Homesick

Cathlinn struggled the first hour on the back of the horse. Carmichael has laughed and offered to have her ride with him but she refused. It wasn't her first time on the back of a horse, just her first time on one so tall. Books were very different from the actual thing but it wasn't to hard to get a grip on. Mei had seated herself with Cathlinn, refusing to let go of her waist even when her own horse was offered.

"We're sleeping outside? With such small tents," Simon huffed.

"It saves on space and man power," Cathlinn sighed. "What? Don't want to break a nail or some shit?"

"I don't think a princess should sleep with a," Carmichael was the one to give a warning look, Simon groaning, "A princess should have her own tent and more than one guard and a foreign assassin."

"Well, this is what I chose," Cathlinn stated, "A bigger group would draw suspicion. That hurts the fact we're trying to be incognito and less suspicious."

"You do pull off the new coat well," Mei hummed. Her fingers traced over the shoulder of Cathlinn's coat, her smile wide as she played with the hood.

"It's not really new," Cathlinn shifted and fixed her jacket. They tried to make her wear one more decorated than her original, the seamstress proud of copying the design and upgrading it in her terms. "I've had this one for a while."

"I haven't seen this style before, who's the designer," Mei asked.

"I don't remember," Cathlinn shrugged. "It's just comfortable."

"I'll say. The fabric is such high quality yet still soft," Mei hummed.

Cathlinn turned a bit red as her hands roamed and she cleared her throat, "Mei. I know we're girls and all but some guys get off to girl on girl contact."

Simon choked from drinking from a water skin and Carmichael started to laugh, "Cathlinn, your highness, please!"

"Yes. Please. Don't joke like that, it's vulgar," Simon sighed. He then gave a small chuckle, "An true joke but I feel Sir Carmichael and I are gentlemen."

"You should have seen him at the pub then," Mei snickered. The poor man turned a deep red as Simon choked on air this time and Cathlinn laughed.

"All right Mei, we should leave these poor boys alone I think," she hummed.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Mei whispered. Cathlinn looked over at her and Mei smiled softly. "Very well, your highness, if you insist. However, you said we were going incognito. What should we call you then? I'm guessing you don't want to be called your highness this whole trip."

"Cathlinn is fine," Cathlinn nodded a bit, looking forward. Had Mei heard the conversation between the king and her? If she had, then Cathlinn wanted to know if she'd keep it a secret. Mei hadn't said a word about it before now so it should have been fine, right?

Cathlinn has her and Mei's tent up quickly, surprising the men as they struggled with theirs. "You're good at almost everything, Cathlinn. I'm sort of jealous," Mei pouted a bit as she hung onto Cathlinn's shoulders, resting her chin in Cathlinn's head as if to mock the height difference.

"It's a stick, a wire, and fabric. I don't see how it could be hard," Cathlinn patted her arm and let out a breath. "We do need food though. I told the kitchen not to supply any."

"Why in the world would you do that," Simon cried. "Do you expect us to hunt for food? I can barely pull back a bow string much less carry a carcass!"

"I did," Cathlinn chuckled. "It'll be a good experience for you."

"You know how to hunt," Carmichael asked as he pulled the tent upwards.

"I," Cathlinn stopped, wondering if she should say anything. "It can't be too hard, can it? I wanted to get the whole experience, after all. That means hunting and camping out doesn't it?"

"Why are you like this," Simon muttered. Carmichael grinned and pulled a bow and quiver of arrows from the back of his horse, looking to the two women.

"I'll be back with dinner then. I hope someone can cook," he asked.

"I make a really good pot," Mei nodded. Cathlinn blinked and looked around a bit as they started talking, glancing up to see Carmichael smirking softly as Mei talked. She stretched out, smiling herself a bit at the scene. The two looked good together and she could feel the tang of jealousy coat her tongue and heart. Why would she be jealous of them? If they were talking and having a good time together then what did it bother her for?

She pulled a hatchet from the saddle of her own horse, starting to walk towards the trees around them, "I'll get wood so we can start a fire."

"Your- Cathlinn, don't go alone," Simon warned.

"I'll be fine. It's wood," Cathlinn sighed and popped her hip as she turned to him. "I'm not going far, I promise."

"Just don't go far. You still have some studying for today and I'm sure Carmichael wants you to keep up with your training," Simon huffed.

"Cathlinn doesn't need help with training unless it's new techniques," Carmichael told him, "And even then, show her once and she'll do it a million times to get better at it. She's outdone a few of the intermediate knights that way."

"Has she? Then why does she suck at languages if her retention is so high," Cathlinn slowly walked away, not wanting to listen to the men argue about her study habits. She got a bit away, still able to see the camp site as she started cutting off dead branches. She grit her teeth as her mind began to wander a bit. Why was it always when she was doing something simple this happened?

Countless times she had tried to travel, only to come up short. Jealousy was thick for the armed brothers and sisters she had when they got to deploy around the world. Now she could have it so easily? Wasn't this a cheat? It couldn't really be this easy for her now could it?

Cathlinn had been deployed once, the time she spent in that country timeless and precious to her psyche. She shouldn't hate herself for having it so easy but she had started to. It was probably this simple back then too and it made her hate how lazy and ill prepared she had been. Cathlinn didn't notice the weight on her shoulders as she continued, focusing on her task and the thoughts that rampaged. She began to gather up the cut pieces stopping as she heard a hissing by her ear.

Her movements were slow as she faced the creature as best she could. The weight was heavy as it slowly searched for a hold around her neck. She knew what a snake was, she knew that they could get big. This one was large, reaching close to her height as it slithered about slowly. Her mind wandered again as she watched it, her heart racing in her chest.

She had one of her own, back home. The snake was still a baby though, not as large as this one. She wondered who was feeding it now, or if they even remembered that she needed food. She reached slowly, her hand rising under the snake's head as she lifted it up. She gently tightened her grip just behind its head and then moved her hand away from her body as quickly as she could.

"Cathlinn? Are you this way," Cathlinn stated towards Carmichael as the snake wrapped around her arm and hissed louder. "Holy shit-"

"Stay calm," she ordered. He stiffened and watched as she carefully pried it from around her neck as her arms weren't long enough to pull it from around her neck completely. He shifted a bit and reached for his sword, stopping when she glared at him.

"Cathlinn, it's poisonous," he started.

"And it hasn't bitten me yet. Get me a fucking cloth or something," she snapped. She was homesick, worried about the creature she called her familiar. Carmichael was next to her quickly, his shirt off and soon covering the head of the snake. "Feel for my hand and gently grab it."

"Cathlinn, it has to be-"

"Just fucking listen to me," her voice cracked as she hissed out at him. She didn't care if he took it as fear of the creature because that wasn't what had been eating at her chest in the moment. He carefully felt at her arm and placed his fingers just above hers. She made him squeeze a bit harder and slowly pulled her hand away, keeping the shirt around the creature as she pried away from it. She gathered the shirt around it, shifting the whole thing upwards, "Let go."

"It's teeth are-"

"Just trust me," she sighed. He let go of it and she walked a bit farther away, quickly thrusting the shirt out to expel the snake from it. She handed his shirt back after seeing where the snake had landed and walked back to the camp. "It wasn't aggressive until you trampled through."