ratty-looking towel had been sat on a barrel near the door. I set my bag down beside it.
“Thanks,” I said unenthusiastically as the door shut.
As awkward as this was, there was no way I was staying in my nightgown all day. I was not about to go battle a monster in nothing but a bit of flannel.
I heard Rio move away from the door and the rough sound of wood scraping against wood as he sat on one of the benches in the other room. Digging into my bag, I pulled out some more suitable clothes and turned vaguely to Levent.
“Could you – er – turn away? I need to change,” I muttered inelegantly.
For a moment I thought that the dragon-kin had fallen asleep, until he wriggled around to face the opposite wall. Good enough.
Getting into some fresh clothes felt excellent, though not good enough to erase the anxiety of the current situation. Despite the captain’s fancy words, it was obvious that the dragon-kin and I were captives until his goals were achieved.
I fumbled with the bowl and towel, setting them by Levent on the floor. He turned his head back to face me, frowning in confusion.
“Apparently I’m supposed to heal you to make you ‘wake up,’” I explained.
He simply said, “That’s not necessary.”
“I know that, but how else am I supposed to explain why you’re suddenly awake?” I was at a loss. Deception was not my strong point. I hated to admit it, but I was afraid of our captors. I did not want to think about what would happen if I were caught in my lie.
“Here,” he grunted, pulling himself lithely into a seated position. He looked up toward his wound and nodded. “Just wash it off. It’s only a superficial wound.”
It sounded like a good enough plan; I only hoped that it would work. I dipped the towel into the water and wringed it out so that it would not drip everywhere. It was cold.
“Lean forward,” I instructed, having to use my left hand to lift up his bangs in order to get at the now drying blood on his forehead with the other. He barely flinched when the cold towel made contact. It made me very tense, him just sitting there and watching me work in silence. I did my best to wipe the wound clean.
“The captain told me what they plan to do with us,” I began, knowing that warning Levent of what was to come was high priority. I also was hoping that talking