Marian awoke to the smell and sound of sausage simmering slowly.
She peeled her eyes open slowly and had to shut them again quickly because of the bright light streaming through the trees.
"Nice of you to finally join me, milady," came a sarcastic voice from Marian's right.
"You're in a wonderful mood, Nurse," Marian replied dryly.
"Out here it's Rebecca, milady. You're no longer in need of a nurse. I am strictly a guide."
Marian's eyes snapped open at Nurse's tone, and she sat up, ignoring the bright light.
"Why do I not need a nurse?" she asked sharply.
"You're almost fifteen, milady," Nurse – Rebecca – retorted. "I should have left you months ago."
"I will decide when I am no longer in need of a nurse. Is that understood?"
Rebecca's eyebrows lifted and almost disappeared into her flyaway hair.
"And will you also decide where we will go and when? Last I checked, I was the one who knew where to go. But feel free to relieve me from my responsibilities if you know of a better place, since you are the all-knowing noble."
Marian shut her mouth tightly and scowled, but otherwise did nothing.
"I thought so."
Rebecca scooped two sausages out onto a piece of bark and handed it to Marian.
"Eat."
Marian studied the bark dubiously. Who knew where it had been?
"Are you sure?"
Nurse snapped her fingers.
"That's what I forgot – the fine china! I knew there was something missing when I packed."
Marian stared at her.
"Eat it, milady. It's good for you. A little bit of dirt never hurt anybody."
After not eating anything and Rebecca yelling at Marian for throwing her portion in the fire, the duo set out.
They rode for hours, only stopping for minutes at a time to water the horses, and once just for an hour to eat the midday meal.
Near dusk, Marian and Rebecca were scouting for shelter, Marian quite sullenly. They had gotten in another argument today, when they stopped for the midday meal. It started when Rebecca had told Marian to go collect firewood for the fire.
"No, I certainly will not. That is a serving maid's job, and as we have no serving maid, that's you." It was quite reasonable for Marian to not want to collect firewood. She'd get her hands dirty, and with no scented water to cleanse her hands with, getting her hands dirty was not a possibility.
Rebecca had looked at her quite blankly for a moment.
"Well, we need firewood, Rebecca. Go get it," she told her, wondering if the woman was dim. Marian sat down on a log and began to brush the horse hair off of her skirt. She didn't even hear Rebecca until she had her hand clamped around Marian's wrist.
"Marian," she began, dragging Marian toward the forest, "I've raised you since childhood and I've learned to live with your many whims and moods. But I will never learn how to live with you high and mighty queen mood, and I never will because you will never act like that again. Understood?"
By the end of Rebecca's speech, they were at the edge of the forest, and Rebecca pushed Marian into the trees, where Marian stumbled and fell upon her arse with an "Oof!"
"Now go collect firewood." With that, Rebecca turned around and went back to unloading the food from the saddle bags.
So now, as they searched for a campsite, you can understand why Marian was so angry.
Marian was so immersed in her self-pity that she never saw the man that suddenly dropped from above.