Snippet #2815428

"First and foremost, you must understand, I do not allow violence of any kind in this facility. What happened here..." Andrijana gestured, somewhat helplessly, to Drulović's face, "this was an aberration. It is not typical." Drulović suspected that Andrijana knew very little of the fighting rings that her predecessor had permitted, over a decade ago, and which some intrepid guards occasionally revived in the yards on weekends when Andrijana was out of town. "My charge is to protect all of the inmates in our custody, and likewise, to protect all of my staff from any possible harm that might come to them. I'm impressed by Mr. Hokushin's resume, truly. It's impressive, and if I were to be completely honest, a bit frightening." Drulović had thought that the monk might have been one of the elite warriors Shimizu had been quietly recruiting for his private unit. Now the man had confirmed it. "I have absolutely no doubt that he can keep you safe - and that he can protect her, even without bloodshed, or at least without killing. But that brings me to my second point." And there it was. Drulović watched Andrijana closely, her own face betraying nothing other than the pain that was self-evident from her movements. "This - if I agree to this at all - can only be a temporary arrangement. Only until you are able to settle ... what it is you and your mother need to settle, when she comes to visit Shintenchi. We need to manage our own affairs here. I need to take care of what's happening." Drulović watched Andrijana plead with her, with her eyes, but she knew she did not wish to speak of what Ulrich had wanted, not here, and certainly not to Andrijana Krstevska.