*POV* Kylo Hillmore
Being in the back of everyone was getting old, just because I was an orphan on the charity program didn't make me any different from my classmates.
Another shoulder rammed into me as a series of boys passed me running to the stadium. Shifting my backpack, I can't help but clench my jaw in annoyance.
I won't really say I was bullied, it's more like I was ignored. Entering my build I headed for my class, the last one of the day and the last one of the year. I couldn't wait till I was out for good.
Taking my seat I glanced around at the other students deep in conversation with friends and teammates. A minute later the teacher entered and everyone settled down respectfully.
When the bell rang I got to my feet, shouldered my bag and left, as soon as my feet left the school grounds, I ran. Down main street then down a side street then another till the brick paved streets turned to dirt.
Joel's leather shop stood alone on the corner with a small fenced in yard surrounding it. I shoved the door open unceremoniously and headed into the back. "Kylo!" The shout made me tense and tossed my backpack on a chair in the work room.
The basement was dim. "What?" I yelled into the depths of the darkness. A loud shuffling could be heard, before a large man came into view holding a large trunk over his shoulder.
"Help me get this up the stairs, how was school?"
I frowned as he set the trunk on the floor, "The same as usual." The trunk was heavier than I expected as I grabbed the handle and pulled while Joel lifted.
"I bet you are glad you are finished." I grunting in agreement as we topped the stairs and pulled the trunk into the kitchen. "What's in this thing?" I questioned.
"Just some old leather, I need the trunk." We pulled it into the work room before Joel opened it and pulled the dusty leather from it. "Now that you are out of school I have your first delivery for you."
I eyed him as he stacked products wrapped in brown paper in the trunk. "Where too?" He smiled, his dimples showing. "To the castle, these are the boots for the guards." He said simply.
"You can leave in the morning." I nodded.
I eyed the guard's shed of the main gates leading into Elesor's grand castle. After waiting for 3 hours I stepped up, a square shaped woman that crowded the window asked my name and business.
She smiled at me. "I am glad you have arrived, Jimson is waiting for you." She had a cart take me and the trunk to the guardsmen headquarters.
Jimson greeted me with a pat on the back. "Glad you came sonny." A brooding boy around my age hauled the trunk away while Jimson handed me a coin purse.
"Say to celebrate your graduation, you should come to the party the guards are throwing tonight. Don't worry about Joel, this was his idea."
I shrugged at the older man, I had known him since I had started as Joel's apprentice. He was a good man. "Alright." He thumped my back.
"Nice, see you then." He walked off, I glanced down at the cloth bag and sigh. The inside of the castle was boring to someone who has seen it as much as I had.
From boots for the guards to boots for the royal family, Joel had done it all. I sometimes wondered why his shop was in Ocean port, a small town, and not in the capital city of Elesor,
Kalvoke.
I left the castle and walked the short stretch of farmland to the outskirts of Kalvoke. I had visited the marketplace plenty of times, the sight of the bustling crowds was nothing new.
I found a street corner and stood to watch those that passed by. It had been 17 years since Queen Coral of Hilldren had brought the Auroranes here, I spotted a couple of them, mainly men in the crowd.
King Desmond had banned them from coming into Elesor for 15 years, but only recently pulled the ban and let them enter.
A cloaked young woman caught my eye walking farther into the market, she seemed in awe as she stopped at a stand selling dream catchers for 2 silver.
A thought in the back of my mind made me wonder if I should go introduce myself to her, but then I remembered the money in my pocket wasn't my to spend.
When I looked up again she was gone, I was a little disappointed but pushed off the building behind me and walked into the crowd.
As the sun set I made my way back up to the castle, it didn't take long before I was stepping into the lounging hall for the guards. It was already busy with half intoxicated guards letting loose after a long day.
I found Jimson with his friends in a dim corner. "Hey, kid! Come join us." He greeted me before he told all his new friends my life story. I sat and ate from the plates on the table as they talked.
"He is an orphan, they say, left on the doorstep of an old lady. But as bad luck would have it she died." His words brought back memories that were fuzzy in my mind.
"Then he became a beggar on the streets of Kalvoke before Joel found him and took him in. He is the perfect picture of an Elesor charity case." I grimaced and his friends looked quite impressed, ruffling my hair and thumping my back.
After a while their topic changed and I stood to go find some water, with as much liquid that was flowing around the room you would think water would be easy to find.
But the man behind the bar told me to go in the back for some and the cook told me to go to the well outside.