Goddess Bless

by Thargelion

Clara Goodwin was the greatest Dog ever to walk the streets of Corus, the folk say. Her partner Tunstall and her scared every Rat to the Black God's realms. After the events at Port Caynn, Goodwin takes the job of Desk Sergeant. Can she cope with being out of the action, and can Tunstall cope with being at watch without her? After Bloodhound, new plot.

1. Chapter 1

Goodwin

Maybe it'll get easier. Maybe I won't want to cry every day. Maybe I won't cry when the Dogs have mustered. Maybe Tunstall will get over losing me as a partner. Then again, it doesn't seem like time will heal these wounds, these sarden scars that I have.

When I call for muster, I see Tunstall gazing at me with those sad, weary eyes and I feel like screaming at someone. I didn't ask to get weaker. I didn't ask to get tired of a street Dog's work. Beside Tunstall, there's Cooper. She stands there, a lonely Dog beside another. The black that we Dogs wear is not meant to look mournful. But on my former partners, it does.

"You know what to do," I call out. "Get going t'your watch." I look on as Evening Watch walks out to the streets. I look down, feeling like a shadow of my strong self. I feel someone's eyes on me. I look up from my desk and see a very tall cove with close-cropped brown-gray hair staring at me. Tunstall. He stares at me even more. I feel like jumping up from my desk, snatching my baton, and shouting, "I don't want to be Desk Sergeant, I want to be on the streets, wait for me!"

But I'm no longer an overexcited little gixie who dreamed of being the greatest Dog ever to walk the streets of Corus. Now I'm only an older Dog, sitting forlornly at the desk, wanting to be out there breaking heads.