Her face betrays nothing of her apprehension in that moment; her years within the Nohrian court have given her ample practice, as they does so many children of the Crown. Even so, it is there, beneath the surface, a faint sting of something almost like guilt. Camilla’s conscience has never been successfully assuaged by her elder brother’s platitudes, that such is their duty to merely weather - never protest outright - the consequence of imminent war — now more than before. As little as Krakenburg has always felt like any home to her, she has, at least, not been stolen away from it, nor all that she does love.
It is all she can do to wilfully brush aside the thought they might have met before in the skies, only nodding slightly - if firmly - in understanding.
“ …I had the advantage of being a…rather stubborn girl myself, I think. Kriemhild and I shared our youths, and she often acted more like a young princess than I did— Fussy, spoilt, I mean to say. ” As if in an expression of resentment, the wyvern grumbles lowly, flicks the tip of her tail…before lazily settling herself but a moment thereafter, knowing the slight to not be worth her energy in wake of their tiring flight. “ Whether I was eager to prove myself at something, anything, or whether I simply still found her company more agreeable than my peers within the court, I persevered. In truth, I rather believe we matured together. ”
Her softened, wistful smile lasts for as long as it takes her to realise her shame: even deliberating before how much she ought to share of herself, perhaps she has yet divulged too much. She bristles, standing upright as a princess and valkyrie should as though to dismiss her sentimentality all at once— But in remembering this modest joy she finds in giving voice to her passion, so rare and so stifled, hesitantly, Camilla allows herself to relax her guard once more.
If her uncharacteristic talkativeness - and with a stranger to them all, no less - had caught the eye of any other riders and stable-hands nearby, their looks do not linger.
“ —How is it in your Hoshido…? ” Invited in gently by the ease of their talk, she turns the question to Komachi now. Her curiosity is humble, even distantly bashful, “ I cannot imagine your flying steeds are as ferocious, but they must present their own difficulties. ”
Komachi nodded along as she listened to the princess talk of her wyvern. “Of course, that makes sense. It certainly helps to have grown up alongside her.”
Komachi considered herself to be a rather stubborn person when she needed to be. Hopefully that meant being able to keep trying to earn the respect of one of the wyvern. She may not have grown up around them, but that’s fine. She’s no fool. She can figure it out.
Huh, the princess was truly curious of her home? She could appreciate the interest if for no other reason than it allowed her to further reminisce. A smile crossed her face as she began.
“It’s a beautiful place. Though, the pegasi are as stubborn as any land born steed and the kinshi won’t bow to just anyone. While my mother was able to gain the respect of the kinshi, my father kept working with the pegasi,” she said as she briefly closed her eyes. “Naturally, due to the pickiness of most kinshi, I was taught how to ride a Pegasus instead. That being said, it’s nothing short of a great honor to earn the respect of such divine creatures.”
She opened her eyes, but even though a smile remained on her face, her voice took on a sadder tone. “I had considered becoming a kinshi knight myself, but I didn’t want to abandon my Pegasus, Fuyuhi.”
