Robin sat on his bunk, feeling the rough sheets beneath his newly-cleaned hands. Eli had used a version of [Cleanse] to deal with the after effects of the ghourd extraction. Everything looked spotless, beautiful.

Of course it could all just be a sensory trick. The cleric did worship a deity of mischief. But at least Robin felt clean.

Eli, for this part, sat on the bunk directly across from Robin. He toyed with the rowanwood charm in his hands as he sat. An arch smile sat lazily on his face.

‘So,’ he began, ‘how would you like to do this?’

‘You could just tell me the truth,’ Robin tried.

‘And would you believe me?’

That was a good point. Robin didn’t have access to any sort of truth-sensing spell. He’d have to rely on his innate Perception and Insight to deal with any Deception from the cleric. Even swearing on his god wouldn’t likely do much. Nevarre was himself a trickster! There’s no way he’d ever punish Eli for lying.

‘How about a trade?’ Robin asked slowly, after thinking for several moments.

‘And what do you have to offer that is worth the truth from a liar’s lips?’

‘We could play the question game. You ask a question and I answer truthfully, and in exchange, I ask a question and you answer truthfully.’

‘I still don’t see what incentive I have to tell the truth,’ the cleric said candidly.

‘I could promise to re-tie the thread on that charm so it actually works,’ Robin deadpanned.

Eli froze. There. Robin concealed a smile. That was an honest reaction. It told him a few things as well. Eli was definitely afraid of Cherry. The cleric couldn’t replicate what Robin had done, nor see through all of his deceptions. And it told him that he had some leverage here.

His mind felt unnaturally clear. Maybe it was no longer being under the influence of the ghourd, maybe it was his recent ranks up in Perception and Insight, maybe it was a combination of both, but Robin felt sharper than he had in days.

‘If you had the presence of mind to fake that charm while also fighting off the ghourd, I have to say you’re better than I thought.’ Eli gave him a measuring look. ‘And you must have had suspicions about me prior to today.’ He shook his head. ‘I thought I was doing well, even with the complications I’ve had to deal with.’

Robin didn’t say anything. They still didn’t have a deal, and he wasn’t about to give up anything he didn’t have to.

Eli bounced the charm thoughtfully in his hand. Robin was content to wait until the cleric spoke again.

‘Very well,’ he eventually said, ‘we’ll play your game of questions, and I agree to answer truthfully, provided you give me a charm you’ve tied correctly. Do we have a deal?’

Robin made a show of thinking about it. It was a petty sort of payback since he already knew he was going to take the deal. Eli was bound to mix truth and lies in his answers, and sifting through that mess of words would be annoying, but at least there would be some truth, some new information Robin didn’t already have.

‘Let’s establish some rules first,’ he said finally. ‘Since you’re the aggressor in this case, I think I should begin. Either of us can choose to answer or not as we see fit, but equal answers are owed. So if you get an answer from me, you owe me an answer in return. Either of us can choose to end the game at any time and walk away. We both agree to answer truthfully. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ Eli agreed.

The cleric settled back on his bunk and quirked an expectant eyebrow at Robin.

‘Why did you target me?’ Robin had been wondering that for a while. The Sisters Sharp had managed to escape the trap, and Robin didn’t think that was a coincidence.

‘I was hired to.’ Eli grinned. ‘My turn. What’s your real name? As much as I like “Red”, it’s just too obvious an alias.’

Robin paused. He was in a fey wood and that was enough to give anyone pause when asked for their name. Though he had been asked for a real name and not a true name, so there was probably some wriggle room that he could work with.

Was there a difference between a real name and a true name in this world? Robin focused the question and cast it into his subconscious, hoping the answer was somewhere amongst the hard-won passel of knowledge he’d taken from the ghilded ghourd.

No, they were different things. His instincts were telling him he’d be safe enough telling Eli his first name.

‘Robin,’ he said. The next question to ask was obvious. ‘Who hired you to target me?’

‘I never saw a face and they only referred to themselves as “Your Patron”. As in the patron of yourself, Robin, not my patron.’ Eli made a ‘what can you do?’ sort of gesture with his hands.

Robin could tell there was more to the story but Eli had answered the question. As Robin pondered what next to ask to get more information, Eli took his turn.

‘What tipped you off?’

‘I’m sorry, what?’ Robin blinked.

‘That I wasn’t who you thought. What was your first clue? What tipped you off?’

‘Oh. You left your pack open and I saw you’d lied about having more root to use for dye.’

‘Damn.’ Eli snapped his fingers in irritation. ‘There’s always something.’

Robin made a noncommittal noise, not having extensive experience in running cons, short or long.

‘What, exactly, were…my “patron”’s instructions to you regarding me and these woods?’ That should give him some idea of the mysterious figure’s motivations, at least, and as it wasn’t something Eli should care much about, Robin might even get an honest answer out of the cleric.

‘To ensure you had three encounters here before you left: one with Cherry, one with the ghilded ghourd, and one with the knowledge left behind in this tower.’ Eli thought for a moment. ‘And to make sure you escaped with your body and mind intact. More or less.’

Robin resisted the urge to ask if those were the mysterious patron’s exact words. With his luck, that would put him an additional question into Eli’s debt, and he wasn’t quite ready for that.

Cherry had prompted the quest from the system. The encounter with the ghourd had resulted in an interesting and useful perk, and the tower contained a wealth of knowledge that Robin was benefitting from, indirectly and in the form of a perk. So there had been a lot of danger in exchange for some useful abilities and other gains.

He’d have to ponder what they all had in common later. It was Eli’s turn to ask a question and Robin needed his wits about him to evade any potentially dangerous ones.

‘What are your feelings about me, both before and after discovering my role in the prank your patron arranged for you?’ Eli’s eyes sparkled, but there was a sharp edge underneath the apparent humour.

‘Ah, wha—I mean, let me think that through.’

Whatever Robin had been expecting as the next question, this was not it. Though thinking on it, it did make a certain amount of sense. On one level, it was the cleric of a god of mischief yanking his chain. But on a deeper level, if Robin answered honestly, it would give Eli a good indication of whether or not he was in any sort of danger from an outraged Robin.

That was an effective use of a question. Robin determined to make the answer as useless as possible while still telling the absolute truth. And he had an idea how to do just that.

‘I suppose the answer to that depends who you are asking about.’ Robin crossed his arms in front of his chest ‘After all, I barely know you. The person I’m more familiar with is mostly a fiction. You know. The cleric of Vané, the sculptor imprisoned by the dangerous dryad. But that’s not who you are at all, really. All I know about you is that you abused my trust, endangered my life, and pretended to be someone you aren’t, all for money from some mysterious patron you can’t even tell me much about.’ Robin quirked his head to one side. ‘So it’s hard to answer that without more information or a clearer question, but to strictly tell you: I don’t know in the case of the former, and while I’m withholding judgement on the latter for now, I’m kind of disinclined to go all in on liking you.’

‘Technicalities,’ Eli said, but frowned in thought. ‘I suppose I’ll have to accept that answer, however. Unsatisfying though it may be, it is fair.’ The cleric sighed. ‘Ask your next question.’

Before Robin could formulate one, however, a prompt impeded his vision.

Quest Update! [Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!]

Congratulations! You have successfully extracted yourself from the potential snares that lurked on your path and threatened to ensnare your heart and will! Part 3 of this quest still pending.

Reward: One random social property increased! +1 Poise. Well, that makes sense. Considering how much of an assault your personality had from that ghourd. Naturally you’d end up more resistant socially! It was totally random though, I do promise you that!

Robin blinked the notification away before Eli could notice anything out of the ordinary. And to be on the safe side, he tossed out a question of his own that was designed to set the cleric off balance.

‘What was the biggest thing to go wrong with your plan to shepherd me through these experiences at the behest of that mysterious patron?’ Robin resisted claiming the figure as his own. There were too many unknowns.

‘Cherry’s sudden—though if I’m honest, inevitable—betrayal,’ Eli replied sourly. ‘I thought I could trust the payment I gave her to keep her to our bargain, but I guess she wanted more. Maybe when she saw you. Maybe when she realised how dangerous those women you were travelling with were. Whatever the reason, it certainly sent things off the rails early.’

So the cleric had actually been a prisoner. That told him Eli definitely did fear Cherry’s power and did need the charm Robin had crafted. It also meant that the cleric’s discomfort had been very real. Robin didn’t bother to hide his smile this time.

‘That must have been terrible for you,’ he said with vast insincerity.

‘It really was.’ Eli agreed.

Robin couldn’t tell if the priest didn’t notice Robin was delighted at his misfortune, or if Eli was just ignoring Robin’s glee, to deliberately undercut it.

So he waited for the next question. When it didn’t come after a minute of silence, Robin quirked an eyebrow at the cleric.

‘I don’t think I have any more questions…for now, anyway. I think I’ll keep the one you owe me in the bank for now,’ Eli said slowly, smiling. He grinned wider at Robin’s clear consternation and extended a hand with the charm in it. ‘So I suppose all that’s left is for you to retie this. As per our agreement.’

Robin glared at him but took the charm and made a show of retying the string.

‘There. On my honour, that is the correct knot for the warding charm we need to get past Cherry.’ He thrust the bundle of twigs at Eli. ‘Done deal.’

‘A pleasure doing business with you.’ Eli chuckled and the charm vanished into a pocket or a sleeve. The cleric’s hands were too fast for Robin to follow, even with his increased perception. ‘Here endeth the game of questions, then.’

‘Actually, there’s one question left, but it’s one we might have to answer together, I think.’

‘Oh?’ Eli looked at him expectantly.

‘Are we ready to get out of these woods?’