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tethered to the wood. He also
imagined he saw a delicate web-like thread glimmer against
Raven’s wing, but he couldn’t be sure.
He forced himself not to stare.
    “As far as I understand the rules,”
he said, “you must now do what I
say.”
    A click of a beak sounded too much like a suppressed chuckle. Or did
Ivan imagine it?
    “Ask away, boy,” Raven said.
“What is it you want to know?”
    Ivan froze. Was he so easy to read, or did Raven already know what
Ivan wanted? And if so, did anyone else know too? Ivan suppressed the
thought, glancing back into the fir thicket that he knew hid Wolf, the
silent observer. Only one could ask questions. He wished bitterly that
he didn’t have to be the one.
    “Why do you think I want
information?” he asked cautiously.
    The dry eye glistened with amusement as Raven clicked his beak again.
Its edges looked sharp, and more powerful than the teeth of a wild
beast. Only now, up close, did Ivan realize how much larger Raven was
compared to any other raven he had ever seen.
    “Because,” Raven said,
“I know my true worth. I assume you do too, since you
went through all this trouble on my account.”
    It would have been so much easier if Raven looked even
a little bit unnerved. As far as Ivan understood, the power of the
magic net could trap Raven for eternity, far longer than the span of
Ivan’s mortal lifetime. But now didn’t
seem to be a good moment to bring it up. He threw another helpless
glance at Wolf’s hiding place. How did he agree to end
up with the task of questioning Raven?
    “Your true worth?” he asked.
    This is your quest, Wolf
had said. You’ll know what
to do.
    Back then, Ivan had been certain he would. Yet now, under the
penetrating stare of his captive, he wasn’t sure
anymore.
    This time the sound that escaped Raven’s beak seemed
more like a snort.
    “If you’ve gone through all the
trouble of capturing me and you don’t know what you
want of me, I pity you, boy.”
    Ivan took a breath. “I am told this net will hold you
captive until you bargain your way out.”
    Raven gave him a long look. “Those who would bargain
must know what they want. Do you?”
    Why was this so difficult? Ivan knew what he wanted. Right? He cleared
his throat. “Tell me how to get into the East Tower
of the Castle.”
    The amusement in Raven’s eyes veiled with pity.
“Are you sure this is truly what you
want?”
    “Yes.”
    “Easy,” Raven said.
“Take the path over there. It leads straight to the
tower wall. The stones are so beaten that a sleek boy like you can
easily climb it. There’s only one window on that side,
at the second storey. It will take you into a circular room, into the
heart of the East Tower. Hardly worth the trouble of capturing me, is
it?”
    Ivan shook his head. “I’m told
there’re traps on the way to the
wall.”
    “Oh?” The black eye rolled in its
socket. “And who told you that?”
    Ivan sighed. “The same person who told me that to gain
your freedom, you have to answer all my questions. And that the Net
makes it impossible for you to lie.”
    “A wise person indeed,” Raven said
thoughtfully. “I only wonder why the very same person
couldn’t tell you what you need to know and save us
both the trouble of this spectacle.”
    He sounded so much like a grouchy old man, one of those that sit by the
well in every village, endlessly chatting about their neighbors. Except
that this old man was so different, Ivan reminded himself. Bird form
was only a small part of it. He had to watch himself, or Raven could
easily trick him to his doom.
    “Tell me how to avoid the traps,”
he said.
    “Who told you they can be
avoided?”
    Ivan met the creature’s eyes.
“ Can they be avoided?”
    Raven’s gaze wavered and lowered to study the specks of
moonlight glistening on the drops of dew. The air smelled of night
lily, a heady scent that easily went to the head. Ivan inhaled it,
wishing that he could be far away from here. If only