Elite || Marhinki

•Chapter Ten: Run•

After far more wrong turns than I'd like to admit, we found our way out of the building. We sprinted through the garden, and found ourselves in the dining area. The sun had set by now, and the only light came from a few candles littered on the tabletops and the moonlight. Dinner had already been served, and our fellow Elites were eating.

Before we could sit down, Lord Raub was standing in front of us, his arms crossed. We all froze, except for Mari. I was starting to doubt that that girl was scared of anything.

"You're late," He stated.

"We got lost," Mari replied immediately.

"Lost?" He asked.

"Yup," She crossed her arms. "It wasn't like you gave us a map. You're lucky we found our way back at all."

"You do have a map," Lord Raub replied. "It's on your watch."

"You didn't tell us that," She shot back.

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence as the two of them stared at each other. Joven, David, and I watched in tense anticipation.

"Don't let it happen again," Lord Raub said, before walking off to talk to a guard. 

We stood there for a few seconds, before Mari started walking towards the table we'd sat at this morning. We followed her, and the four of us sat down.

Food was placed in front of us almost immediately. It was steak, with mashed potatoes on the side. I was starving, and started eating almost immediately. The other three followed suit.

Soon, our plates were empty, and our stomachs full. The servants came back and took our plates, before returning with cake. Despite being stuffed, I sat up immediately.

Cake, or anything with sugar, was as rare as gold back home. It had always been my dream to have chocolate. Having this in front of me, this mix of sugar and chocolate and icing, was more than I'd ever dreamed off.

Mari and David were staring at their's with the same shocked expression I had, while Joven had already started eating; he must've eaten plenty of cake in his lifetime, as he was a pearl. I shakily picked up my fork, dug into the cake, and brought a piece to my lips.

It was insane.

The flavors exploded on my tongue, sending waves of pleasure down my body. The texture was delightful, perfectly soft and spongey. I ate half of it in less than a minute, before reminding myself to savor it.

By the time I was done, and my plate had been taken away, Lord Raub had already stood up to speak.

"Elites!" He yelled. "Usually, you would have free time after dinner. But, seeing as you already had plenty of free time today and how important tomorrow is, we have moved lights out to 9:00 to ensure that you have enough sleep tonight. You have an hour and a half to get ready for bed."

This was met with groans, none of which came from our table. I was kind of glad; I was exhausted.

"I don't think we should meet on the roof today," I suggested.

To my surprise, Mari nodded. I had half-expected her to disagree with me. "Agreed. We'll talk more about it tomorrow."

We all agreed on that half-plan, and with her words, started making our way back inside the building. Most of our fellow Elites had already gone up to their rooms, as they had started and finished eating before us.

We walked in silence. Joven's room came first, and we said our goodbyes. Then Mari's. Then mine.

"Good luck with Ian," I told David.