Emptying some of the spices and salt into the water as she waited for it to begin to boil, Kaylia retrieved a bag with a handful of dried meat strips in it before folding herself down into a sitting position close to the fire. From the looks of it, Cainmere hadn't been too excited about the carrots after all, so she dug out one of the dried strips and offered it politely to the canine as she listened to Garris's response to her questions. She tried not to let him see the blush that colored her cheeks at his hinting words that she had purposefully gone wandering alone in the woods. He didn't give her the chance to refute the assumption, continuing on with his explanation. She let it go, there would be time later to correct the idea. Instead, she listened to his words and the happy crunching noises coming from Storm is he excepted the offered carrot. That was, until he mentioned the sickness.

[i] The rumors are true![/i] Her thoughts tangled around that revelation, her numb fingers dropping the meat with her astonishment as her eyes widened and her mouth partially fell open. Hurriedly, Kaylia attempted to cover up her reaction, smothering The sudden urge to scream and closing her mouth with a quick snap. She wasn't entirely sure that she had hid her reaction fast enough. But Garris had moved on to asking her about what she did for a living, so maybe...

Clearing her throat and snatching up the bag of vegetables to begin adding them to the simmering water to try and focus on something normal that would calm her down, she answered as naturally as she could, though her voice sounded a little high even to her ears. "I mostly deal in the breeding and selling of horses. I live on a ranch with a family that took me in and I return the favor by helping out with the livestock. I was out delivering a team of horses to a farm and foolishly thought I could make it back home before the sunset..." She waved her hand at the surrounding darkness. "My being here shows how well that plan turned out."