THE APPLE OF SNAKES

xvi. dirt path

Eden's large body and steady hooves made for a peaceful journey down the mountains.

Nerluce spent most of it talking loudly with Lyana - who rode upon a chestnut mare that had eaten more sugar cubes than any other horse in the stables. At one point Aristide had dropped the pace of his own horse - and, of course, he rode the only horse as big or mean as Eden, the black mare, Lilith - just to tell them to shut up. He hadn't actually said that. He just glared at both of them until their conversation sort of dried up and then picked up his pace again.

When he was out of earshot, Nerluce scoffed. "Ass. Just because he's a Head Disciple or whatever doesn't give him a right to boss us around."

"It kind of does," Eko said.

Nerluce made a face at them. Eko was... well Nerluce had a hard time pinning down any details relating to Eko. They were quiet, a stickler for the rules, and smart. They didn't seem very interested in talking to anyone and even though they slept in the boy's half of the room, Nerluce didn't feel like he knew them any better than when he first arrived.

Not that he knew much about Corbett or Hamelin either.

"It wouldn't kill him to show a bit more humility," Corbett said from behind because Nerluce did know that he couldn't keep his nose out of a conversation. "He might be higher ranking but he isn't that much older."

"We don't know how old he is, Corbett," Eko said, their tone pulling tight as they turned their head to give Corbett a dry stare. "Magick can alter aging."

"Oh yeah!" Lyana said, brightening. "I remember Taayir telling us about that!"

"I absolutely do not," Nerluce chimed.

In front of Nerluce and Lyana, Jurine scoffed. She was riding beside Eko. They seemed friends, at least sort of? They were both smart and Eko seemed to prefer talking with Jurine if they had to talk with anyone. "Nerluce, I'm certain you've seen the effects magick has on the body. Hebikotis are known for their magick."

Nerluce hummed in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, I've seen it." A chill went down his spine. "It's creepy if you ask me."

"Creepy?" Corbett squawked. "It's the most appealing part of magick! It-"

"My father looks like he's... twenty-five?" Nerluce pressed his brows together. "That's only like... ten years older than me. That's creepy."

"You have a point," Lyana said.

"Yeah," Jurine said, turning her head. "Both of my parents practice and they still look... young. Not that young but still too young for them to have had a daughter my age." She cleared her throat and turned to look at Corbett who huffed a surrender.

Oddly enough it was Eko who spoke next, "I wonder what the Chosen Light will look like?" They seemed just as surprised as everyone else was that they'd let the comment slip out. Their face flushed and they turned away. "Well, it's generally assumed that the sooner you start practicing magick and the more powerful your magick is, the younger you'll look."

"Aw shit," Lyana said. "Do you think I'll look like I'm twelve forever?"

"You only look like you're twelve because you're short," Nerluce said.

"And you're flat-chested," Jurine added, her eyes light and teasing.

Lyana let out an offended noise but Nerluce couldn't help but laugh. Lyana snapped something back about how Jurine was really one to talk about being flat-chested and the two girls bickered between one another. Their spirits were high and they continued their banter back and forth. Nerluce didn't know if people were just in a good mood because they were finally getting to leave the mountain or how it was one of those rare warm days.