The cafeteria felt too ordinary after the boardroom.
That bothered Elias.
A room full of people had argued about turning shard users into officers, weapons, examples, and problems with names attached. Fifteen minutes later, soldiers were scraping trays, laughing over coffee, and arguing about which sauce had been watered down since last month.
The world did not pause because his life had been rearranged.
It kept eating lunch.
Elias grabbed a tray and moved down the line. Grilled chicken. Buttered rice. Steamed vegetables. A small custard tart because he had survived politics in a suit and deserved something that did not ask him questions.
The uniformed cook behind the counter looked at the white tie, then at his face.
"Board level meeting, or did someone make you apologize to catering in formal wear?"
Elias glanced down at himself. "Board meeting, though apologizing to catering would probably involve less danger."
"Depends what you did to catering."
