Requiem Run

Chapter 11

I didn't like the feeling of so many eyes on me, judging me even though they were the ones that were sending me to my death. Katie seemed to be taking it in stride, waving her middle finger around like she was a queen waving to the citizens in a parade. Judging by the confused look on everyone's faces at her, they had no idea how rude her gesture was.

We walked towards where some men in suits - butlers or wait staff, presumably, who were beckoning us over to them, in the middle of the ballroom. When we made it to them, a light from above shone down on us.

"Our lovely surviving maidens," the Emperor's voice from above continued, "Will now get the pleasure of dancing with a Runner of their choosing, so let's bring them out!"

Unlike when Katie and I walked into the room, the audience cheered loudly when the Runners came in through a door on the other side of the room. Kydro, Killian, and Zapp were all wearing perfectly prepped suits, clean and presentable, while Xelsa had his jacket open and his button-up shirt untucked, with no tie. When I saw the gleam in Katie's eyes, it occurred to me who she had picked for the dance.

The four men all walked over to us, then bowed. I curtsied back, Katie following my lead, then stepped straight for Zapp, while Katie went to Xelsa. Killian looked disappointed when he realized he wasn't getting to dance with either of us, while Kydro kept his stoic face and looked completely indifferent.

Xelsa looked like he wanted to rip Katie's throat out right then and there, while Katie looked like she was having the time of her life as she basically dragged him to the dance floor. I wasn't able to focus on them after that, since Zapp took me to the dance floor as well and I had to pay attention to him.

"Are you ready?" Zapp whispered into my ear, sending a chill down my spine.

"I've never been in a formal dance or anything before." I whispered back.

"No need to worry," said Zapp, "Just follow my lead."

The man suddenly pulled me closer and my heart nearly popped right out of my chest, and he held me close as we started dancing together. The whole time we were dancing, Zapp would whisper directions to me like "Step to your left," or "Twirl when I raise my arm," which I did whenever he told me to.

Meanwhile, I could hear Katie and Xelsa cursing to themselves, or more likely each other, whenever we got close to them during the dance, and stumbling around like they were drunk. It took all my self-control to keep from laughing, and the smile on Zapp's face indicated he found it just as amusing. It made my heart jump to see Zapp smile.

The music crescendoed out as Zapp moved away from me, kissing my hand once more before he stood next to the other Runners along with Xelsa, who looked more than a little pissed off. I glanced at Katie, who looked as though she was on cloud nine, and smiled a little. Katie's happiness was a bit contagious.

"Now that the dance has ended, enjoy the ball!" the emperor's voice boomed through the ballroom, then everyone started walking around. Katie took my hand, probably to make sure we didn't get separated, though my heart skipped another beat when that happened.

"You wanna stick around for a bit and see what happens?" Katie whispered, "I kinda still want to get that reward for staying."

"But what about Rhys and Tarja?" I whispered back.

"They'll still be there when we get back," Katie said, "We'll be fine. Besides, I wanna see what kind of food this dump has, don't you?"

I couldn't deny that, so I allowed Katie to lead me to the table where people were gathering around, plates of food stacked high. Katie grabbed one of the empty plates and started filling it, so I followed suite. Most of the food was recognizable - meat, potatoes, carrots, things like that. Some of the meat looked odd, but I would be lying if I thought it didn't look appetizing, so I took some anyway.