Chapter 4.3

Chapter4.3

Quinn literally flailed around and looked like she was resisting Rei's grip. However, she was still asleep because her eyes were closed.

Not for much longer, though. She had just tried to strike out at Rei when she snapped her eyes open and frantically gasped for breath.

As tightly as he had held her, he had not been hit. As soon as she was awake, he loosened his grip. "It's all right. You're here, and nothing's happening," Rei said in a soothing voice.

Her gaze seemed to wander searchingly at first, and then she realized where she was. Immediately she relaxed a bit. Her breathing became calmer, and her gaze shifted to Rei before moving on to Elgatos.

"Please get the things," Rei asked the older dragon once the young woman had calmed down. The letter needed to be composed and sent as soon as possible. Hoping that Rei would receive an answer as early as the next day.

Elgatos nodded to him and disappeared after giving Quinn another quick look.

When they were alone in the room, the guard looked at her thoughtfully. "You had a nightmare?" he asked. He was still holding Quinn, but she could lie back down if she wanted to. As she did, he noticed that her skin was soft and warm, despite the circumstances. Not as hot as before, which was definitely a good sign.

"Not a dream," she said softly, still seem to struggle to regain her composure. "More of a memory," she tried to explain, and instead of lying back down, she slowly straightened up. Her mouth felt dry, and her stomach growled. She wanted something to eat.

Carefully, Rei helped her find a comfortable position and put two pillows behind her back. Then he stood up and took the tray to bring it to the bedside. "Drink the tea," he asked Quinn. He should help her fear of eating become less.

"What's in it?" she asked softly, wetting her lips. In clear water, she could see if anything was mixed in. At least, that's what she told herself. With tea, she didn't know what was in it and whether Rei had changed her mind about continuing the transformation today after all.

"Calming and pain-relieving herbs, but also an herb that should ease your anxiety a bit if you want to eat," Rei explained. That had been precisely the instruction, and he trusted Elgatos to have carried it out.

The numbing wipes for him were also ready, which he planned to apply soon, once Quinn was asleep again.

"No ... Potion for the transformation?" she asked cautiously and skeptically. There was no reason for her to trust Rei. Still, she was eager for an answer. Maybe it would help her ease her fear of the tea because the tea was delicious if he was right.

Rei shook his head. He would wait for an answer from the Supreme before he would begin the transformation. "No, it's a simple tea," he assured her, pouring her a cup of it before joining her at the bedside and handing it to her.

Quinn took it carefully and smelled it. It smelled merely of herbs, and that calmed her somewhat. The potions for the transformation had had an unusual smell. She could still remember that.

Because she assumed that it really wasn't a potion for transformation, she took a sip and frowned a little. The tea was nice and warm but not exactly delicious.

"Medicine never tastes good," Rei said apologetically. In particular, certain herbs often taken for pain relief and anxiety were bitter and not really edible.

On the tray that stood at the edge of the bed was a small tin, which he opened. Out came a golden liquid that was very viscous. "Do you want honey in the tea? It makes it more pleasant," he asked, glancing at the young woman.

Quinn looked at him questioningly for a moment. She didn't know exactly what he meant by honey but nodded. If he said it was getting more pleasant, maybe that wasn't a bad idea.

Unlike her village, the dragons seemed to know a lot more things as well as possess them.

Since she was suspicious, he took her finger and dipped it into the liquid, which stuck to it and dripped down. "Taste it first to see if you like it," he asked with a smile. Honey was lovely and strong, and therefore not to everyone's taste.

Surprised at this reaction, Quinn looked at her finger. The golden-yellow paste looked interesting.

Slowly, she put her finger in her mouth and made a sympathetic sound. "That's delicious," she remarked, though she still had the finger in her mouth, and her sentence was slightly unintelligible.

Satisfied with her reaction, Rei took a small spoon and held it out to her. "Take as much as you want," he offered caringly. The tea could quickly become too sweet if too much was put in. Not knowing her taste, Rei let her have the dose.

Slowly, Quinn reached for it, put a spoonful in, stirred, tasted, and kept going until she found a taste that was tolerable for her.

With a satisfied look on his face, the guard watched her. It didn't matter how much of it she used. The main thing was that it made the tea taste better and made it more bearable for her.

"How do you get such things on an island like this?" she asked in a whisper as she felt an inner calm take hold of her.

She received a shrug of the shoulders in reply. She didn't need to know that he regularly got supplies for the men. Nothing could be grown here, on Ice Island, so it really went without saying that they had to be supplied elsewhere.

"Elgatos is bringing clothes for you. They arrived today," he remarked instead of responding to her question.

Quinn nodded slightly and drained the tea. "C-can I get another cup?" she asked uncertainly. The tea had relaxed her, and the warmth had helped her throat. She wasn't sure if they would give her more, though.

Wordlessly, Rei poured her another cup and handed her the honey.

Again she mixed in the golden-yellow liquid and then drank. The more she drank, the more relaxed she felt.

However, she stuck with the tea and continued to ignore the food.

"You should eat something," Rei pointed out to her, who hadn't missed it. However, since she had just drunk so much, it was better to let some time pass.

Elgatos quietly returned to the room, holding paper and pens, which he handed to Rei. Immediately, the guard got up and sat down at the table to write the letter.

Meanwhile, the dragon with the orange hair placed Quinn's clothes over the chair near the bed. "As soon as I'm done with it, send it off. After that, you come back so she can eat," Rei asked him, letting the pen fly quickly over the paper.

Elgatos nodded and waited for Rei to finish, but in the meantime, devoted himself to Quinn, whom he handed some food. "What did you eat in your village?" he inquired of her kindly. "Perhaps we could make you some," he suggested, and Quinn slowly but hesitantly took the spoon.

"Bread. Sometimes pancakes or milk," she said carefully and spooned the soup, being slow and careful. She didn't want to be fed again, and since nausea didn't appear and the anxiety wasn't that bad either, she tried it herself.

Satisfied, Rei watched the situation from the corner of his eye. Although he was writing, he listened to the conversation on the side without interfering. Elgatos was better with women than he was. For Rei, there was only one life among men, with whom he had to be harsh and without any emotion.

"Arrange in the kitchen to bake bread and make pancakes if that is her wish," Rei remarked while writing.

"Would you like bread?" asked Elgatos Quinn, and the young woman nodded slightly. "Would you like cheese with it or meat?" he continued to ask, and she looked a bit indecisive and shy.

Quinn didn't know what to say. The meat had been scarce with her, although she loved to eat it. Still, she felt she was too demanding.

Soon she would need a lot of meat, especially in the last stages of transformation. "Bring her both," Rei demanded since Quinn didn't answer. As long as she ate, anything was fine with him. Reluctantly, he wanted to repeat the unpleasant method.

Once again, Rei read through the letter, stood up, and then folded it up. He handed it to Elgatos and looked him seriously in the golden eyes. "Say it is very urgent," he asked the other dragon, who nodded in response and disappeared.

As soon as he left the room, Rei turned back to Quinn. "Feel free to say what you want to eat. As long as we have it there, there shouldn't be any problems," he remarked calmly.

Quinn looked at him with wide eyes, unsure. The tea made her feel relaxed, but at the same time, it seemed to tip her confidence a bit. For the first time since she'd been here, she felt like she was being treated well. But there was also a belief that something was wrong. A dark premonition that she didn't know if it would come to pass or not.

Rei walked over to the chair where Elgatos had placed Quinn's new clothes and closely looked at them. "You don't have to worry that you won't get anything to eat here or that you'll always get the same thing. There's something different every day. The food is balanced, and you can eat as much as you want," he patiently assured her. That the young woman was not used to this kind of care, he could understand.