THE APPLE OF SNAKES

xxiii. first step

Nerluce had been to banquets before.

This... was not a banquet.

Nerluce had wasted away too many long nights in banquet halls, sitting beside Lord Father, eating food that was both of the highest quality and utterly tasteless, and - when he was lucky - dancing with a pretty girl or two. They were formal events where every smile and word was laced with double, triple intent. Nerluce knew banquet halls - filled with their soft music - as a place of deception and deals. It was a pit of vipers.

This was very much not a banquet. Nerluce sat between Lyana and Jurine at the same table they always ate at - though a white cloth had been pulled over and some flower petals had been scattered across the center. Nerluce tried to remember if the tables had looked like this when he'd first arrived.

They ate on the same plates as always, were served food that was just above average in quality - though Nerluce swore up and down that he'd never eaten anything better in his life - and he was going to get to dance with all of his friends after he finished eating. There was no asking Lord Father for permission. He could just... do it. Everyone was cheerful and friendly but not because they wanted something from Nerluce but... because they were having fun.

This wasn't a banquet in the slightest.

"Lyana, you still don't know how to use chopsticks?" Jurine teased, leaning slightly over Nerluce. "We've been here a year already!"

"I don't want to learn," Lyana huffed.

Only Nerluce knew that Lyana had been here for much longer than a year. And he figured that not learning to use chopsticks was a point of pride for her. The High Priestess had taken her from her homeland, Lyana wasn't going to let her take anything else. "Come on, Jurine," Nerluce said, jumping to shift the attention, "it's not like Corbett knows how to use them either."

"Well I don't expect anything from Corbett," Jurine said, rolling her eyes.

"I know how to use chopsticks!" Corbett snapped, his eyes flicking up. "It's just that they're not practical."

"I think they are," Eko said, balancing two chopsticks between their fingers and using them to eat some rice. Eko had a weird way of holding their chopsticks but they'd gotten pretty good at using them. They were the only one who had actually made any effort to learn how to use their chopsticks, though.

For that, Nerluce held them in high regard.

"If you want to talk about practicality, forks make no sense," Jurine said. "Half of the time when you stab something with them it falls apart." She shook her head. "It makes way more sense to just pinch it."

"Yeah!" Nerluce agreed. "Also there are way too many types of forks."

"There are not," Corbett said.

"It is best," Hamelin said, slowly. He had such a deep and striking voice, the rest of the table couldn't help but go quiet every time he opened his mouth. That and with how rarely he spoke, it seemed like everything he said was important, "to eat with the utensils of each food's culture." He held his chopsticks perfectly.

Having said that, Nerluce didn't understand Hamelin at all.

Before their riveting discussion on utensils could continue, however, Taayir walked up. She was wearing probably some of the nicest robes in the room. They were made to look like fire and every time she moved, golden threads glinted. She grinned at Nerluce and he instantly felt a sense of foreboding come over him.

He liked Taayir but never once had she approached him with good news. "Nerluce," she said. "Finish up your food. I need to ask you a favor."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm almost done," Nerluce said.