Dralan [On Hold]

Eight

Leyla

Leyla and Bhria spent most of the day together. Bhria kept her entertained as the long days in the Dralan's room with nothing to do started to make her restless.

"Why do you not ask him for something to keep yourself occupied with?" Bhria asked as they sat at the table and talked. "A deck of cards or perhaps a simple book. There are bookshelves on these walls, ask for his permission to read them. You do read, right?"

Leyla nodded. Her parents had taught her how to read and cook, even how to sew and design robes. She loved drawing as well, but had with her parents poverty only been able to draw with burned charcoal from their fireplace. She has always dreamt of having the colors of the rainbow to express herself with, but with the poverty in the land, paints had been hard to come by and afford. But she never complained. Her parents gave her everything they had and more, right until they passed on. Now she was here, blessed to be under the Dralan's protection. She wouldn't dare ask for more.

"I do read, but I won't ask the Dralan," Leyla replied and looked down at her hands. "I am here to satisfy his needs, not the other way around. Besides, I don't know what the Dralan would think of me studying. Behind my title, I am but a Bahk."

Bhria sighed understandingly. "Of course. I just can't help but feel..." She glanced up at Leyla and then a small smile lifted to her gentle lips, "that you were sent here as a blessing from The Blithesome Miss. I have no doubt you will do great things for the Dralan. You are not like the others."

"The others?" Leyla carefully asked.

"His previous Mihrs," Bhria replied and suddenly a shadow slid over her face. "When they were found amongst the Bahks in the villages and were brought here, their status instantly grew to their head. They became obnoxious and full of themselves over time. They started to kvetch over everything," Bhria hissed, irritation suddenly flashing across her face. "They thought that the usufruct they were given meant they could command us around like they were any better than us. The only thing that kept us from being them was the fact that they had been so lucky as to not getting touched against their will."

The distress in Bhria's voice has Leyla reaching across the table and clutching her hand where she had curled it into a fist. As Bhria slowly took a deep breath and calmed herself, Leyla gave her hand a little squeeze. She felt for the female.

"I have taken care of most of them," Bhria then continued after calming herself down. "And of all the Mihrs who came here, left or gave up their title, you are the first to ever command me to use your first name," Bhria looked up at her with wet eyes. "I instantly sensed a kindness within you that I did not sense in any of them. You are different, but in a good way. You are... pure."

Leyla felt an involuntary blush at the Kischmir's words. She had never been praised so loudly or so beautifully before, it made her shy. She was just a female like any other, like Bhria had pointed out; the only thing that separated them was their luck. Leyla had been fortunate enough to stay hidden from the Mihr hunters, while Bhria... Oh, her heart bled for her fellow female.

"You are pure, too," Leyla said and squeezed her hand again. With soft eyes, she smiled at her as Bhria tearfully smiled back. "I sense a kindness in your soul as well. Without you here, I do not know how I would've made it through today. I feel so alone and confused, but you give me strength, Bhria. I should like to call you my friend."

Bhria's eyes welled over with tears and then she nodded quickly, smiling so brightly, her purity shone brighter than the sun. "Thank you, so much. I will be humbled to be your friend as well."

Leyla gave a last nod, then chuckled and dried her eyes. "Then that's settled. Now let's dry our eyes and have some fun."

"Fun?" Bhria questioned as if the concept was foreign to her.