Chevalier frowned, “Where were they?”
“She wiped our memory, Elder,” one of the Cavalry explained.
“What was she looking for around the corner?”
Horace shrugged, “She wouldn’t say. We’ve all gotten the impression that she’s jumpy lately, and maybe a tad paranoid, and I wanted to know what was going on.”
“Did she say?”
“No, Elder, and when I kept pushing… she got mad.”
“Damnit, that shouldn’t cause her to drink though,” Chevalier said.
“It doesn’t take a lot,” Mark said. “As for the paranoid behavior, we’ve all seen it.”
“What the hell is she keeping from us now?”
“There’s no telling.”
“I’ll talk to her…” Chevalier stopped talking when Emily opened the door.
“Heku convention?” she asked, stepping around him.
“Want to explain why you’re paranoid lately?”
“Sounds to me like you are.”
He smiled, “I’m watching you.”
“Like that’s anything new,” she mumbled, and headed down the stairs for a swim. Horace and the other three heku followed her. She told them to stay out and then stripped and dove into the water in her bikini.
Hard laps would clear her head, so she immediately began pushing herself to swim hard from one end to the next. An hour later she felt better and the strain in her muscles faded to shaky arms and legs so she leaned back and began to float. Something caught her eye and she looked over and saw a bouquet of red roses sitting on a chaise by the pool. The telltale plain white envelope was sitting in front of it and Emily cringed. She’d found 8 threatening notes now, and was no closer to figuring out who was leaving them. She hadn’t yet told any of the heku, and didn’t want to unless it got out of hand.
After crawling out and wrapping in a towel, she sat down and opened the envelope to read the note.
“I fear you aren’t taking me seriously, so now I’ll have to prove that I’m serious. Better say goodbye to something you care about.”
Emily gasped and ran for the door, still clutching the note.
“Em?” Horace asked when she ran out wrapped in a towel. She cleared the front doors and took off for the palace, followed by confused guards. The Door Guards tried to find out what was wrong, but she ran past them and headed up to the fourth floor.
“Emily?” Derrick asked, confused as to why she was running through the palace wrapped in a towel.
She ignored him and ran into the council chambers, coming to a stop behind a heku in front of the Council on his knees.
“Is there a problem?” Chevalier asked, frowning. He hated when she showed any skin, and now she was running around in a towel.
Emily caught his eye and then calmed the panic that threatened to burst into insanity, “I’ll let you know.”
She turned without another word, and ran out of the council chambers, then headed up to the school.
Megara and her teacher looked over at Emily when she came into the room. No one spoke, and then Megara turned back to her studies when Emily walked out.
“Do we get to know what’s wrong?” Kralen asked as he walked up. Horace had called for higher-ranking heku when it became obvious something was wrong.
Emily gulped down air and then called for Dain.
“What’s…” Dain looked down at his Mom and his eyebrows rose. “Some reason you’re not dressed?”
“Go check on Alex,” Emily said quickly, and then turned to Kralen and held her hand out. “Phone please.”
Kralen handed over his cell phone and turned when Mark walked up, “What’s going on?”
Emily quickly dialed Allen and waited what seemed like an eternity for him to answer.
“Good morning, Mom,” Allen said.
“You’re ok?” she asked.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Nothing weird going on?”
“No”
“Do me a favor. Stay on the island for a bit.”
“I can’t. I need to…”
“No! Do as I say!”
Allen sighed, “Fine, I’ll stay on the island.”
Emily hung up and then walked slower down the stairs, wondering what the note meant.
“What’s in your hand?” Kralen asked her.
She looked down, having forgotten she was still clutching the threatening note, “Nothing important.”
“So why are you running around half dressed?”
“I was swimming.”
“I see that… and then you decided not to get dressed?”
Emily frowned as she went through things in her mind that the note could mean.
“Alex is fine,” Dain said, blurring up to them. “What’s wrong?”
She froze on the stairs and then mumbled before running down them, “The dogs…”
By the time they reached the stables, half of the Cavalry had been summoned and Mark was trying to get Emily to stop long enough to tell them what was going on.
“Devia!” Emily called out from the stables. The Border collie ran up happily and licked at her hand. She called for Sebastian, the St. Bernard, and Quiesco, the Bulldog, as she checked on the horses.
Silas appeared with one of the soft pink robes from the pool room, and handed it over to Emily. She dropped the towel and slipped into it as she checked the last row of horses.
“Sebastian! Quiesco!” she called out, and then looked up and down the long corridor.
“Last I heard, Sebastian is out with Gifford,” Silas told her.
“Check on him.”
Silas’ lips moved, but Emily didn’t hear anything until he faced her, “Sebastian’s still with Gifford… So tell us what’s going on.”
“Where’s Quiesco?”
“I haven’t seen him today.”
Her heart sunk, “Find him… please…”
Mark’s eyes narrowed, “We’re not putting out a manhunt for a dog until you tell us why.”
Emily looked down at the note clutched in her hand, and then shoved it deep into the pocket of her robe.
“Em?” Kyle asked, blurring up.
She turned pleading eyes to him, “I’m begging you. Help me find Quiesco.”
“Did he run off?”
She swallowed dryly, “Maybe.”
Kyle nodded to Mark and she could tell they were having a conversation, but she couldn’t tell what. She headed back into the stables to check the stalls again. Quiesco had a habit of finding new and inventive places to nap, so she checked some of the harder to see places as the panic set in.
“Em?” Kyle said from behind her.
She cried out slightly and spun, “Don’t sneak up on me!”
“I didn’t… we’ll find him. He probably followed one of the Cavalry out.”
She nodded, but watched him.
“Want to tell me what’s up?”
“No”
Kyle stood silently and watched as she fought back the tears, and then wiped a stray one that escaped from her eye, “Please, tell me what’s going on.”
Chevalier appeared with them and studied her, “What’s up?”
They both saw it in her eyes, indecision. She couldn’t explain why she had an internal debate in the brief seconds it took her to decide. Her first instinct was to handle it herself, not to involve the heku, but another part of her craved help and wanted to stop always having to deal with things alone.
She swallowed hard, “I’m in over my head.”
“With what?” Kyle asked.
“I’m getting threatening letters…”
“From who?” Chevalier hissed.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry I kept it from you, but I think they have Quiesco.”
Emily poured out the details to Chevalier and Kyle, all the while her inner voice was screaming at her to stop and to take care of it by herself. Her months alone though proved to her how much she needed Chevalier and she now felt that she didn’t wa
nt to deal with this alone.
“I’m afraid he’s dead,” she said finally.
“We’ll figure it out and get him back,” Chevalier said, and then smiled and pulled her into a hug. He couldn’t explain how much it meant to him that she enlisted his help.
She nodded and looked over at Kyle.
“Just stay dressed in the palace while we investigate,” he said, smiling at her. He was still in shock that she told them what was happening.
“I was covered.”
He smiled, “You have half of the palace staff scared to death that the Elder’s coming after them.”
“I was covered!”
“Barely”
Emily looked over Kyle’s shoulder when Mark came up behind them, “Nothing yet. He’s probably just asleep in some corner somewhere. He’s too lazy to run off.”
“You can smell him in the palace though, right?”
“No, his smell is all over the building anyway.”
She turned and looked down the stalls again, hoping he’d waddle out from a good nap.
“Let’s go get you changed,” Mark said, moving aside to let Emily pass. She let go of Chevalier and followed her guards into the palace.
Once she changed and got ready to go back down to the stables, Emily grabbed her phone and saw the little green LED flashing. She thumbed through her phone to the waiting text message.
Your dog is mine now. Time to run off, Princess, or you could be next.
Emily’s heart dropped when she realized that whoever was sending those messages had Quiesco. She couldn’t run, not with someone out there threatening her. Up until now, the threats had been hollow and more of an annoyance. She knew she had to tell Chevalier the new information before they killed her dog.
She decided to start by letting him know she wasn’t going to take it. Quickly typing in a reply to the text message, she re-read it and then finally pressed send.
Treading on dangerous water there, Hoss. Suggest you return my dog and back the hell off.
The Cavalry fell in behind her when she walked down the stairs, and she noticed they all seemed on high alert.
Derrick smiled when she walked up, “Do you need to talk to the Council?”
“Just Chev,” she told him, but couldn’t help wringing her hands.
Derrick opened the door and stepped aside.
Emily walked in and immediately headed up the stairs.
“You ok?” Chevalier asked, turning his chair when she walked up behind him.
“He has Quiesco,” Emily said, and handed him her phone. She glanced over at Kyle while Chevalier read the brief messages.
“Is that another threat?” Kyle asked.
She nodded and looked down at Chevalier, “So?”
His eyes narrowed, “Can I have your phone for an hour?”
“Yeah, I’m just going out to the stables.
“Don’t take your eyes off of her,” Chevalier said to her guards.
“Yes, Elder,” the closest one said.
Emily hurried out of the council chambers when Chevalier began to explain the newest messages to the Equites Chief Investigator. Things seemed better when she got out into the stables. She disappeared into the tack room and came out with a long brown tube, then called for Gifford, the member of the Cavalry from Thukil
“What is that?” Horace asked when she started to fill it with warm water.
She smiled, “Artificial vagina.”
“Sorry I asked.”
Gifford walked around the corner and saw her with the tube, “I’ll get the mare and let you know as soon as she urinates in the corral.”
Emily nodded and began to rub something into the tube.
“What exactly are you doing to your stallion?” one of the Cavalry asked when Emily slipped a bridle on him.
***
“It’s disgusting,” Richard hissed. The heku in the trial area was knelt down and had his eyes on the ground ahead of him.
Zohn glared at him, “I vote death.”
Chevalier smiled, “Death’s too easy…”
“You’re saying not to kill him?” It was shocking. Chevalier normally chose to kill the heku.
He shrugged, “I think his time might be best served starving to death.”
“Please…,” the heku whispered.
“Why would we show you the lenience that you did not exhibit?” Quinn asked him.
“It was an accident.”
“The rape or the murder?” Richard asked.
He shook his head, “It wasn’t like that.”
“You didn’t even drain her, you broke her neck,” Chevalier said. “That’s not an accident.”
“I don’t believe there’s more serious of an offense,” Kyle told him. “To prey on the weaker species is pathetic.”
“My vote is 800 years,” Chevalier suggested.
“No! I can’t… I can’t do it,” the heku pleaded.
“Why not?”
“I can’t be hungry. I can’t spend that long suffering!”
Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “I concur, 800 years.”
“No!” he screamed, and then tried to run. Kyle took his time walking down to the trial area while Derrick held the heku as he struggled.
His screams pierced the palace moments before he fell to ash at Kyle’s feet. Kyle swept him into a small leather bag and tucked it away in his cape.
“It’s humiliating to have an Equites do that,” Quinn said, still angry.
Chevalier nodded, “He’ll learn his lesson.”
“What’s next?” Zohn asked the Records Keeper.
He glanced at a roster, “The Encala have representatives here.”
“Did Emily call them in again?”
“No, Elder.”
“Fine… see them in.”
Derrick opened the door and allowed William, Andrew, and four of the Encala’s Palace Guards to enter. They moved to stand before the Council.
“We should pre-empt this,” Chevalier told them. “Emily’s fine.”
William smiled, “We have business besides Em, but thanks for the update.”
“Very well, what?”
“We’ve come to seek the return of Jacobs.”
“No”
“It’s been long enough.”
Andrew looked over at Chevalier, “What did he do to deserve being in your prison?”
Chevalier shrugged, “He’s an Encala… that’s enough.”
“That’s not enough! We have somewhat of an alliance and we demand…”
“No we don’t,” Kyle interrupted.
Andrew’s eyes narrowed, “We’ve not fought for years.”
“Just because Emily considers you friends, doesn’t mean we do.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No”
“What will it take to get Jacobs’ return?” William asked. It was obvious he wasn’t in the mood to watch Chevalier and Andrew bicker over Emily again.
Zohn spoke before Chevalier could, “We must put him on trial first, but we’re still gathering information.”
“What’s he even accused of?”
“He was caught in the walls of Parrish Coven.”
“Doing?”
“Recognizance I do believe. He had a camera, notebook, and a backpack full of devices to help him perfectly map out that coven.”
Andrew glanced at William and then turned to Zohn, “We weren’t aware of anyone staking out Parrish.”
“It doesn’t matter, he was.”
“Return him!” William yelled.
Zohn called out to Derrick, “Derrick, please have Emily come immediately.”
“I don’t need a peacekeeper,” William said, irritated.
“We’ll resume when she comes in.”
Andrew crossed his arms and silently waited for Emily to arrive. It was a few minutes later when Derrick came into the trial area.
“She said she can’t at the moment,” Derrick said, smiling slightly.
“Did she s
ay why?”
“Something about artificial insemination…” Derrick had barely finished his words when Chevalier and Kyle looked at each other and then disappeared from the room.
Following Mark’s suggestion on Emily’s location, both arrived in the corral in seconds and then screeched to a halt when they saw Emily and Gifford tag teaming Emily’s stallion to gather semen.
Emily looked over when they first appeared, “What?”
Chevalier smiled, sort of embarrassed, “Just… you know… seeing what you’re doing.”
She glanced over at Gifford as he steadied the false mare, “Collecting semen, want to help?”
“Not really.”
Kyle chuckled and walked up, “Why are you doing that?”
“Thukil has a racing mare they acquired. We’re going to breed these two and see if we can produce faster horses.”
Emily pulled the artificial vagina out from under the stallion and then stepped back when Gifford got the stallion off of the false mare. She then walked over to Chevalier and looked up at him.
“Why do you look guilty?” she asked him.
He grimaced at the tube and took a step back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We just wondered what you were doing that you couldn’t answer a summons.”
“Jacking off a horse, want to go tell the Council that?”
He smiled, “I think I’ll just keep that to myself.”
Gifford came out and took the tube from Emily and headed into the stables. She walked over and washed her hands.
“So you can come now?” Kyle asked her.
She turned and put her hands on her hips, “Why?”
“The Encala are having attitude issues.”
“Who is it?”
“William and Andrew.”
Chevalier couldn’t help but grow angry when she smiled, “Andrew’s here?”
“Well…” Kyle started, but then stopped and followed Emily when she headed for the palace doors. Chevalier looked over at the false mare and then followed them inside.
Emily ran up and hugged Andrew when she walked into the trial area, then stepped back and smiled up at him, “What’s up? You haven’t been here in ages.”
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 67