Her eyes light up for a second, then she narrows them. “Don't distract me. I'm going to get the truth out of you.”
“Okay. What's your question?”
“What's your greatest fear?”
“Nothing.”
Pursing her lips, Arabella says, “It can't be nothing. You must be afraid of something.”
“No, seriously, I've been all over the globe and faced death numerous times and so far, nothing has scared me to the point where I wouldn’t do it again.”
“Okay, let me rephrase the question because clearly you're not capable of allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to answer it honestly—which could be a clue as to what your true greatest fear is, by the way. But I’ll set that aside for the moment and ask what your version of hell would be.”
“I suppose my version of hell would be the famous one—you know, Satan and fire and brimstone and all that.”
“You’re impossible,” she says with an exasperated sigh. “Fine then, what type of life would kill you?”
“Yours,” I say without thinking about it.
She looks shocked and pulls her hand away, immediately filling me with regret. “Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant wearing a suit all day and having other people plan every hour of your life for you.” I give her a sheepish look. “I'm not making it better, am I?”
She chuckles a little, letting me off the hook. “Not really, but that's okay. You can't play the game unless you're willing to hear the answers.”
“I'm sure there are many amazing things about your life that I couldn't even comprehend,” I say, desperate to fix what I’ve done. “It must have a lot of perks—otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people wishing they were royals.”
She tilts her head. “It did get me to the front of the line to be your co-host.”
“Well, in that case, you reallyareprivileged.” I steer the raft a little to the left to avoid a large rock. “Okay, your turn, if you still want to play, that is.”
“I do. I'll go truth again because I have a terrible feeling choosing dare would lead to me balancing in the middle of the river on top of a bamboo pole.”
“Oh, I’d think of something much worse than that,” I say. “All right, this is an easy one. What have you always wanted to do, but never have?”
She stares into my eyes, her cheeks turning pink. “It's silly, but the first thing that popped into my mind…” She shakes her head. “Nope. I can't.”
I laugh. “You have to, or you’ll have to do the dare, which would involve beetle larvae.”
She points to something on my side of the raft. “Oh, look, some river otters.”
I glance over to see sleek, black otters swimming next to us.
“We should really film them.”
I laugh, turning back to her. “Nice try. I think we got enough river otter footage yesterday. Now, answer the question or eat the larva?”
“Fine. Skinny dipping.”
“Really?” I ask with a wide grin spreading across my face.
“Any and all outdoor naked activities are most strictly forbidden for members of the royal family. There is never a moment where you're safe from the paparazzi.”
“Well, you're definitely safe out here…”
“Oh, marvelous. I'll just strip down right now and go for a dip with the crocodiles.”
“Not here on this river, but somewhere out here in the jungle, I’m sure we’ll find a picturesque lagoon where you can live out your greatest fantasy.”
Rolling her eyes, she slaps me on the chest with the back of her hand. “I never said it was my greatest fantasy. I only said it's something I've never tried that I would like to. But obviously, not with you.”
