55 Raising the Stakes

Daphne thought she must have heard something wrong. Her hands instinctively retracted, and her eyes went wide as she tried to register the meaning behind his words.

"What do you mean by having Eversun as the tuition?"

"Are my words not clear?" His mouth slightly ajar, he looked to be actually bewildered at her confusion. "It's really quite simple. If you teach me how to feel emotions again, I'll give Eversun back to you." 

"All of it?"

"Depending on what you do, I'll slowly return it back to you bit by bit, maybe a town at a time. If you do something I enjoy in particular, I might gift you a state or two." 

"Isn't this all just up to you then?"

"Yes." He responded matter-of-factly, not even trying to hide the subjectivity of it all. 

"How can I believe your words? How do I know that you're not lying right now?"