Episode 8.3

When we arrive at the canteen, Akara still hasn't returned, but Tosa seems somewhat friendlier than during our previous visit. She shows unusually high respect towards Marto, so much so that I find myself staring at her in complete confusion for a while. The room we're in now is a huge kitchen, with several women bustling around or working. I sit with Marto at a table, observing the hustle and bustle here.

"Are you really Malgard's daughter?" Marto's question catches me off guard. He shakes his head and starts to explain, "Everywhere you hear about Malgard, he's supposed to have been a great warrior and rebel, and Gasard tells me he was actually a good friend of Makkos. I just can't believe it!" He hangs his head and sighs. "Ah, what am I saying? I don't want to believe it."

I hang my head in sorrow. "I don't know," I confess to him. "It's only been a few days since I found out that my family doesn't even come from the planet we've been living on." I still can't believe everything myself. When Tosa comes to our table, I immediately fall silent. With a smile on her lips, she serves us two glasses.

"Dear sir, would you like anything else?" she politely inquires of him. My confused gaze, which I fix on her, only becomes apparent to me when Marto starts to laugh. With a shake of his head, the old man makes it clear to the girl that he doesn't need anything. Only then does he turn back to me.

But I don't even let him get a single word in. "Tosa seems to be quite unfriendly in the presence of others," I express my opinion. "At least she doesn't seem to like me."

"Tosa is actually quite nice," Marto remarks. "It's just that being constantly dragged around by certain people and getting nice food will make her dislike you just as much as anyone else would."

I just look at him questioningly, but Marto explains immediately. "Especially Gasard and Kaia are hated. Even among those who work here on the station, there are hardly any who don't detest Kaia and Gasard."

My gaze still looks bewildered, which Marto now mirrors back to me. But I quickly explain my confusion to him. A smile appears on my face. "I don't understand why the two of them are so detested, I find them quite nice."

"Both of them?" he asks incredulously.

"It may be that they are detested everywhere, but I've never heard anything bad about them," I explain more precisely.

"But you really like both of them?" Marto asks, surprised, to which I nod. "Even Kaia?"

"She seems nice," is my opinion. My voice becomes quieter, and my bewilderment is evident in it. I don't understand these questions, and I don't understand why I shouldn't like them.

Marto raises his eyebrows. "Kaia and nice, there's no one who thinks that," he exclaims incredulously. I continue to look at him with surprise. Marto sighs and shakes his head. "Even I consider that girl to be a conceited fury."

"She was quite nice to me," I interject.

"She may have a side that no one knew about," he smiles at me, then takes a sip from his glass.

I follow his example. It's the same juice I had in Maks' room. "Kaia also said she would like to be my friend."

Marto suddenly stares at me as if I made a bad joke. After a short while, he smiles kindly at me. "If Kaia meant it seriously, then be glad and don't do anything to anger her." I nod. Having her as a friend would be quite nice. "Being friends with Kaia can make life here much easier," he chuckles softly. "Better than having to suffer under her whims."

I start to laugh lightly. "I've heard she can be very whimsical."

Suddenly Marto becomes serious and looks at me curiously. "Why were you actually on Tormah's?" he asks me. My laughter subsides, my gaze shifts to the glass. "I doubt it was for a visit to look around there." He notices how troubled the question makes me and puts on a slight smile. "Only if you want to tell me."

I shake my head. "The area around the palace is lovely, but that's not why I was really there." Tears well up in my eyes as I think about it. About the images I saw there. "Gasard just wanted to do me a favor because I was so worried about my mother." I can hardly hold back my tears, but I manage to.

"Your mother is on Tormah's?" Marto asks. "Surely she's accommodated in the palace."

Again, I shake my head, and Marto looks at me puzzled.

"My mother and Torsos don't have the best relationship," I continue. "Some things happened... I can understand why he hates her because of it." I pause briefly to try to hold back the tears. Marto looks at me confused the whole time. "My mother is in Kaera."

"Kaera?" Marto looks very surprised. "Poor girl. Of all places, Kaera." He sighs, and I let my gaze sink back to the table, troubled. "I know what they do to prisoners there." He looks at me, a sense of pity in his eyes. "You must hate Torsos a lot for that."

My gaze shifts to him, and I shake my head. Marto's pity turns back into confusion. "What happened back then sounds terrible. I can't believe my mother did that." After a short pause, I continue speaking. "Even though it hurts me to think about it, I can also understand Torsos. That he hates her above all else and wishes something like that upon her." I fall silent. A few tears roll down my cheek.

"Who do we have visiting today?" someone suddenly calls from the door. Akara has finally come back to the kitchen. When she catches sight of me, she looks puzzled for a moment. "Is something wrong?" she asks me, concerned.

I shake my head and wipe away my tears. "No, it's okay again," I reply to her.

Akara sets aside the empty basket she's holding and comes over to us. Before Akara can ask any further, I decide to steer the conversation to another topic.

I look at Marto and ask curiously, "How come the prisoners are put in chains? I can't imagine that's necessary, anyway."

Marto shakes his head. "It isn't, but someone introduced it because they found it amusing. Torsos didn't like it, but he tolerates it." Marto shrugs. "With what happened today, they'll probably be abolished soon."

Akara attracts our attention and asks us what we're actually here for. I explain briefly.