Kalila smiles hesitantly at Gerta's words, but she answers her words genuinely as she gratefully accepts the bread basket, "I thought it would be best to be upfront with you now; Before the customers come in, or anything else weird happens. It really was kind of you to let me hide and rest here, when anyone else would have ushered me through the backdoor," She glances to the rest of the staff, and she notices that nobody seems to be eavesdropping, much to her relief. 

Kalila blinks at the joke, but then she lets out a small "Oh," as she remembered that she's still wearing the dress. She also notes her own posture. She thought she had relaxed in this inn and tavern, but apparently the years of pressure, stress, and the strict lessons had ensured that she would never really relax physically; Always keeping her back straight and her posture perfect. 

After Gerta asked her questions, she sighs and she answers, "My name is Kalila Wrenfield. And no, I'm not a princess," She opted to give the last name, and see if Gerta recognized it. She wouldn't elaborate further unless Gerta asked. She honestly hoped that Gerta wouldn't recognize the name. If she did, then she wouldn't blame her for reacting with fear. 

[hider=Insight]Kalila got a [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/29629]14[/url] on Insight to see if Gerta recognized the last name Wrenfield.[/hider]

She continues to answer Gerta, and while she remains calm as she speaks, she doesn't notice that the smoke within the bottle she's carrying reacts to her emotions; The colors shift to reflect her emotions, and how fast the smoke roils quicken depending on whether or not her thoughts threaten to spiral into distress.

She continues, gesturing to the dress she's wearing, "This...was for a special event: The engagement part of an arranged marriage with a nobleman," Her tone falls flat as she recalls the horrible memories of said event. 

She then chuckles lightly and tries to joke to lighten the mood at first, "That ceremony is a disaster story in its own right. So to sum it up quickly, after everything that happened there I snuck out before he could actually propose, and I went to speak with my family," 

At this point, the smoke turns a bright, passionate red to reflect the rage Kalila felt towards the man, as she makes her point of why she wanted to speak with her family. Her tone is still calm and composed, but the tone flat to express her displeasure, "No amount of gold or promise of status will ever change my mind on refusing to marry that cruel and entitled man," Her body trembles as she resists the urge to withdraw. 

She takes a deep breath, and the smoke calms as she calms down as well. She continues, "So, I was speaking--No, [i]arguing[/I] is the proper term here--with my family, and everything abruptly went dark for me mid-conversation. The next thing I knew, I woke up in an alleyway near here,"

She then sighs, "...I realize you've probably heard that from many a drunk patron before, and I don't blame you if you don't believe me on that. Miss Thornwick certainly made her skepticism clear. But, I truly didn't drink anything: I didn't feel comfortable doing so around my so-called 'fiancee'," The smoke does dull in color as she expects Gerta to laugh at her or dismiss her words. The expectation to be silenced again... 

She continues, "I ended up coming to this place, because I heard footsteps behind me shortly after I woke up. Somebody was following me, and I didn't dare to look and see who it was. I immediately got the sense that whoever was behind me was much more dangerous than some thug. So, I hurried here while doing my best to not tip them off that I knew they were following me. You know the rest from there," 

She then elaborates, "As for why I was so pale last night...The first reason was because I learned that I am actually more than 600 miles away from home," Anyone could tell from her tone that she didn't feel like her home was actually a home. It felt more like a prison...

She finishes, "And...I thought I felt that pursuer's presence in the room when I was alone. It really did feel like a ghost was chasing me..." 

With the story finished, she finally looks to Gerta and the words ring in her mind again,

"[i]All things have a price. All debts must be paid.[/I]" 

She speaks again, with the understanding that she's probably been a nuisance for Gerta, "I do want to repay your kindness by helping out around here. As you can probably tell, I'm ill prepared for any kind of journey. Once I've paid for the night's stay through labor, and I can purchase supplies needed for a journey, I'll be out of your hair,"