Chapter 4.4

Chapter4.4

Thoughtfully, he lifted the clothes and held them out for Quinn to choose which one she would like to wear. The rest he would hang in the closet for now.

Quinn pointed to one of the undergarments and a dress that was made of blue fabric. They were all very plain, yet much better than what she had been wearing at home. "It's unfamiliar," she admitted cautiously.

He placed the clothes he wanted on the bed before taking the rest to the closet. "I hear you," Rei said, checking to see if the fire needed wood. But this one still had enough, which is why he came back to the bed. "If you want, you can change," he offered kindly.

Without getting up, Quinn began to undress and then put on the undershirt and finally the dress. Rei had stood up and turned away from her in time for her to change in peace. He didn't want to give her the feeling of being watched.

"I don't understand how this works," she confessed quietly. It was so very different from before, and that increasingly confused her.

"What exactly don't you understand?" the guard wanted to know. A particular curiosity resonated in his voice, which he tried to suppress. Her opinion and impressions were definitely interesting.

"Everything," Quinn whispered. "I don't think I can handle the difference," she said uncertainly.

Rei almost turned to her in astonishment but paused. "Now I don't understand you," he confessed honestly. What was she getting at?

"I was torn from my village and put in a dungeon," she said quietly. "And now I'm here, and everything here is .... so different."

Rei did not immediately respond but remained silent. Instead, he listened to the raging weather from outside as if searching for an answer in it. Eerily, the wind howled around the gray castle walls of Barafu Island. Darkness fell, leaving only a hint of the masses of snow pressing against the windows.

"If it were up to me, I would take you back to your village. Unfortunately, that's no longer possible, nor is it my place," Rei finally replied slowly, walking toward the fire after all to add wood.

How he would have loved to tell her that she had time to settle in. Unfortunately, she would not have that, for this island was only a transition. Soon she would be taken somewhere else.

"They wouldn't want me there anyway," she said, leaning against the headboard of the bed. "I know I won't stay here either," she confessed, closing her eyes. "But I'm afraid of the new place. Of what will be waiting for me there. What I'll be asked to do."

Rei's suspicion that Quinn was finished changing was confirmed when he turned to face her. Slowly, he approached the bed and sat at the foot of it. The tray with the tea and soup was still there, but Quinn hadn't touched it.

Gently, his hand stroked his former bed. Already he missed the soft mattress and cozy pillows.

Once Quinn was asleep, he would have Elgatos watch them so he could retire and get some sleep. The day had been very tiring, and the pain was making him tired.

He remembered that he still wanted to wipe his wounds with the numbing cloths. Otherwise, he would not get a restful sleep.

Thoughtfully, he looked at Quinn. "The future often scares you a lot when you don't know what to expect," he said gently. "That's normal. But sometimes you worry so much that it makes you blind, and you don't even try to see the beauty in something anymore," Rei continued in the same tone. "I'm not saying that there is or will always be something beautiful. But you shouldn't give up hope in it."

Quinn pulled her legs toward her and rested her head on her knees. "I don't know if I ever expected anything nice out of life," she murmured, rocking back and forth a little. Why was he so sweet to her? She didn't know, and it puzzled her. It was also a very stark contrast to their first encounter. Were these feelings due to the soothing tea she had been drinking? Was that why she felt the need for closeness and affection?

Quietly the door opened, and Elgatos came slipping back into the room. With a nod, he signified to Rei that the letter was already on its way. The guard nodded back in satisfaction. Now he could only hope that he would get answers soon.

In his hands, Elgatos held a tray with bread, cheese, and meat, which he placed on the bed next to the other. Now Quinn could help herself. However, if she refused, they would have to feed her the soup again. The funnel and the strange rack lay cleaned on the table, ready for use.

"Can you please put the clothes on the back for me?" Rei asked the older dragon with a nod to said.

While Elgatos complied with Rei's request, Quinn reached for the cheese and began to nibble on it. It wasn't proper to eat cheese without bread, but she was craving it right now, and the fear of her stomach reacting to too much was still there.

She watched Elgatos and Rei closely. I wonder if he would have asked her too if she was doing the cloth thing. After all, she was partly to blame, though she had denied it before. She hadn't hurt him, but he had gone out because of her.

Rei had just pushed up his uniform top so Elgatos could help when quick footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway. They sounded rushed and in a hurry.

Shortly after that, there was a vigorous knock on the door, which was yanked open at the exact moment.

A rotund man with yellow hair almost rushed into the room but paused and stopped at the door when he saw Quinn lying in Rei's room. For a small moment, confusion was written on his face. Still, immediately that expression disappeared and gave way to a pleading one.

Frowning, Rei faced him, and his previously gentle voice turned icy cold. "Blade, how many times have I told you to knock and wait for a sign?" he reprimanded the dragon angrily.

The latter immediately pulled his head in a little and gasped for air. His dark brown eyes fixed on Rei, and he had to catch his breath before he could even speak.

"There is trouble. You must come at once," he finally gasped. With his corpulence, it was a wonder he could even run that fast.

Quinn made himself very small at the sudden tension in the room and kept his eyes fixed on the strange man.

"I'll take care of her," Elgatos Rei assured him reassuringly because he had no other choice.

Gratefully, the guard nodded to him and yanked his top-down as he jumped up and left the bed-chamber with hurried steps. Angry voices and the footsteps of the two still echoed in the hallway before they fell silent.

Left behind were Quinn and Elgatos, who turned to her. "Is everything all right?" he asked with a scrutinizing look.

Quinn swallowed and nodded slightly. What was going on here right now? Why was Rei suddenly so cold again?

"Come, eat something," Elgatos asked kindly, pushing the tray closer to her. He could see that she was confused and wanted answers. But he couldn't tell her why Rei had suddenly reacted so violently. "Do you need it warmer here?" he asked, caring. It was warm for him, but since Quinn had nearly frozen to death, the older dragon couldn't gauge whether or not it was too cold for her.

Quinn shook her head slightly. She was warm enough. To distract herself, she grabbed a slice of bread and began to nibble on it.

The older dragon settled down at the table and looked over at the window. It seemed as if he was thinking. But he also kept glancing at Quinn, who was eating slowly. "Do you want to play chess or something?" asked Elgatos after a while of silence. He found the silence in the room oppressive. Which was partly because he was in Rei's bedroom. Where typically no one had access unless there was trouble and he had to be fetched.

"What's chess?" asked Quinn, who didn't know that much. She could weave and take care of sheep, but she didn't even know how to read and write.

"A game that involves strategy," Elgatos replied patiently. He couldn't teach her. He was too bad for that. He had hoped that he could distract her a bit with it. How long Rei would be gone, he didn't know.

"Sorry, I can't do very much," Quinn said apologetically. "I can only weave. That's all my mother taught me."

Elgatos looked at her and nodded. He knew that many women weren't taught anything because they died anyway or were just used to bear children. So it didn't matter if they could do something or not. "What can you weave?" he asked the young woman curiously.

"Fabrics," Quinn said, a little confused. "And I can take care of animals, shear sheep, and make threads from their wool. Things like that, that a housewife just has to be able to do."

Quietly, appreciatively, he clicked his tongue. In his opinion, women didn't have to do such things, but if they learned, the family could sell something.