BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

"So, right now we're just writing out invitations. Oliver's busy adding the location and time to the ones I made the other day so it'll be up to you and me to finish off the new ones. Especially since now we have a decent idea for how many people we're inviting thanks to you, your highness." Dimia explained with a gracious dip of her head to Naida that nearly made Penelope snort.

Like most nobles, Dimia was sucking up to the princess as much as she possibly could now that they were in each other's companies. It hadn't taken but a few seconds for Penelope to figure that out. The only amusing part about it was how it seemed to be having the opposite effect. Penelope met Naida's gaze as her friend glanced over at her with a wrinkled nose, clearly not impressed by the display Dimia was putting on. The knight bit back a smirk and instead focused her gaze back onto Dimia. "Well that's great. Hopefully we can get all of these sent out by tomorrow morning." she mused then glanced over at her friend. "Are you helping out today too, Naida?"

"Yep!" Naida perked up as she was addressed. "Tybalt gave me the day off and I figured I might as well lend you a hand. Especially with the deadline coming up quick."

"Only a few days now.." Oliver murmured in agreement from his spot, not bothering to pause as he continued to write.

Penelope shifted a bit uneasily at the reminder of the short time left before the party. Though she would have the following days open to focus solely on it—she really owed her father for that—the knight couldn't help but worry about everything there was to do. She let out a breath and tried to focus on what was in front of her for now before she could spiral into the worry she felt. "Thanks, Naida. I really appreciate it." she told her friend with a small smile. Looking back to Dimia, she gave her shoulders a small shrug. "Let's get to work then."

The knight moved to take up a small corner of the desk, picking up one of the quills that had been laid out and dipping it into the ink. Naida moved up to take a spot besides her while Dimia left the two alone for now to write near Oliver. She caught the noblewoman supervising his work while she slowly did her own. Penelope shook her head and looked down at the blank paper in front of her. Dimia had set up one invitation for reference. The noblewoman wanted each one to be as identical to each other as possible. It would be a tedious task to try to match the writing style but not wanting to cause any arguments about it, Penelope got to work. She already had a feeling her hand would be cramping by the end of it though.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah xD I could see that lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope waited for Crow to decide on whether or not he wanted the extra help with his writing. When he stated that he'd try it alone first, she nodded her head and rose up to her feet. "Alright, good luck with your letter and lesson then." she told him, returning his smile. "Hopefully I'll see you later, Crow." Though they weren't always able to catch each other for every meal, she was at least glad that they had gotten breakfast together, especially with all the good news they both had. Feeling positive because of it, she turned headed out of the Great Hall and began to make her way alone to the Lenz's room, guessing that they had likely already returned there from breakfast.

Upon reaching the room, she stopped outside and knocked on the door. It didn't take long before it opened up and she was surprised by who was waiting on the other side. Naida popped out from behind the door and a wide grin crossed over lips as her gaze landed on her friend. "Penelope! There you are! I was waiting for you to get here!" she said excitedly. Before Penelope could say anything, Dimia appeared from behind the princess with her arms crossed.

"Yes, we all were." she mused impatiently.

"Well I'm here now." Penelope said with a shrug. While Dimia still didn't seem pleased, she didn't say anymore and just gestured for the two to come inside the room. Naida exchanged a glance with her friend before ducking back inside the room. The knight gave the princess a small smile and then followed the group into the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Soooo, more letters?" Naida asked curiously, eying the folded up letters in her hand.

"Ah not for the war. They're just from Olivia and Gavin." Penelope explained as she folded them up and tucked them away in her pocket. As she looked back to the princess, she raised an eyebrow at Naida's disheartened expression. "What's that look for?" she asked with a small sigh.

"Well... You're still talking to Gavin? I thought you two stopped courting.." Naida asked under her breath with a glance towards Dimia, who had walked across the room to the desk where the invitations appeared to be laid out.

Penelope rolled her eyes as she realized why her friend seemed disappointed. Naida must have been worried about her going back to her old suitor. Hearing her friend worrying about it now amused her a bit as it reminded her of how Crow had voiced similar concern. Of course, back then he had turned out to be correct about his assumptions towards Gavin's intention. Now, she was certain there wasn't anything to worry about though. "We did. We're just friends now." she said with a shake of her head. Before Naida could push anymore, she turned her attention over to Dimia. "I'm going to go see what Dimia needs help with." she stated before heading over to join the noblewoman at the desk.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same xD I feel like Olivia's just going to keep avoiding it for as long as she can until she realizes her feelings lol

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope nodded her head in agreement as Crow scoffed. While she doubted her brother was out for innocent blood, she still found his intentions to try and remove the rule ridiculous. Knowing Layth, he was likely blaming their lack of progress on the rule. He had been against it from the beginning after all, thinking that it was holding them back as a fighting force. It wasn't difficult for her to guess he was getting just as worn out by the stalemate as everyone else and needed something to blame it on since his pride wouldn't allow him to accept a different option.

As Crow went on to agree with her sentiment about the war ending, she gave a small smile. "Well hopefully that someone is us then." she mused. The knight ate more of her food, chewing thoughtfully as she recalled what she had heard and read about past wars. They had certainly been depicted with much more glory and honor than the one they were currently fighting. It made her believe that those still pushing for victory instead of an end to it were just too stubborn and prideful to back down. She just hoped the king wasn't one of them.

With a glance towards the window, she finished off the last bit of her food and looked back over to Crow. "I better get going. I'm sure the Lenz's are already waiting for me." she mused with a sigh. She knew Dimia was rather strict, both with her valued traditions as well as her schedule. With everything the noblewoman was doing to help her, she didn't want to make her wait. Especially since they had quite a bit to do that day.

The knight began to collect her letters, pausing as she glanced over at the one Crow received. "Be sure to sneak your letter to me once you get the chance to write... Do you think you'll need help writing it again or can you handle that on your own now?" she asked curiously.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope approved xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope raised an eyebrow at Crow as she noticed his brief silence. Thinking it must have something to do still with his companions, she didn't make any comment on it and instead shifted to take a bite from her food. As he finally spoke up again, the knight smirked in amusement at his words. "I'll be sure to include that when I write her back." she mused with a soft chuckle. Knowing how Olivia was against admitting any sort of feelings towards Alistair, she was sure it'd likely get an entertaining reaction from her friend.

"I doubt your offer will be very appreciated though." she pointed out amusedly. She shrugged her shoulders and let her gaze drift over to the second, unopened letter. Pausing from eating, she picked it up and began to unfold it, curious to see what Gavin had written. "I suppose I should get to reading this one too." the knight mumbled, partially to herself. "I have a feeling Gavin will likely give me a more detailed response to how things are going on the warfront than Olivia." Her gaze flickered over the paper as she began to read:

Dear Penelope,

It's good to hear that your efforts to end the war are going well. I hope that by the time this letter reaches you, that you have made even more progress. Things could be better here. Since you last wrote, we've had two battles. Both were hard on our battalion even though we did win one. The constant winning and losing is definitely hurt morale, but I think that goes for both sides. Most here are too stubborn to admit it though. I think a peaceful end to all of this is exactly what we need and if anyone can convince the king, it's you.

On another note, things have been... interesting here. Talk about Collin's promotion has calmed quite a bit since we spoke, although your brother is still fuming. He tried to corner me about your involvement with Collin. Of course, I didn't give him any information, rest assured. Albeit, I have a feeling I didn't do the best job of convincing him that you barely knew anything about him. You know I'm not as skilled in spinning lies as others. Regardless, I doubt you have much to worry about. I'm sure you're planning to court soon enough anyways, right?

Speaking of your brother, he's been trying to dismantle that rule passed by the barons to keep from harming the peasants since you've left. He nearly got away with it after our last loss but luckily Tomas and I were able to keep that from happening for now. I worry that could change if we have a losing streak. I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't though.

All that aside, I hope your time at the castle is going well and I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Sincerely,
Gavin Hyde

Penelope furrowed her brows slightly, a bit discouraged to hear how things were on the battlefront as well as about all the trouble her brother seemed to be causing. She let out a sigh and looked over at Crow with a small frown. "Well it seems like the battles have been a bit rough according to Gavin... Also apparently Layth has been causing him quite a bit of trouble. Asking about my involvement with you and trying to get the barons to retract the rule about being mindful of the villagers during battle." she explained with a shake of her head. "Gods I hope this party goes well so we can end this mess of a war."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Aww cx
Meanwhile Penelope just wants her squad back together lmao

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope smiled at him and nodded her head as he said things were beginning to look up. She thought so as well. The only things left were for the party to go smoothly and for her father to giving his blessing. If they could manage that, the knight had a feeling that life in the inner kingdom would become much easier. As Crow went on to begin reading his letter, she did the same as she unfolded Olivia's letter.

Penelope,

Sounds like you had your handful of trouble over there even without Layth's interference. Is that baron you spoke about still trying to undermine our new viceroy? Or has he given up? Although I'm sure it'd be an entertaining mess, I hope that things have settled down enough for you to not have to worry about some baron kicking Collin out of his new position.

Things over here haven't changed much. There's been two battles since we last spoke. One went well for us and the other, not so much. Honestly I hope you're able to end this thing soon because I'm getting tired of it over here. It's also not nearly as fun now that you aren't around. The most enjoyment I get are my occasional visit with Alistair but I'm sure you don't want me to go into detail about that. Speaking of which, I'm sure by now you've seen that I delivered that letter like you asked. Seems like our new viceroy is quite the fast learner. I couldn't believe he was already sending them a letter. They were quite happy about receiving it and I can already tell I'm turning into a private messenger. Tell Collin he's going to owe me for this.

That aside, how are things? Is Naida still giving you two grief about courting? Or has she figured you two out already? I look forward to hearing how that is going. Especially since Naida struggles to keep secrets.

Best of luck to you and please write back soon!

- Olivia

Penelope rolled her eyes as she finished the letter. It seemed like even though Olivia was far from them, she was still trying to keep up to date on the drama. It made a small smile cross her lips. The knight looked forward to the day when her friend would be able to return from the frontline to join her and Naida. It would be nice to have everyone back together. The knight was just about to move onto Gavin's letter when she heard Crow speak up.

She blinked and looked over him, frowning faintly as she noticed how he had gotten a bit emotional over the letter. It made her feel a small stab of guilt for taking him away from his companions and his life as a thief. Though she knew she shouldn't have—it had been his decision after all and she knew he wouldn't want her feeling guilty over it—it was still difficult not to feel the least bit to blame. The knight was at least glad she could offer him a way to write to his friends for now. Unable to take his hand to comfort him, she settled for brushing her leg against his under the table and offering a small smile.

As he switched the topic, Penelope gave a small nod. "Well I just managed to get through Olivia's letter. Seems there's been two battles since she last wrote to me. She was mainly interested in finding out what was happening on our side since I told her about Naida." she explained with a shrug.The knight casted him a small smirk. "And she also mentioned you owing her for becoming your private messenger."

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

True xD

Penelope didn't want to rain on Crow's parade by mentioning it might not be 100% effective cx