NINETY-FOUR
"Then, you are?" Gates questioned as she stopped in front of him.
"Kneel," she said. There was no power to her tone nor even a will strong enough to make Gates believe that he would kneel.
And yet he did. On one knee, he knelt. His entire body went against what he knew and what he wanted, as though her word was all.
Yusuf and Rosalia stepped forward, about to unsheath their weapons when the woman turned to them, "No externals allowed. Leave."
Yusuf and Rosa did not feel the same compulsion Gates felt; they did not feel a compelling will to make them act against their own wishes. Instead, they kept their hands on their weapons, still unsheathed, as they stared intently at this veiled woman.
"You can go. Make sure the others are doing their work," Gates ordered, still kneeling. He had never been in a situation like this before.