As they neared the stables, they saw Emily’s stallion tied to the hitching post. The Cavalry took the horses from the Council, and put them away so they could head inside to the council chambers. Chevalier and Quinn sat down beside Zohn, who was watching as Kyle revived some of the higher ranking Valle and Encala. When he was done, he returned to his seat.
“What brought this on?” Chevalier asked them angrily.
“The lack of your Council to take action against Thukil!” the Valle Captain yelled.
“What did Thukil do?” Quinn asked Zohn.
“They made a land purchase that is attached to their coven, yet near a Valle stronghold.”
“I see,” Quinn sighed, and sat back.
“That gave you the right to attack us?” Chevalier asked.
“Yes!” the Captain yelled.
“Who led this?”
“Elder Sotomar led it honorably.”
“So how did the Encala get involved?” Kyle asked, confused.
The Encala Captain grinned, “It’s time to eradicate the Equites. We’ve joined to accomplish that.”
“Who led the Encala Forces?” Zohn asked.
“Frederick, Sir,” Kralen told him.
“So let me get this straight,” Kyle said. “The Valle attacked the gates, while off to the west the Encala decided to come in unnoticed and flank us.”
“Yes, and it almost worked had it not been for that Bitch and her Cavalry,” the Encala Captain yelled.
Chevalier turned to Zohn, “How did Emily get involved?”
“She made a valid argument for her case,” Zohn explained. “She was to stay in the palace with the 8 members of the Cavalry, and defend it if the Valle got through our front lines. They are the ones that saw the Encala coming and I diverted them there.”
“Where is Emily?”
Kralen stepped forward, “In her office, Sir.”
“Derrick, bring her here,” Quinn called out.
“These are the highest ranking then?” Chevalier asked.
Zohn nodded, “Yes, the highest ranking that are left.”
“So Sotomar…”
“Fled with the Valle.”
“And Frederick?”
Zohn frowned slightly, “I’m not sure exactly. None of the Encala fled. Was he killed?”
Kralen shook his head, “No, Elder.”
“Did you see him run?”
“No”
Emily came in through the back door of the council chambers and sat down in the empty chair next to Chevalier. It was obvious she had been crying and she glared down at the Valle and Encala officers. They all fell back and began to scream as the familiar burning smell filled the chambers.
“Em, that’s not why we brought you here,” Chevalier told her.
She kept an eye on the enemy as they writhed in pain.
Chevalier put a hand on her arm, “That’s enough.”
She sighed and looked at him as she released the officers from pain. They stayed on their hands and knees, gasping in breath as the pain slowly subsided. The Council watched her. She was concentrating and the look on her face was familiar to them. She was turning someone to ash, yet the heku in the trial area were no longer in pain. A small trickle of blood began to form under her nose but she watched the prisoners, unmoving.
“Em… what’re you doing?” Chevalier asked softly.
A slow hiss escaped her lips as she exhaled and concentrated on the enemy heku.
“Em,” he said again, and touched her arm.
Kyle cocked his head slightly to the side and then rushed to her and moved her face toward him, “Emily, stop it.”
She blinked a few times and then frowned, “What?”
“Stop”
She sighed, “Fine.”
Kyle moved back to his chair and sat down. He turned to face the Elders, “She just ashed the entire prison.”
“We’ll deal with that later,” Zohn said, and turned to the enemies. “What to do with you.”
“Put them in prison for now,” Chevalier ordered, and guards appeared to haul them away.
The Records Keeper came in and sat down, “I have the numbers.”
“Go,” Zohn said.
He thumbed through papers, “First, attack numbers, there were 4,011 Valle against 3,323 Equites, including all help that came in through the entire fight, then 999 Encala.”
“Deaths then?”
“Well… do we count those turned to ash?” he asked.
Zohn glanced at Emily and then back to him, “Do those separately.”
“So 398 Valle are dead, 26 Encala and 128 Equites.”
Zohn sighed, “Damnit… ash then?”
“One Encala was turned to ash out in the trees, 5 at the sight of the Encala battle, 8 officers before the fight started, and then 124 injured Valle in the city are now ash.”
“Any sign of Frederick yet?”
“No, Elder.”
Zohn nodded, “He probably ran off after the Valle, and no one saw him.”
Emily shifted slightly in her chair.
“Banish those turned to ash, give them 200 years,” Quinn said, and then turned on the speakerphone when it rang. “Yes?”
“Return our Elder!” William growled.
Zohn frowned, “We don’t have Frederick.”
“Yes you do and we demand you return him immediately!”
“Hey, William,” Emily whispered, but knew he could hear her. The other end of the phone fell quiet, “You’ll burn for this.”
“Emily…” he started to say, but Quinn turned off the phone.
“Emily, you can’t seek revenge for the lost Equites,” Zohn told her softly.
She got up and stumbled out of the council chambers. She was feeling dizzy, and her headache was coming on from the ashing. The Council let her go, and four members of the Cavalry fell in behind her as she made her way up to the bedroom.
“Mark, send out the Cavalry, go through each body and see if you can locate Frederick,” Chevalier said.
“Yes, Elder,” Mark replied, and then left the council chambers.
Zohn shut his eyes for a moment and then opened them, “She’s going after them, isn’t she?”
Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I think so.”
“Kralen mentioned they were surprised to see her on the front lines. They were told she was shipped out,” Quinn said, deep in thought.
“They assumed wrongly that we sent her away, so she wouldn’t get involved… they were very wrong and now we have to try to keep Emily from killing herself to avenge our dead,” Zohn said.
“I’ll talk to her, but it won’t do any good if her mind is made up,” Chevalier said. “I wish you would have sent her away.”
“It wasn’t that easy,” Zohn explained. “Not after what Wen told her.”
Chevalier frowned, “When has Wen talked to Emily?”
“Kralen?” Zohn called out. A few minutes later the Captain appeared.
“Yes, Elder?”
“Relay, word-for-word, what Wen said to Lady Emily, starting with the first meeting,” Zohn said.
Kralen nodded and told Chevalier everything, from the moment Emily called him into the room with the treadmill until they left the training room for the last time.
“I want him in my office after this meeting,” Chevalier growled.
Kralen faced him, “He’s one of our dead, Sir.”
“Good, he overstepped.”
“So you see, it was hard after that to tell her to leave,” Zohn explained. “We tried, but she was set on staying.”
“Banish the ash, I’ll go talk to Emily,” Chevalier said, and blurred from the room. The guards told him Emily was already asleep, so he walked in quietly and shut the door behind him. A new snowstorm was raging outside, but her room was hot and both fires were roaring. She was asleep on top of the covers in only a t-shirt, and didn’t stir when he lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. Her dream immediately filled his head, so he shut his
eyes and watched.
Other books in The Heku Series
Book 1 : Heku
Book 2 : Valle
Book 3 : Encala
Book 4 : Equites
Book 5 : Proditor
Book 7 : Eternity of Vengeance
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Starting Over
Chapter 2 - Obedience
Chapter 3 - W eakened
Chapter 4 - Compassion
Chapter 5 - Custody Dispute
Chapter 6 - Too Young
Chapter 7 - In Sickness
Chapter 8 - V.E.S .
Chapter 9 - Dain
Chapter 10 - Misconduct
Chapter 11 - Growing Up
Chapter 12 - Enemies
Chapter 13 - Laythan
Chapter 14 - Maid
Chapter 15 - Heku
Chapter 16 - Georgia
Chapter 17 - Guards
Chapter 18 - Yisolatara
Chapter 19 - Revenge
Chapter 20 - Behaving
Chapter 21 - Employment
Chapter 22 - Supervisor
Chapter 23 - Palau
Chapter 24 - Retribution
Chapter 25 - Defense
Book 1 : Heku
Chapter 1 - Starting Over
Chapter 2 - Obedience
Chapter 3 - Weakened
Chapter 4 - Compassion
Chapter 5 - Custody Dispute
Chapter 6 - Too Young
Chapter 7 - In Sickness
Chapter 8 - V.E.S.
Chapter 9 - Dain
Chapter 10 - Misconduct
Chapte r 11 - Growing Up
Chapter 12 - Enemies
Chapter 13 - Laythan
Chapter 14 - Maid
Chapter 15 - Heku
Chapter 16 - Georgia
Chapter 17 - Guards
Chapter 18 - Yisolatara
Chapter 19 - Revenge
Chapter 20 - Behaving
Chapter 21 - Employment
Chapter 23 - Palau
Chapter 24 - Retribution
Chapter 25 - Defense
Chapter 8 - V.E.S
Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series Page 67