The Commandant

After working at the Spire for so many years, time had lost its meaning to the Commandant. Not that there was any use for keeping it to begin with. The sunlight that still penetrated through the walls was enough to go by. And today was no different. He diligently walked along the walkway, observing the workers and evaluating the guards. A tedious task at best, but a necessity. So far, he had done well and was rather satisfied with his success. To the best of his knowledge, there had been no incidents of disobedience and 273 was beginning to fade from his memory. Thankfully. He'd had enough of seeing her eyes and was more than happy to have her reassigned.

But luck was not his to have, it seemed. He had reasoned with Lucien that the best way to break someone was to make them do what they didn't want to. As such, 273 was assigned to prison guard duty on orders not to feed them. If only she would do as she was told. The woman was quickly becoming a problem he didn't wish to deal with. Unfortunately for him, Lucien held special interest in her. Why, he couldn't fathom. She was irritating, irrational, naive! And she was grating on his nerves.

He was in the middle of an interrogation when the news reached him. 273 had openly engaged another guard in hand to hand combat over a disagreement.

"Bring her to me." he ordered the messenger. "And be quick about it. I haven't got all day."

Dismissing the guard he was interrogating, the Commandant picked up the parchment and headed for his quarters. This recruit was making his life unnecessarily difficult. Any other candidate would have been killed over something like this. Why was Lucien so compelled to keep her around?

"You summoned me?" her voice echoed in the chamber, summoning his attention. He turned to face her but avoided directly looking at her. He didn't need more nights plagued by visions of her.

"You are either stupid, or very stupid." he growled. "Do you not understand the meaning of the word 'obey'?"

"I have a perfect understanding of the word. Sir."

The way she uttered 'sir' sent a wave of annoyance through him and he had to turn away to keep himself from striking her.

"Explain, then, why you refused to obey a superior officer."

The Commandant had expected a pause, a minute of her composing a reply. A lie, perhaps. Her answer, however, came before he even finished closing his mouth.

"I cannot do what goes against my morals."

He almost laughed. In fact, a small chuckle escaped him. Morals. A word so foreign to these parts. Yet here was this recruit telling him she had morals.

"I beg your pardon?" he clarified. "Exactly why are you here?"

Now that gave her a pause and if anything, it made the Commandant weary of her. No person in their right mind would willingly volunteer for this. Not even for Lucien's empty promises.

"I refuse to discuss my personal reasons with you." she stated defiantly, raising her chin and straightening her back. Not that he was curious enough to pry, but he would have to keep an eye on her. And on his other valuable prisoner. He had a feeling the two were somehow connected.

"You are dismissed. But further disobedience will result in disciplinary action." He waived her out of the room and turned to the table, intent on reviewing the report from earlier. But his otherwise uneventful day had been ruined. Damn woman.