The blood you bleed Is just the blood you owe

Her breath subtly shook as she felt his teeth lightly nip her bared throat. A pinch just hairs away from her jugular pulsating at a trembling pace. He pulled away, wafting his scent toward her, she could almost feel the thrum in his veins through the floor. Oppressive, unyielding, and vulgar he loomed over her and reminded her of her weakness and shame. She owed him.

She faced the fire and let her eyes consume the flames, cradling her newly rebandaged arm, tender and weak. Lifting even the spoon was excruciating. Her mouth began to water as he brought the slaughtered rabbit toward her. She grabbed a few seasonings, salt, a bay leaf, oregano, and thyme, adding some of the boneset flowers and thistle stalks to the pot for an extra boost for both their bones. She barely felt his eyes on her.

She let the pot simmer for a moment with the seasonings before dropping in the meat. She wiped a string of drool off her lips as she placed the rabbit chunks within and stirred.

"speech"