Meaning of Normal

Meaning of Normal; Chapter 1

Meilyn sat on the end of the bed, beginning to get bored. She had been waiting for about five minutes now and was growing impatient. She looked around for something to use. Spotting a pillow, she stood up and picked it up, walking to the head of the bed. Meilyn held the pillow high in the air for a few seconds and brought it down with as much force as she could muster. Underneath the large lump she heard a little squeal. She sat down on her own bed and started laughing.

"Meilyn! What was that for?" the girl in the other bed yelled. Her ears were pointed and her eyes were slightly slanted, but too large to be a pure elf's. Meilyn herself had pointed ears, but had inherited some of the elves' grace instead of slanted eyes.

"It's almost time for work. Elantra's already gone. Tallulah!" she yelled as the girl nearly fell asleep again.

"Ok, I'm getting up!" she mumbled. Meilyn waited until she was certain Tallulah was going to get up and walked out of the room into the dusty corridor. Walking into the lift, she pulled the lever and felt the rush as it fell down. She waited until it stopped and walked out into a bustling kitchen. She took an apron and started work.

Meilyn stood on her toes, slowly stirring a pot of thick, light creamy liquid. The pleasant aroma of potato, cauliflower and leek wafted towards her with a cloud of steam. Emrose dissaproved of improvised dishes, but when a couple had walked in asking for something off menu, Meilyn knew she had to prove herself. It wasn't really improvised anyway, she had been working on it for weeks. She smiled at her success, and turned to retrieve some bowls, but was stopped by a tall young man with fiery orange hair and dirty garments.

"That smells nearly as delicious as you," he said, his warm brown eyes twinkling.

"You're disgusting. Move, I'm working," she grumbled, trying to get past him. He blocked her, oblivious to a girl of about fifteen winters with short black hair standing behind him, holding a pan ready above his head.

With a muffled metallic clang the man fell to the floor groaning. The girl stood behind him beaming.

"Boy am I glad I know you, Elantra," Meilyn said, nudging him with her foot as she walked past.

Ever since the man with orange hair, Paolle, had started working at the inn as a janitor, he had pestered half of the girls working there. He didn't pester them as much any more since Elantra took up the frying pan, but was still a nuisance.

Elantra had always been loyal to Meilyn, it was why she had bothered taming Paolle, but recently she had been distant and unresponsive. Usually she was bright, slightly unusual, but friendly to nearly every one. Meilyn knew what she was hiding, and pitied her. She was a dragon mage, having both dragon ears and tail, and possibly the only one left. Back when the elves were still rising to power they had chosen no sides, and so they were killed by both the elves and humans, and in the end vanished. Occasionally elven guards would search the slums for information on surviving dragon mages, but nothing ever turned up. 

Meilyn fetched the bowls and filled them with the soup, rushing out the door to the table where a pair of slivery skinned youth sat talking. She put them down with a smile, and began to walk away.

She stopped and looked behind her and caught sight of a figure in a dark hooded cloak walk in and sit in the corner of the room. She slowly made her way over to him, each step closer making her more fearful. She finally reached his table and put a copy of the menu down. The man turned his head upwards, only two slits of icicle blue visible, boring into her for a breif second, then turned down to look at the menu.

"Thank you. Could you please tell Emrose I'm here?" he said, his voice rich, yet slightly sinister.

Meilyn walked off feigning calmness, but once in the kitchen started running. She burst into Emrose's office almost knocking over boxes of files. 

"I thought I taught you how to knock, and now you go behaving like Elantra. Go back outside and knock," Emrose said without looking up from her laptop. She fixed an transparent screen on top as Meilyn comprehended the words. Walking outside and closing the door, she waited for about two seconds and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Emrose said. She had very strong opinions on knocking on the door before entering, table manners, and hygiene, although you wouldn't know it if you just met her. Meilyn walked in and closed the door behind her. 

"There's this man, he said to tell you he's here," she said quickly.

"And? What did he look like?"

"I couldn't see much, he had a dark hooded cloak on, but I did see his eyes for a second. They were blue, like ice,"

Emrose suddenly froze, and then rushed out to the kitchen door, peering out the window. The man sat there staring right at her. She scowled, and reached into her pocket, where Meilyn knew she kept various small stun weapons. She slowly backed away, not wanting to be involved, but Emrose grabbed her apron and pulled her back.

"If you ever see him again, tell me. Warn everybody else as well," she whispered and let go. Walking calmly out the door, she sat down across the table from him. Though she couldn't see his face she knew he was frowning. He was always frowning.

"Why are you here, Dalarth? I don't want any of your elf politness crap, just tell me," she whispered, selecting a small silicon flake from her pocket which she applied to the end of her finger.

"The Council sent me. Tell me, who was that girl," he said, his voice full of something which Emrose couldn't identify.

"One of my workers. Why?" Emrose said protectively, her curiosity growing.

"She looks familiar, that's all," Dalarth said, turning his head towards the rest of the restaurant. "For a business in the slums, this place is quite pleasant,"

Emrose ignored his segue and folded her arms, carefully making sure her index finger didn't touch her arm.

"I gave you heaps last night. What did they have to say to that?" she asked, angry at the ridiculous conclusion which the Council came up with.

"They're still afraid. Especially of you. The last report just sparked more suspicion. It's starting to rub off on me, even. I also have to look around in the kitchen. I know you don't like intrusions, but I'm under orders," he said.

"I miss the times when they needed warrants," she mumbled, standing up and walking into the kitchen. Dalarth followed, and as he walked through the door briefly saw a finger quickly brush against his skin and felt something like fire and acid combined spread through his body, then darkness took over.

Meilyn had waited nearby, her curiosity more powerful than her conscience. She had ducked away behind a sink as Emrose entered, but when the hooded man entered, she poked her head out a bit more just in time to see him crumple to the ground unconscious. Emrose turned to see her, but there was no sign of shock or disapproval on her face, only a kindly smile, one which meant impending work.

"Help me move him to the old storage room," she said, lifting up his feet. Meilyn groaned, and lifted him up by his shoulders, and his hood fell back, revealing pointed ears and slanted eyes so emphasised it was clear he was a pure elf. Meilyn's eyes widened with shock, and she turned to look at Emrose.

"Put his hood back on!" Emrose hissed, checking if anyone else had seen. Meilyn put it back on and continued, paling with fear. If she was found to have helped with this she would be thrown in prison, or even executed.

Finally Emrose kicked open the door and they placed him in there next to expired cleaning products and broken monitors. Meilyn walked out after Emrose who immediately went back to her office. Meilyn sat down on a stool by the fridge. She slowly took it all in, and sighed. She deserved to payed more if her job required her to risk her life to help kidnap elves.

Meanwhile Elantra sneaked around the rows of stoves and benches towards the other side of the room. She had gotten sick of other people raiding her lolly horde, and had finally hidden it where nobody else went. She opened the storage room door and walked in, closing it behind her. She switched the light on, relaxing and therefore letting her ears and tail spread out from their hiding places. She was surprised to see somebody with a hooded cloak lying against the shelf as if he were asleep. Suspicious of him taking her 'treasure' she lifted his hood, seeing closed lids, yet which were clearly slanted, and pointed ears. Before she could react two ice blue eyes opened to glare at her, and she realised she was doomed.