[TW: War Crimes, Sexual Violence]
The desk is filled with papers--most of them mundane and uninteresting--but Ka'Ri is able to quickly sift through them after opening the locks. Luther had told Sunrise, who had related to them in turn, what to look for: something old and weathered, with either an official royal Jewelness seal on the top or an army stamp. The elderly paper crackles under Ka'Ri's fingers as she smooths it out to read.
The official report is succinct, covering only the one page; it appears to be a summary of a military excursion. A strike team, headed by Immeral Xiloscient, were given orders to kill an orc identified as a commander and crucial strategist for the border forces. The team were also under instructions to find and kill the commander's daughter, a witch who was personally responsible for the death of dozens of Jewelness soldiers. The report goes on to note in a detached way that the commander had been successfully located and killed by the strike team, and that the witch was 'neutralized'. Glen frowns at that wording; it is a term used to indicate when a combatant is no longer a threat or capable of fighting, but not dead. That means the mission was not an unqualified success.
In the same sheaf of papers as the orders, Ka'Ri finds an aging personal letter. In between the pleasantries, a passage catches her eyes.
I hear from Ezel that you've been having sleepless nights and bad dreams over that old incursion strike. Please don't beat yourself up about what happened with the witch. No one blames you. We were three hundred days into that damned campaign with no end in sight, morale had fled to the nine hells, and half the camp followers were dead from plague and the other half trudged back to Jewelness for the winter. Letting us have a little fun with the girl was what any decent commander would do; hells, you only took a turn to be a good sport and show off for a few needed laughs.
There's no reason in the world for you to feel guilty! If this is about your wife, have her come talk to my Zela; she knows how it is when you're a soldier and your blood is running hot. If it's about the girl getting away, don't let that disturb your rest. How could any of us have possibly guessed the night guard would stumble over our trail and double back? Alright, we didn't kill her, but so what? She never appeared on the front lines again after that lesson we taught her. You know what they say: the only thing better than a dead orc is a tamed one. Whatever backwater farmer married her once the war was over is probably grateful to us for teaching her her place.