Yilas ate the beetroots the centaur man brought to her, it was a great help since she had lost so much blood and was starving.
"Eat slowly, female, there's more food, no-one is going to take yours…" looking at Yilas's blood-red mouth, and the way she tried to shove as much food as possible down her throat the man furrowed his brow. 'Why was she starved? Even though she was held captive, they should at least feed her' he couldn't help but be bothered by the thoughts.
"Can you please stop calling me female? I have a name, it's Yilas. Can you tell me who you are?" Yilas lifted her eyes from devouring the roots to the man in front of her, hunching over, watching her carefully.
"I'm Zarek, Zassar is my third blood brother" he curled all four of his legs and tugged them within his body, settling to a comfortable position.
"Oh, were you older or younger?" Yilas remembered Viosus had told her before that blood brother means that the beasts shared the same parents.
"I'm the oldest, Zassar is the youngest out of all of us." Zarek crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze now changed from Yilas's to his brother, who looked as if he was sleeping soundly.
"Really? You don't look much different in age at all, how old are you?"
Caught off-guard by what was considered 'a compliment' from a female, Zarek's face flushed pink, he couldn't even make eye contact with Yilas but he still answered.
"Thanks, I have just turned 40." Yilas stopped eating and looked at Zarek in shock. The man in front of her could have passed as 20 something years old in her eyes. Not only did his muscular and lean physique help him appear much younger but even when closely examining his face, Yilas couldn't find a single wrinkle or sign of aging.
'What kind of sorcery does this man practice?' Yilas thought to herself as she kept staring at Zarek's face until she noticed how impolite she was. Turning her gaze away immediately, Yilas blushed out of embarrassment.
"S-sorry, I was being rude, you look extremely young for your age so I couldn't help but stare a little too long"
Yilas had failed to see that Zarek was embarrassed by her intense observation too, he was too old to shy away from a little female stare. But somehow it was Yilas's gaze that made his insides feel like it's burning. Maybe it was the careless compliment or the way that she looked at him with her big round eyes so intensely that made his heart double its beats.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Yilas continued to finish all the beets Zarek gave her. She patted her full belly and wiped away the red juice with her hand but there was still a stain left behind on her lips.
After calming himself, Zarek finally opened his mouth again. His voice was so low as if he was whispering, even when Yilas was only sitting a few arm's lengths away, it was still hard for her to hear.
"Thank you for saving my brother, even though I was hard on you when I brought you here, you still healed him. This debt shall be paid back in full and will forever be remembered."
Zarek lowered his head to a half bow, his broad arms folded alongside his half-human torso.
"It was my fault in the first place, so I'm glad I was of help." Yilas continued to explain what she had done to Zassar in the Forest and her genuine intention was never to hurt him. Zarek never once interrupted her, he listened to Yilas's explanation and nodded in a sympathetic way. Yilas noticed his demeanor had changed completely as soon as Zassar's condition got better. She thought maybe she had judged this beast-man a little too early.
"I see, that is what you had to do."
"May I ask how did you know I could heal him?" Yilas remembered not a lot of beast-men were around when Bryok showed her this healing method. Yilas recalled she was just as shocked as he was when they first attempted this.
"There's already rumors spreading around on that topic, Zassar's condition couldn't wait any longer so I was willing to try anything to bring my brother back to health." Zarek sighed, for a flashing moment, his eyes were filled with something like fear and sadness. He cared so much for his little brother ever since he was little so it was hard for Zarek to see Zassar being hurt.
But as Zarek explained swiftly, a sudden fear came over Yilas's mind, now that a lot more beasts had realized her blood could heal wounds, her life from now on would become more dangerous. Many beasts would seek after her for this, they could trick her, how could she trust anyone anymore?
Realizing Yilas expression grew dark, Zarek could easily guess what was going through her mind.
"But don't be afraid, it was just a rumor, nobody was desperate enough to act on it anyway. Even though I brought you here I didn't expect you to draw blood to save him." Zarek shook his head lightly remembering what had happened "But seeing that miracle with my own eyes is still something that I can not wrap my head around."
Yilas was visibly shivering, she was so scared that she shook uncontrollably. Zarek had to place his hand on her shoulder and called for her to break Yilas out of her own thoughts and anxiety.
"I think there's always someone out there that is desperate enough..." Yilas said in a trembling voice, her eyes were filled to the brim with horror.
"But you're quite strong, don't underestimate yourself." Zarek and Yilas sat close enough to see each other in their eyes, Yilas could visibly see herself wavering in the man's pupils. "Not a lot of beasts can hold out for as long as you did back there. You are probably the only female that could possibly survive that punishment. Therefore, you have my respect."