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Lilie bearing witness to his blunder did assuage him but it was still majorly embarrassing. At least now Ben was glad that he had been forthcoming with it; the only thing that would have added any more humiliation was if he had been caught in a lie. [i]I suppose it isn't all terrible,[/i] He thought. Even so he did find himself laughing alongside her instead of feeling like he had been the subject of the joke. Her words lifted his spirits and for the first time since they had met he felt completely at ease. He would have much preferred if they had not been anywhere but a forest, but he would take what he could get.

[color=C0C0C0]“Of course,”[/color] Ben said. [color=C0C0C0]“Lead the way.” [/color]

The rest of the walk was quiet, but not uncomfortably as Lilie focused more on making sure the vampire didn’t trip over anything. Once they reached the clearing, she stopped Ben before the bush with hands as she decided to take the parchment and unravel it.

[color=deepskyblue]“[i]“History remembered not quite the same as that to those who lived its page. Choose your teacher and follow close, for some are fraught with dangerous truth.[/i]”[/color] Lilie read the riddle out loud, looking at the various props around them. [color=deepskyblue]“There’s a book, a scepter, a mirror, some kind of...mace? And a...giant disk.”[/color] 

She eyed them warily, pocketing the parchment as she knelt down to examine each one. She had to admit that the mirror drew her in more than the others--it was so pretty! Her fingers gently traced the intricate pattern, though once she tried to lift it, she found it was a [i]lot[/i] heavier than it looked. Oh geez, were these things made out of rock or something?!

[color=deepskyblue]“They’re each made out of...marble, it looks like? And there’s a pair of marble hands near a bush. I guess we have to pick one and place it between the hands,”[/color] She guessed with a small shrug. [color=deepskyblue]“Which one should we go for?”[/color]

Ben listened intently to both riddle and brief description of items. He couldn’t say history was his strong suit but the idea of a truth revealed did pique his interest more than it possibly should have. Five items, five histories. None of them seemed tied to any particular historical figure that he could think of off the top of his head. The closest would be the scepter as time immemorial has proven the ruby to be the symbol of the royal family.

After a moment of consideration, Ben asked, [color=C0C0C0]“The scepter has my interest. Were there any that caught your eye?”[/color]

Lilie looked at the scepter before looking back at Ben. She didn’t see anything too interesting about it, but maybe he saw something she didn’t. [color=deepskyblue]“I thought the mirror was pretty,”[/color] She admitted. [color=deepskyblue]“So, we can go with the scepter or the mirror since those are the two that caught our eye--uh, attention? They’re kinda too heavy for me to lift, so if you think we should go for one over the other, I’ll lead you to it so we can get to the next part of the challenge.”[/color]

A mirror could be symbolic of many things. Perhaps the items held some sense of symbolism that he wasn’t catching at the moment, but even so Ben felt he needed to trust his gut. He didn’t want to disappoint Lilie but he felt the scepter was the proper choice to move forward. Of course, he would not completely ignore her comment and made a mental note to remember it for the future. Perhaps it would make a nice gift.

[color=C0C0C0]“The scepter then, if you would be so kind,”[/color] Ben said. 

Looking around for the scepter, Lilie carefully guided Ben to it. Honestly, she didn’t mind his choice, and it was probably easier for him to lift without accidentally smacking her with it anyway. Gently pushing him towards the bush with the marble scepter in hand, she felt like she was helping a little kid with how she had to push and pull his hands to place it properly. 

[color=deepskyblue]“Okay, here we go,”[/color] Lilie verbally confirmed, tapping his fingers to signal him to let go and pulling him back a step. [color=deepskyblue]”Dangerous truth probably means there could be another fight, though, so be ready.”[/color]

[color=C0C0C0]“Fear not, I believe that these riddles are a challenge of the mind moreso than anything,”[/COLOR] Ben said as he made to pat Lilie’s hand in comfort, missing it entirely but making no effort to correct himself.