Chapter 395: The Enemy Without
RETH
Forty minutes later Reth sat at the table, his nails digging into the hard, stone top to keep himself from shaking.
There is every possibility this plan the wolves had designed would have worked. Realizing that was humbling, frightening, and… possibly the coldest rage Reth had ever felt. If his enemy had not turned on his back and bared his belly, Reth may have been dead within days.
If it was true. And that was the question that tormented him like a fly buzzing around his head. Could this be trusted? Was there any chance Suhle had been deceived? Was there any chance Lerrin had been found out and deceived?
But Suhle was adamant: He was trusted by the others, and honorable. When he had realized what was happening among his people, he'd seen no course but to put their fate in Reth's hands. Because Reth had seen this coming and Lerrin had not.
"He does not like you," Suhle said, her lips twisting on the words.
Reth snorted. "I suspect that statement is a remarkable understatement."
Suhle's lips pressed thin. "He has been… buried in his grief and anger. His heart for his family… it is real, Reth. That they both died at your hands… vengeance burned within him. He still battles it. But he has come to his senses. He has learned of the betrayals of those in his leadership. And of the evils occurring between the people. He cannot fight wars on two fronts."
"So he leaves it to me to fight one for him," Reth snarled. Suhle opened her mouth, but he spoke over her. "No, it is true. Your… concern for him is admirable, Suhle. But understand, he has absolved himself of responsibility. What happens if I'm not successful in stopping his men? What if he is killed? He has done little but given me warning. The war must still be fought—but now, if I do not succeed, he does not have to see himself as the one to carry fault."
"He already sees himself at fault," Suhle insisted. "That's why he sent me."
And that was another thing. Reth rolled his jaw. "He knows of your… talents."
Suhle nodded. "I was forced to tell him—to show him. When he first learned of the males within their ranks who… threatened the females, he wished to teach me to defend myself. He did not understand that I choose to avoid combat. So… I showed him."
Reth's eyes narrowed. "How long has he known you can be the ghost?"
"A few weeks."
"Weeks?! He knew of rape among his males for weeks before—"
"No, Reth. Truly. It isn't what you think. He… truly did not know what was happening before I showed him. And, like you, he does not take the word of a single person. He investigated. He has had to swallow a great deal of his own pride to reach where he is now. In other circumstances you would applaud him."
"Never," Reth snarled. "I told him his wolves were out of control. I told him they would eat themselves. He had a front row seat to his own father's sick—"
"No, he did not," she said firmly. "I believe Lucan left both his children ignorant to some degree. Lucine was protective of females, though at the end I am certain she was aware of what was happening. She was only consumed with her own ambitions by that time. So she protected whom she could, and turned a blind eye to the rest. I even heard her warn others from informing Lerrin of certain things. Even she knew he would not support them. So you see… he was steeped in rage and hate, and unaware of the crimes committed around him—because he is not a male who would commit them himself."
"You speak of him as if he is a close confidant," Aymora piped up from next to Reth.
Suhle nodded. "We have grown close in the past few weeks as he began to see the problems and didn't know who he could trust. Because I raised them to his attention, he knew I would not betray him to the others. He had no one else."
Aymora gave Reth a skeptical look. "I don't know. It all seems a little too—"
"Lerrin has made many mistakes, and I have not refrained from speaking them to him. He knows he has done wrong, and he seeks to right the wrong he chose. But this all began because he saved me from… unwanted attention—before I served him, before he knew me. I was nothing to him, no one. He could have walked out of that tent and left me in evil hands and he did not. And he did not use his own strength to protect as leverage to gain from me, either. I offered to serve him after seeing his honor!"
Reth blinked. Suhle's righteous anger on Lerrin's behalf was a shock. She usually stayed neutral where politics or personal conflicts were concerned. She wished to see the best in everyone, and guard against the worse in each as well. For her to speak highly of Lerrin wasn't just shocking… it put Reth off balance.
"I almost left," Suhle said a moment later, her eyes glinting in the lantern light. "I almost gave up because I could not see this ending well. It was watching him begin to shift, begin to open his eyes, that changed my mind. He is a male surrounded by hate and violence, yet he listened, watched, and finally came to understand. He is a good soul who was led astray, and is now trying to come back—not to save his own skin, but to save the good among his people. He feels responsible for them and will do whatever he can to bring them back to safety."
She blew out a breath, then sat back in her chair. This was perhaps the longest speech he'd ever heard her give. Certainly the most passionate.
He measured her carefully. Had anyone asked him prior to this day, he would have said he trusted her judgment of an Anima's character above… just about anyone. And yet… something was within her that he didn't recognize. It niggled at him, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
Frustrated, he held her gaze. "You truly believe if I make myself available to him, he will listen?"
Suhle nodded and when he raised an eyebrow, she didn't back down.
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