THE APPLE OF SNAKES

xix. the wolf woman

The forest went quiet. Or maybe it just seemed to do so to Nerluce. He trembled, staring wide-eyed at Rieka and the sword Aristide had pointed at her.

Wolf woman? He'd never heard that name before. Granted, Nerluce's knowledge of the world outside Itoroh was limited at best but surely if this wolf woman was such a dangerous figure that Ethera would send two of its Seraphs to exterminate her... He shook his head. They had to have been mistaken. Rieka wasn't... she didn't seem like a bad person. And she most definitely didn't deserve to be killed.

"W-wait," Nerluce said, shaking his head as he approached Aristide. "Calm down. I'm sure that there's been some sort of mistake. Rieka is... she's nice."

And that was all it took for Aristide to turn his icy glower onto Nerluce and the tip of his sword. Just like the last time Nerluce had the sword pointed at him he didn't feel much of anything. No fear. No anger. Not even a burst of adrenaline. Everything just seemed to... slow down. Become quiet and dull as Nerluce glared right back at Aristide.

"Angel," Nerluce said.

"Nerluce," Aristide said in turn. "I hope you realize the position you're in. You've already been deemed a suspicious figure and now I've found you conspiring with a known practicer of the forbidden magicks." He didn't blink, just stared Nerluce down. "I have full authority to execute you. So consider your next words carefully."

Nerluce swallowed. The air was thick with tension and magick. It seemed to stick to the inside of Nerluce's lungs. He stole a glance at Taayir, hoping to find her support but she wouldn't meet his gaze. She couldn't protect him. Aristide was the one who had been put in charge of supervising Nerluce, not her, and if he really did think that Rieka was a bad person then that would certainly only validate all of Aristide's suspicions.

Therefore the only way for Nerluce to get out of this was to prove that Rieka wasn't a bad person, wasn't it?

Shit. Making a gamble, Nerluce gritted his teeth and extended his arm before pushing Aristide's sword from his throat with the back of his hand, slow and purposefully. "Kill me then," he said. "What I'm telling you is that you've got the wrong person! Rieka isn't this wolf woman you're looking for!"

"Kid," Taayir said, her voice low. "She is."

"And how would you know?" Nerluce asked, turning on her. "Taayir, I don't know what's going on but this woman... she's kind. She gave me tea and..." Nerluce shook his head. They didn't need to know about the fan. "If she were really so evil that she needed to be executed on the spot, wouldn't she have killed me?"

Taayir pressed her lips into a fine line. She looked desperate. Not to believe Nerluce but... for him to just shut up.

"Why indeed?" Aristide asked. "And the ease in which you slipped through her defenses." 

"There were no defenses!" Nerluce protested. "I just walked into her camp!"

"Which makes it all the more suspicious!"

Taayir cut them both off. "Well, Wolf Woman?" she asked, looking directly at Rieka as if she was expecting some sort of answer. "Are you allied with this boy? Have you used your magick on him?"

"Me?" Rieka asked, clutching her hand to her chest. "Don't be ridiculous. We only just met."

"And why did you let him past your defenses so easily?" Taayir asked, narrowing her eyes. "Don't tell me that you were so focused on us that you left your rear unguarded?"

Rieka didn't say anything to this. Of course, she didn't because Taayir was wrong! Rieka wasn't the Wolf Woman! Taayir had to have been mistaken! However, when Nerluce turned to Taayir, he felt his stomach drop. The woman's expression was one of cold hatred. Nothing more and nothing less, directed right at Rieka.