Lament of the Slave

Chapter 5: Accommodation

"Wait," I called Captain Rayden. "What are you going to do about...him?"

"I'll write a report to my superiors. It's up to them how they evaluate the information you gave us. The name Frederic Dungreen is not unknown to the Sahal. Unfortunately, he doesn't move in our territory," the captain told me.

"But..." I tried to object.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do more, miss Grey. I'm sorry about what happened to you and what you had to go through. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, you didn't deserve it, but that's life. My job is to keep Castiana safe. I can't do more than inform my superiors," Rayden said.

Her tone was stern but without anger.

I sighed. "I understand."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I should have been somewhere else fifteen minutes ago. Have a nice day," she said.

As she walked away, the aura she emitted disappeared with her. The peace of mind I had in her presence faded, and without it, my worries muffled only by my skill returned. I began to breathe hard, which the captain's assistant noticed.

"Please sit down," he pointed to three chairs by the wall. "Captain's skill has such an effect on many people."

"So it was a skill," I muttered.

Assistant nodded. "It calms the guards when the city is under attack or someone like you."

"And that I told her everything, even what I didn't want to?" I asked with bitterness in my voice.

"It's a function of interrogation rooms," Trevis said.

So the whole room was magical too, like a giant lie detector. At least Travis explained it to me, and I didn't have to worry about it anymore.

I didn't want to stand and wait for him to process my ID card, so I came to the chairs the assistant had pointed at. I turned one around so that I could sit comfortably on it.

As it turned out, processing my ID required filling in several forms. For me, such work would be a small hell. I could handle it if I had to, but I would suffer. The idea of stacks of papers around me, waiting to be processed was horrifying. It wasn't a job for me. But Travis was in his element, or so it seemed to me.

"Miss Grey, could you....," Trevis said but stopped when he raised his head and looked at me.

He blushed, immediately turned his head to the side, clearing his throat.

"Um, miss, when you sit there like that, I can see everything," Travis said.

I looked down. The back of this chair was not made of one massive piece, but its lower part was formed only by partitions, slim sticks. At that instant, I blushed too. I did not realize that. Rayden hadn't said anything before, but she probably didn't see anything behind the table. But now I was not sitting directly at the table but in the room. Trevis could see my intimate parts through the partitions.

I immediately stood up, put the chair back in place, and tried to pretend that nothing had happened.

"What did you ask?" I asked.

"Yes, I need a drop of your blood to confirm the ID," he said, still red in the face.

He wasn't such a tough guy as he seemed at first. I thought he was an arrogant jerk who was above everyone else, except his superiors. I imagined him as a typical ass kisser.

Trevis pointed to a device on his desk. Another magical tool, apparently designed to create ID cards. Mine was already located in it. There was a clearly marked place to place my finger. I sensed that something would stab me in the finger as soon as I put my finger there. How else would they get a drop of my blood?