Page 110 of Legacy Elite

And then Renzo takes the roast potatoes off my plate without asking, the way he has done since the first week of first year.

"Hey."

"You weren't going to eat them."

"I was absolutely going to eat them—"

"You never eat them. You move them." He eats one.

Freya sits down opposite and says, "You're late."

"I've been at the Council."

"You're still late."

Declan puts a second plate down in front of me, because he's noticed the potato situation, and Sophia starts complaining about a woman in her community rotation who has apparently developed a strong position on tablecloths.

Nobody steps aside. Nobody says Miss Miller. Nobody inclines their head fifteen degrees.

I sit there in the middle of it and let it go on around me, and I hadn't understood until this exact second how much I needed one table in this entire building where I'm just the person who doesn't eat her potatoes.

Dinner stretches on because nobody seems particularly interested in going anywhere. Eventually Declan leaves first because he has an early rotation, and Freya goes with him. Renzo follows ten minutes later after Sophia catches him trying to take the rest of the bread. Sophia lasts until almost nine before announcing that she's going to bed and that nobody is allowed to become historically significant again before breakfast.

Then the door closes behind her, and for the first time all evening the suite is quiet.

Almost quiet.

Luke's at the other end of my sitting room with his shoes off and a glass of something, and Torres is on the floor with his back against the couch below my knees.

"I'm glad you got your room back," Torres says. He tips his head back to look at me. "But are you actually okay being here?"

I look toward the bedroom.

"I think so."

"That's not a yes."

"It's the best I've got."

Luke sets his glass down. "You can stay in my rooms."

"I know."

"For as long as you want."

"I know that too."

Torres reaches up and squeezes my knee. "Or we stay here."

That one I don't have to think about.

"Here."

"Here it is."

At ten past nine my phone buzzes for the fourteenth time.

Request for interview — Council communications office