Unexpected Changes

Cloverleaf followed the instructions to the letter. Six crystals were given, and they were clasped to normal strings of twine that made little loops. The loops were attached to the east-facing window via small hooks on rubber suction cups. These would only be effective in the morning; that was listed in the instructions. If it has been a west-facing window, it would only be in the evening, if it had been south-facing, only at noon, and not as strong. A bronze mirror would help in that case, and would be required if it was a north-facing window. This was all because the sun had to catch the crystals and refract light into the room. No sunlight, no effect.

The charms were a little bit... macabre. They were bits of what looked like bone, with circular runes carved into them. He wasn't sure what they meant, but he was meant to hang one over her head, and then one more at each corner of her bed. They were small enough to not detract from the aesthetic she'd wanted, and even seemed to match her favourite colours. The only one that looked out of place was the one he had to hang from the ceiling. It was awkward to put up, as she was still sleeping as he drove the little hook into the ceiling, but he managed to hang it without waking her.

The candles had to wait until she woke up. The infused oils were only flammable to a certain temperature, meaning they would stay lit for an hour and no longer. He was to light two at a time in a safe location, then have her sit in that room until the candles expired. She didn't need to sit, per se, she just needed to breathe in the fumes being released. She could be playing with her dolls, eating dinner, taking a bath... as long as she was in an enclosed space with two lit candles once a day, they'd do their job.

Next was the ointment. It was pretty easy to use. A few drops onto her shower pouf mixed in with any soap, bring it up to a lather, and give herself a good scrubbing, then rinse. Alternatively, if she used liquid soap that wasn't aerated through the pump, she could mix the whole bottle with a litre of soap, shake it up, and not have to worry about mixing it further. It would also soften her skin, which she might not actually like. She took some pride in her resilience, so softening up may rub her the wrong way, but she could toughen up again if she needed to.

Once all of that was done, he started making dinner. When she was sick, he always made waffles for her. She wasn't sick now, but she did need a bit of special treatment to make her feel better. There was only a week and a half left of camp, and she'd be out of commission for the next two weeks, so she'd be unable to participate in the hoofball finals. He knew how much she loved to play, and she was going to be very upset that she was now unable to lead her team to victory. She could use a pick-me-up.

He heard the doorframe creak as he poured the last ladleful of waffle mix into the press. "Good morning, Lily."

She rubbed her face. "It's morning? I slept through dinner?"

"No. I'm just teasing," he chuckled. "Sit down."

She dragged herself over to the table and climbed up into her chair. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything all day."

"You had soup for lunch," he reminded her. "Just before I left. And thanks for putting your bowl in the sink, by the by."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. Still hungry, though..."

"Well, you're in luck." He picked up a platter of waffles and brought it over to the table.

Her face lit up, though she was very much trying not to open her eyes. "Yay!"

That put a smile on Cloverleaf's face, too. His daughter was happy, and while her exclamation of joy sounded like a weak whine, it was evidence that he could still make her feel better, and that was what every father wanted.

He brought out the butter and some warm blueberry syrup, and she started prepping a plate for herself. She still had an appetite, which was good. The councillors had told him that she'd been concerned about keeping food down, and he was hoping that by now, she'd realised that she wasn't going to suddenly lose it all.

As the last waffle came off of the press, he added it to his own plate and sat down across from her. "Did you sleep well?"

"No. I had some really weird dreams, and then when I woke up, there were these... things... hanging over my bed."

With a nod, he explained to her all of the various things that he'd done to fill out her medications. She listened closely while eating, occasionally taking breaks to hold her abdomen as the pulsing pain in her gut swelled, but then went away a moment later. She described it as a hot, burning, throbbing that radiated out from her core. As it passed, she waved for him to continue and resumed eating.

"Finally, There's one more thing that we can do for you." He picked up her empty plate, as well as his own, putting the rest of the waffles in the fridge for later. He could reheat them in the toaster. "I have some medicine for you to take."

She stuck out her tongue. "Do I have to?"

"Do you want to keep having that abdominal pain?"

"...No..."

"Then yes, you have to."

"You know I have trouble taking pills."

"This isn't a pill, sweetheart." He walked back to the table with two cups of tea and a bottle of honey.

"This is the medicine?"

He nodded. "All you have to do is drink what's in that cup. I'll even go right along with you."

She looked up at him. "Are you going through heat, too?"

"No, honey. Stallions don't go through heat."

"So why would you take heat medicine?"

"To show you it's safe."

As heat was essentially an increased libido, this medicine would calm his sex drive. Since it was already pretty calm, what reason did he have to be afraid? He raised his cup, clinked it against hers, and they both took a large swallow of the herbal medicine.