When the new girl enters the room, the first thing the student in the next desk over does is mumble something about the new girl's place of origin. (Apparently, she is from a tribe native to a different region, and a princess where she comes from.) The first thing Elphan notices, besides her shy demeanor, is the strange blue markings that seem almost to frame the shape of her face. He doesn't have time to invite her to sit in the other empty seat next to him, though: before he can speak up, a mounted set of antlers comes to life and almost skewers her.

When she's still curled up in the corner after class, he goes to her and extends a hand in welcome and support:

"Hi."

She jumps, looking up at him:

"H—hi. I didn't see you there."

At this closer range, he can see now that the blue markings are a total of nine blue diamond shapes: three lines of three connected diamonds each, tattooed across the darkly-tanned skin of her forehead and cheeks. She sniffles a little, still recovering from having burst into tears after the terrifying experience that was her first day of history class at the prep school.

"Oh. I'm sorry. My name is Elphan. And yours?"

"Fiyara," she mumbles, reaching out to shake hands with him: another line of the diamonds marks the back of her hand and wrist.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Did you need some help to get up?"

She blushes, but accepts the offer: he helps her stand, and she dusts off her clothes.

"Thank you. It was very nice to meet you, Elphan, but I should really head to my next class."

Over the next several weeks, he speaks to her again several times. After many awkward, rather one-sided conversations, she finally comes out of her shell and truly opens up to him:

"So... what's your family like?"

He frowns: where to start?

"Well, let's see: I have a little brother, Niroan, who also goes here, but has a bit of a physical handicap. I have my mother, who I'm pretty sure prefers him over me. No surprises there. My father died when I was six and Niro was two. I can't think of much else to say about him."

"I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"Stupid car accident," he mutters: he chokes on the words and almost starts crying, but thinks of how embarrassing that would be, especially in front of Fiyara (he won't admit it, but he likes her quite a bit) and fights back that urge.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispers, looking on the verge of tears herself and leaning over to give him a hug.

"What's there to be sorry for? It wasn't your fault."

"I... lost someone in a car accident, too. I know the feeling."

"Who did you lose?"

"Well, we marry very young where I come from, and..."

"Your husband?"

"Yes."

"I know I just said there was no reason for it, but... I'm sorry."

"It's alright," she says, letting her shoulders droop a little.

"Did you... and him...?" he stops mid-sentence, not wanting to offend her.

"We had three children: one was six, one was three, and one was just a newborn at the time of the accident."

"Wait... how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"How did you even...?"

"As I've said, we marry quite young where I come from. I was married by age seven, became fertile within a year after that, and the first child of the three was born a few months before my tenth birthday."

"So you were fifteen when he died?"

"Yes. Fifteen, with a newborn son and two young daughters to take care of. When I found out about Shiz Prep just before my seventeenth birthday, my parents insisted I should attend school here, and that they would care for the children while I was away. I miss them, all of them, but I know it's for the best in the long run that I continue my education."

"That's a very wise choice," he replies, "and a very brave one."

"Thank you," she says quietly. Her grateful smile says much more.