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Aaron read each line dutifully, listening thoughtfully as Varis mulled over each one. He thought he’d made it obvious that Varis was the one who needed to decide this riddle—he wasn’t quite so thick as to need [i]that[/i] spelled out for him—but that wasn’t important. Aaron had passed over the representation of the keys as passion and intellect as too obvious, too, but it seemed he must have been over-thinking again. A trap he fell into a lot, apparently. He was a little surprised that Varis bothered to lay out [i]his[/i] reasoning, although he was grateful for it. Maybe he was just thinking out loud; Aaron certainly wouldn’t complain.  

He took the blue key from its compartment as instructed, tucking it into his pocket for safekeeping and regaining his bearings before setting off East. To his surprise, Aaron found himself agreeing with Varis for the second time in one night; this was going to be a very long night if Princess Ryner decided to use the exam as some kind of tool to force personal reflection. It was bad enough he’d have to commit to ‘emotional honesty’ for his upcoming arcane major, and even if he wasn’t [i]already[/i] uncomfortable with digging any deeper than he needed to pull out a court smile, that awful experience after Revel certainly cemented his distaste. A disgusted shiver ran up his spine at the mere memory, kneeling there all docile under thrall and laying bare to Varis things he was reluctant to admit even to himself. He’d agree with Varis that it was a pathetic display, and he had no interest in doing anything similar tonight or ever again. 

[color=f0d705]“I imagine it's meant to play into this trust exercise, Master. I find it wholly excessive,”[/color] he concurred, a bit of distaste colouring his words. [color=f0d705]“Hopefully this is the end of that nonsense.”[/color]
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