The Traitor of Inlustris

XXXII

"This is so delicious!" Gaia exclaimed, looking at the breaded burrito she was eating.

I looked down at my own food and squirmed in my seat. The taco in front of me was the soggiest piece of food I had ever tried. My appetite was gone from the moment I took my first bite. The lettuce was so bland it tasted fake, and the meat was barely there. It tried to be crunchy, but it was soft in my mouth. It was disgusting.

I was astounded at the amount of people who went in line to buy whatever that was. I stared at many people ordering and eating their food, satisfied with their purchase. I was not satisfied. I wanted to puke in front of everyone.

"Why aren't you eating?" Adonis asked me. I jumped not realizing that they were all staring at me.

"I don't like it."

Everyone's mouths dropped. Marisole was the first one that recuperated from her shock shaking her head.

"Well, I mean, everyone has different tastes..." Marisole defended her.

"Terrible taste," Jax mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and left the half-eaten taco on top of its wrapper. Some of the flimsy lettuce stuck out making me scrunch my nose at it. I would never waste my money on that disgusting thing.

I watched everyone continue to eat everything in delight. I envied them for being able to eat all of it without feeling like their stomachs were going to explode.

Maybe they were used to that type of food from traveling to Earth a couple of times. They knew what to expect from this place. I, on the other hand, was used to the palace dinners. Exquisite cuisines made by the finest chefs in the whole palace. They were such talented cooks, they would probably scoff at these terrible soggy things.

It would be absolutely superb to have a plate of roasted beef with sautéed rice and vegetables. Vegetables were grown in the very garden of my palace, so they were guaranteed to be fresh. Nothing like this sorry excuse of imposter lettuce.

How gross.

If the Bleeders thought I had terrible taste, then they should definitely try eating a meal at my palace. They would never want to eat anywhere else again. This taco place was garbage next to everything I've ever eaten back home.

Fortunately, the soggy taco was better than the piece of tart I had to force down my throat back in the land. These Bleeders had a horrible taste in food, whether on Earth or in the land. The faster I could get the intel I needed, the better for my tastebuds.

"What's our next move?" Kora asked, sipping on her cup of an orange beverage.

"We gotta find shelter, no?" Orion remarked. I rolled my eyes at him. He was tough and all, but he didn't offer much to the table. He was just there, scowling at everything because he disapproved. The more time I spent with him, the more I wondered what happened to him to make him so sour.

Marisole chuckled in front of me as I took my own sip of water. I knew what she was probably thinking. Orion was the other Flamber in the gang, and here I was, the queen of Potentia Flamber, rolling her eyes at her own people. Well, technically, it was only him because he was a special case. He was a bitter person unlike many of the people from my kingdom.

"Orion's right," Herc said. "If Ella here didn't eat, she'll probably collapse soon due to the jump's aftermath. That means we need to find a place to sleep soon." He pointed his stare at me, but I shrugged. I'd rather collapse than eat whatever that was.

"Should we find a motel?" Adonis asked. Everyone nodded, but I was the only one left perplexed.

"What's a motel?"I asked.

Orion scoffed before going back to eating. I squinted my eyes at him, wanting to flick my wrist and see that flimsy taco explode all over his face. Alas, if I couldn't do it back in the land, I most definitely couldn't do it on Earth, the land of no magic.

"It's like one of those Royal's Inns, but with less glamour," Kora explained.

"A lot less glamour," Marisole warned.

I nodded in thought. I remembered staying at the Inns many times when my parents traveled across the land for vital business meetings. They were filled to the brim with luxury, prepared with light magic to attend to every royal with the utmost respect. Food was served at meal hour, fine meals that everyone dreamed of acquiring. Every room was spotless from beginning to end, and the magic assisted with the cleaning and tidying up, so no one needed to work.

My blood boiled at the reminder that Prince Mahli was probably staying in one of those after what he did. He did not deserve to be treated with respect. His act was clear now. He wanted the crown to turn my kingdom into chaos. He wanted the Inlustris. He wanted power.

I knew he was too perfect to be true. He probably did read some book on how to be a proper royal to woo my kingdom and get a chance at the crown.

He was good. I'll give him that much.

"We should get going. We don't need to be detained by the newbie passing out." Herc stood up from his seat, and offered to throw away everyone's garbage. I followed everyone as they filed out of the taco restaurant.

Marisole and Kora walked beside me. I was grateful to have them there. It was like a layer of protection from this scary world.

"We need money," Gaia told Herc.

"That's our specialty," he replied. He stalked to some people, pretending to want to walk through. He nodded at them as if saying sorry for walking in between them. The people were a bit startled, but continued doing whatever they were doing, which was walking inside a glass structure that protruded into the sky. The one thing I found interesting and pretty in this dull world.

He waved at us to follow him. I was about to skip the people like he did, but everyone did the same as Herc. Adonis gave a man a silent nod for having to walk in front of him. Jax limped forward, doing the same. Even Orion toned down his usual frown and seemed apologetic to everyone he made eye contact with. Lastly, Marisole and Kora trudged forward, pretending to be lost and stumbling between the mass of people.

I frowned but walked through the open space available. A person ran into me and I stumbled. I clutched my medallion harder. My head spun as I stared at the bright star in the light blue sky.

The asphalt greeted me. Adonis called out my name, but I couldn't lift my head for anything. It was too heavy. The pressure built at the base of my neck, which didn't help.

I think I moaned in pain. I wasn't sure. Everything became a blur, like a hazy brume projector trying to connect to the wavelength.

"Ella, you're bleeding all over, Gracious..." Adonis' hands wrapped around my arms, attempting to pick me up. I couldn't do much to help his efforts.

"Come on, let's not cause a scene," Herc called out.

"She's not responding."

"Let's get out of here. We already got what we were looking for. Ella needs to rest."