Walking down the elven road

Chapter 4

Because I was so smart to write all this in not-english, I am translating. Tonight that's going pretty good, so maybe I'll post another chapter besides this one around 9 P.M.

Arion gives her a hard look.

“That’s a long story,” he says eventually, “I’ll tell you another time. Just make sure no-one notices you’re elvish.” He waves at an older woman crossing the hallway. “Hanna, wait for a second!” he calls. The woman turns around, and Arion and Melya hurry to get to her.

“This is Melya, a friend of mine. I was wondering, do you have any work for her?” Hanna looks at Melya, obviously judging her.

“We still need girls for serving… She looks nice enough, with that hair and those grey eyes… she’s a bit too tall though…”

“Please, Hanna!”

“It’s all right, Arion. But don’t think you can slack off, girl!” Hanna warns her. She gestures Melya to follow her. “Thank you so much, Arion,” she says, “We will probably meet again soon.” The only thing he does, is nod.

Hanna takes Melya to her new room. “At the moment this room is yours alone,” she says, “But when another girl arrives you’ll have to share.” The room isn’t luxuriously furnished, to the contrary. It has a bed, a small closet and a little table at the head of the bed, on which a smelly candle stands.

“Tomorrow morning you’ll start working,” Hanna tells her, “I’ll wake you this one time, all the other times you should be awake in time by yourselves. I’ll give you your uniform tomorrow. You are obliged to wear it at all times when you are working.” Hanna leaves the room, and Melya with her thoughts. I’m on my own now, she thinks, Arion helped me, but he isn’t here anymore. From tomorrow on, I’ll be alone again. And apparently these people hate elves. I’ll have to make sure I always wear my scarf. I’m wondering what the work’s like… I have never done anything useful. Father’s maid always did the housekeeping. I’ll see, it’s going to be fine.

The next morning, Hanna is knocking at her door at a ridiculously early hour. “Wake up, girl,” she yells, “Time to work!” Melya jumps out of her bed, and Hanna enters the room. She’s holding a very plain, entirely grey dress. To the elven woman’s relief, a just as grey scarf goes with it.

“The scarf goes around your head, it makes sure your hair doesn’t end up in the food,” Hanna interprets her stares incorrectly, “Here you go, try it on.” Melya takes the clothing, and tries them on, successfully not revealing her pointy ears. The clothes are not really her size, but they fit well enough. It’s a very loose dress, it hangs straight to the ground from her chest and when she moves, the dress swirls around her body. She also gets a black belt to make sure the dress doesn’t look too much like a bag.

“Now, we’re going to the kitchens,” Hanna says, and without any further ado, she goes. Melya quickly catches up with her after she closed the door to her room. “At the end of each day the maids wash themselves,” Hanna tells her, “There are the washing rooms” – she points to a door at their right hands – “But the lords and ladies are going to want breakfast in an hour, so now you’re going to lay the table!” They arrive in the kitchens, where people are already running around, trying to get breakfast ready in time. Maids walk on and off with plates, cutlery and glasses. Hanna gestures Melya to go and help them, and Melya grabs a plate and takes it to where-ever the other girls are going. She ends up in a huge room, mostly covered in red carpets and tapestries. A long table sits in the middle of the room, and servants walk around it like bees fly around a blooming flower. One of the girls notices Melya, who is watching all the fuss and looking quite lost.