The Doom of Kings_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [24]
A sound like a massed chorus of voices mixed with the roll of thunder erupted around Ashi, pummeling her with its force. On the other side of the door, the men of the night watch cried out, some of them in alarm, at least one of them in command—the sergeant, urging his men to action. Ashi shook her head and forced herself upright.
The thief was back on the other side of the memorial, back at the cabinet she had initially opened. One of the candles from the shrine had rolled in that direction and Ashi finally saw what the thief had come to steal. Gloved hands reached into the cabinet and lifted out— almost reverently it seemed—a small casket only a handspan long and wide, made of age-darkened iron bound in bright gold. Cradling the casket, the thief turned to the stairs and her escape.
Ashi pushed herself into motion. She had only moments or the thief would be gone. No time to go around the shrine. A jump put her on top of it, scattering anything still left there. A leap and the wild fluting battle cry of the Bonetree hunters set her into the air.
The thief half-turned in response to the cry. Ashi saw her stiffen, her arms wrapping protectively around the cask, then she slammed into her and both of them went down. They tumbled across the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, the thief struggling to protect her prize, Ashi fighting to stay on top—which was how she landed when they finally came to a stop. Her hands were on the thief’s shoulders and her weight over the other woman’s hips, pinning her down. Ashi’s scarf had finally come loose and it hung around her face, puckering and billowing with each panting breath that she took. “Surrender!” she gasped.
The thief’s eyes, however, had gone wide. “Ashi?” she said.
The blurring effect vanished. Ashi stared down at amber eyes in a lean yellow face. The thief’s hood had fallen back to reveal orange-brown hair pulled back in a knot and a hobgoblin’s wolf-like ears. Ashi lifted one hand and tugged down the scarf that had covered the thief’s face.
“Ekhaas?” she asked.
Then the doors of the memorial slammed open and the intense light of everbright lanterns flooded over them. The slap of boots and the hiss of drawn swords filled the ruined space. “Don’t move!” roared the voice of the sergeant. “Under the authority of Karrlakton, you’re both under arrest!”
CHAPTER
FIVE
The watchmen of Karrlakton gave Ashi and Ekhaas no chance to speak until they’d marched them to the nearest watch station and deposited the pair in a cell. They recognized Ashi’s dragonmark and handled her with a certain amount of deference, but Ekhaas didn’t receive the same favor. The men left both of them with their hands tied behind their backs—they knew at least one of their two prisoners was a spellcaster and they thought they were being cautious. Ekhaas saw no reason to tell them that she knew several spells that could be cast with song alone. Apparently the Karrlakton watch had little experience dealing with a Kech Volaar duur’kala. She held her tongue as the cell door swung shut behind them, instead watching through the bars to see what the watch did with the weapons—and other items—they had confiscated.
Ashi did enough talking for both of them. “It’s a Deneith memorial!” she said to the station commander. “I was protecting it on behalf of the House. But it was all a mistake. This woman is my friend. There’s no reason to keep us.”
The argument worked no better on the commander than it had on the sergeant who had arrested them. “House Deneith is ruled by the law just like everyone else in Karrlakton—a dragonmark is no protection. You broke into a public building in the middle of the night and caused serious damage. You desecrated a shrine of the Sovereign Host. You may or may not have stolen from the memorial.” The commander looked at Ekhaas. She ignored him, flicking her ears in disdain. He looked back to Ashi. “Your House will be contacted. We’ll see what they have to say. In the meantime, I’d suggest that you sit down and behave yourself.”
He walked away,