Syllis bid farewell to her guide. She knew from her journey back to the sparring grounds that the Boorne estate was absurdly difficult to navigate. ‘Every single hallway looks the same! Or are all mansions like that?’

She swung open the cream colored door. It gave way to a pristine room, unlocking any that she could remember. Her mouth twitched slightly at her realization that her childhood room hadn’t managed to stay embedded within her mind.

Every time she argued with her mother after her forced ritual where she was bonded to Coryzan, she would hide away in the room. In many ways, it was her only bastion in a hurtful life. Though, she didn’t know at the time just how much worse it could get. Syllis recalled her first night in the outer ring.

Almost instantaneously after, her expression fell, darkening. ‘Why is it that as soon as I get some sense of happiness and direction, that I have to remember that?’

“Damnit.” Syllis muttered to herself as she flopped onto the bed.

The bed was a pristine white, with assorted blankets and sheets on top of it that matched. She hated to admit it, but the bed fit well with the grey walls. Several pillows were also laid out in a pile on the bed. Some were a lighter grey, to lessen the distance between the dark grey walls and white bed, it was easier to look at.

‘It’s pretty clear that Clark knew I would accept the offer. Every surface had been meticulously dusted…’ Syllis’ sullen smile cooled the room’s already cold atmosphere. It was empty and relatively devoid of furniture, safe for a white wardrobe and dark grey bureau, accompanied by a chair of course.

Syllis rose, strutting over to the tall wardrobe. It had a mirror, embedded within the side of it. She opened the leftmost compartment, revealing an array of vibrant, sociable clothes befitting a noble.

The secare nymph held a blue dress up in front of her. It matched her hair, which she liked. She examined the lightness of the fabric and low neckline before throwing it back into the wardrobe.

‘It doesn't deserve to be put back on the hanger…’

Syllis wasn’t fond of the clothes, commonly worn by the upper class. Luckily for her, in the next section of the wardrobe were simple buttoned shirts. They were assorted in rows from white to grey and to black. The drawer below held pants, assorted in the same way as the shirts, they were clearly intended to match. Though there was another row with various brown shades, unlike the shirts.

Syllis shut the wardrobe door and was met with her reflection. She nearly jumped and turned away.

Then she searched the drawers of the bureau, rummaging for anything useful. She didn’t find anything that she could see herself using, only various accessories and colored polishes befitting a true noble woman.

‘Does Anahita visit? If so this is definitely her room.’ Syllis had investigated thoroughly enough to arrive at such a conclusion. All of the clothes had been slightly too big. She also surmised that Anahita was at most three inches taller than her.

‘I thought I was tall for a woman…” Syllis mused, but she couldn’t be too harsh on herself. After all, Anahita was a full blooded nymph to her knowledge, and she was a mere secare nymph.

Syllis meandered over towards a door that sat firmly in the corner of her room, past the wardrobe. Upon opening it, she was greeted with a pure white room.

It had all of the essentials of a bathroom, not that Syllis herself knew what they were. Such a classy bathroom held many amenities that she didn’t have even before her mother abandoned her.

Back then, she only had a toilet and sink. Now though, some new facility was taking up more space then the other two amenities combined. A large basin was inlaid into the ground slightly. A metal faucet would pour into it, accompanied by several knobs.

‘Is this what I think it is?’ Syllis shuddered slightly. She had only heard rumors of such a thing. Even Jyrid had never used one despite being a relatively wealthy man. She twisted the knob, inscribed with a red pattern.

Steam hissed as water poured into the deep basin. Syllis reached her hand towards it. She yelped as her hand collided with the scalding stream of water.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

‘It’s just falling right through…’ Syllis shut off the faucet before searching for something to plug the bottomless hole in the basin. Eventually, she located a circular disk, with a small chain on the top. It fit perfectly into the hole, resting flat on the upper lip of it.

Syllis reached forward again. ‘Maybe I should go for the blue one instead…’

Cold water fell this time, which felt refreshing for Syllis. Her bond provided her with a strong resistance to the cold, she needed it to be able to handle her conjured ice. This was only amplified by her nymph lineage which also enhanced her in the same way. All together, this water felt like the perfect temperature.

She rummaged through a couple cabinets below the sink and pulled out a towel, then she was only left to indulge.

Sinking into the bathtub felt serene to Syllis. To be able to go from barely surviving on the outer ring to then enjoying luxuries that only the upper class could was incredible.

Quite literally her only qualm was Aura. This aggressive woman had been getting on Syllis’ nerves for a while. Beginning with her rude introduction and then the—even more rude—declarations during their spar. Even the conversation she had overheard between Aura and Edward pissed her off.

‘How can one person be so unlikeable!’ Syllis sunk below the water. Oxygen was of no issue with her efficient gills that lined her neck.

After scrubbing her body with a cloth for a while, Syllis rose. She dried herself off with a towel and left the heavenly room she had spent the last half hour in. She pulled a pair of light brown pants and a black shirt from her new wardrobe.

After changing into the new pair of clothes, several—somehow passive—knocks rang out against the cream colored door.

The hinges creaked as Syllis opened the gateway for her pursuer.

“Clyde, please come in.” Syllis welcomed him.

Unfortunately, Clyde seemed stunned. His eyes fixated on the beautiful nymph while his mouth tried to open, to speak.

Syllis placed her hand on his shoulder. Then, she invoked her bond, it was still activated since she needed it to endure the cold bath. She slightly froze the cold area beneath her palm.

Clyde jumped, the slight cold was more than enough to snap him from his daze. He stepped into the room and took a seat on the bed.

‘I wonder if being fresh out of the bath has given me the allure of a true siren…’ Syllis half-mused. It was certain that a single bath could not completely change the allure of a person. Although, Syllis did notice the slight oddities in how Clyde sometimes behaved around her. After all, this was how they first met.

“What brings you to my new home?” Syllis spoke in a light-hearted tone. Before, she was afraid of acting the wrong way. She needed to make absolutely certain not to offend anyone around Clyde, she wanted to be indoctrinated into his circle. ‘Well, Aura was… Unavoidable.’

Now that she had achieved this through her contract, Syllis wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and act normally. Or more accurately, she didn’t need to act at all anymore. She was free to be herself.

‘I should visit Jyrid sometime soon… He’s probably worried about me.’ Syllis felt bad for up and abandoning the only friend she had in the outer ring.

She couldn’t even visit him on the days that she waited for Clyde. Those days, she needed to stay anchored at her swimming spot. Syllis couldn’t afford to miss Clyde’s potential visit. It also served as a great location to train her conjuring of ice armaments.

Syllis had been thinking about a new technique involving them while attempting to form the needle-point spear for the first time. Although she was not able to successfully replicate her vision yet.

“I came to see if you’re my new sparring partner.” Clyde spoke honestly, one word stuck out compared to the rest.

“New sparring partner? Who was your last one?” Syllis eagerly wanted to know about someone who could have been his old sparring partner. She was certain it wasn’t Aura or Korman based on her conversation with Clark.

‘It couldn’t be Anahita right…?’ Syllis was relatively certain it also wasn’t the heir of Asanoch. It just seemed too outrageous for someone with so many transfigured anathema to have been the sparring partner of Clyde. ‘I mean, Clyde’s good but compared to someone with a dozen anathema… Lord, with that many transfigured anathema she might as well be her own god.’

“Not anyone you would know.” Clyde’s expression fell, it seemed he was not the most fond of his old partner.

‘Alright, don’t tell me then…’ Syllis' expression fell similarly. She wanted to know of the unknown factor with the ability to contend with the only person to best her.

Syllis scanned the man’s face. ‘Well, if we fought now… I’m sure I’d win!’ She was prepared for her next fight against his elusive bond.

“Well, I am indeed your new partner. I couldn’t just pass up such an opportunity.” Syllis strolled over toward her window, spreading the grey curtains to either side.

Clyde stepped over to Syllis, rising from the comfortable mattress. “Not to be egotistical but it is a great opportunity. Not only for you, but for me as well. I can’t wait to see Aura's face when I tell her that you’re going to be coming with us into our first fable rift.”

Syllis slowly turned her head towards Clyde. “What?”