“Eat,” he demanded, leaving no room to argue.
“I’m not a child,” I muttered, staring at the food, as an unsettling feeling spread through me. What if they had poisoned the food? My eyes darted up to the others, watching them wide-eyed.
“It’s not poisoned,” Malakai interrupted, as if hearing my thoughts.
I cut a piece of the chicken and looked at it. “You’re sure?”
He sighed, grabbed my chair and hauled it closer to him. Grabbing my hand holding the fork, he tilted it towards him and snatched the piece of chicken off of it.
“Hey!” I snapped.
He chewed it as he looked at me, and I waited, trying to read him.
“What would you have done if I died?” he asked once he swallowed, eyes glimmering all of a sudden.
“Scratch a nuisance from my list,” I snorted, as I began eating myself.
“Really?” he huffed unbothered, watching me. My hair fell forward as I tilted my head down to eat. His hand caught it before it fell into the food and brushed it back behind my ear, his fingers skimming along my cheek in the process.
My eyes darted to his, and it felt like they softened as soon as they met with mine.
I cleared my throat and felt my cheeks warming. “Thanks.”
I turned my eyes back to my food, not daring to look at anyone else.
“Nate, stop eating, you’ll get sick,” Mey lectured in the background.
“It’s so good!” Nate sighed, picking up another piece of chicken.
“You’re making me sick,” Eve said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Then, she turned to look at Lionel, who had hardly touched his food. He was too careful, so taken aback by everything that he almost seemed paralyzed by it.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and he looked bewildered at me.
“It’s… I’ve never seen such food,” he murmured. Realizing how weird he might’ve sounded he scratched his head nervously and continued eating.
“I hope it’s all to your liking,” Nicron said, surveilling us politely.
“Yes!” Nate exclaimed.
“No complaints here,” Ashley agreed, taking a piece of bread next.
After we had practically emptied their dining hall, Nicron guided us towards the inn. On the way, we saw someone using air magic to dry their laundry, and earth-wielders planting seeds out in the fields.
It was odd, seeing how many different ways there were to use magic, while all we had gathered was the threat of it.
“Are we free to look around before the ball?” Nate asked and Ashley almost skittered with excitement.
“While you’re free to peruse these parts, I’d suggest you don’t stray too far from the inn, we wouldn’t want any trouble to occur,” Nicron smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
“That was a yes,” Ashley decided for herself.
“Don’t cause trouble,” I yapped at her and she gave me a disappointed look.
It had already begun to darken. Some torches were lit, but the night sky was still visible, without a cloud in sight.
The inn was a large building too, not the same size as the main structure in the center, but it was clearly bigger than the regular houses we had passed by. It had its own little stone fence, decorated with flowers. It was built with light wood, darker pillars holding up the roof.
Nicron took the lead, talking to the innkeeper who had a wary look in her green eyes.
