“Come on, you hold it like this” Carsein spoke too close to Leo’s ear for her comfort, his warm breath tickling her neck as he grabbed her right hand holding the knife. She couldn’t tell if her nervousness was due to his closeness or the dead rabbit sprawled on the ground in front of her, its lifeless gaze staring up at her.

She steadied her hand and swallowed as she forced her eyes to look at it, fixing them on the area of the animal where the blade needed to penetrate. Gently, Carsein guided her hand and the knife pierced the rodent’s gullet and slowly moved across its underside, red liquid spilling onto the ground.

Her stomach churned, but she forced herself to ignore it and continue. She knew what she needed to do next, Carsein had already explained as much, so she stuck her hand inside to pull out the innards. Soft and warm they slipped into her palm and she yanked them out, eager to get it over with as soon as possible. The rust-like stench was thick, and she swallowed in an attempt to calm her stirring stomach.

Next, he showed her how to remove the skin and her hand trembled with relief when she finally held up a bloody lump of red meat with furry paws still attached. Impressively, she’d managed to avoid either retching or vomiting, and the accomplishment filled her pride. She spun around to face Carsein, a triumphant smile tucking the corners of her mouth.

“Not bad for a first time, princess” he said as he returned the expression, revealing the dimples in his cheeks. Even though they’d been traveling together for weeks already, and Leo had seen his smile more and more often, the sight still took Leo by surprise. It was hard to get used to how much he’d changed.

“You know, you’re quite handsome when you smile” she remarked. The sentence had left her mouth before she had even finished thinking it and Carsein’s eyes widened in surprise. She clasped her mouth, panicked by the words she had not meant to say out loud.

“I-I…mean…u-uhm…” she stuttered, her cheeks turning a deep crimson color. Carsein first arched a brow at her struggles but then he suddenly broke into a haughty laughter. His whole face scrunched up in that expression that made him look more his age – twenty three summers he’d told her, making him only around five years older than her, surprisingly – and which Leo both appreciated and hated at this moment. Her blush deepened further, and she scowled at him though the expression wasn’t as hardened as she’d liked, Carsein’s amusement inevitably affecting her.

“Oh? So you like a rough mercenary-type like me huh, princess? How surprising” he teased, leaning in over her and she jolted. Up close she could see every curve of his scarred brow, each dent in his nose - proof of the many times it must have been broken – and his dark grey curled from the smirk adorning his lips.

In an attempt to put distance between them she jerked and sprung up but lost her grip on the rabbit in the process and it fell onto the dirt covered forest floor.

“Carsein! Look what you made me do!” she exclaimed as she realized her mistake and glanced down at the mess. Carsein put a hand to his mouth in an attempt to quench his laughter but without much success and his shoulders quivered with snorting breaths slipping through his fingers.

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She put her hands on her hips and glared down at him with still flushed cheeks. “Carsein, it’s not funny. Now all my hard work has gone to waste!” she complained frustrated.

He finally managed to get himself under control and looked up at her. “So sorry princess, but don’t worry. We can rinse the meat with a bit of water. It’s fine.” His voice was still trembling slightly with humor and Leo’s glare intensified.

“Yeah, I’ll go do that” she grumbled and kicked a bit of dirt in irritation before grabbing the rabbit and turning to leave. Carsein’s giggle followed her for a while as she trudged away, irritation and embarrassment still coloring her cheeks.

Turning down the familiar path to the lake, she could hear the distant sound of the waterfall that pooled into it and she took a few calming breaths.

They’d stayed in the area for a few days already, taking a much deserved break after travelling for around three weeks since they left Wargdon. Luckily, they hadn’t run into any trouble on the way and it seemed they lost the towns law enforcement on that very first day. No pursuers had otherwise followed.

Leo had gotten more used to the long days of wandering. Her feet didn’t ache as badly as before and following Carsein’s pace no longer strained her as much. He’d also strung together a training regimen to increase her strength and stamina in preparation to training with the sword. She would perform the exercises when they set up camp in the afternoon or early evening and though she always had some part of her body aching, she was slowly beginning to see results. Nothing too impressive yet, she had to go slow; Carsein said that too strenuous exercise would have the opposite of the desired effect, but she could tell she had gotten stronger. She just wished he would let her practice with a real sword instead of some pathetic wooden stick.

At the end of the path she brushed away the shrubbery obscuring the clearing and the lake came into view. A stream of clear freshwater cascaded down a rock wall that was a few meters tall and pummeled into a large body of water, creating mini rainbows on its way down. Rocks of various sizes were sprawled around and some protruded from deep within the pool, which seemed to restrain reeds and plants growing in the waters edge.

She curved the lake to the waterfall and treated the damp rocks cautiously closing in. She held out the skinned rabbit beneath the running water, rinsing away the dirt and leaves, but careful as to not water down the meat. When she was satisfied, she followed the same route back onto solid ground. Warily so she wouldn’t slip and fall. Carsein was teaching her to swim but she wasn’t confident in her abilities yet and there were areas of the lake where she couldn’t reach the bottom. It would be best not to fall.

Back on land she looked down at her clothes and frowned a little. In her fight against nausea and in the following tantrum she hadn’t noticed that her clothes had been bloodied by handling the dead animal.

She glanced around. Perhaps she could take a moment to rinse her clothes and herself now she was here anyway?

She plucked some broad leaves to wrap the rabbit, not wanting to repeat the walk across the slippery rocks to rinse it again, and put it on a nearby rock, where after she stripped and slipped into the water. It was slightly cold, but fresh; not freezing, and she shuddered as she lowered herself down, the water covering her shoulders.

From the shore she grabbed her clothes and started rinsing and wringing it in an attempt to remove the red stains. The color didn’t stand out too much against the brown fabric, but being a former noble Leo was always thorough with hygiene and cleanliness even if her current lifestyle didn’t allow the same meticulousness. So only when the blood was completely gone, was she satisfied and put the clothes down on the nearby rocks to dry in the sun.

Having adjusted to the water’s temperature she swam around a little in the shallow end, humming contented as she listened to the sound of birds and the rushing waterfall. And the crack of a branch from inside the forest.