(note: Story cover has been updated May 2023 :) New chapter covers will be added slowly too)
Catherine Wolfe didn't know why she was chosen, or if she was at all. She only knew she'd been
pulled through time to help a family involved in a war she'd...
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July 20, 1476
Florence, Italy
A gentle shake on the shoulder stirred Catherine from her mostly dreamless sleep—she thought she'd seen the God man, but it was gone as she opened her eyes to see the dimly lit figure of Annetta. She whispered something about needing to wake up and get going, and the redhead made a sound of acknowledgement as she looked to the closed window and saw only the faintest of light trickling through. It could have only been the wee hours of the morning, which wasn't right; she got to sleep in until the sun was farther up when she was with Maria.
"Annetta, why did you wake me up?" she yawned, her body practically screaming and begging her to stay in the bed and keep on resting, but she slipped out anyways.
"Lady Maria will be busy today and cannot see to you. Giovanni asks you train with Federico instead. He will be waiting in the courtyard," the maid replied, bowing her head respectfully and then leaving the room. Catherine sighed, though grinned a little when she remembered how the maid used to try and help her dress. She had put a stop to that pretty quick, much to Annetta's confusion—except when it came to her gown. That she needed help with, but trousers and vests? That was easy.
'Well, here we go,' the redhead rumbled silently as she stretched herself and made for the chamber pot in the room. She honestly had to say she disliked using it and that it was pretty gross since she couldn't flush—although she supposed the servants throwing the waste out could technically count—but she was getting used to it. It never took her long, really, to get used to new situations. However, she figured she might never get used to not having the simple things she'd always taken for granted back home. She certainly missed lights and running water everywhere—especially warm running water. Baths just weren't the same. They were warm at first, but once it was filled, that was it. She also missed the Internet—missed being able to chat with friends or check out artwork or reads comics and stories. She missed TV, too, although she only really used it to pass the time when she wasn't busy unless there was a new show, and she was pretty busy here.
Since she wasn't with Maria, she changed into her boy's clothes once she'd finished up and got her hair into a ponytail, and was relieved to be in the shirt and vest, and especially the pants. Sometimes she thought it was weird she was wearing clothes that the brothers once wore, but it was better than the other option. She also preferred her boots, which she slipped on with ease, and then hurried into the hallways and down the stairs. Since it was so early, she wouldn't have any breakfast—not until after she'd finish with Federico—though it wasn't long before her stomach rumbled a bit. If there was one really great thing about this place, it was the food. It was always perfectly made, although she wasn't sure how comfortable she was about her growing taste for wine. It was kind of all they had to drink really, since the water wasn't always good. Drinking laws were very different in the past, too. Very different.
