House of Bone

Something Precious

In a room full of children my age, I feel awfully alone.

The others are all sons and daughters of the House leaders, and they've all known each other since they were just beginning to walk.

And then there's me.

An outsider.

Both chairs beside me are empty, and no one bothers to sit next to me.

No one wants to talk to a Houseless.

Even if they try to hide it, I can still hear their whispers.

"Eww, why'd they let a Houseless come here."

"Hah, dressing someone up pretty doesn't change who they are in the core."

I attempt to ignore them, but the words hurt more than they should.

The scraping sound of chair legs against wood jars me from my thoughts.

I look over next to me, seeing a girl with medium length black hair covered in golden adornments.

"Hi!" she says "I saw you all alone over here and I thought you'd want some company."

"I - uh thanks?" I stumble over my words, not sure what to say to this unexpected girl.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I'm Oratile, but only my parents call me that, so you can call me Ora! What's your name? I bet it's something cool."

I laugh, "It's Kyra, nice to meet you."

She grins at me, "As I said, cool name. Matches with your cool hair."

I look away, "Not as cool as yours though."

"I know right!" She laughs, flicking her hair over her shoulder, making the gold pieces clink against each other.

I giggle, not caring if the adults finally decide to start this session.

"Kyra! Oratile! This session is for learning proper etiquette, not goofing off!"

So the teacher did decide to start at the least convenient time.

But I no longer need to worry.

Not with Ora by my side.