Mia and Tomas stepped. Apparently with their efforts, they got everyone to focus back on the war rather than what was happening in the inner kingdom. She was also quick to tease Penelope about the dilemma with Naida that she had mentioned in her previous letter and questioned why it was such a big deal to even keep it a secret from the princess. Olivia ended it with a casual goodbye and mentioned being eager to hear how things had developed since her last letter. Penelope let out a sigh and then smiled amusedly as she finished reading her friend's letter.
Penelope,
You must have written us quick! Is the castle so dull that you already miss us? Anyways, I wish I could have been there for the ceremony, I'm sure it was quite entertaining. Although, things were quite entertaining here when your letters arrived. People were pissed and started demanding the barons write to the king to try and change his mind. Your uncle was on board with that but Mia wasn't. She seemed oddly accepting of the new viceroy. Your baroness is quite strange. Oh! And your brother was quite the mess. He had to try and take it a step further. Instead of just settling for a letter, he wanted to march all the way to the castle to talk the king out of his decision. From what I heard, Edward was even on board with it. Of course, that didn't happen as you can probably guess. Mia and Tomas manage to cool everyone's heads by focusing attention back to Younis. In fact, I hear talk of another battle coming soon. Gavin tried to help them but honestly, no one really takes him seriously right now since they think you'll be back soon enough. Also, I'm glad to hear that Naida's there to cause you trouble when I'm not. Even if that's not her intention. That's hilarious that she's trying to pair up you and Collin (I heard he's going by this now?? What a pity.. Seriously ruined the one secret about him I did know). I wish I could be there to see you two both floundering with that ha! In all seriousness, why can't you just tell her? I don't even see why you two are trying to hide it now that he's viceroy. Hurry up so I can be the one to tell your brother the news. I can't wait to see his face when he finds out. Well that's all I have to say. Write back soon! I can't wait to hear how things are going there at the castle.
- Olivia
Having gone through all the letters she received, it was finally time to begin writing more. She stretched her arms and then picked up her quill as she began with responses first.
Penelope frowned a little as he said he didn't want to speak about it. Given his history, it made the knight a bit uneasy and she was reluctant to just accept his words even as she felt him give her hand a squeeze. Aside from the whole incident with Jaxon, he had kept other serious things a secret from her, like his illness and the one time he had been thinking of ending things between them. So just ignoring how he was currently acting was going to be difficult for the knight.
"I'm not sure I trust your judgment about what's important," she admitted with a soft sigh. "but I'll let it go for now if you're so sure.." She paused and then gave him a stern look. "If it keeps bugging you though I'm not going to let it go so easily next time though."
She shifted her gaze back down to her food and took another bite, letting a small silence fall between them for a moment. Though she admittedly didn't like just dropping the topic, especially since he seemed bother by it, it all just came from a place of concern for him. The knight side glanced at him with a thoughtful. She might not have known what was bothering him specifically but she wanted to try and help him if she could, even if she didn't know what it was. An idea struck her and she turned back to the viceroy.
"By the way, I finally got some responses today." she mused, suddenly pulling out the letters from her pocket. "With any luck, a few of them will call for the end of the war." Penelope shrugged then looked over at Crow with a small smile. The knight lowered her voice as she added, "I was thinking, if you want, I could stop by your room this evening to help you write a letter to Hazel and the others. I could just send it attached to the one I'm going to write Olivia since I'm sure she'd be able to deliver it for you. I don't doubt that she's still seeing Alistair after all."
Penelope tilted her head slightly as he looked at her blankly. It seemed that he had been staring off or lost in thought, things that weren't too common for the thief unless something was weighing heavily on his mind. Again the knight wished she could ask him if something was wrong. He seemed quite different that morning but she couldn't even guess why. Surely he wasn't worried about Adam's complaining nor did it seem to come from his dislike of Cedric.
She gave a small nod to his words and shifted her gaze back onto her food as Preston arrived with Crow's portion. The knight ate slowly, silently worrying if something was troubling the former thief. Her gaze occasionally flickered over to him but she was unsure what to say. At one point she noticed that he was eating rather hesitantly, which was an even bigger sign that he was in fact troubled by something. Subtly, she shifted to let her leg press into his under the table. She wished she could do more than just the subtle gesture but with others around, she wasn't able to.
"So do you have a guard shift today, Cedric?" she asked focusing her gaze over on the other knight who had been eying Crow.
His gaze shifted over to her and he nodded his head. "Yeah a midday... which unfortunately means I should probably get going soon." he sighed. Penelope noticed him glance briefly down at her plate, which still had a bit of food on it due to how slowly she had been eating, then look back up to her. "Maybe I'll catch you for dinner."
"Maybe." Penelope shrugged and offered a smile as he stood up to leave. "See ya, Cedric"
He gave a small wave to her and turned to walk off. The knight felt rather relieved to have him leave so soon, glad that her idea to wait his company out had worked. She watched him leave, waiting until he was nearly out the door before turning to Crow and eying him concernedly. "So... Is everything alright?" she asked softly.
She watched as the viceroy made his way over to their table, noticing that he seemed a bit reluctant. Though she was a bit confused why, she didn't think much of it at first, guessing it had something to do with Cedric. She was also quick to notice that when he sat down next to her, he didn't leave as much room as usual. Penelope glanced over at him before glancing to Cedric, thinking the former thief was just acting out of protectiveness.
However she soon second guessed herself as he turned to address her with what she guessed to be a fake, half smile. The knight studied him for a brief moment, trying to figure out what was off about the viceroy. She wanted to just ask him but with Cedric right across the table, she knew she couldn't. "Just writing letters. Mainly to the list Jonathan, one of the lieutenants I met with here, gave me." she explained with a shrug.
"Speaking of him," Cedric spoke up. "I thought you two couldn't stand each other?"
"In the past no. He was obnoxiously competitive. He's settled down since then though so we're on better terms." Penelope explained with a small shrug.
Cedric gave a small nod. "Well I hope he's able to help you out." he mused before taking a bite of his food.
Penelope nodded in agreement before her gaze drifted down to the male knight's food. An idea struck her as she noticed that he was nearly finished with his meal. She still had a good portion of her own left so if she slowed down enough, perhaps her and Crow could still get a moment alone. That is, if Cedric left as soon as he finished his food. There was quite a bit she wanted to talk to him about but none of it was stuff she could bring up with the other knight hanging around them. Deciding it was worth a try regardless, she turned back to Crow, planning to use conversing as her reason for eating so slowly.
"What about you? More lessons I'm guessing?" she mused as she poked at her plate.
Hello! This is Buzzingbee! I used to be on here as BuzzBee but I had some trouble. I had issues in real life that made me go off for a while and then when I was going to come back on, passwords, emails, etc were forgotten and lost. xD But I'm back and ready to jump into where I left off!
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Hello! This is Buzzingbee! I used to be on here as BuzzBee but I had some trouble. I had issues in real life that made me go off for a while and then when I was going to come back on, passwords, emails, etc were forgotten and lost. xD But I'm back and ready to jump into where I left off! </div>
