It wasn’t long before Emily found the long spiral staircase that led down into darkness. She walked slowly, feeling her way along the wall. As she got closer, she heard voices, angry, shouting voices. She felt the door and stopped to listen.
“You can’t do that!” a high, squeaky voice exclaimed.
“I can and I will. Now sit down!” Chevalier was angry, she could tell by his voice.
“I said nothing about the girl,” another strange voice croaked.
“You deny spreading rumors about Lady Emily?” Kyle yelled. He was calmer than Chevalier, but still mad.
Emily frowned. This entire thing was about her again. Did she truly care that the staff spread rumors about her? Not rumors, she corrected, they told the truth… gossip then.
“The court has made its decision and if no one objects, then we talk punishment,” Chevalier growled.
Emily knew this was going to get her into trouble, but she did it anyway. She slammed open the doors, “I object.”
All eyes turned toward her, including those in the topmost section of the room, Chevalier, Kyle, Storm and the pier guard, Travis. She suddenly felt underdressed in just the oversized t-shirt that barely touched the top of her knee and had ‘John Deere’ written across it in green writing.
Kyle was by her side in an instant and whispered to her, “You can’t object.”
He tried to lead her out of the room, but she spun away from him.
“I object. You said that unless someone objected, they would be punished.” She was making her way through the chairs toward the frightened heku along the front row. Kyle followed behind her, but hesitated to grab her arm forcefully enough to drag her from the room.
Chevalier glanced down at Emily and his eyes lit with rage, “Step back, Emily.”
“No! It sounds to me like these proceedings are about me and as such I have every right to defend whomever I wish.” She nodded and sat down between two of the accused.
She smiled at one of them and they looked up at her, terrified.
Kyle shrugged at Chevalier who motioned him back to the chair. Storm stood up, “What is your defense then, state your case.”
Emily stood up again, glancing down at her t-shirt, “Well, I don’t feel that spreading gossip is grounds for punishment. At least not the punishment that you all hand out.”
Mumbles ran through the courtroom.
“Quiet!” Storm bellowed, and the entire room fell silent.
“It’s not a matter of gossip, it’s a matter of breaking rules set forth by the Chief Enforcer and Lord of this coven,” Storm explained.
“Oh... well... let me see then.” Emily looked at one of the accused, and he stared at her with wide eyes, “What was the proposed punishment?”
Storm turned to Chevalier and he looked down at Emily, “Come here.”
“Hmmm,” she said, standing slowly. She turned and put a reassuring hand on the shoulder of one of the accused and then walked up on the top platform.
Chevalier, Kyle, and Travis turned their chairs to face away from the crowd while Storm watched over them.
“What are you doing here?” Chevalier asked her, irritated.
“Apparently defending the wrongly accused,” she said matter-of-factly.
Kyle frowned at her, “You shouldn’t be here.”
She glared at him, “No one told me not to come down here, so I did, and what I heard was insane! You can’t punish someone for gossip unless it’s going a day without wages or…”
Chevalier stopped her, “That’s enough! You will go back up to your room and wait for me.”
She put her hands on her hips, “No.”
Travis gasped. He’d not been around Emily enough to know that she didn’t follow Chevalier’s orders.
Chevalier nodded and growled, “Now.”
Emily leaned down toward him, “I’m not one of your minions to be commanded, if you want me gone, you’re going to have to remove me.”
She turned and walked back down toward the accused and was almost to them when she was swept off of her feet and rushed out of the room.
“Kyle, put me down!” she yelled, kicking furiously.
He didn’t answer, but ascended the steps quickly, and she was back in her room a few seconds later. He set her down on her feet and winced as she slapped him across his face.
“How dare you.” Her gaze was fierce.
“You shouldn’t be down there. It’s none of your concern.”
“It is so!” She headed back for the door, but Kyle blocked her.
“You aren’t leaving.” She’d never seen him this angry.
Emily took a step toward him, and though he towered above her, she met his gaze, “Let me through,” she hissed at him.
“No,” he said, not moving.
Emily swung at him but he dodged and grabbed her hand, then wrapped it around to her back gently, “Stop before you hurt yourself.”
Kyle wrapped his free hand around her waist and picked her up, carrying her back to the chairs, “Sit.”
He let her go and she immediately ran for the door. He quickly overtook her and hauled her back to the chair.
“I said sit!” he growled at her, and shoved her into the chair harder than he intended. The chair buckled under the force of the throw.
Emily landed on her back, the shattered chair underneath her and she kicked hard, her foot connecting directly with Kyle’s groin. He recoiled a bit and then grabbed her foot as she crawled away.
After picking her up, Kyle sat in the one remaining chair and pulled her onto his lap. He trapped her legs with his and wrapped his arms securely around hers, pinning them to her side. She screamed and thrashed to be let go.
“You have no right to hold me!” she yelled at him.
Kyle opted not to speak and just held her tightly.
Emily leaned her head forward and slammed it back into his nose, breaking it. He winced, but held tightly, knowing the pain would clear in a few seconds.
“Let me go!” she screamed again.
“No, you don’t know what you are doing and until you see how things work around here, you need to keep out of it.” His voice was calm. He worried about the reaction Chevalier would have when the bruises from the chair appeared on Emily’s back.
She fought harder, “It’s my decision, they were talking about me.”
“That’s not the issue, they disobeyed a direct order. Coven’s are made up of violent creatures, laws and orders have to be obeyed to prevent anarchy.” He thought he’d made an impact.
“Fine but you’re hurting me, let me go.” Her voice was calm, so he let her up.
She stood and faced him, rubbing the bruises on her wrist. He stood up, “Are you ready to stay up here? “
“Sure,” she said, stepping toward the chair. He moved away so she could sit down but suddenly felt the chair slam against his back. The impact shocked him, but didn’t hurt badly, and he ran after Emily as she reached the door.
“No more,” he said sternly, and threw her across his shoulder, then hauled her back into the room. “Sit!”
He sat her hard on the bed and she glared up at him, angry at not gaining any ground. Kyle stood up and stretched his back. She could hear bones moving back into place. She shuddered at the sound and reeled as he grabbed her and held her in the same position he had on the chair, she groaned, frustrated.
Kyle held Emily for over an hour as she attempted occasionally to get free. Chevalier joined them finally and looked around the room with a frown, then walked over to where Kyle was restraining her.
“What happened to the chairs?” he asked Kyle.
Emily strained against Kyle’s arms, no longer seeing reason. She was beyond mad and her scream echoed off the walls, “Let me go!”
Chevalier stared at her, open mouthed with his eyes wide. He’d never seen her this angry and some of the damage in the room was making sense. He also noticed Kyle’s nose looked different and realized it had been broken.
He knelt down in front of her as Kyle held her tightly, “Emily?”
He tried to look into her eyes but she was straining too hard to get away.
She finally turned her hostile glare to Chevalier, “What did you do to them?”
“They were dealt with, I don’t want you interfering with my job,” he said, trying to stay calm.
Emily relaxed and nodded.
“Let her go Kyle, it’s ok,” Chevalier said.
Kyle shook his head, “That’s when she broke a chair over my back, after she’d done that to me.”
Emily screamed at him and came close to slipping her legs out from under Kyle’s.
“She broke a chair over your back?” Chevalier asked Kyle, slightly impressed.
“Oh yes, and broke my nose, and kicked me in the groin. She’s full of that Irish blood, isn’t she?” He was almost laughing, which infuriated Emily more.
Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed, “Way to go, Em, that’s my girl.”
He stopped laughing when he looked at her.
“Find that funny? Wanna go a round with me?” she hissed at him, her jaw tightly clenched.
“It’s too late. The punishment has already been given. There’s nothing you could have done. You have to understand that these things are mine to deal with,” he tried to reason with her.
“What did you do to them?” she asked, her eyes turned from hatred to hurt.
He emphasized, “It’s none of your concern.”
He waited for her to respond and when she didn’t, he nodded for Kyle to let her go. When he did, she slumped down onto the floor, her eyes down.
Chevalier grabbed her hand and flipped it over, looking at the dark bruises forming on her wrist.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Kyle said, wincing.
Chevalier shook his head, “I don’t think you had a choice.”
“Did you kill them?” Emily’s voice was a soft whisper.
Chevalier tilted her chin up with his hand so she was looking at him, “Stop, Em.”
There was a gruesome cracking sound as Kyle re-set his nose. Emily shuddered at the sound and Chevalier grinned up at Kyle.
“Anything else injured?” he asked.
“Nope, that’s about it.” Kyle smiled at Emily, “I’d watch her, though, we had a few tangles and I was as careful as I could be, but sent her through a chair at one point.” His mouth twitched.
Chevalier laughed, “I didn’t know she had that in her. Thank you, Kyle, you may go and take the night off, go feed.”
Kyle nodded and left the room.
“I’m glad you find that amusing,” she grumbled at him.
“Not funny, necessarily… impressive maybe.” He guided her back up so she was sitting on the bed instead of the floor.
“What?” She looked up at him.
“You would have put a mortal man in the hospital,” he told her, and then grinned. His mind suddenly wondered why she never fought Keith back like that but then realized the control Keith had over her.
“Where else are you hurt?” he asked, looking over her arms and legs.
“Nowhere,” she hissed at him.
“Then why do I smell blood?”
She shrugged but winced slightly.
Chevalier walked around to her back and lifted her shirt. He inhaled sharply as he saw the deep cuts and bruises on her back, “Must have been the chair,” he murmured to himself.
“I suppose you’ll punish Kyle for that too,” she said sarcastically.
“Nope… he deserves a raise for putting up with that kind of fight and holding on.” Chevalier again sounded pleased.
He sat down beside her, “Listen to me carefully, Emily. Covens don’t operate like mortal society. When you get a group of a thousand natural born killers together, things have to be tightly controlled or they get out of hand. Not one small infraction can go unpunished, or we risk mass murders and heku running around breaking rules. It is my job in this coven to do the punishments and to enforce and create the laws. I can’t help it if you don’t like it, but that’s how it is and that’s how it will be.”
Emily watched his eyes.
“I don’t like it any more than you do, but I’ve seen covens that have no enforcer, no laws, and it’s chaotic, innocent people die. I won’t let that happen here, we have too much of a good thing going and, for the most part, my laws are obeyed. I can’t let even the smallest infraction go by without notice.” He kissed her bruised wrist lightly.
“What about me then?” she asked.
“They know you are an exception. No one’s asked why, and no one dares question that. They know you are bonded now, but have wrongly assumed it’s to Kyle. I won’t lie if they dare ask me, but they won’t, they are happier seeing it the way they want to.” He gently kissed her other wrist.
“I’m causing too many problems here.”
“No, this happens even without you here. Someone always has to try to break the rules, to see how far they can go. As long as I keep control, things will go smoothly,” he assured her.
“I’m sorry about court then,” she whispered.
Chevalier started to laugh, “I’ve never seen a more shocked group of heku. When you came in with only a t-shirt on and sat down by the accused, I thought the entire room was going to twitch to death. Had you been immortal, they would have kicked you out themselves, but by my orders, they were afraid to even look at you, though who could help it.”
Emily watched as he laughed and had to kind of smile at the mental image.
“You really are too attractive to be living. It should be a crime against humanity to have you near men.” He laughed harder when the blush rose to her cheeks.
Once he’d calmed down, he brushed his lips lightly across hers and kissed the nape of her neck, “Why don’t you get some sleep now, it’s late.”
She nodded and laid down. He crawled in next to her and she curled against his chest, falling asleep quickly.
Chapter 14 - Alone
Chevalier came back from a long day out in his study and found Emily’s bed empty. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 3am. Kyle was away on a two-week long mission and Emily hadn’t let Chevalier replace him so her ante-chamber was also empty. He caught her emotions and she was upset and worried, which made the need to find her more pressing. He smelled for her, but her scent was faint, she hadn’t been in the ante-chamber in hours.
“Find Emily,” he ordered into the air, and the sound of scrambling feet echoed through the castle.
It was only five minutes before he heard a voice on the wind whisper, “Barn.”
He appeared in the barn seconds later and walked around to Patra’s stall. Patra was lying on the clean straw, panting, and Emily was at her side rubbing the mare’s tummy. He suddenly understood.
“How is she doing?” he asked from outside the stall.
Emily looked up at him with tired eyes, “It’s taking a long time.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
She shook her head and went back to rubbing the mare’s belly. Chevalier appeared at her back and began to rub her tight, knotted shoulders.
“Mmmm,” she moaned, and leaned her head forward.
He grinned and continued to rub the knots out of her shoulders, “Kyle will be sad he missed this, he’s been waiting to see her foal for 11 months.”
Emily just nodded. She was clearly worried about the time it was taking Patra to deliver.
Patra raised her head and whinnied loudly as her stomach contracted violently, “Come on girl, push,” Emily encouraged her.
After a few minutes, the mare laid her head back on the straw, panting heavily and Emily sighed.
The hours passed and the more Emily worried about Patra, the more Chevalier worried about Emily. Her shoulders grew into hard knots and he knew her head was aching from the stress.
The light of dawn filled the barn and the mare had just begun to push again, when Emily stood up, walked to the r
ear of the horse, and sunk her arm, shoulder deep into the mare.
Chevalier watched, shocked, not exactly sure what Emily was doing until she was using her entire body to pull. She groaned, her teeth grinding as she tried to pull the foal free. She panted and again pulled with all of her strength when she suddenly flew back and landed hard against the ground.
“Gah, slippery bugger!” she screamed, and sunk her hand back into the mare.
Emily was sweating now, her shirt was stained, and her hair was plastered to her head. She pulled again and again and Chevalier considered putting an end to it, but wasn’t ready to face her wrath. Emily gave one last scream and pulled two long thin legs out just as Patra gave what Chevalier could only describe as a bellow. A loud, sloshing sound accompanied the rest of the foal emerging and Emily quickly began to clear its mouth.
Patra raised her head and craned her neck to begin licking the foal, which was already fighting to stand. The colt stood up on shaky legs and nuzzled toward his mother and began to nurse. Emily laid back on the straw, trying to catch her breath. She was soaked with sweat and covered in blood, but she was smiling.
Chevalier stood and walked over to her, then looked down and smiled, “It’s a boy.”
Emily nodded, completely exhausted.
He reached a hand out to her, “Come on, get some sleep.”
She shook her head, “I can’t. I need to keep an eye on him for a while,” she said, and then sat up with considerable effort.
“Can’t I get someone to do that?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“No, he’s my responsibility.” She sat back against the wall of the stall and watched the colt eat.
He sighed, “I have a meeting.”
“I’m ok, go. When I get done here, I’m just going to shower and go to bed.” She looked down at her clothes.
Chevalier grinned, “Good, you stink.”
She threw a handful of straw at him and he left.
Emily shut her eyes for a moment and relaxed as the colt nursed. She opened them to yell at Chevalier, but noticed the noise had come from Peanut, “Heya, Nut.”
Heku : Book 1 of the Heku Series Page 23