Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [37]
Dougal peeled himself off the wall and gasped for breath.
“Crusader Doomforge!” Soulkeeper said sharply. “We spoke of this. For the Vigil’s sake and for our ultimate goal, one must put aside old enmities.”
Doomforge took one step back, glaring at Dougal the entire time. Dougal realized he had a tuft of orange fur from her forearms in each of his fists. He let the fur fall to the floor, then brushed his hands together.
“In the Vigil, you leave your old wars at the door,” the general said to both Riona and the charr. “You will go into Ebonhawke together.” She drew back her lips as she said it, showing her feral teeth.
It was hard to tell under all the fur, but Dougal thought he saw Doomforge go pale. “I don’t see how sending me into the heart of a human stronghold will further the cause of peace,” the charr warrior said.
An idea struck Dougal, and he spoke before he thought it through. “The only charr I’ve ever seen inside Ebonhawke were in chains,” he said to Soulkeeper. He looked pointedly at Doomforge’s wrists. “It’s the only way she could make it through there alive.”
Doomforge’s slitted eyes widened into full circles as she realized what Dougal meant. “Absolutely not!” she growled. “No human will ever put me in chains!”
Soulkeeper was not nearly so upset. She ran her claws through the fur on her chin as she stared Doomforge up and down. Then she snorted. “She might make a convincing prisoner. I believe we have a set of shackles that would fit her.”
“General!” Doomforge’s orange fur bristled with the indignity. “You cannot be serious!”
“I am always serious,” Soulkeeper said, and Dougal believed her. “Like a claw through a knot, this is the simplest solution to this problem.”
Doomforge sputtered, “I will resign! I refuse to submit myself to such—”
Soulkeeper slammed both of her paws on her desktop. Everyone in the room fell silent, and when Soulkeeper spoke, her words lacked malice but not menace. “I am your commander and you will obey my orders,” she said to Doomforge. “I will not tolerate insubordination—least of all from you.”
Doomforge forced a breath through her nose, then spoke with deliberate and measured words. “General. The humans of Ebonhawke will attack me on sight, and I will find it difficult to defend myself against them if I am in chains.”
“We will be your guards,” Killeen spoke up. “Everyone in Ebonhawke would stare at you, maybe even curse at you, but they would not dare touch you.”
“We can’t be dressed up as Vigil,” said Dougal, “and we can’t just pretend to be part of the Ebon Vanguard. They all know each other.”
Riona nodded, understanding. “Independents, then. Thief-takers. Bounty hunters. Even so, we would have problems walking her into town in broad daylight.”
“That would work,” said General Soulkeeper. “I have to send word to our man in Ebonhawke to make arrangements. As for the problem with broad daylight, there is a solution for that as well.”
Doomforge’s eye twitched as she glared at Riona. “I think you’re just walking me into an interrogator’s cell in Ebonhawke.”
“Stay here, then,” Dougal said. “Kitty.”
Doomforge opened her monstrous maw and roared at him for the insult. Her breath came at him like a hot wind, ruffling his hair and burning his eyes.
“Enough!” Soulkeeper’s voice blared right over Doomforge’s roar and cut it short.
The general glared at the soldier, her wide nostrils flaring with frustration and shame at how undisciplined the younger charr’s behavior made them both appear. “Your imperator remitted you to my command,” Soulkeeper said. “You will control your temper and you will obey my orders. You. Do. Understand.”
Doomforge’s ears folded back at the general’s barely restrained fury. She licked her lips as if to say something, then bit back those words. She bowed her head and nodded. “Yes. I do.”
“Good.” Soulkeeper turned to the others. “This is our plan. It’s our best chance, whether any of you like it or not.”
Using her wide yellow eyes, the general measured each of them up in turn. Dougal wasn’t sure