help me understand

Lucretia returned Belle's affections, relishing the contact. It wasn't often that she opened herself up to other creatures outside of the family and lately she found herself more touch-starved than she had thought was possible. Luce was working herself to the bone but luckily the self-abasement had been mitigated by Bourbon's alert stewardship of her daily needs. There wasn't a day that she went without adequate sleep, food, or water and she had him to thank for it - even if she wouldn't admit it. Luce wasn't ready yet to admit that she was dependent on him. It was a blow to her self-esteem that she wasn't ready to nurse.

"Sister, I've put together the thing you asked for during the scarce winter months - that..." What was the word for it? "An anti-fertility concoction. I wasn't able to thoroughly test it, but if my hypothesis is correct, it will prevent pregnancy and may even prevent you from coming into season at all." Hormones were a tricky thing. They sometimes seemed to function outside of the medical realm entirely, as if they were powered by the soul and not the vessel of the body. Luce didn't like them at all. "It definitely won't taste as good as the honey tonics. Not everything can," she laughed. "I noticed you've been spending time with another healer," Lucretia pouted teasingly, nuzzling her sister's cheek before coming to sit close by her side. "Are my ministrations not enough for you?"