The Bone Queen

Chapter Two

     Oria rose from where she'd been sprawled on the bed as Rina threw a heavy, deep blue cloak over her own shoulders to help fend off the cold. As the two departed her room, Rina snuck a pair of thick wool stockings into the hidden pockets of her cloak, one sock in each so neither would obviously bulge and be noticeable. She didn't have the energy to be scolded by Arelen or anyone else about "inhibiting her access to the goddess's magic".

They made their way through the halls, bare feet making them quiet as they navigated down to the main level. The floors of the Main House were massive polished dark gray granite tiles that would fit both Oria and Rina comfortably when lying down. The hallways were three tiles wide in order to hold the busy traffic of clerics and students alike, although the halls remained almost completely silent. Speaking was not allowed in the halls, as the time spent between each lesson or sermon was supposed to be spent in meditation rather than gossip or other "distracting conversations".

Still, there were often whispers exchanged between companions or the squeak of someone's foot skidding against the smooth stone floor. The younger clerics would often huddle in the shadowed corners and giggle at the men they watched pass by.

It was too early in the morning for the whispers of others to mask theirs, so Rina and Oria stayed silent, footsteps silent and sure. They both knew the route to the main floor so well they could probably make it with their eyes closed. This was the route they walked three times a week when Oria served in the mornings, and the other route they also assuredly had memorized was that from Oria's bedroom door to the main floor. As Rina was the one to nap on Oria's bed while her friend got ready for the day four days a week when she served in the morning.

After three left turns they reached a flight of grand stairs. The stairs were made up of the same dark, polished granite and remained as wide as the hallways they'd walked through. Each step was one-half of a large tile, though it still took two strides to get from one step to another.

Rina couldn't help a small wince as her toes hit the first of the cold steps. They hadn't been warmed by the traffic of other's yet. They continued their long descent of twenty-one steps, circling around to the next level. To the left of the stairs was a beautifully crafted oak handrail. Designs of flowers and ivy vines decorated it's length and the slats that connected it to the granite steps.

On the right side of the staircase there were small spaces running from ceiling to floor, through the stone and out to the brisk morning air, allowing the morning sun to light the path down. If you stopped to look out through the opening you would be able to watch as small dribbles of a molten silver substance fell from the roof above, just as it did the supporting pillars. At night the spaces weren't big enough to allow starlight through, so smaller versions of open furnace within her chambers would be placed every few steps to help light the stairway and keep the steps from freezing completely.

The two women hit the fifth floor and continued down the hallway before them. This floor was where Oria's chambers were, down a smaller hallway to their immediate left. When they had first become friends Rina asked repeatedly if Oria could live in a room next to hers, but was told that would not be possible. No other reason was given but her friend had reassured her that they would only get into trouble if they slept so close together, and would never actually rest.

They continued down the staircase to the fourth floor which acted as another housing floor. Others were beginning to move around more as the Tenple doors would be reopened soon. The stairs continued to descend from the fourth floor to the third and so on, each floor identical to the previous until they reached the landing on the main floor.

Oria let out a massive and overly dramatic sigh, looping her arm through Rina's and pulled her towards the food hall.

"I do hate the quiet of the mornings", she said too loudly, earning a scowl from three clerics speaking quietly with each other. While she ignored them, I sent what I hoped looked to be an apologetic smile in their direction.