"Depends on the test."
"Nothing painful," Bracken assured him. He tossed the glowing rock onto the cot. "Just take my hands." He held them out, palms up.
"This is weird," Seth said, keeping his hands in his lap.
"I just want to ask you a couple of questions. If I ask something you don't like, go ahead and punch me in the face."
Seth set his meat brick aside and took Bracken's hands. Bracken gazed into his eyes. "Tell me your name."
"Seth Sorenson."
"Tell me a lie."
"The food here is terrific." Bracken grinned. "Tell me something true."
"Centaurs are jerks."
The grin broadened. "Are you a friend of the Society of the Evening Star?"
"Nope. I'm the opposite. A Knight of the Dawn."
Bracken released his hands and scooted the stool back. "I believe you. In fact, I know some things about you. You have friends here."
"My parents?" Seth said hopefully.
"Your parents might be here, but not in a cell we can access."
"So what are you, a human lie detector?"
"I'm good at reading people. I wanted a close look at you. They've sent down stingbulbs before. Now I know you're not a stingbulb, or a changeling. More important, your friends might have been mistaken about your allegiances. Hard to believe a shadow charmer could be on our side. But now I'm convinced."
Seth folded his arms. "I'm glad I passed your test. Do you have something I can hang on my fridge?"
"I left my stickers in my cell."
Seth rubbed his hands together. "It still doesn't prove whether I should trust you."
"Agreed. I'd question your judgment if you did. For starters, why don't I take you to visit one of your friends?"
"Sure. Do I have lots of friends here?"
"A few." Bracken grabbed the glowing stone.
"Where did you get the light?"
"I made it." He led the way to the gap in the back wall of the cell. "I'm pretty close to powerless these days, but I still know a trick or two."
"What are you, a wizard?"
Bracken chuckled, closing the gap in the wall. Then he started along a narrow corridor. "A wizard stuck in cells like these would be a sorry wizard indeed. I'll tell you more about myself once you know you can trust me. Let's go quiet for a stretch. The walls are thin up here, and a guard is posted nearby."
Bracken closed his fist around the stone so that only a little light escaped. Seth followed him up an incline, treading lightly. The floor felt slick.
The narrow passage eventually tapered to an end. "This part is a little tricky," Bracken whispered. He put the glowing stone in a pocket and pointed up. A tiny globe of light the size of a ping-pong ball leapt from his fingertip, hovering upward. The ball rose into a hole in the ceiling, which turned out to be a tall shaft.
Bracing himself against opposite sides of the passage, Bracken spidered up until his feet were well above Seth's reach. The sure swiftness of his movements made the maneuver look simple. "There are rungs in the shaft," he stage-whispered down, pulling himself into the vertical crawl space.
Seth chimneyed up toward the hole in the ceiling, bracing himself and then scooting upward in increments. The walls were spaced too wide to make the ascent comfortable. Arms quivering, he gained only a few inches with each movement. When he reached the mouth of the shaft, he braced with his legs and quickly reached up to a rung, then followed Bracken upward. At the top of the damp shaft,
Bracken raised a wooden hatch. Seth followed Bracken out into the new passageway. The top of the hatch was disguised to match the floor after Bracken carefully closed it.
Bracken recalled the floating ball of light, snuffed it out, and took the stone from his pocket. Seth followed him down the passage, through a hidden door, and along another passage until Bracken stopped.
"Here we are," Bracken said, his voice less hushed. "This character keeps his cell locked from the inside." Bracken used the rock to tap against the wall--four slow beats, two quick ones, a pause, and then three quick strikes. A moment later, an arrangement of stone blocks pulled inward, leaving a space large enough to crawl through. Bracken entered first.
"You bring him?" inquired a familiar voice as Seth crawled through. "There he is!"
Seth looked up in surprise. "Maddox?"
The burly fairy trader beamed down at him. "I'm sorry you're here, Seth, but it's good to see you." Offering a meaty hand, Maddox hauled Seth to his feet.
"You're alive!" Seth said. "The last time I saw you, it was an impostor."
"A stingbulb," Maddox said gravely. "I hoped you all would manage to see through the charade."
"Not at first," Seth said. "It did a good job. But we figured it out before any real harm was done."
"The stingbulbs come from here, you know," Maddox said. "The last known stingbulb trees are on this preserve. I'll be honest, if I ever managed to bust out of this dungeon, I'd be tempted to stick around and explore. This is an ancient preserve. Who knows what supposedly extinct species I might encounter!"
Seth scrunched his brow. "How can I be sure you're not a stingbulb?"
"Good boy!" Maddox bellowed. He glanced over to Bracken. "This one thinks like a survivor."
"My sentiments exactly," Bracken agreed.
"Bracken can tell," Maddox told Seth. "But I'll wager you don't trust him yet, either."
"I want to trust you guys," Seth said. "I just don't want to be an idiot."
"A stingbulb would have my memories," Maddox said. "There isn't much I can do to prove my authenticity. For now, it'll have to suffice that we won't press you for secrets."
"I'm not sure I have any in the first place," Seth said. "The Society already knows everything I do."
"Now, don't think like that," Maddox said. "You never know what odd detail might offer the Society an advantage. Keep those lips sealed."
"All right."
Bracken picked up Maddox's empty meal mat. "Cleaned your plate again, I see!"
Maddox gave an awkward smile. "I'll be honest, I've eaten worse."
"Worse?" Bracken laughed. "Where? Was it uncooked and decomposing? Seth, this guy wolfs down everything they serve here. He's put on a good twenty pounds since they brought him in."
Maddox reddened, smoothing his hands over the ratty skins covering his belly. "I'm not saying I would choose this grub over home-cooked lasagna. I was starving when they brought me here."