A Play

Kriska and her soldier escort walked the halls of the newly refurbished and recreated prison sections. Iron bars containing criminal of war and civil offences. The hall was relaxed and quiet, unlike her expectations. She expected the prisoners to cry in pain looking at her and beg for mercy, but they did not. They lay in the prison wearing white clothes, eating a plate of plain rice for food.

Her mind went to rumours she had heard that a prisoner in this prison ate better than a man working in the capital, and they seemed accurate. It disgusted her, and Why are we feeding these losers? The losers of war were eating better than the victors. 

The other thing that caught her attention was that the halls near the west gate she entered were unaffected. The arson had affected the front and the east gate of the prison, and from the windows on her left, she saw how the stone in the east portion was under replacement.

The carriages exiting the west gate had black stones on them, and the grey-silver stone turned black by the sheer heat and ash of the fire. There was a chance some might have melted. What were they doing with all that black stone? She pondered while reaching her destination, the room of the interrogation officer.

"Thank you for guiding me here, Dear Soldier. I will manage the rest myself." Kriska slightly bowed her head.

"The pleasure and duty is all mine, My Lady." The soldier gave a salute and left.

Kriska pulled the handle and opened the door. She entered a simple office to see her husband seated on a chair with another aged man dressed in a grey-blue uniform on the other side of her husband. He held some papers in his hand which ought to be interrogation information.

"Lady Kriska, My honour. Please take a seat." The officer got up from his seat to greet Kriska with a bow.

"Rest easy, Sir." Kriska seated right next to Yuuka and saw the discussion was already ahead. The paper lying on the table had a notable text underlined.

"What information do we have on Milize?" Kriska asked calmly.

Yuuka picked up a stack of papers from the table. He studied them closely, thinking carefully before he said anything. He didn't let the officer depend on the information in the writings.

"Milize's health has been a constant decline, and she has gotten weaker. She refuses to eat and locks herself in the dark in her prison, and she refuses to talk to any of her old allies, even her sister. She doesn't speak a word, no matter how much she is questioned or tortured. She refers to other people for answers but gives none to her... Did I get everything, Officer Clark?" Yuuka confirmed his words in an authoritative tone.

"Yes, Commander Yuuka. You have everything remembered besides a minor point that she keeps eating her hair. Soldiers have stopped her, but she keeps doing it." The officer replied in a clumsy tone.

"I don't understand the purpose of that. What significance does that tell me? It is an effect that she is in a problematic mental state. You think any different, Kriska?"

"No, I don't," Kriska replied quickly and sharply. 

"But. I cannot help but wonder if Milize refuses to answer her sister. What hope do we have to get information out of her? If her sister was ready to kill her a week ago, I think her state might have gotten worse." Kriska posed her doubts.

The officer smiled when he listed the question, "Surprisingly, Lady Milize reacted differently when she heard your name, Lady Kriska. She wanted to have a meeting with you alone. That is why you are here today."

"Huh?!" Kriska's gaze shifted to her husband, who was smiling at the prospect.

"The meeting before you arrived. I was about to tell you yesterday, but you made the offer first. My stars were aligned, or due to the four-leaf clover, I found in the garden yesterday morning,"

Kriska laughed, as it was genuine that stars were aligned, but for her. The meeting she thought she had slipped into like a snake was a hole where Yuuka desired her to go.

"Where might I find my old friend?" Kriska smiled.

The officer rose from her and went to the wall on the left, where the keys of each prison cell were hanging in the open. Anyone if powerful or clever enough to enter this room deserved the keys, in Kriska's opinion,

"Follow me." The officer said as he removed the heaviest keys from the hanger.

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The interrogation room of the prison was located lower than Kriska had expected. They climbed down a floor underground and walked quite a distance inside there, and from the directions, Kriska estimated they were directly below the east gate.

The only light source was the lanterns, and the small holes poked from the ground to let a small amount of air pass through the ground. Kriska was alone with the officer while Yuuka had gone to check on the finances of the repairs on her suggestions. 

Soon, the interrogation room was right next to them, and the keys the officer had taken weren't the keys to the interrogation room, but to the tunnel underground. The officer stood before Kriska and opened the door for her.

"Please be careful. While we have chained her, I have no control over what she might do if you get too close to the captive, Lady Kriska."

"My father raised me carefully, so do not worry about me, Uncle Clark. Congratulations! on your promotion from Navy warehouse guard to Prison Chief."

"All gifts are from your father," The officer and Kriska smiled at each other, and Kriska entered the room. Kriska had played multiple acts to get this far, her heartfelt sinking from the feeling of what was about to start, but it was past the point of no return.

Inside the room, golden walls lit by lanterns and a torch. Kriska looked at Milize, her old friend on the ground chained by the neck, arms and legs. Her hair covered her weakened body turned from healthy to almost dead from when Kriska last saw her. 

"I know you are not asleep, Milize. It is time we talked."

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