“Go,” Emily said.
Kyle looked up at her, “Do what?”
“Run,” she said.
“Emily…”
“I can show them how to do it properly. I can’t tackle correctly, but I can show them how to jump from a moving horse,” she explained.
Kyle sighed and then blurred across the field.
The seven heku watched, grinning, as Emily took off after him and pulled her horse quickly to his side. They watched her feet carefully as she positioned herself, shifted her foot, and flew off of the horse and landed squarely on Kyle’s back. Emily slammed into him, but didn’t even knock him forward as he wrapped his arms back around her and steadied her.
The other heku blurred to them as Kyle turned around, Emily on his back.
“You know… you could at least do me a favor and pretend I knocked you down,” she said, crawling off of his back.
“Oh sorry, Em,” he said, and laughed.
She turned to the other heku and ignored their laughing, “Did you see how I did that?”
They nodded.
“Fine… let me get Patra and we’ll try again.” She whistled loudly and Patra came running back to her. She put her foot in the stirrup then took a deep breath. She was sore from her flying pseudo-tackle onto Kyle. Before she could push off, she felt strong hands lift her onto the horse.
Emily pointed Patra back to the starting point.
“You know we’re all jealous now, Captain,” one of the heku whispered, so softly that Emily could barely hear him.
She was glad she was facing the other way when she felt the blush rising to her cheeks.
“Ok... ready,” she called to them as Kyle took off across the lawn.
They repeated this pattern over and over until Patra was panting and covered with sweat. Emily was sore from all of the lassoing and also from tackling Kyle, so she called it a day.
“Good job,” she said to them and slid off of Patra stiffly.
“Em, let me put Patra up tonight,” Kyle said, taking the reins from her. She agreed and sat down on a bale of hay, then watched the heku all put away their horses as she rubbed her sore arm. It’d been a while since her rodeo days, and she wasn’t used to that kind of thing yet.
When the horses were all down for the night, she stood up stiffly and stretched her legs. Kyle smiled when he walked up to her, “That was pretty interesting.”
“What was?” she asked, heading into the palace.
“Your attempt at a tackle. I thought Travis and I taught you how to take down a heku.”
She sighed, “Not from horseback.”
Emily felt his hand on her lower back and they walked in silence. She wasn’t sure how far he was willing to take his attraction to her, but she knew at some point she would have to deal with it. Kyle was her friend and trusted guard. She wouldn’t have him beheaded, and she knew that’s exactly what Chevalier would do if he knew that Kyle had kissed her.
“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” she asked finally.
“I haven’t decided yet, maybe shooting.”
She frowned, “Guns? I thought guns couldn’t kill a heku.”
“They can’t,” he said, grinning, “But they can slow us down enough and give the guards time to... well… do more.”
She nodded, “That’s right up my alley.”
Kyle laughed, “Yes it is. Oh, I’m supposed to meet with the Elder about our progress. I have another guard coming, he’s almost here.”
She nodded, “Who?”
“No one you know.” He smiled and walked away as the strange heku came to her door.
Chapter 19 - Encala
Emily shook her head, then stepped into her room and shut the door. Allen immediately ran into her arms and she picked him up, despite the ache in her arm. Sam nodded and left. He had been staying in the stables to watch over the horses at night.
She kissed Allen’s peanut butter covered face, “Did you have a good day?”
Allen smiled up at her and nodded. Emily took him into the bathroom to wash his face off. When she got into the better light, she saw it was more than his face that was covered, so she ran a bath for him and sat on the edge of the tub to watch him play.
She heard someone out in the bedroom, “Sam?”
No one answered.
“Chev?” she called out.
When still no one answered, Emily picked Allen up out of the water and wrapped him in a towel, then carried him into the next room.
Emily looked around the large bedroom and didn’t see anyone. She sat Allen down on the floor when she got the feeling she was being watched. Allen quickly ditched his towel and began to play with a toy truck on the floor.
A sound behind her made Emily jump, and she turned to face a strange heku. He wore dark red robes and bore the signature tattoo of the Encala. Emily narrowed her eyes and dropped into a defensive crouch.
The Encala grinned and took a step towards her.
“Who are you?” she asked, her hands balled into fists.
“A friend. I came to see why the Equites have allowed a mortal in their palace,” he said, and took a step to the side. He was now between her and the door.
“Get out,” she ordered.
The Encala inhaled deeply and looked back at her with the look of a predator, “Seems to me, they just needed a donor close.”
She glared at him, “Get out, now.”
He took a step toward her and ran his tongue across his lips, then crouched down, ready to spring.
“Allen, run!” Emily screamed just as the Encala jumped at her, pinning her to the ground with his teeth at her neck.
Emily’s training flooded back to her, and she saw Allen open the door and run out as the Encala sunk his teeth into her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fight for long, so she positioned her hands on his head and cranked his head to the side. The grotesque sound of crunching bones sounded through the room.
The Encala screamed. A scream that echoed through the hallway and she heard the rush of feet coming toward her. She tried to move the heku off of her, but he weighed too much and was quickly healing and his hands still pinned her to the ground.
The heavy weight on her chest was lifted suddenly as the Encala was thrown across the room and smashed into the stone walls. Emily quickly got to her feet and covered her neck as the blood seeped through her fingers. She swayed a bit before stumbling into the bathroom and locked the door. She could hear the sounds of a heku being torn apart in her bedroom and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine it.
Emily grabbed a towel from the warming rack and pushed it tightly against her neck to stop the bleeding. When she wrenched the heku’s head to the side, he took a small chunk of her with him.
As the sounds in the bedroom stopped, she heard a light knock on the bathroom door.
“Lady Emily?” she heard a strange voice call to her. She wasn’t about to open the door to another strange heku.
“Get Chevalier,” she said, sinking to the ground.
Emily heard footsteps as the heku ran off, but the voices in her room let her know she still wasn’t alone. Grabbing the counter for support, she stood up, still shaky, and opened the door to her room, then stepped out and looked around, astonished. There was blood everywhere and pieces of heku strewn around.
Emily tried to take a few steps, still clutching the towel to her neck, but she stumbled and felt strong arms lift her. She looked into the eyes of a strange heku as the world began to spin, then she saw his dark green cape and Equites crest pin, and laid her head against his shoulder.
She heard Chevalier growl as he entered the bedroom and she looked up to see a horde of guards follow him in, one of them carrying naked Allen.
“Clean this up,” he ordered, and took Emily from the guard.
“I can walk,” she said, and he put her down, but kept an arm on her shoulder. She followed him out of the room and into Kyle’s room across the hallway where she sat down on his bed.
Chevalier knelt down beside her and took the towel away from her neck, “It’s not too bad,” he said angrily.
Emily leaned back on Kyle’s bed.
“Emily?” Chevalier asked in a panic.
“I’m ok, just let me lay down for a second.” She shut her eyes and took some deep breaths.
“What happened?” She felt him sit down beside her.
“I heard someone out in the bedroom, it was an Encala. He just… well… attacked,” she said, and heard a low growl.
“Stay lying down, I’ll be right back,” Chevalier told her, and then stormed out of the room.
Emily tried not to listen to him, but it was hard, he was shouting. She heard the other Elders join him in their bedroom and the door slammed. With the outer door shut, she could only hear voices shouting angrily, but couldn’t make out the words. She cringed, thinking how badly someone was going to get into trouble for this. The door opened and slammed again and then Kyle’s voice joined in the angry shouting.
Emily got to her feet and found she was steady again. She dropped the towel by the door and walked out into the hallway. She gasped, the guard assigned to her while Kyle was away was lying in a bloody heap outside of her door. She knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you ok?” she asked him, rolling him over.
She looked down into his face. His eyes were open and fixed, and she wasn’t sure he was even breathing. She put a hand on his chest and waited, but it didn’t move. Tears came to her eyes. He died trying to protect her.
Kyle stepped out of the doorway and put a hand on her arm, pulling her up.
“Is he dead?” she asked, looking into his eyes.
He nodded, “Come in here, Em.”
Emily nodded and walked into her room. There had to be more than thirty heku guards in there, but at least the blood and body parts were gone. They all looked at her when she walked in, and she covered the gash on her neck, she knew they were staring at it.
“You said he was Encala?” Chevalier asked her, concerned.
She nodded.
“Did he say why he was here?”
“The Encala wondered why the Equites allowed a mortal to live in the palace,” she said guiltily.
“Then he attacked?” Elder Leonid asked.
Emily nodded and then whispered, “I think I better go live on the island.”
“You belong here with us,” Elder Maleth said.
She shook her head, “That poor heku out there died trying to protect me. I’m not worth it. I’m just a mortal, and no one else needs to die.”
There was a rumble through the guard ranks. One heku stepped forward, he was one of the guards Emily was helping train for the Cavalry.
“I’ll guard her, and I’d die to protect her,” he said proudly.
Emily reached down and picked up Allen, then disappeared into the nursery, shutting the door. She didn’t want to cry in front of the guards. They didn’t get it. It would be safer for them all if she left.
She got Allen dressed and interested in a toy and then walked back out into the room. There were only the Elders and a handful of guards left, and they all watched as she slipped a suitcase out from under the bed and started to pack.
“Emily,” Chevalier said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“He didn’t need to die,” she said, and threw some clothes into the suitcase.
“Don’t leave, please,” Elder Leonid asked.
“I’ve done what I can to teach your guards how to take care of and ride a horse. Kyle can do the rest, and then they can train the others,” she suggested, and looked around the room for her riding gloves.
“You aren’t a mere mortal, Emily. You’re the last Winchester,” Maleth said. She cringed as the guards all looked at her and began to talk among themselves.
Chevalier turned to them and silenced them with a glare, “Get out.”
They all turned immediately and blurred from the room. Kyle shut the door behind them and walked over beside Chevalier.
“If you’re worried about losing your precious weapon, then don’t be… I’ll be safer on the island now that the other factions think I’m here.” She jumped up onto her suitcase and zipped it shut.
“Emily, when we swore you in at the coronation, you became more than a weapon, you became one of us, royalty, if you will. You belong here in the palace with Chevalier,” Maleth said softly.
“I’m tired of heku dying for me,” she told Maleth, turning to look at him.
“It’s their duty,” Leonid said plainly.
There was a knock on the door and an older heku walked in with a black bag.
“Oh good,” Chevalier said, pointing to Emily.
She backed up, “What?”
Chevalier grinned, “Don’t worry. He was a doctor before joining the heku.”
Emily moved back more, “How handy for you… but no, I don’t need a doctor.”
The doctor looked at Chevalier questioningly. Chevalier turned to the others in the room, “If you would, please, give us a moment.”
Emily headed out with them, but Chevalier pulled her back by her arm, “Not you.”
He held her arm when she tried to pull free, “I don’t need a doctor.”
“Yes you do,” Chevalier countered.
“Look, it already quit bleeding,” she said, and pointed at her neck, careful not to touch it, it was extremely tender.
The doctor looked at her neck and moved toward her, “Let me see.”
She tried to back away from him, but Chevalier held her tightly. Emily glared at him the entire time the doctor poked and prodded her neck wound.
“Pretty nasty, but it is clotted already. She’ll need B12 and Folic Acid. There’s a lot of scarred tissue on her neck. That’s going to start taking longer to heal if the bites don’t stop,” he said, and wrote something down in a small notebook.
Chevalier growled and Emily pulled her collar up to cover her neck.
“What about the bruises?” Chevalier asked.
“What?” she gasped.
“Bruises?” the doctor asked, looking up.
“Let it go,” she said to Chevalier icily.
“She got kicked by a horse, back and front of her chest,” Chevalier said, ignoring her.
Emily ripped her arm away from him and crossed her arms on her chest, “I am fine.”
“I could take a quick look, Child…” He started, but her glare stopped him.
“Not if you want to keep your hands,” she snapped.
Chevalier laughed, “Just let him look at your back at least.”
“Let him look at your back.”
“Mine’s not injured,” he said, amused.
“Neither is mine.” She turned to the doctor, “And for your information… I’m not a child.”
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to offend you,” the doctor said. He had kind eyes and an angelic face. Emily was trying not to like him, but his smile was warm and sincere.
Chevalier nodded at the doctor and he left, still smiling. Emily could hear him talking softly to the heku outside of her room.
“What the hell was that?” Emily asked, turning to Chevalier.
“I just wanted him to take a look, Em,” he said, squaring his shoulders off. Emily’s eyes narrowed, she recognized his stance, and he was ready for an argument.
“Next time you decide to treat me like your child instead of your wife, why don’t you warn me first and I’ll be sure to leave,” she scowled.
“Calm down, all I saw was you covered in blood.” She looked down and saw that her shirt was drenched in blood.
“And the bruises? Nice funny afterthought?”
“I figured while he was here…” Chevalier seemed truly honest.
“I should leave,” she said to him, no longer angry.
He shook his head, “You are more protected here.”
“Someone died defending me, and that’s not right.”
Chevalier
walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, “It is right. You have to understand that the people here in this palace will defend you to the death, it’s their choice.”
“The attacks haven’t been any better since I left the ranch,” she said softly.
“Why didn’t you ash him?” Chevalier asked, the question on everyone’s mind.
“I thought we didn’t want anyone to know,” she reminded him, looking into his eyes.
He smiled, “Ash them, Em, don’t let them get near you.”
She nodded and yawned into her hand.
Chevalier smiled, “Go to bed, I’ll put Allen down.
She walked into the bathroom, changed into a nightgown, and then curled up in bed. She watched Chevalier walk past her with Allen, and disappear into his room. Emily thought for a few minutes, though she was so tired, it was hard to stay awake. She wasn’t sure if it was the long hours with the Cavalry or just stress, but she was always tired.
Chevalier smiled when Allen finally fell asleep in his arms. The toddler didn’t want to sleep anymore, and it was taking longer and longer to get him to bed. Chevalier heard footsteps in the next room and stepped out of the nursery, shutting the door softly. He headed across the room and stopped when Kyle came in carrying Emily. He gently laid her down in bed and went back to the hallway.
Chevalier followed Kyle out of the room and shut the door behind him.
“Headed downstairs again,” Kyle said, sitting in a chair by another guard.
“That’s it… I say we follow her all the way tonight,” Chevalier said, sitting down. Both Kyle and the guard nodded.
It wasn’t more than two hours later when Emily appeared in the doorway again. Chevalier, Kyle, and the other guard followed her as she slowly descended the stairs, never talking, never looking around. It was almost ethereal, the way she moved, gliding along with no expression. Again she got to the brick wall then reached out and touched the trigger to open the secret door.
The guard raised an eyebrow at Kyle, who motioned for him to follow. Emily walked slowly down the stairs, making no noise in her bare feet. Chevalier noticed that, although pitch black, she didn’t bump into anything and was always sure of her footing. As they entered the expanse of underground caves that made up the prison, she walked past the three stunned prison guards and took the left-most passage.
Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series Page 32