Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 157: Remus

"Oh, I see that look in your eyes," Cherreka pointed at Arabella’s face, "I am a little over six hundred years old,"

Arabella’s breath hitched in her throat as her eyebrows rose up. That expression spoke enough on her behalf. No words were needed.

"I know, I know. Shocking!" the old lady put her hands up, feigning surprise, "But, yes," she sighed, "Living to this age is quite difficult, if I am allowed a moment to complain. There are many things that I used to but am no longer able to do," her eyes fell to the rocky ground beneath them.

Once again, Arabella said nothing and allowed her teary eyes to study Cherreka’s figure more intently.

Her crumpled features did give away her old age, but not nearly enough to indicate six hundred years had gone by since her birth.

"Make yourself comfortable then," Cherreka’s voice cut Arabella’s train of thought short, "Food will be served. I do hope you like meat. We eat a lot of that around here,"

At those words, Arabella’s lips trembled then split apart. No words were uttered, however as many questions huddled, fighting to be first in line and tugging at her tongue from every direction until none of them won.

Seeing her outlook, Cherreka believed to have understood what Arabella wanted to know and decided to save her the trouble of asking, "Don’t worry," she smiled, "The meat will be cooked for us both," the old woman chuckled, "Like I said, I am way past acting young. My stomach can’t process raw meats like it used to...,"

There was a haze cloaking Cherreka’s eyes, earning her a distant look. It was as though she’d gotten lost in her own mind. Null doubt reminiscing her older or in her case... Younger years.

Though whether the meat was raw or otherwise did not concern Arabella one bit. In fact, it was never on the list of questions that fought for priority.

One of the more prominent ones had been, when would she get to go back to the Eleazars? Had they sent word of her presence there yet?

It was in that exact instant that Katherine’s advice about staying away from Cynric’s territory came rushing back, running until they struck her across the face.

She internally shook those thoughts off for there was already enough for her to deal with as it was.

"Take a moment to breathe and wipe at those tears," Cherreka wrenched Arabella out of her contemplations once more, "I’ll have to fetch some herbs for that cut of yours," her eyes stuck to Arabella’s calf, "The rest of my people have almost no need for medicine, but I do," the old woman pushed her weight off the ground, "I only had to assess the severity of it before picking a remedy,"

Cherreka’s voice echoed louder, bouncing against the walls of that wide cave the more distance between them she put until finally disappearing behind the stone.

The shade of them reminded her greatly of the tree trunks out in the forest of the lost souls. Only missing the green caps atop and the wondrous melodies that zimmerlarks blessed the passers’ ears with.

Although the young woman wondered whether her eyes deceived her, considering the lighting conditions in there since the wolf folk kept Arabella in a deeper part of the cave, thus the need for the fire that brightened her vicinities. Flickering merrily at the heart of the chamber, the vermillion hue it cast around granted a semblent of life to the darkest corners.

But something seemed amiss... Something Arabella immediately put her finger on yet was not allowed to dwell on the thought of.

Indeed, everything that raced through her mind grinded to a sudden halt the instant her eyes landed on a large rock somewhat far from her sitting place.

A little gasp escaped her upon noticing movement behind it. Sat completely immobile, taking in the cold that seeped through to her bones from the ground, her blood slowed further down at the realization that someone or something lurked very close by, right beyond that rock.

Eyes soldered in that direction, refusing to let go of that spot, she instinctively leaned away from it as the muscles in her lower half entirely froze.

For a moment, nothing but her erratic breathing along with the crackling of fire could be heard in the cave.

That was until whoever hid behind the rock began to shift in their spot, deepening the dread already ingrained in Arabella.

When they decided to show themselves however, their sight stopped her heart from sinking any lower.

The small figure of a little boy stood by the rock, seemingly hesitant to take any more steps. His round, azure eyes stared at her with great curiosity in them, barely blinking as though afraid Arabella would vanish should they do so.

Much like the other wolfmen she’d seen, his hair seemed healthy enough but clearly unkempt.

The next thing that had caught Arabella’s attention was the wiggling tuft of hair right behind his back. From left to right it went, at quite the fast pace too.

It was a tail or so she thought, at least, which perplexed her even more since the other wolf people she’d encountered before him had no tail in their human form.

"Hello,"

Surprisingly, Arabella had been the one to shatter the stifling silence between them.

"Hmm...," he merely hummed, lowering his eyes to his fingers which he twiddled in front of himself.

"Who are you?" her voice remained brittle, barely rising above a whisper.

The boy’s features twitched and shifted many times in the span of mere seconds as if conflicted about something, "My name is Remus, but my friends and family call me Rem,"

"I am Arabella," she grimaced while attempting to smile, "Nice to meet you, Remus,"

"You can call me, Rem," he immediately corrected her.

Well, he lets people in fairly quickly then, she thought...

"Why are you still sad? Father said you were in danger, but you are not in danger anymore," he shook his head innocently.

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