Elvira
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We were in the kitchen washing dishes, and this was the noisiest the kitchen had ever been at this time of day.
Usually, the only sounds one would hear were the clinking of plates, the cackling of fire, and strained yawns.
However, that wasn’t the case today. The very air was buzzing with excitement, nervousness, and uncertainty, due to the news Madame Matilda had bestowed on us.
“I really can’t believe we are hosting the conclave this year. It’s unimaginable” Mira said, her voice carrying the same excitement as the air around us.
I couldn’t fault her though, after all this was indeed an event that was unheard of.
The conclave of the great kingdoms has been an ongoing tradition for decades. Each gathering takes place in a different kingdom every time, but never once has it taken place in the human kingdom.
There were several reasons for that, but the most important one was that the human king and his council always refused the idea and invitation. According to them, it was dangerous to let that much powerful figures onto the ground of Elysia.
They weren’t wrong though, because what would happen if the other kingdoms chose to dominate us, or if a conflict suddenly broke out?
So imagine everyone’s surprise when they heard the news. It must mean the king approved to host the meeting.
What was he thinking?
My stomach growled and I clutched it. I was in a kitchen full of food and yet I couldn’t appease my hunger. The irony.
I stole a glance at the palate of fruits sitting by the corner on the kitchen’s marble tabletop. The fruits were looking fresh, droplets of water clinging to them from the washing they had just received.
Looking at the fruits definitely didn’t help, as it only made my stomach growl louder, demanding I gave it what it wanted.
However I couldn’t do so, so I resulted in staring daggers at the fruit, letting all my pent-up anger roll off it in waves. Poor thing would probably go sour from the way I’m staring at it.
“When was the last time you ate? your stomach is really singing some melodies right now” Mira asked, sending a worried look at my stomach that was as flat as the chopping board I was washing.
“I don’t know the last time I did Mira. Maybe three days ago? who knows I lost count. I thought I’d finally get to eat today, but I was wrong.” I sobbed.
“You always cry about the consequences, and yet you repeat the same action” Mira laughed. “Just sneak a little food out later”
Yea, I never learn from my mistakes, screw me. It was one of my flaws. A major one.
“Don’t have to tell me twice. After all, according to what Madame Matilda had said earlier, the next couple of days would be extremely busy. The very palace would have to be decorated and the millions of inhabited rooms would have to be cleaned for the guests. With all that on everyone’s plate, I’m sure no one would notice me grabbing a couple of food” I explained.
“Except Lola of course,” Mira said nodding her head towards Lola’s direction.
I turned my head to see Lola staring me down like a hawk. Ugh, of course, her. I swear the girl has remotely nothing better to do.
“Goddess, I hate being so popular. You pick up obsessive fans along the way.”
Mira laughed, so loud that a few people turned to look at us.
I looked at her and stifled a laugh myself. What I said wasn’t that funny, but hey if she laughed, then call me a joker.
Then she stopped laughing all of a sudden and went stiff.
“Mira?”
“Wait does that mean the fox kingdom is also coming?” she said in slowly.
The look on her face was growing distant by the minute, she looked completely out of it.
Concern filling me up, I waved my hands in front of her. “Earth to Mira,” I said, snapping her out of her daze. The light slowly came back to her eyes and she shook her head.
“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” I asked
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She quickly masked her worried expression, giving me a wry smile.
“Oh yea, I’m definitely okay. Just tired from yesterday I suppose.”
Tired she says. I find it hard to believe that the girl who was just cackling her ass off, was suddenly spacy and tired. I call bullshit. It definitely has to do with the mention of the fox race.
“Hm,” I said giving her a skeptical look. “Well if you say so.”
She must have noticed I was getting suspicious of her because she suddenly said in a high-pitched voice.
“Let’s finish the dishes before Madame Matilda comes and drags us around the kitchen with a whip around our necks.”
She wasn’t exaggerating her sentence, as it has happened before.
Nope, she wasn’t getting away from this one. I know she has been trying to avoid the topic of her origins and how she ended up coming to Elysia, but never had I seen her this shaken. I had to know what was going on with her.
Although, just as I was about to ask her, she swiftly changed the topic.
She whispered in my ear “So far it looks like you aren’t in trouble for what happened yesterday, I guess I could go unpack our bags then.”
I let out a small laugh “Seriously what is up with you and packing bags? Where would you even run to? If the king wanted a person dead, I’m pretty sure the entire kingdom would share the same sentiments.”
“Yea, you’re right. But escape is never impossible remember that.”
I paused my movements and studied Mira’s face. Had she escaped the fox kingdom? If so why and who was she running from?
“You got in another trouble yesterday?” an annoying voice I’d know anywhere said.
Lola.
“See? You freaks of nature are always attracting trouble wherever you go. It’s burdensome really” she continued.
Lord, I’m going to kick this bitch into a pot of boiling soup.
I turned around to meet Lola’s nasty smirk.
“You know what’s burdensome? Your annoying voice hunting me wherever I go. I even hear it sometimes in my sleep. I’m sorry but I need a break from being your best friend okay? your obsession is unhealthy.”
She scoffed. “Are you daft? In what world are we considered best friends. Last I checked I clearly don’t like you, and I don’t hide it”
“Lola, what do you call someone that is there when you wake up, goes wherever you go, stares at whatever you do, talks to you all the time with no filter? You’re either the best friend or the stalker. And since you denied the first, I guess that makes you the latter.”
Mira busted out laughing again “Wow Elvira you’re on a roll today”
We both turned around and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Lola rooted to her spot, too stupefied to speak.
I may not show it much, but the way they always pick apart my differences and call me a freak actually gets to me. No matter how often it happens, you can never truly get used to the hurt people cause you. After all, we all have a beating heart full of emotions.
I don’t yearn to be accepted by these people or to be normal. I just yearn to be left alone, to not have to fight off every harsh remark made up against me, to not have to hear the same dumb jokes every couple of minutes. It was getting incredibly frustrating.
“Wait up Elvira” I hear Mira call behind me, her footstep drawing closer. “I know I always tell you this, but don’t listen to Lola’s words, she’s just being annoying.”
“Yea, I know. It’s getting harder to do so though. One of these days I might stick an arrow down her throat” I said, my face scrunching up in annoyance.
“Woah. That was a little dark” Mira said faking a horrific expression.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. I’m really glad I got to befriend Mira. She’s a really cool person and knowingly or not... she makes me smile.
We went about our day doing the long list of chores Madame Matilda had given us. So far I hadn’t heard anything about punishment from the king or me being summoned to answer for my mistakes. I couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief though, because it could happen at any time.
My stomach was still aching from the lack of food since yesterday and this morning. I can’t wait to sneak some leftover food out.
It was mid-day now, and at this point, I had little to no energy and felt like I was dying. It also wasn’t helping that my headache was only getting worse.
I tapped my noisy stomach and then rolled up my sleeves to continue trimming some flower bushes. Just as I was about to take full swing at one of the weeds I found, I heard a call from one of the female servants. She yelled Madame Matilda wanted to see us all, and we should gather by the servants’ quarters.
“Ugh, what does she want now?” I said to Mira as we walked back together.
“Who knows? Maybe she finally heard about yesterday’s event?” Mira said.
“Hmm, no I doubt it. If she did, she wouldn’t have to gather all of us, she’d probably just have the knights literally drag me out of here.” I replied.
The moment we got to the servant quarters, Madame Matilda yelled “Line up in rows and columns of fives.”
We all immediately did as she said. Then she continued.
“The guest has started arriving, therefore we would need to start serving them and making sure they are comfortable. Among you all, I will be choosing the ones with the most acceptable appearance and character. Once you are called, you will follow me to see Lady Ezra. There she would make sure you are presentable enough to be seen in public...”
Getting tired of her double-sided words, I completely blocked out her voice and entertained myself with picking at my nails. In my absentmindedness, I began to think about what sort of people we would see today.
Will there be fairies? that certainly would be a sight to see.
What about vampires? That’s nice but aren’t they all like old people or something?
Wolves? Gee, I heard the Wolve race was teaming up with good-looking people.
Dragons? They do fascinate me, but what if they decided to eat one of us for dessert?
Still indulging myself in my daydream, I heard “Mira, come up”
Wait what? Mira? did she get picked? I raised my head to see what was happening, and my thoughts were confirmed. She really did get picked, alongside Lola and some pretty girls with good-looking guys.
It was really no surprise that Mira got chosen, I mean she was really pretty and rarely got in trouble with Madame Matilda. However, her being included meant I’m going to be bored all day without her until she comes back. Heck, she may not even be back for half of the week, as the meetings are known to drag on, and some of the guests may stay a few extra days before leaving.
I squeezed Mira’s hands, giving her my puppy dog eyes as she slowly stepped away from me to stand next to Madame Matilda. Just before her hands slipped from me though, I felt that they were sweaty and trembling. That’s odd. Her walk was also stiff-like. Then it occurred to me. She had seemed scared by the idea that the fox kingdom would be here for the meeting, if she was going to serve at the banquet then she’d most likely run into them. That’s probably what’s bothering her.
“The rest of you, make sure you stay in the quarters all day and avoid being seen.” Madame Matilda said as she walked out with the chosen ones, shutting the door and leaving us with silence.