Chapter 6
In Which Glenda the Elf Has a Lovely Cup of Tea at Her Friend’s Cottage and Most Certainly Isn’t a Bigot Regardless of What Anyone Says, because Honestly, That’s Such a Serious Word to Throw Around, and Anyone Who Understands the Situation Would Recognize It Was Unwarranted, and Really, She Should Just Stop Thinking About It because She Doesn’t Need that Stress in Her Life Right Now.
And then he called me a bigot,” Glenda said in a hushed voice. “Can you believe it?”
Her elven companion raised a teacup to her lips and slurped delicately. “That’s so stupid. People are attracted to the sort of people they grow up around, and like, can we help being raised with other elves?”
“Exactly!” Glenda slammed an open palm on the table, rattling her own teacup.
Sunlight pooled honey-like beneath the cottage window, illuminating the veins in her pale blue skin.
“And what’s wrong with having a preference?
If he said ‘Oh, I only like girls with brown hair,’ nobody would give a crap.
But publicly state you don’t date humans, and people lose their minds! ”
“You can’t help who you’re attracted to,” Cerulina soothed, silver bracelets tinkling as she took another sip. “And it’s not like we think they’re inferior.”
“Right, right. Like, I have so many human friends. You can think people are different from you without it being a negative thing. Like, take education.” The elf’s ringed fingers hovered over the plate of sugared biscuits that rested on the table between them.
“Education!” Cerulina echoed. “It’s not their fault, obviously, but how can we be expected to relate to someone who can’t play a single woodwind instrument? Like, at least string a lyre or something.”
“I don’t want to be rude, but the guy is barely literate.” Glenda lowered her voice to a whisper. “He can’t read any of the forbidden languages. I asked him once, and get this, he said, ‘Which ones are forbidden again?’”
Cerulina brought a hand to her mouth in faux shock. “Oh my God, he didn’t. That is hilarious.”
“Right? Like, for attraction, there needs to be some level of . . . of feeling like you’re with a peer. Not that I think any less of humans,” Glenda added hurriedly.
“Of course not.”
Both elves sipped their tea. In the calm cottage air, far enough from the outpost village to keep noise to a minimum, but close enough for morning walks to the market, birds cackled and sang.
“It’s not their fault. It’s just how things are.
And that doesn’t make me a bigot, for God’s sake.
” Glenda considered the confectionaries.
The plate was cleverly shaped like a leaf, and this time she chose a biscuit from its stem.
She nibbled at it, a hand cupped underneath her chin to catch crumbs.
“Of course not. That was a stupid, stupid thing for him to say.” Cerulina lowered her teacup to the table with a clink, scrunching her brow in exaggerated concern. “So, how’s . . . ?”
“Cerulina! I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Glenda squealed, pushing her chair back as if she meant to leave.
Cerulina leaned forward, clasping her hands. “You promised you were going to quit.”
“I know, but . . . Without Passionweed, I feel nothing. And I can’t stand that. It’s suffocating.” Feeling the budding pressure of tears in her throat, Glenda turned her attention to the window and the gently waving branches outside.
Cerulina raised her brows. It had little effect on her unlined forehead. “You’re so traditional in other regards. It just surprises me, is all.”
“Oh, come on. I had a bad trip. One bad trip. And Cameron got the best of me. But I’d doubled up that morning anyway, so it wasn’t a normal situation.”
“You took double?”
“Oh, close your mouth. Yes, I took double. Because I was going to put Cameron down that afternoon, and the emotions. It would have been next level.” Glenda glanced at her cup. “Is there any tea left?”
Cerulina lifted the pot and poured steaming amber into each of their cups. “And now?”
“I mean, I’m lowering my dose.”
“Glen! You are totally addicted. And do not say ‘I’m in control,’ not while the back of your head is all scabbed.
Can you go a week? Prove you don’t need it for one week, and then at the end I’ll do it with you.
” Cerulina drank from her freshly filled cup and closed her eyes in satisfaction.
The scent of ginger and honey filled the room.
“Are you serious?” Glenda curled her hands around the warmth of her own teacup.
“Yeah, totally, we can party like back in school. But only if you go clean for a week.”
Glenda groaned. “But I’m feeling so much good stuff right now. Like Cameron’s betrayal, it’ll feel way less sharp after a week. And I swear, right after everything happened, it felt amazing. So strong. I cried so hard it literally dehydrated me.”
“You see, that’s what worries me. Your health!”
“One week. Okay, I can do better than that.” Glenda blinked dreamily.
“If I stop using until we find Cameron . . . If I take it right before cutting his throat in that field . . . the hit of all those neurochemicals at once, after days of numbness, it’s going to be like nothing I’ve ever felt. It’s going to blow my mind.”
“Yeah girl, that’s the spirit. It’ll serve him right, too.” Cerulina drained the remains of her cup, smacking her lips. “Bigot, honestly. Who even talks like that?”