Aurora's words had barely settled in the air when Asher's already cold gaze sharpened further, and his eyes narrowed as suspicion surged back with full force.
Whatever momentary calm her earlier explanation had brought, it shattered instantly.
"What problem?" he asked. His voice was low and edged with danger.
Aurora exhaled quietly, as if this was nothing more than an inconvenient delay rather than a matter of life and death. "I need to boil the herbs," she said plainly, already crouching down to sort through the plants she had gathered. "It strengthens their effect and helps extract the active compounds properly."
She paused briefly before adding, "But there are no utensils here. No containers, no tools. So for now, I'll have to crush them and extract the liquid manually. It will still work, just slower."
