There were several much larger and more impressive items, but the avaricious Blake was immediately drawn to a small jewelry box containing a pair of identical plain gold rings.
"Blake, it's a magic shop, not a jewelry shop. They're probably not real" Sandy said reasonably, reaching over to pluck one out of the box.
I was more interested in the small slip of paper poking out. Maybe it would explain the trick. "The Rings of Uncertain Fate," I read aloud, "To love, cherish, and obey...?" I turned the paper over, "These rings bind with a curse most dire. The **** shall follow the master's desire. To undo the magic, follow master's command. But master is trapped until **** is in hand. To know which is which is the crux of the game. Show infinite trust, or suffer the shame."
Blake scratched his head "So like, it's a magic ring that makes one person obey the other?"
I grumbled, "Magic's not real, Blake. It's a gag, something to sell to tourists so they can put it in a display case and--"
"Uh... guys?" Sandy said, sounding more than a little frightened, "I uh... I can't get it off."
"What?" I say flatly, moving past Blake to take a look. The ring was on her right pointer finger. Her fingers were slender, and the ring itself didn't look especially tight. In fact, the remaining ring in the box looked like it would fit on one of my girthy sausage-fingers. "Quit screwing around, Sandy," I say, irritated, reaching for the ring to pull it off, "You're not fooling anybody, stop trying to freak us ou--" I stopped. Sandy was holding her hand open and her fingers straight, but the ring wouldn't budge, "How in the..."
"Maybe there's a trick to it." Blake said reasonably. We tried twisting it, we tried pushing it further down the finger, we tried pinching it, we tried warming it up with the heat from my hands. Nothing. Blake held up the box "Try the other ring, maybe it's bluetooth or something and it won't come off until they're both on?"
"In a device that small?" I said, "Dubious. But I guess it's worth a shot, based on the poem. Just be careful not to get the other finger stuck." She nodded and held out her left pointer finger as I moved the other ring toward her. It reached her fingertip... and stopped. It pushed her finger back, as though the middle of the ring was filled in with plastic or glass. It wasn't. I dropped the ring and jumped back, "Okay what the actual fuck?" I said, trying to contain my panic. This was clearly impossible.
Blake knelt down and examined the ring as if it was a live grenade, "You don't think..."
I swallowed. Magic isn't real, I reminded myself. I knelt down and picked up the ring. Sandy eyed me like a cornered rat, "Cal..."
I took a deep breath, "There's no such thing as magic. There's just a trick to it we need to figure out. If we play along, maybe we can get it back off without a trip to the emergency room. Or do you want to explain where you got it from?" I eyed the ring warily, "Besides, don't you trust me?"
She swallowed hard, "You're right. I'm being ridiculous" she didn't sound at all convinced. I wasn't either. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and put the ring on my right pointer finger. It slid on without effort. I gave it an experimental tug. It didn't feel snug at all, but it wouldn't budge. I took a deep breath. We tried both pulling at the same time. No effect. We tried pulling on eachother's rings at the same time. No effect. Well, this was going to be fun to explain at the emergency room. "Okay... now what?"
"Tell eachother to do something, so we can figure out which is which?" Blake suggested.
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