“There aren’t any cows,” Angelica said.
Delilah’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t say anything about cows.”
“We shouldn’t be too loud,” Maximus said. The sound of his voice nearly made me jump. Somehow, I hadn’t noticed him walking up next to me. Someone six-and-a-half feet tall shouldn’t be able to sneak.
“Orwe should be as loud as possible to draw the monsters out,” Delilah argued. “That way, they can’t surprise us later!”
“Or we’ll attract more monsters than we can handle,” I said dryly.
Delilah ignored our well-reasoned arguments and plowed ahead as if anyone had agreed to her silly game. “Let’s play ‘Exchange.’”
Despite myself, I sighed and asked, “What’s that?”
Angelica arched an eyebrow at me. “You don’t know it? It’s one children play.”
“Bullies, maybe,” Fitz muttered.
“Do you know it, Wilde?” Maximus asked, eyes narrowed at the back of Wilde’s head.
He didn’t even glance over his shoulder. “No.”
“Funny, since it’s so popular in the Desolated Lands. You’d think anyone who grew up there would know it.” Maximus’ unsaid accusations could have as easily applied to me, since I was the one who first admitted to being unfamiliar with the game, but he only focused on Wilde.
“Ah, ah, the game hasn’t started yet,” Delilah chided. “The rules of ‘Exchange’ are as follows: you choose one person and ask them one question. They tell you how much the answer will cost you, and if you’rewilling to give it to them, they have to answer the question.” She stuck her nose in the air and replied, “So if you want to ask Wilde about his upbringing, he has to tell you how much the answer will cost. Well, Wilde?”
Wilde side-eyed her and said, “Pass.”
“That’s not how it works,” she protested. “You have to come up withsomesort of price, even if it’s something silly like fetching the moon.”
“What’s the point if the price is impossible?” I asked.
“Thatisthe point! To come up with more and more ridiculous tasks for people to do! Obviously, it’s more fun if youcando them and they’re just silly or difficult or embarrassing but sometimes coming up with a fun payment is enough!”
Wilde continued to walk silently forward, head slowly swiveling as he kept an eye out for danger while everyone else prattled.
“The person who was called on gets to go next,” Delilah wheedled. “You can askanyone anythingwhen it’s your turn.”
His shoulders twitched, a barely perceptible sign of interest, but he still refused to answer.
Sighing, Delilah said, “Maximus, choose someone else.”
Maximus glanced at me from the corner of his eye, the casual look bringing with it an impending sense of doom. “Trey—”
“Wait.” Wilde halted so abruptly that Delilah almost crashed into him. “I’ll play.”
Maximus’ lips worked for a moment; his expression difficult to read. Finally, he asked, “Where did you grow up?”
“If you want that answer, you’re going to have to climb to the top of that tree,” Wilde said, pointing up the tree in question. Some traces of the curse remained, like the knots bulging from the tree trunk that resembled frightened and weeping eyes. Right at eye level, a hollow opened in a silent scream.
Of course, the scream was a little less intimidating with a bird nest roosting in the open space.
Without a word, Maximus grabbed one of those knots and hoisted himself up the tree.
“Is no one worried about him falling and breaking something?” Angelica asked.
“As long as it’s not his neck, we’ve got health potions to patch him up,” Fitz replied, crossing his arms as he watched Maximus scale the tree. “Besides, this is actually great practice, in case someone needs to climb something later.”
Maximus reached the highest branch that would hold his weight and glowered down at Wilde. “Good enough?”
