Dousin was a dreary and ancient city. From the few history lessons my mother gave me that weren’t about God, she said that Dousin was one of, if not the, oldest cities on the continent. The Frosta family had lived there for centuries, ruling over the north. Although it had its own type of beauty, it was clear from the cracks in the stone and the dying wood buildings that it wasn’t the prettiest place to look at. The City of Marble stood in stark contrast. Elegant was the best word I could find to describe it. Everywhere I looked I was met with the color of pure white marble, perfectly polished so that it seemed to shine in the sunlight. Dousin had always been more of a stronghold, but this was a city.
As soon as we entered the gate, our carriages had to go over a bridge. A river ran along the wall, going around the entire city, sort of like a moat. As we ventured further in, passing by store fronts and crowds of people wearing fairly light clothing, a major difference from the heavier wool we wore in Dousin, I realized that it wasn’t just a river. While normal roads were still fairly common, the city was mostly made up of canals, many people stepping out of buildings and onto small canoes, using them to get around rather than walking. The entire city had been built on a circular lake that was nestled in between the two peaks.
“Sean, look at that!” Isla yelled as we turned onto a much wider and more open road.
The streets were filled with people. Some of them were bartering for food at market stalls, others were trying to bring customers over to see their wares, and many were simply walking around, enjoying themselves on a nice day. However, Isla wasn’t pointing to a person. She was pointing to one of the many beasts that walked alongside the human they were Soul Bound to. It was a strange sight, seeing them walk around the city like normal. The guards in Dousin would have gone insane if they saw even one of these creatures, let alone the giant bear-like creature Isla was pointing to, in the city.
“That’s a Fyrbera,” Mother said, peering out of the carriage. “They populate the western forests. They’re a lot more docile than their Mathear relatives, but it’s pretty rare to see someone that formed a Soul Bind with them.”
That thing is related to a mathear?” I asked, though the resemblance was fairly obvious.
It looked just like a giant bear, like a mathear did, but didn’t have giant fangs or claws made of ice. It did have spikes protruding from its back, but they were made of a smooth rock rather than ice.
Other beasts walked around with their companions, many of them being pointed out with excitement by Isla and her questions being answered by my mother, but I wasn’t paying attention. Something else had caught my eye. Above the buildings, fairly far away, was some kind of tower. I couldn’t see the base of it, only able to spot the top of the structure over the many marble houses. The tower came up into the air like a spike, as if it was stabbing at the sky, and it seemed to rise even taller than the two mountain peaks on either side of the city.
“I can’t believe a place like this is real,” Isla said beside me. Her eyes were filled with wonder, and her mouth was hung open in amazement.
“Don’t start drooling. It’s just a city,” Rhys called to her.
Embarrassed, she quickly shut her mouth, wiped off her chin, and stared at Rhys with eyes like daggers.
“Woah, hey! Don’t kill me, I didn't mean it!” Rhys yelled in feigned terror. “Give me a hand with your sister, Sean? Sean?”
I ignored them, trying to get a better look at the tall tower. Rhys must have followed my eyes, and snorted. “Of course the first thing that catches your eye here is the Magic Tower. I guess I should have expected as much.”
The words ‘Magic Tower,’ brought me out of my tunnel vision. “That’s the Magic Tower?” I asked him.
“Of course it is. Do you see any other giant towers like it?”
“No. I just thought it would be a bit more… magical.”
The tower was beautiful, made of the same marble as the rest of the city, but it was very bland. It was just a giant spike sticking out from the city. Every time Restivus had mentioned it, he seemed to revere it as something incredible. It was a tower that collected all of humanity's achievements in magic, after all. So, when I imagined it, I saw it as this massive structure that was adorned with all sorts of magical decorations and shows of power. Instead, it was just a high tower. Still, it intrigued me.
“Well you can get a closer look at it later. We don’t have time to head into the middle of the city. We’ll drop you off at Gaige’s and be on our way. This little detour is already eating away at time you haven’t paid for.”
I frowned at Rhys, but my mother thanked him. “I really don’t know what to say, Rhys,” she said. “You’ve done so much for my family.”
“It’s no problem, Cori. If you ever need transport again and I’m in town, come find me. I might even give you a discount if you teach him how to shut up,” Rhys responded, pointing to me.
“You’d never give anyone a discount,” I countered.
The merchant laughed. “True, true.”
It didn’t take long for our caravan to reach Gaige’s Beast Registrar. It was just a few turns from the gate, right along one of the main roads. It was a giant building, looking more like a barn than an official government building. Of course, like everything else, It was made out of pure marble. It was a fairly simple building except for one of its sides, which was completely open like a giant barn door. On that side was a canal, and a dock-like structure was built onto the building. Near those docks was a sea horse. Not a sea horse like from my old memories, but a literal horse with rainbow scales, fins, and gills. It spat water out and shook its head while its owner brushed its scaly mane. The beast went out of my view before I could ask someone more about it.
We were off the carriage and waving goodbye to Rhys within no time at all. He gave me a few parting words, mainly about how to keep my coin and deal with the less savory individuals of the city, then got on his cart and left. It felt weird, seeing him just disappear after two months of him being around. So many people just seemed to come and go.
Entering the Beast Registrar was just as shocking as entering the Marble City. Beasts had been common on the roads, but this building was a madhouse compared to outside. It was stuffed full of so many beasts that I couldn’t even look at them all. People were yelling over the loud noises their beasts made while workers tried to understand what they were asking. People tried to squeeze through the mass of animals, looking for a place to sit down. The whole place was an absolute mess.
“We need to get in line!” Mother yelled.
“Line? What line?” I asked, trying to find wherever I was supposed to go.
A loud whistle came through, quieting every person and beast in the room. Everyone turned to a small man with curly brown hair standing behind the registration counter. He wore a thick pair of glasses on his face, so I couldn't see his eyes, but I could’ve sworn they were staring directly at me.
The man opened his mouth to speak, but as soon as every man and beast realized the whistle had come from him, they went back to making noise.
“Ah, wait—“ I heard him try to say, but his voice was drowned out by everything else.
“Sean over here!” Isla pointed to a short group of people all lined up together.
It was surprising how short it actually was, considering how packed the building was, but it was possible many of them weren’t here to get their beast’s registered and instead needed something else. I started heading over when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I turned to see the short man from earlier, his shirt disheveled and glasses skewed, panting like he’d just run a mile. His sudden grip on my shoulder startled Winter, who was peacefully sleeping on the other side of my head, even through all the noise. “Wait— just— please,” the man said, barely getting the words out through deep, heavy breaths.
Startled, I took a step back and let his hand fall off my shoulder. He let it fall, placing it on his knees and bending over, trying to catch his breath. “Are… are you okay?” I asked him, his behavior confusing me.
“Fine, young man. Fine,” he said, his voice deeper than his stature alluded to. “I just— I had to talk to you as soon as possible. As soon as I saw it, I needed to.”
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“What? What are you—“
The man pointed to Winter, his finger right in front of her beak. “That, that! It’s been so long since I’ve seen one! Such a rare— Ahhh!” The man yelled in pain after Winter nipped at his finger.
He stumbled back, grabbing his hand, then sucked in the blood leaking from his finger. I took a step back from the strange man, but then what he said hit me. “You know what Winter is? You’ve seen a beast like her before?”
The man stopped sucking his finger, pushed out his chest, then gave a smug laugh. “Ha! Of course I know what she is! I, the great Gaige, know all there is when it comes to the beasts of our continent!” He posed like that for a minute, and I heard Isla snicker behind me. Gaige then let his pose go, hunching his back, and fixed his glasses. Shaymie flew over to him from his place near Isla’ shoulder, hovering in front of his glasses and fogging them up. “Oh, a Northern Air Wisp!” He exclaimed, “How exciting!”
“You knew exactly what she was? How?” Isla asked, curious.
“Well it’s fairly easy to distinguish an air wisp from a fire wisp. As for this one being northern,” he poked at Shaymie with one of his non-bloody fingers, “Northern air wisps give off cold air while southern ones give off hot. When My glasses fogged up her cold air hitting the warm glass, I knew what kind of beast she was.”
“Wow that’s,” Isla paused, suddenly looking a bit skittish, “Cool,”
“It’s just years of practice, m’lady. That was an easy one, though. As for this beauty,” he gestured to Winter again, making sure not to get his hand to close this time, “I wouldn’t be surprised if most people had no clue what she was.”
“So do you know then?” I asked him. “What she is? I’ve always been curious since no one had ever seen something like her before.”
“Ah, but I have!” Gaige raised to his full, unimpressive height, “Years ago, when I was just an apprentice on the studies of beasts, a young woman came in with an owl just like your Winter. We had never seen one before, of course, and we were amazed by its beauty.”
Excitement caused my mouth to move. “So what, is she some kind of special beast? Is she some kind of super powerful Soul Bind?”
Gaige stared at me, frowning. “Uh… no. What gave you that idea? We’d never seen one because they only live in the most northern parts of the continent, and are fairly rare, not to mention, endangered. I just couldn’t resist getting the chance to see a Chrysowl up close again!”
A Chrysowl. So that’s what Winter was. I turned back to the line Isla had pointed out, only to see that it had grown. I sighed. “Y’know,” I said, looking down to Gaige, who was still staring at Winter, “I could let you take a closer look at her if you sped up the registration process for us.”
Gaige’s eyes widened in absolute wonder. “Of course, of course! It’s my business after all, who cares if I let a few… friends skip the line. Come, come! I’ll show you to my office.”
He led us past the counter, several people in the registration line giving us dirty looks as we did so, and into the back rooms of the building. I looked over to my mother, who was walking behind me with her head down, wondering why she had been so quiet. I expected her to get mad at me for haggling with the Beast Registrar, but she stayed silent the whole time. I got her attention by waving my hand in front of her eyes. She looked up and gave me a small smile, then mouthed the words, “Good job.”
We all piled into Gaige's office, Ronan choosing to lay out in the hallway. “Alright, let’s get you settled first. One Sairla, one Northern Air Wisp, and one Chrysowl, correct?” He asked, taking a seat in a very uncomfortable looking chair.
“Yes. Just those three need to be registered,” I answered.
“Okay. And who will be taking ownership for them?”
“I’ll be registering the Sairla and the Chrysowl under my name. Sean—“
“Phell,” Mother cut in. “Sean Phell.”
My body went still at her words, completely taken off guard. I was about to correct her, but then I watched as Gaige’s eyes went wider than they had when he’d first seen Winter. “House— House Phell? You are of House Phell?” He asked.
“We are,” my mother responded.
“I— I see,” Haige said, bowing his head, “Please forgive me if I have committed any offense. I did not know you were part of Lord Phell’s family.”
I waited for my mother to respond, but she remained silent. So, I spoke instead. “It’s… fine. You’ve done nothing wrong, Gaige.”
The short man lifted his head, but remained in a bowed position. The look on his face reminded me of Baird. It was the same one he wore when Lady Mairead had visited his shop to offer me magic tutoring alongside Blair. A look of fear, awe, and absolute obedience. “Thank you for your forgiveness, young Lord.”
That really rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn’t a lord, nor did I really want to be. Everything about Gaige’s new demeanor felt wrong, like he was forced into being another person just from my name. No, not my name. This… House Phell, or whatever. That’s what scared him. I turned back to my mother. She was staring right at me, and nodded her head when I looked at her. Why had she said my name was Phell and not Brynor? Why hadn’t she said anything about my grandparent or House Phell, and why didn’t she tell me they were lords? No, not just lords. I’d assumed they had at least some kind of standing, being able to afford life in the Marble City, but the level of fear the name of Phell instilled into Gaige was unnerving. Just who were my mother’s side of the family?
I turned back to Gaige. “There’s no need to thank me, Gaige,” I said, emulating how Blair usually talked at the Frost Feast, “Please, just continue like we are regular people.”
“I– yes, m’lord. The Sairla and Chrysowl under Sean… Phell then? How about the Air Wisp?”
“Register her under Isla,” I paused, unsure for a second, “Phell.”
Gaige wrote everything down, then handed me two cards and Isla one. “Alright, these are proof of ownership of your beasts. They are allowed anywhere in the city, except for certain public buildings and any private business that bans their entry. Otherwise, they will be left alone. Um…” Gaige paused, clearly hesitant to continue, “Any action your beast takes reflects on you, including violence. They are allowed to act in self defense, but any harm they do to a human or fellow beast without reason will result in a fine for the owner, and termination of the beast. Of course I know House Phell is probably… ahem… exempt from such things, but I must say those things to any new registee,” he ended with a nervous chuckle.
“Thanks Gaige.”
“No problem m’lord. Now… um… may I take a look at her?”
I l turned to Winter, who was eyeing Gaige suspiciously from my shoulder. “It’s okay girl,” I soothed her, “He just wants to take a look at you.”
She chirped, then flew over and onto Gaige’s desk. A magnifying glass was examining her in an instant. “Oh yes, I remember this. Feather’s that look just like gemstones. Yes, yes,” Gaige mumbled. “Your Souls are bound together, yes?”
“Yeah, she’s my Soul Bind. Why?”
“Mmmm. What abilities does she possess?”
“Uh… She can send me directions through our connection. Sort of like a compass or overhead map. Also, after we made our Soul Bind, ice became easier for me to manipulate with my Soul.”
“Ah, so you’re a Water Mage then?” he asked.
“Yes… Well, no. Not officially. I can use magic.”
“Oh, then you must be participating in that upcoming event for the Magic Tower.”
“I’m sorry?” I asked, confused.
“Oh, I guess not. Nevermind then. I just assumed considering your noble status that you would be involved. Forgive me, m’lord.”
“Wait. What are you–”
“Yes, interesting. Very interesting,” Gaige cut me off.
“What is?” I asked him.
“The abilities she has. I don’t believe you’ve discovered them all. Similar to human Souls, beasts must train to fully realize their abilities. Chrysowls are nowhere near the most powerful beast out there, but they are not the weakest either. I’m sure if I could examine her further, perhaps sometime in the future, we could find a way to help her discover more about herself.”
“That… would be great,” I said.
“Wonderful!” Gaige yelled, still examining Winter.
My Soul Bind screeched at the loud noise, nipped at Gaige’s hand again, then flew back onto my shoulder. The beast registrar let out a yelp, then sucked on his newly bloody finger, again. “You should really learn how to not startle beasts,” I told him.
“Ah, things like this are fine,” he said, wiggling his finger at me. “This is nothing compared to what other beasts have done to me.”
I decided to leave it at that. “Well, thank you Gaige, but we must be heading off,” I said, not wanting to give the man a chance to tell me about all the times he’d been trampled.
“Of course, m’lord. Do not let me keep you. I will await your return so that we may learn more about your bond. Um… also.”
I raised my eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Could you let Lord Phell know how well our business together has gone, m’lord? While I am not a part of his Merchant’s Guild, many of their members come to get their Lisyfe’s shoed here. It would be great if I continued to have their business,” Gaige said with a smile.
I was unsure of how to respond, but luckily Mother did it for me. “Our time here was a pleasure, Gaige. We will let Lord Phell know of your wonderful business,” she said, voice completely different from what I knew. I stared at her in utter disbelief. It was like my mother had been replaced by some noble lady. “Now, me and my children must be going. It would be terrible if we kept Lord Phell waiting.”
We walked out of the registrar, my mind a confused mess. The name Phell. What did it mean? What was its significance to me? Who was Lord Phell? I swallowed as I realized I probably knew all the answers. I had convinced myself that I knew everything about my parents after hearing the story my mother told Ailisa several months ago. Now though, I knew I was wrong. My mother had plenty of secrets left, just like my father had.