Wild and Free

Isla this won't hurt a bit At first Isla was lost - if not physically, then in her own thoughts and in the dense undergrowth she walked through. The stranger and his horse went unnoticed for what was perhaps a shameful amount of time; if he had wanted, she'd have made a very easy target indeed. The medic paused to crouch at the tangle of roots before a skeletal tree, her coat splayed out around her. As an ex-duchess the garment was of fine fit, a dove grey in colour; it would be some time before it truly sank in, that this was not Northaven and she might never own anything like this again. Granted, her mind was not really on what she was wearing. A cluster of mushrooms sprouted out from beneath one of the roots, capturing her attention, and she reached out to pluck one in a gloved hand when, with the eerie instinct of one being watched, she turned her head to look up. And locked eyes with the stranger. Both froze, Isla's fingers halting over the mushrooms. She swallowed hard - the presence of the horse alone should have told her that he was not a recent arrival like them. "Hello?" she called, her voice soft but strong enough to carry through the trees. Slowly, she held her hands up as if to show she meant no harm. "I'm sorry, I meant no harm."