affected him. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The Scavenger was chatty during our walk. I was still exhausted from working all day, so I pretended to listen as he described the various plants surrounding us. As his words went in one ear and out the other, I couldn’t help but observe how completely in his element he was. I also made sure to take very rigorous mental notes about my surroundings. I didn’t want these afternoon walks with him to become a habit. I was more than capable of walking alone, thank you very much.
“Nikketa once told me that a wise man should recognize when he is boring his audience,” he said while bumping my shoulder. I scowled as the contact jarred me out of my thoughts.
“Can you please keep your body to yourself?” I replied, taking larger strides. I was eager to get out of the woods and get this lesson over with so I could sleep. Despite the open space, it felt like Tallis and his half-smile was taking up all the room. It felt claustrophobic.
“The way those eyes of yours were roaming over me yesterday, say the contrary,” Tallis replied with a smirk. He bit his lip while trailing his gaze down my body. I frowned and huffed out in frustration.
“You know, my mother once told me never to assume things. I can assure you that my eyes only looked at you with disgust.” I squinted at him.
Tallis gave me a knowing grin that made me feel like his perfect crystal-blue eyes were undressing me. He slowed his steps and leaned towards me. After a moment, he said in a soft voice, “Your breath caught when we touched, and I noticed a flush in your cheeks that had nothing to do with our brisk walk.”
I made a conscious effort to control my breathing. I wanted to prevent that same reaction from reaching the surface. I didn’t have time or patience for a Scavenger, and a cocky one at that.
“Emotions aren’t always black and white, Agapimenos. Sometimes they’re symptoms.”
I rolled my neck and continued to walk. “Tell me about the leadership trials,” I replied. A change of subject was necessary, and this was one I actually felt curious about. I had spent the evening on my Tablet studying the extremely primitive Scavenger elections. The brutal process intrigued me. What kind of society picked their leaders through trials and not by status or elections?
“There isn’t much to tell. Contestants are given three tests,” Tallis began while brushing his hand against mine. I slapped it away with a frown, which made him chuckle. “The first one tests your wisdom. The elders gave us an incredibly hard riddle and thirty minutes to solve it.”
“What was your riddle?” I asked in a giddy tone as memories of my father filled me. I loved problem-solving. As a young girl, Dad quizzed us every night at the dinner table. It was one of the few things I could beat my brothers at, and I reveled in their frustration. Dad always said I was the smart one.
Tallis stopped walking and I stopped with him. He observed me with a smile before speaking.
“I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. Who am I?”
Tallis stared expectantly at me with the hint of amusement as I mumbled over the words to myself again and again. He watched the way I processed the riddle. I repeated it over and over, processing all the possible answers. Tallis licked his lips as I worked through the riddle. My response seemed important to him, for whatever reason. It felt good to flex my brain. Father always said my eyes lit up whenever he gave me a particularly challenging one. After a few more moments of deliberation I finally answered.
“Tomorrow.”
Tallis smiled. It was a breathtaking display of pleasure and, despite his sharpened teeth, I couldn’t help but notice how handsome the expression made him. Impressing Scavengers wasn’t something I normally did, but his approval felt different.
“Perfect. You’re definitely a smart one Agapimenos.” The nickname didn’t bother me as much this time as I continued walking towards camp.
“When I was a little girl, my father gave us riddles,” I said wistfully, surprised by the words coming out of my mouth. It had been a while since I spoke of Dad’s little ‘brain tests’ as he’d call them. I let go a