The Lost Queen Book 1 - Alden

14. Morning Run

My alarm goes off at 6 and I hear another alarm in the apartment going off as well. Must be Clarks, no way Victor is getting up this early if he doesn't have to.

I stop the buzzing. I'm going to get a quick workout this morning and then try to find some breakfast before the orientation.

"Morning." Clark is standing in the kitchen eating an apple.

"You want to work out in the gym this morning?"

"Yea, let's head down and then we'll have time for breakfast before the meeting."

"Where is breakfast served?"

"It's in the cafeteria. 6-9:30 daily. If it's anything like dinner, it will be a buffet." Clark ties his shoes and opens the door.

"How was dinner at the cafeteria?"

"7 out of 10. It was decent. Burgers were good. French fries from a buffet wasn't the best idea. But they also had salad and dessert bars. Everything was clean and well stocked. Wasn't to many people there last night, but people were talking about how the lunch line gets super long and sometimes the wait gets dumb. How was the dining room?"

"8 out of 10. Good food with big serving sizes. Had a really nice waiter. The art in the place was some of the best I've seen in awhile. They serve wine but limited to one glass. No real menu, just options on what they are making for the day."

"My key won't work. Try yours."

"Mine either. Maybe they're not activated until the orientation. Want to go for a run?"

We head out the main entrance and stretch a bit. "So, which way we going? It's amazing how beautiful it is here. All the mountains and lakes everywhere."

"Should probably stick to some of the roads, don't want to get lost and yea the scenery is amazing."

We take off down the road the bus came in on yesterday. After about 15 minutes, we turn a corner into a little town and there are a couple of king's police about 100 feet ahead. We both see them and jump beside a building before they see us.

"Did not expect to see them this morning." I wipe some sweat off my head.

"Yea, I kind of forgot about them. I didn't think they would be this close to the school."

One of the king's police pops his head around the corner of the building. "What's going on here?"

"I tripped on the curb." I point at it. "We paused our run to make sure I wasn't injured."

"Well, are you injured?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Great. Now give me your student credentials. You as well." He gestures towards Clark.

We hand them over and wait.

"Wait here, I'm going to call the school and verify these."

I glance over at Clark who looks petrified. All he says is, "I think we can outrun him. We only have to make it back to the school."

"We don't have to try that yet. He's only checking our cards."

He comes back from around the corner with his partner and hands back our badges. "Everything's good. You should go back to the school now. We're getting ready to have a meeting here and not everyone is as nice as us."

That comment kind of caught me off guard. "Ok thank you. We'll head back now. Have a good day."

He nods and Clark and I take off back towards the school quite a bit faster than we arrived.

Clark is rambling off questions. "What the hell was that about? They are having a meeting? Why do you think they're so close? I nearly pissed my pants. How did you remain so calm man? I wanted to take off running."

"They are probably so close to watch for students that aren't enrolled yet or forgot their ID cards. Running would have been a really bad idea. Who knows how many of them were there for the meeting. And I was calm because he really didn't do anything. I mean yea, he was kind of rude, but he didn't seem to be out to hurt us. Let's get back, I need a shower before breakfast."

"Oh you have to be kidding me, is that more of them?" Clark's peering down the hill.

"Lets get in the trees. They are stopped in the road. I think they are questioning someone there." I keep watching. "It's a student from the school. I seen him getting off the elevator yesterday. Probably checking his ID card. Give them a few minutes. Stay quiet."

The king's police takes out a baton and hits the student across the ribs. Then he gets in his car and leaves.

"Let's go and see if he needs help."

"You alright bro?" Clark asks as we run up.

"Yea, fucker got me in the rib though. That hurt like hell. Told me he'd throw me in prison if he ever seen me again. All because I laughed when he stumbled on a rock... I'm Matt by the way."

"I'm Alden, this is Clark. Let's get back to the school quick."

"Yea, let's get outta here."

I get back to the apartment and yell through the door at Victor to wake up. He mumbles something. By the time I'm out of the shower and dressed the 3 of us are back in the living room and ready to go for breakfast.

They are not wrong about the buffet, it's a good spread of food. Lots of different options.

"I had no idea they had someone here making fresh omelets. These things are really good." Victor has his mouth full.

"Yeah and the bacon is perfect." I throw another piece in my mouth.

"So, what do you think the king's police are having a meeting about so close to the school?" Clark half whispers.

"The police are here?" Victor looks around half freaked out.

I shake my head. "No. We went on a run this morning and ran into them in a town close to here. They ran our ids and told us to leave. They were having a meeting there. On the way back we seen one of them hit another student, name was Matt. He was alright. But yea, don't forget your id if you step outside school. I think they are claiming to have a meeting so they stay close to the school. Maybe catch unregistered students."

"Maybe they need people for their prisons. That one guard threatened to throw Matt into the prison if he ever saw him again."

Victor checks his phone, "We should probably head to the orientation, it's 20 till 10. I'm gonna grab a water and take a piss. Meet you guys there."

"Yea, I think I need a coffee. Is there a coffee shop somewhere close?"

Clark points to a room down the hall, "Can you grab me one too? I need to piss."

"Yea, see ya there."

This place looks like a whole coffee shop, but for right now, all they have on is coffee pots with regular coffee. No one working behind the counter. I make 3 coffee's, I know Victor will want 1 too. I see a pen sitting on the counter. I grab that as well. Not sure why I didn't think about it before, but we are back in school. I probably should have picked up some pencils and paper before coming here. Oh well, it's orientation and I'm sure they will have a shop for that kind of stuff somewhere.