Chapter 31: 2.12 – Secrets of Wyndham Wood

Robin’s stomach churned. It had been restless since he’d woken up in the tower after falling from the ladder. He forced the sensation out of his mind with some difficulty.

A day had passed since the events with the sky-rowan. Robin had feigned feeling weaker than he actually did from the fall in order to gain some time to think and some space to act.

The first thing he did, before Eli even returned with his water, was to steal a large piece of the root used for making red paint and stow it in his storage ring with several of the smaller twigs of rowan, the ones he could snap off without making it too obvious that part of the branch was missing.

Currently, he was standing in the main room of the tower, going through the Greater and Lesser Arcana database looking for spells he could learn, or more powerful ones to aim for learning in the future. At least that was what he had intended to do. At the moment he was staring into the middle distance, thinking.

Why hadn’t he been more suspicious of Eli? Why hadn’t he noticed the priest’s lying and evasions earlier? Well, obviously part of it was the circumstances he’d awoken in, imprisoned with another. That was a classic move; he should have expected something there. Then there was no denying that Eli was distractingly handsome. Another cliche, but well, sometimes things were cliche because there was an element of truth to them.

Robin shook his head. No point in self-recrimination. It was a bad habit from his old world. Maybe he should try some fresh ones in this new world. Starting with choosing proactive solutions over crippling over-analysis.

Eli had lied. Robin had been taken in. Ergo, Robin wasn’t good enough at spotting lies, even if he was proving pretty talented at spinning illusions and deceptions of his own. What was the opposite of Deception? Probably Insight. Possibly Perception.

He pulled up the proficiency descriptions.

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