Carolyn seemed to tense up slightly at the question before exhaling and looking at him a bit awkward, speaking seriously.<strong>"Everything should be alright, as far as I know, and yes there was a reason for my hurry but it might come off as somewhat silly I fear. While on the road here, I travelled by a shared carriage at the first leg of the journey, in the company of a lady also leaving the countryside. At that time I was mostly keeping watch for myself but had hired a lone mercenary to assist me in reaching my destination. I did not wish to drain on the house coffers, so I spent money acquired through healing services for that."</strong>She paused momentarily to look at him, before carrying on again.<br/><br/><strong>"There was some interest in a small group of travelers, mercenaries from the looks of it but somewhat seedy so I suspected them possibly being bandits when not hired for work, who asked around a bit too much for my comfort about a traveling healer that wasn't associated with the church."</strong>She spoke this seriously and shifted on her feet momentarily.<strong>"I began to catch onto a paranoid feeling that I might be invited to stay, and my intent to continue would be deterred until later by them. I wasn't sure but I got a feeling that staying around for long wouldn't be good. The lady in the carriage might have the loyalty of people around her, but I only trusted my companion that brought me here. The said mercenary has a bit of a reputation of never breaking a contract unless the client lied about the job beforehand. So I trusted in their desire to keep their reputation intact, and hurried along with a horse I acquired for myself and that had been, until then, helping to pull the carriage."</strong>She looked a touch embarrassed at this point.<br/><br/><strong>"It may have just been my nerves, feeling overly sensitive to things, or it might have been genuine danger of some level, but I honestly felt better hurrying a bit and trusting my safety only to my own skills and that of my companion who's loyalty I could be at least somewhat certain of, rather than risk a longer journey with people who's loyalty and intent I was starting to feel was in question. The mercenary groups like that have been a bit on the decline, heading off to fight for the Spaniards after all, and with the roads patrolled there's less <em>obvious</em> banditry, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist just a bit better hidden..."</strong>She looked at him awkward.<strong>"I hope it doesn't make me seem too overly cautious m'lord... Tehr."</strong>She corrected herself recalling his prior request to use his name.<br/><br/><strong>"Besides, I wanted to keep my word to be here as soon as I could as I was eager to see Alex again, and I was certainly looking forward to meeting with the rest of you since I began to receive the letters. Especially with our relatives enjoying themselves so thoroughly in exploring our family lands in the recent days it has been either awkwardly quiet at home or with the kind of noise that can be a bit ah, frustrating, when on your own."</strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">Not a real plot hook but background, whether genuine risk or not is up to a thought, just a touch of something. I also got some other ideas but none of them agreed to really take shape proper in this stage of writing a reply, and rather than letting this get delayed I figured I'd post it as is. Hope it is at least a nice read.</div></div>