Ch 1.9: Interrogation

The tall woman led Elaina through the halls, never releasing her wrist, her short brown hair bouncing up and down over her dark skin with each step forward. Her skin wasn’t as dark as Char’s, the carriage driver who’d brought Elaina to Endrin, but still darker than most people Elaina had ever met. She walked with the weight of authority, seeming less like she was enrolled at the school and more like a member of the faculty, despite her uniform clearly marking her as a student, not a teacher.

Elaina’s captor pulled a ring of keys out of her jacket pocket after their short trip and unlocked a side door, opening up an opulent office space, filled with ornate tables and chairs, all empty, fortunately, leading to one large, gold trimmed desk. Behind that desk was… a window? But they were deep into the castle, with no connection to the outside. Elaina gaped as she looked at it closer, realizing the window was made of crystal, and it didn’t show outside at all, but rather was showing one of the academy’s inner hallways. It stayed on that hallway for a moment then changed to another, cycling every few seconds.

The woman walked towards the window, giving Elaina the first chance to actually admire her long, strong legs coming down from her skirt, her slim athletic form. “Crystal monitor,” she said, sitting down at the desk. There was nowhere in front of it for Elaina to sit, so she just stood in the center of the room. “State of the art, only installed last year.” She tapped a crystal tablet on the desk, a long pink nail clacking on it, and the image changed once again, to the front entrance that Elaina had first walked into. “I’d heard there was a cute girl wandering around, so I was waiting for one of my flunkies to bring you in. Imagine my surprise when I saw you waltzing through the front door alone.” Yeah, Elaina was really glad she hadn’t actually attacked those guards now. The woman leaned forward, playful eyes, dark brown with light pink eyeshadow below them boring into Elaina. Gods, Elaina thought. Prisma had been beautiful, but this girl was hot.

“So, formalities,” the girl said. “I’m head of the student watch, Tira Strask. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting tonight?”

“E-Elaina.”

“Last name?”

“I-, uhm, don’t have one. Weaver, I guess, technically. That’s what they had me put on the registration forms.”

“Oh? A commoner, huh.” The woman jerked forward in her chair. “Wait, are you that commoner?”

Elaina winced. “Probably.”

Tira sat back again, letting out a whistle. “Causing trouble all over the place, huh? Rough couple a days you’ve had. Anyway, let’s get started.” The woman pulled out a quill and started writing. “Funny enough, there’s not a rule about prancing about in lingerie specifically, but you are out of uniform, so we have that violation to deal with. You’re way past curfew, obviously, so that’s number two. And lastly, the ‘unbecoming conduct’ situation. The lingerie doesn’t help you out there either, but I’m more concerned with the fact that you reek of sex and have a damp spot the size of the lake on your panties than the fact that you’re wearing panties specifically.”

Elaina choked, covering her underwear with her hands. She had no defense, no reasonable one. “I’m really sorry, ma’am…”

“Ma’am?” She grinned. “I do like the sound of that, but I’m like, a year older than you. Maybe two, since I hear your late birthday is why your Awakening went to shit. But regardless, ‘Tira’ will do, for now.”

“Right, still, I’m sorry.”

Tira stared at Elaina. “That’s all?”

“I— yes…”

Tira sighed, dropping her quill and leaning back in her chair, a chair that reclined as she fell into it. “Look, I know there’s more to the story than that. When my apparently blind subordinates are talking about a streaking fresher nearly an hour before she actually shows up, there has to be more to the story.” She leaned forward again, this time frowning at Elaina. “So tell me, why are you dressed like this? Why are you out this late? Did someone do this to you? What else did they make you do?”

Elaina’s voice caught in her throat. She was getting riled up again, being interrogated in just her underwear. And this woman, this girl barely older than Elaina herself had an air of authority around her that was almost as intense as she was hot. Elaina hadn’t experienced raw authority like this before, not from her parents, not from the headmaster, no one.

Still, Prisma’s threat lingered. Talk, and Elaina would have it even worse. “I— I just am. I was alone, I took my clothes off, and I was late getting back…”

Tira stared back, eyebrows pushing together in annoyance. “Listen, I get it; the horny girl is scared and embarrassed. I’m not an asshole, but I do have a job here. Keep whatever secrets you have to to yourself, but I’m going to need you to explain to me, without lying, why I shouldn’t issue you this write-up.”

Elaina shook her head, trying to find more words. Sorry wasn’t enough, and she’d already said that, but there wasn’t anything else she could tell the woman. Not without making things worse. “I can’t say what happened.”

“Well, at least that’s something.” Tira stood up and slammed a fist on the desk, shaking it and knocking the quill she’d been using to the ground. There was anger in her frown, in her eyes, but her words didn’t hold that anger, only authority. “Still not good enough. I know you’re protecting someone else. Tell me what happened, now.”

They stared at each other for a moment, for a while. Elaina wasn’t sure how long. Tira stood there, leaning over the desk, holding the gaze for what seemed like forever. Elaina knew she wouldn’t be able to leave without saying what happened, she knew she still couldn’t say it. She had to listen to Tira, but she had to be silent too. Elaina bit her lip, looking down, closing her eyes shut to stem the tears welling up again. She couldn’t cry, not here. She was already in trouble. She needed to stay strong, accept her punishment, move on, and then—

A soft hand lifted Elaina’s chin up. She opened her eyes, seeing Tira look down at her. The student watch member looked like a prince come to save the princess in a fairy tale. The anger was still there, but Elaina could tell now that the anger wasn’t for her. It was for Waine, for Prisma, for the others. “Can I hold you?” Tira asked.

The answer was obvious. “Uh-huh.” Tira pulled Elaina into her, wrapping her arms around Elaina’s back and enveloping her. Tira’s chest was more average than large, but its gentle embrace cradled Elaina’s head as she still struggled to hold back the tears. “I’m sorry, I’m going to ruin your uniform.”

“If you’re going to cry, I’m not going to let you do it all alone. Go ahead, let it out.”

The tears flowed. Elaina sobbed into her upperclassman’s shirt, gripping the sleeves of her jacket as she did. She remained there, crying on this complete stranger for as long as she could manage to produce tears, finally slowing down and just leaning into the embrace.

“When you’re ready, tell me what actually happened,” Tira said. Elaina pushed away, sniffing, looking at her empty hands, dejected. Tira produced a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it over, which Elaina took and started wiping her face.

“I— you heard about my Awakening going wrong, you said?”

“Ya, sorry that happened. Sucks that you had to find out like that, especially when it’s actually the school’s fault in the first place.”

“Right, well, some other students took me out into the forest for the test of courage. They said that’s why they were taking me out anyway, but actually…”

Tira furrowed her brow. “They did this to you.”

Elaina nodded. “They tore up my clothes, said I didn’t deserve to wear the Endrin uniform.”

“Fuckwads,” Tira said, walking back to her desk and sitting down and picking her quill up from the floor. “You have their names?”

Elaina glanced away. “I— no.”

“Elaina, this is serious. If they’re threatening you, don’t worry, they won’t be able to do shit to you once I’m finished with them.”

“They’re not… It’s not just that. I deserved this, and I don’t want to cause—”

“Cut that shit!” Tira threw her quill down and began to rub her temples. “I’m on your side here. If you let them get away with this, they’ll just go further next time. And your uniform is destroyed? The school will replace it if I can report what happened, but they don’t just give those out for free, not without a reason.”

She was right, Elaina knew. Prisma’s threats weren’t even good ones; she’d admitted that if her and Waine’s group followed through with them they may get expelled. “I still can’t tell on them, I’m sorry. I trust you, but I really just want this to be over. I’ll make do with my spare uniform until I can figure something out.”

Tira groaned, throwing her head back. “Fine,” she said, picking up the parchment she’d been writing on earlier and tearing it to pieces. “You’re lucky you slipped past the other student watch members. If they’d seen you, I’d have to report something, but since you’re going to be stubborn about this and no one else saw you, I’m going to do my best to forget this ever happened.”

The woman stood up again, removing her golden pin and setting it down. She took her jacket off, revealing her powerful torso in full, and started walking back to Elaina. Tira tried handing the garment over to Elaina, who pushed it away and started walking back. “No, I can’t take that. I’ll just—”

“It’s cold, and you're in your underwear. I can’t be sure none of the other watch will see you on the way back, so you really need to wear something. And keep the handkerchief.”

Elaina reached out pulled the jacket to her body, clutching it and the handkerchief both. “But you’ll be out of uniform, and I don’t know how to get it back to you.”

Tira shrugged, laughing Elaina off. “On the night shift and in charge to boot, I can get away without the jacket for a few hours. I’ll just swing by your dorm sometime to grab it later.”

Elaina blushed, covering herself with her new piece of temporary clothing. “Come to my dorm? Do you mean…”

“Uh, no. You’re a little too vulnerable here for me to be hitting on right now.”

Right now? Elaina felt her face grow even redder as she wrapped the jacket around herself, buttoning it up. With Tira’s height, it was actually long enough to function as a skirt, but that also meant her lace-clad breasts were completely hanging out the top. She looked up and saw Tira staring at them.

Tira coughed, realizing what she’d been doing. “Anyway, you really should get back to your dorm room. If anyone comes in and I’m not actively writing you up, I’ll have a lot of explaining to do. Try not to be seen, but if anyone finds you I can try and cover.”

“Right.” Elaina turned around and started walking towards the door, stopping after only a few steps and turning back around. “Thank you, Tira, for everything.”

Tira placed a hand on Elaina’s head and ruffled her hair. “No problem. Now get some sleep, you’ve had a rough night.”

Elaina relished the contact for a moment before nodding and walking off. It had been a rough night. After exiting the office she hurried through the hallways, finally with some semblance of modesty, but knowing she wasn’t fully in the clear just yet.