She woke up in the morning, her whole body aching and her head throbbing from thirst. She groaned a little a sat to get up, blinking as she tried to orient herself to her surroundings.

Then a panic started welling up. Carsein was gone. The fire had died out and his bag was nowhere to be seen.

She sprung to her feet, her eyes darting around her to look for any signs of him or his belongings. No, no, no! Did he disappear while she was sleeping? He couldn’t just have left her here!

“Carsein!” she cried out, her heart racing and fear gripping her throat, “Carsein!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

She startled at the voice behind her and with tears of relief in her eyes, she turned around. Carsein’s visage appeared from between shadows of trees, his dark curls dripping with water and his brows furrowed in a worried expression. He hadn’t left her. She almost gave in to the urge to run forth and hug him.

He quickly sat down the backpack he was carrying and darted over to her. “Did something happen?” His eyes seemed to examine her, and she quickly dried her eyes.

“No, sorry. It was nothing” her voice trembled, and he tilted his head slightly in disbelief. “J-just…” she stuttered. Now that he stood before her, she felt embarrassed by her panicked state and her cheeks flushed a little. “I thought maybe… you’d left…” she drew out the words, her blush deepening. His brows furrowed deeper for a moment but then his expression softened. An expression she hadn’t seen before, nor thought she would ever witness on him.

“No, you’re stuck with me princess” he teased, and a warm feeling surged through her at his words, “at least until we figure something else out. The king must have heard about Arwin’s murder by now, so we aren’t safe this close to the capital…” Her shoulders tensed a little again at the last statement.

“What do we do then? Where are we going to go?” The worry was clear in her voice.

He scratched his chin thoughtfully before answering. “For now…south. Away from the capital.” She nodded. “We’ll need to stop by a town to get some equipment and supplies. Even if it’s a little risky…”

“When?”

“When we exit the forest there should be a town nearby. We’ll stop by there.”

She nodded. “What do we need?”

“For one some better clothes for you to travel in” she glanced down at her own attire; It wasn’t exactly the most travel friendly she had to agree. A blue dress that was made to be worn with a corset, with a big, heavy skirt, now rimmed with mud. Her feet were bare and small blisters had formed after walking around in her fine shoes all of yesterday. They were brown leather shoes, artistically made and beautiful but not meant for walking. She nodded.

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“We’ll also need a tent; some bedrolls and I’d like to get a bow so I can go hunting…”

“Do we have money for that?” she asked, as she suddenly realized she didn’t have any wealth or treasure to her name not to mention with her. She had never had to worry about money or daily necessities before.

“Don’t worry. The duke paid pretty handsomely for my work and I also managed to snatch some jewelry that we can sell… We should have enough to get by for a while.”

How lucky hadn’t she been that Carsein was the one to save her. He seemed accustomed to this kind of life and survival in the forest, and she wondered where he had learned all his skills.

“How do you know so much about survival, Carsein?” she inquired, curious about her new companion.

He scratched his chin with a strange expression that she couldn’t quite interpret. “I’m a mercenary, princess. You learn a thing or two when you get sent out to rural areas or get lost or abandoned by a party…”

That sounded pretty rough. Her brows furrowed a little thoughtfully and the hint of a smile played on Carsein’s lips but disappeared so fast she wondered if she’d seen it wrong.

“It’s fine. Now, you must be hungry and thirsty, so let’s get the fire going and grab something to eat.” His hand made a motion as if he was about to pat her head but changed his mind halfway and instead spun to pick up his backpack. Rummaging through it he pulled out a dead rabbit and she gasped soundlessly at the sight.

“I was lucky” he said. “Found a rabbit stuck in an old hunting trap. It didn’t seem to have been used for quite a while, so I took the liberty of bringing it with me.”

Knife in hand he then put the animal before him and cut into its soft underbelly, the innards spilling forth in a pool of blood. Her stomach churned at the sight and she turned away, unable to look at it.

“Could you gather some wood for the fire, princess?” he spoke, the sound of the knife cutting through the air.

She nodded without looking his way and did as instructed, searching the ground around the camp for dry firewood. Done with the task, she dropped the wood next to him. The rabbit was now a lump of meat with the head intact, but the skin removed and innards in a bloody pile next to him.

She covered her mouth to try and repress the urge to vomit.

“You better get used to this, princess” he teased as he noticed her disgust. “Survival isn’t for the faint of heart and hunting will be a necessary part of life from now on.”

She knew that. She was aware that she was just a weak, sheltered princess who knew nothing about the world and who would probably die from cold or starvation if Carsein wasn’t around to look after her. So she swallowed and forced herself to look at the dead animal. She had to become stronger.

The hint of a smile tucked at a corner of Carsein’s mouth as he saw her struggle. “I’ll just pack this away and then I’ll teach you how to light the fire” he spoke and then proceeded to roll up the rabbit skin and put the carcass on a wooden stick he’d readied for the purpose. Then he gathered the innards of the animal and went somewhere into the forest and came back with bloodied hands which he dried in some leaves before turning his attention on her.

From a pouch in his belt he pulled out some dried bark and grass turf. “Come, I’ll show you” he said and waved his hand for her to approach. She dropped down on the ground next to him.

She had to learn, had to become stronger.