Sat across from Clark, on opposite ends of this expensive desk, Syllis only looked forward—as she had been for the last few minutes—waiting for Clark to finally speak. Her deadpan expression wavered slightly, the corners of her mouth pulled up.

‘Why was I even called in here?’ Syllis was confused, she assumed that Clark wanted to know more about her as a new friend of Clyde’s. However, the longer they stood in silence, the closer she grew to thinking it to be something more sinister.

‘I can’t just sit here still faced. But… I also can’t go ahead and speak first. I should be respectful and let the head of the house speak first. Or was it the other way around? Damn it all. Why is this so weird!’

Unable to keep her face straight in such a peculiar situation, she turned her head, scanning the room. It was relatively organized. With different sizes of papers being set aside in piles. On shelves above them, fountain pens with separate inks were sorted by pigment. Although… The bookshelves were another story, both the left and right walls were lined with them—none of them being organized. Books of various sizes and genres intertwined like twisting vines.

A large grandfather clock ticked in the corner of the room. It served as a very stark reminder to the length of silence both figures had endured.

Eventually, Syllis had run out of objects to set her gaze on. She was left to glance back towards Clark. “So. Why am I here?” She asked in a low voice, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

“Because you won.” Clark responded quickly and simply.

“I’m here because I won?” Syllis looked at the man wide eyed, still not comprehending why she’d been stared at in silence for several minutes.

“Yes, because you won against the second most talented kindred in Asanoch. Well, out of the kindred students.” Clark clarified in the second half of his sentence.

“Second most talented? Is Anahita really the only one above her?” Syllis was skeptical. Aura was certainly talented, but whether she was the second most talented kindred in Asanoch didn’t make enough sense to her. ‘What kind of father would place his own son at the first or second spot?’

“And is Clyde really below her?” She added before the man in front of her could speak.

“The key word is talent.” Clark lifted his cup to his mouth and took a sip of an unknown heated drink. “Clyde is undoubtedly one of the most promising kindred in Asanoch. However, him and Korman, they’re both products of hard work instead of talent.

“As for Anahita, she lacks the talent of Aura. Anahita is another product of hard work. As well as quartz but that is another matter entirely—”

‘Just what was bought for Anahita to be called a product of quartz? Especially by another upper-class family?’ Syllis quickly found herself at the likely answer. ‘Anathema… But surely Clyde’s anathema was bought as well? Maybe she has a dozen?’

It was terrifying to imagine someone with a dozen transfigured anathema. What would their bond look like? As far as Syllis knew—kindred couldn’t have multiple bonds. Instead, more anathema being transfigured would add or enhance elements of the kindred’s bond. This was in addition to causing the infection to behave differently. Anathema were trauma induced manifestations of a ‘gods’ influence. So having several was equivalent to those fighting over territory. Although, any ‘god’ after the first would have less

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Just what would a bond that was altered and augmented by eleven other anathema be able to accomplish? She thought it through using her own bond as an example.

‘One to increase control… Two could amplify the speed at which they were conjured… Forget it.’ Syllis couldn’t wrap her head around what more than four anathema would do, let alone twelve.

“—With aura being right behind him.” Clark's voice cut back into Syllis’ mind.

‘Uh oh. I got carried away again. Oh well, the information probably wasn’t very important anyways.’

“Alright, so getting back to my first question. I’m here because I won against Aura, the second most talented kindred in Asanoch. Why?” Syllis still didn’t understand the reason she was there.

“I want you to be Clyde’s sparring partner.” Clark’s eyes seemed to glimmer slightly. A trait his son must have gotten from him.

“Do Korman and Aura not routinely spar with him?” Her questions only continued to grow.

“They do, but Aura’s corruption doesn’t allow for repeated use. In fact, she wouldn’t have used it against anyone else to the extent it was used against you. Normally she would’ve conceded well before you won.”

‘To think her corruption affects her to the extent she would forfeit the match to avoid it… I’m thankful she didn’t, I get the satisfaction of winning and she’s forced to listen to her god for a while. That’s a win win!’ Syllis mused, keeping herself from smiling.

“Then what about Korman? Surely his bond is much less taxing. It’s much less unique than Aura’s space bending fever dream.” Syllis spoke matter-of-factly.

Clark’s face contorted slightly, his expression fell before he spoke. “Korman is not quite… He’s not at the caliber of being able to consistently challenge my son.” He looked guilty saying this.

Syllis got the sense that Clark really liked Korman.

“So I’m the best candidate…” Syllis spoke more to herself than Clark, she looked down slightly, thinking.

“Exactly.” Clark reached over and pulled open a drawer behind his ornate desk. He set down a piece of paper in front of Syllis.

It detailed an arrangement. Syllis would have to spar with Clyde five times a week. In exchange, she would be granted housing and food. Syllis would even be provided the opportunity to go to school again.

One sentence on the page did manage to shake Syllis. There was a requirement of her beyond just sparring with Clyde. When they were ready, she was to accompany him into a fable rift.

Syllis had entertained the thought of diving into a fable rift when she first arrived at the Boorne estate. Although, she wasn’t entirely serious.

‘I mean… I can’t turn this down. It’s too good of a deal! Free food, housing, schooling. All of that for essentially just playing around. With the slight detriment of needing to risk my life later on. If I don’t take this deal, then my life wouldn’t be worth living anyways. Besides, living on the outer ring is basically risking my life—even though nobody can do much to me over there…”

Syllis remained silent as though she was thinking about it deeply, even though she had already made up her mind. She didn’t want Clark to think she was eager to accept it.

‘Only a lunatic would accept something so easily! I wouldn’t want to be seen as a lunatic…’ Syllis read the sheet of paper in front of her a couple of more times before eventually looking up towards Clark.

“Alright, could I have a pen?” She inquired.

Clark turned towards his shelf behind him and handed her a light fountain pen that bled a pure black.

Syllis scribbled her name down in a convoluted way to make it seem like she had a practiced signature. It looked rushed and messy but at least it didn’t seem like it was her first time writing it.

“Then it’s settled!” Clark seemed overcome with relief as he stood up, taking the contract away and placing it back into a separate cabinet.

Syllis knew that she was probably low-balled in terms of her ‘payment’ in the contract. She knew that getting other talented kindred would likely cost a fortune but she didn’t care about it. To her, just the fact that she would be able to truly thrive now was intoxicating and far outweighed the risk involved in trying to negotiate further.

Syllis rose to her feet and shook Clark’s hand.

He spoke again. “I’ll have a maid show you to your room.”