"Eat."
Lavinia ordered as she offered a soup made of ordinary rations to Vandra.
Vandra blinked in surprise—
"I—"
She tried to say something, to explain how this was her way to punish herself and she couldn't possibly—
"That wasn't a request."
Lavinia spoke calmly, her eyes never leaving her.
Vandra hesitated, she looked like she was still trying to come up with something, but Lavinia's gaze was too overbearing for her to think properly.
In the end, she took the bowl.
"You are exhausted."
Lavinia commented as she saw how her hands were shaking.
"It seems I have let myself go.
A day without food didn't use to wear me out like that."
Vandra answered with a wry smile.
"That is a good thing.
It means your body now understands what it requires and demands it."
"A demanding body isn't a good thing."
Vandra countered.
"That is untrue.
A body that doesn't demand shuts itself down until it can no longer take it.
