Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 159: Family

"Thank you then, Rem," Arabella muttered, her full attention on the kid.

"What are you thanking me for?" his little head tilted to the side, mouth slightly agape and eyes somewhat wide.

"Well, you allowed me to call you Rem. That means you consider me a friend, am I wrong?" although far from steady, her voice still managed to stay above whispering throughout their dialogue.

"Father trusts you and you will be family soon," Rem said simply.

That answer left her perplexed; why would the boy’s father trust her considering they never even met, and what would make her soon to be family?

Unless, Rem was...

"Mother never cried," his little voice put a stop to her thoughts, "She always healed too. why aren’t you healing?" from where he stood, it was clear his gaze rested on her injured calf.

"Oh... That is because I am human," she started, "Human bodies don’t heal as fast as the wolf kin," her hand hovered over the cut that stretched horizontally on her leg.

The blood around it had long since coagulated but the stinging remained.

In reply to her words, Rem took one step in her direction before leaning forward to sort of snort three good sniffs after which, the boy straightened up again and nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, you are human," he said matter of factly, "I have met other humans before. They cried too and they also couldn’t heal," he marked a pause to purse his lips, "Are all humans weak like you?"

That cut deep, but not as deep as Arabella thought it should have. Healing aside, tears did stream down her cheeks fairly easily and it happened more often than she was proud to admit, but didn’t it mean Rem was right about her? Wasn’t it weak to cry in front of every curve that life would cast in her path?

It didn’t help that people had to step in and save her every time she faced difficulties. The shame of it alone exacerbated the effect of gravity on her organs.

"I... Am not sure," eyes on the ground, Arabella had barely whispered the answer, "But your mother sounds very strong,"

"Not really. She died,"

From the ground straight to his face, her eyes darted up so fast, even her brain struggled to translate the image they’d captured in time.

"Oh... I am really sorry for your loss," through trembling lips those condolence had been uttered.

What was there to say, do or act like in that situation? Besides furrowing her eyebrows and staring back at him in complete disbelief.

"She was torn apart during a hunting accident when we went east,"

Oh... The boy volunteered more information...

"She was caught between two red luehornes. They don’t have sharp teeth but great strength in their jaws, once something gets trapped in them, it is very much over," he nodded as though retelling a not so riveting fact about something deemed insignificant, "One of them got her by the head and the second bit down on her foot, from then on-"

"Rem!" Arabella did not yell, but her tone urged him to stop immediately.

Seeing how even a child could be so numb to the lurid evisceration of their own mother put the rest of her interactions with wolf folk in perspective. It was no wonder they were unable to fathom why she continued to sob after the macabre scene that had unfolded before her unprepared eyes.

Rem spoke of the death of his mother as though it was nothing but a fun fact, so what sympathy could he carry for humans he never cared for?

Even the look on him as he told the story sent many chills up and down her spine...

"Did you... Did you care for your mother, Rem?"

Arabella had asked before mincing her words. They’d simply spilled, allowing her not a chance to mull them over.

"Yes," his head tilted to the side one more time, "But she was strong until she wasn’t. These things happen and can’t be helped,"

There was a term Arabella sought in order to describe the feelings Rem induced in her, but every time one strolled near, it ended up escaping her grasp just as quickly as it’d come.

Something lingered in his eyes and voice as he shared his mind. Something raw, bleak and from her angle, utterly dystopian.

"My mother too was strong until... She couldn’t take it anymore," her own voice had reverted back to muttering.

There was no use in arguing with him about it. They led different lives and thus saw things differently hence the difference in view of what true strength meant. Although in every case, every scenario, Arabella would concede only one point; whatever strength really was, she never had as much as a lick of it.

"Did you lose her in a hunting accident as well?"

And there it came again, Rem’s innocent voice...

A hunting accident, he said. If yes, then what was Eleanor hunting for when she wrapped that noose around her neck?

Could it have been freedom? Or was it relief?

"Out! Now!"

The new guttural voice that rumbled the cavern’s walls snapped her out of her daze right the instant it blared.

It was not a new one, but somewhat familiar.

Rem did not linger and after a clear, "Yes father!" he scurried out of the cave chamber in no time.

The boy left Arabella alone with his father who, as supposed, was none other than Cynric himself.

"He told you all about the death of his mother, didn’t he?" his timbre was so low, everything out of his mouth sounded like a growl.

"He is very trusting," her eyes refused to meet his.

"He is not," he stated firmly, wrenching a shudder out of her. Although his tone softened immediately after as he adopted a more casual tone, "So what? I save your life and don’t even get a thank you? This attitude may fly with that silver blood sucker but not with me, darling,"

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