I'm still thrilled about the fact that I just talked to a star (talked to a star?!) as we walk down the stairs to find some food. I wonder what the food is like in the Faerie Realm. Lin only brought me food from home as I was stuck in the In Between, so I still don't know. Which makes me wonder about the fact that I got out of there around noon yesterday, and then we walked all day, and... we didn't eat anything all day? That can't be right. Maybe I forgot? Maybe in the Faerie Realm simply existing takes somehow less energy so one doesn't need to eat so often? Lin doesn't seem to eat much ever. Or maybe time works differently here, so that my body didn't realise yesterday so much time has passed, and doesn't realise to feel hungry. But I did feel tired. So...
I don't know. Time is weird. The Faerie Realm is weird.
And either way, I am hungry now.
There's some breakfast served in the inn's common room. Lin ushers me to a table in one of the corners and goes to find something for me to eat. Meanwhile I let my eyes wander the room. There are some people in there, but not enough for the room to be crowded. Then I notice a couple of fae staring at me. They're not faeries, I don't think, but since I don't actually know anything about faeries, except what I know of Lin, or fae in general, it's tough to say. They don't look nice. I stare back at them, while feeling it's probably a terrible idea. One of them looks about to stand up and come to me when Lin returns. They exchange some words as they see him, but they're way too far away for me to even hear the murmur of their voices.
"Here," Lin begins as he sets the plate on the table, but noticing me staring into some other table doesn't continue with whatever he was about to say. He follows my gaze to the faes in the other table. He glances back at me. He sets his jaw and marches up to the other two. They all look annoyed at each other, but none of them raise their voice as they exchange what seems from their body language to be heated words. After a few moments Lin turns around and heads back to me.
"Don't make eye contact with anyone," he hisses at me. Then he blinks, looks down at the table. "Eat your food." He says, voice kinder, but still irritated.
I nod, and start eating my breakfast.
~x~
"So where are we going now?" I ask Lin after I've finished eating and he practically pushes me out the door. I keep my voice low, my eyes downcast.
"To the records," he says.
"Records?"
"We keep records of the humans in the Faerie Realm," Lin explains. I stare at my walking feet for a moment.
"Why?" I ask.
"To know how many of you there are. And where you are. It's an old system, really. Nowadays it wouldn't matter so much, since the only humans here are here to repay a debt. There used to be more of you here, some choosing to live here. The fae council wanted to keep track of you, because you're foreigners here, so they created a way to magically keep up with all the humans in the Faerie Realm. The records update automatically, if humans move within the Faerie Realm, or go back home, or die, or are born."
"Or sold," I whisper. Lin nods.
"Yes. Though that used to not be a thing back then," Lin says.
"So the records will tell us where Aidan is?" Lin nods. We walk in silence.
"Am I in the records too?" I ask after a while
"The records for humans appear as they themselves appear in the Faerie Realm. So yes, you should be."
We walk in silence for a moment longer, until we come to a fancy-looking building. We go in. There entrance hall isn't big. There's only one room. In that room is only one desk. Behind the desk sits a grumpy-looking... something. I can't tell. I sigh inwardly.
"We're here to take a look at the human records," Lin says.
"Of any particular human?" the thing behind the counter asks. The voice is startling. It doesn't fit the creature at all. Looking at her (I'm pretty sure it's a her. Maybe. Or maybe not. Who ever knows with the fae. At least the voice is clearly feminine.) I can't even tell what kind of a voice I would have expected, but it was definitely not this. I realise I'm staring.
"The name is Aidan. Came to the Faerie Realm as a boy maybe thirty human-years ago, I think. The most recent markings on the records, please."
The creature nods and disappears through a door. She's gone for quite a while.
"Are there a lot of us here now?" I ask, to fill the silence.
"Not really. Some. I mean, the world is a big place, so if you got all the humans to one place at the same time, that would be many. But no, not a lot."
"I haven't seen any humans here since I got here," I say.
"Like I said, there aren't that many of you. In this town one sees at least one human on more trips than not, but it's not unusual to not spot any, even though there are for sure some in the town at any given time. And this is a place where there are more humans than anywhere else close by."
The creature comes back through the door.
"The newest records are inaccessible," she says. It seems to me like in her position she should at least pretend to be sorry she couldn't help us, since she is here to help us, but her tone says she is completely indifferent. Lin looks confused.
"What do you mean, inaccessible?" he asks.
"I mean inaccessible. The newest records have been sealed. I can find him coming to the Faerie Realm, and follow him for a while, but the newest records, which are not all that new compared to the time he's been here, are sealed," she shrugs.
"By whose seal?" Lin asks, like he can't believe what he's hearing. I get the sense sealing records is not something that happens often.
"The green griffin," she says, voice beginning to edge from indifferent to annoyed.
Lin just stares at her for a moment, his face looking paler than usually. Or maybe I'm just imagining. Either way, it doesn't sound like good news. My heart sinks.
"Let's go," he says to me quietly and turns. "Let's get out of this cursed town."
I almost have to run after him out the door, he's walking so fast.
"What just happened?" I ask, "What's the green griffin?"
Lin keeps up his pace, heading out of the town, but glances sideways at me.
"It's my family's seal," he answers, quietly.
______________________________________________________________________
Ooookay. Getting back on schedule. The next topic is Box.
~matu
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