“Greetings,” Eric said, deciding on diplomacy. “I don’t mean to be rude, and would love to stay and chat, but I need to get out of this room and back to where I was.”
“That you may do,” she replied in a vibrant, alto voice.
“How?”
In response she simply smiled. He got the impression that she was amused by the possibility that he thought it would be that easy. He paused to get his bearings. Since rooms normally didn’t behave this way, he had to assume this was Soliander’s doing and not something the former inhabitants had left behind. Then again, assumptions were never good, especially now. He needed to know who and what she was and why she was here. Then he could figure out how to get out of here.
“Are you real?”
She paused. “Yes.”
He looked at her shrewdly, knowing the hesitation meant something. It had been a bad question. She could be a real illusion.
“Are you a being of flesh and blood?”
“No.”
So she was real but not physical. He realized these questions weren’t really getting him anywhere and changed subjects. “Did Soliander summon you?”
She smirked. “No.”
Again her demeanor tipped him off that she wasn’t entirely honest because that hadn’t been a good question either. Technically the wizard was nowhere to be found and yet the spell had still gone off. In a way, Eric had caused her to be here. “Is Soliander responsible for you being summoned to this room when I entered it?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, satisfied. This could take a while if he wasn’t specific. He wondered if there was a limit on the number of questions he could ask, or a time limit, like many of the computer games he’d played. How was he supposed to know? He could ask, but she hadn’t been forthcoming and only given yes or no answers. Still, Soliander must have meant this as a test, not an execution or imprisonment, so there had to be rules and it wasn’t sportsmanlike to prevent him from knowing them. She hadn’t answered his general question on how to get out, however, so he thought long and hard before opening his mouth again.
“What are the limitations imposed upon our interaction?”
She beamed as if pleased at the leap in his logic. “You may ask ten questions.”
His eyes widened. How many had he already asked? Five or six, at least.
Seeing his reaction, she winked knowingly. “You have four left.”
What? Shit. If he’d known that he wouldn’t have asked half of them. Maybe he should be grateful he found out now. He wanted to ask what happened after that but of course that would waste a question. He muttered, “After that I guess I’ll be stuck here.”
A glint of steel appeared in her eyes as her arms slid out from behind her back, a short sword gleaming in each hand. A shiver ran over him. She might have looked like a woman, but she was clearly something more deadly – if that were possible – and her motion suggested great skill and willingness, both of which he lacked. He was no match with the sword, and he suspected a knife or two wouldn’t take her out before she – or it – reached him. He had to say something to get out of this, but it could have been anything. Asking a question probably wasn’t going to do it. That would just allow him to figure out what to say. He knew what he wanted to know but thought about how to phrase it for several minutes before finally asking.
“How can I convince you to let me gain my freedom from this room?”
“You must prove your freedom is wise.”
Finally, he thought, a real clue. Okay, so why is my freedom wise? I’m here to reset the gate, but this spell predates the gate being open again, so that can’t be it. The spell was created by Soliander, probably to stop people from reaching the gate, but not himself, of course. So I could say I just want to leave and maybe it would let me go, but if I was Soliander, I wouldn’t fall for a lie because I could just try to get in some other way.
The rogue stopped there, biting his lip. He wondered who Soliander would let reach the gate but drew a blank, since only the other champions were likely, but maybe that was it. The only people who could be trusted were those who’d been involved from the start, and they were probably the only ones Soliander thought would try to reach the gate with good intentions. That had to be it. Now Eric might be pretending to be Andier, but that wasn’t enough. Maybe he had to prove he was one of the other three. It warranted a question.
“If I can prove I am Andier, Korrin, or Eriana, will you let me escape?”
“Yes.”
Eric sighed in relief. He had two questions left and felt close now. There were only two ways he could think of to prove it. Either he had an item of Andier’s he could show, and he should have everything with him, or he had to know something only they would know. He hoped for the former and thought about what he wore. None of the items were that unique, aside from being well made, but then he remembered the short sword and Ryan’s observation that both of their
