Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “We can,” said one of the other heku. “We just aren’t supposed to.”

  The drinks were delivered first. Emily held her shot glass up, “Here’s to following orders.”

  She grinned as the others toasted and they all downed their shots quickly.

  “Another round,” Frank said to the waitress.

  “I can’t drink much. I have to drive,” she said.

  “I can drive us home,” Frank told her.

  “Not if you’re drunk you don’t.”

  “We don’t get drunk,” he said, laughing.

  She frowned, “Then why drink?”

  “The taste, it’s second only to blood,” Silas said.

  “Then why is it banned?” Emily yelled over the music.

  Silas looked at Nelson, “Well...”

  “What?”

  “Nothing to worry about, we’re fine,” Nelson said, smiling, and he downed his second shot.

  Emily nodded and downed her second shot, and then cut into the steak. They talked about nothing of importance while she ate. She quit counting the number of shots the guards did, but she stopped herself at three.

  “Oh!” Emily said when the music changed. “I love this song!”

  Emily scooted out of the booth and ran to the dance floor. She joined the line dance as it started, and laughed when she saw the three heku also join. She was surprised to see they knew the dance and were actually good at it. When the line dance ended, the band started a slow song.

  “Shall we?” Frank asked, putting his hand out.

  “Well, we’re breaking all of the rules anyway,” Emily said, and took his hand. He twirled her expertly around the dance floor, leading with a strong hand to the small of her back.

  “You’re a good dancer, I’m impressed,” Emily said, laughing.

  “You sound surprised,” Frank said, and grinned.

  After the dance, they went back to the booth. Silas and Nelson were downing yet another shot. She slid into the booth and ordered a coke.

  “Excuse me, Ma’am,” a local cowboy said. “Would you like to dance?”

  “No thank you, I have a jealous husband,” she explained, and then smiled.

  The cowboy looked at the three large men sitting beside her and nodded.

  “Are you sure you’re not going to get sick or something?” Emily asked when the guards ordered another round of shots.

  “We’re just getting started,” Silas said, grinning.

  “Hey, pretty thing.” Another local came up. This one smelled like old alcohol and cheap cologne, “Ditch these losers and come dance with me.”

  “No, thank you,” she said, smiling at him.

  “I said come dance with me,” he took her hand, but she pulled it away from him.

  “No,” she said, again.

  “The Lady said no,” Silas said, glaring at the man. He finally stumbled off.

  “You didn’t tell me, what affect does alcohol have? It has to be bad to have been banned,” she asked, sipping her coke.

  “The Elders believe it tends to make us violent, but I disagree,” Nelson said.

  Emily laughed, “Aren’t you violent anyway?”

  “That we are!” The three toasted and drank another shot.

  “I’ll be right back,” Emily said, and left for the ladies room.

  On her way back to the booth, Emily was pushed back against the wall and felt hands at her waist. It was the cologne covered local, “I said, I want to dance.”

  ***

  “… and the bear sat down with his friends,” Chevalier said, and turned the page of Allen’s book. “Good night friends, he said.”

  Chevalier looked down at Allen, and he was fast asleep. He kissed him lightly on the forehead and walked out of his room and then heard Kyle call him into the hallway.

  “Try to not be upset, ok?” Kyle asked, turning to him.

  Chevalier sighed, “I hate when you start a conversation like that.”

  Kyle smiled sympathetically, “The police department called.”

  “And?” Chevalier asked, frowning.

  “Bail has been set for Emily, Silas, Frank, and Nelson at $1,000 each,” Kyle winced.

  “They are in jail?” Chevalier hissed.

  “Apparently.”

  “What for?”

  “Bar fight,” Kyle said, and took a step back.

  “Why did they call you?” Chevalier asked, and then frowned.

  “Because they don’t want you to know, but I’m not that brave,” Kyle said, grinning slightly.

  “Go get her Durango. I’ll go bail at least one of them out,” he scowled, and walked down the stairs slowly.

  Chevalier drove to the police department and sat outside, calming himself. He took a deep breath and walked into the red brick building.

  “May I help you?” a policeman at the front desk asked.

  “I’m here to bail out my wife,” Chevalier said, pulling out his wallet.

  “Name?”

  “Emily Russo.”

  “Here we go…” The officer read through the papers. “What about her three companions?”

  “Yeah, I guess them too.” Chevalier decided he could punish them much worse than a night in jail could.

  “That’ll be four thousand dollars bail,” the officer said, and took Chevalier’s credit card.

  “Bar fight was it?” Chevalier asked.

  “Yes, Sir,” the officer confirmed.

  “Then why was Emily arrested?” he questioned further.

  “The little gal? She was right in the middle of it,” the officer said, handing Chevalier a bag. “Here are their things.”

  Chevalier followed him back into the holding cells. The officer left as Chevalier looked into the cell. Emily was in a cell alone, and the three heku were in one together.

  “This is becoming too common, Emily,” Chevalier said, looking at her.

  She stood up, not quite sure what to say.

  “Should we just start reserving a cell for you?”

  “Where’s Kyle?” she asked, sitting on the hard bed.

  “Whose blood is on your shirt?” he asked.

  Emily shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s not mine though… I called for Kyle.”

  “He’s getting your Durango from the bar. A fight, seriously?” Chevalier asked into the cell with the guards.

  They were standing at attention and Silas finally spoke, “Sorry, Sir. It was… unavoidable.”

  “We’ll see about that… come on, let’s get out of here,” Chevalier said. He growled when he smelled alcohol on all four of them.

  “In the front,” Chevalier hissed, when Emily tried to crawl into the backseat with the guards. She swallowed hard and moved to the front seat.

  Chevalier put the Humvee into drive and drove out toward the palace.

  It was quiet for a few, tense moments.

  “There better be a good explanation,” Chevalier said.

  “There is, Sir,” Frank said. “We were just having some fun and…”

  “Drinking,” he snapped.

  Frank sighed, “Yes, drinking. This mortal came and wanted to dance with Emily, and she said no, but he grabbed her hand.”

  Chevalier’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Emily sat, quiet and still, and watched out the window.

  “She pulled it back and the guy left, we thought it was over,” Frank continued. “Then when she was coming back from the ladies room, he pinned her against the wall. We had to do something about that.”

  “How did you end up in jail then?” he asked, glancing at her.

  She sighed, “It was five on three, and it didn’t seem fair so… well...”

  “So she jumped on the back of the guy hitting me from behind,” Silas said, trying not to grin.

  “Emily…” Chevalier growled.

  “How fair is that? Five on three, and that guy was just hitting Silas while he was fighting with another guy,” Emily said, frowning.

  “Five on three is
not a fair fight, you are right,” Chevalier said. “Three heku guards should be able to take out close to thirty mortals at once.”

  “We didn’t know she joined in, honest, until the bouncer pulled her off of the guy’s back,” Nelson said.

  “Well I saw the bouncer touch Emily and then…” Frank sighed, “I had to take care of him, too.”

  “I see,” Chevalier said.

  “How mad are you?” Emily asked him.

  “Are you injured?” he asked her, still watching the road.

  “No”

  “Not at all?”

  “No,” she said, watching him.

  “I’m pretty mad,” he said, turning into the city’s gates. He was waved in by the front guards.

  He pulled over at the guard’s barracks, “Report to Kyle first thing in the morning.”

  The three nodded and stepped out.

  “How drunk are you?” Chevalier asked, pulling back onto the road.

  “I’m not drunk,” she answered, irritated.

  “I smell alcohol,” he said.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t drink… but I’m not drunk,” she said, watching out the window, “And I don’t appreciate the feeling that I’m about to get grounded or sent to the principal’s office.”

  “How much did the guards drink?” He ignored her comment.

  “I’m not their mother, I don’t know,” she said. She knew he’d be mad if he knew how much those three had put down.

  “How much did you drink?” he asked, pulling into the garage.

  “I don’t know, Daddy,” she scowled at him. She looked over and saw her Durango parked in its spot.

  She pulled the keys from her purse and walked toward the Durango. Chevalier appeared between her and the door before she could get the key ready.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, sternly.

  “I’m going to get the other three, and we’re staying in a hotel tonight,” she said, trying to push him out of the way. She growled in frustration when he didn’t budge.

  “No”

  “No?”

  “That’s right… No.” He crossed his arms.

  “You can’t tell me no. I’m not one of your stooges.”

  “I can tell you ‘no’ because you’ve been drinking, and I don’t want you driving,” he said, pulling the keys out of her hand.

  “Do you want a fight? Is that it? We haven’t fought in a while, so you’re picking one now?” she asked, moving toe-to-toe with him.

  “You two just calm down,” Kyle said, walking up to them.

  Emily spun and slapped him before he could react, “I told you not to tell him.”

  “Yeah and I’m more afraid of him than I am of you,” Kyle said, shrugging. “How drunk are you?”

  “None… of… your… business,” she said, pushing him with each word.

  “You should ask how drunk your guards are,” Chevalier said, stepping toward them.

  “My… my guards… they were drinking?” Kyle asked, shocked.

  Chevalier nodded, “Yes, and when they picked a fight, Emily joined in because it was five on three… and that wasn’t fair.”

  “They didn’t pick the fight! Those mortals did,” Emily corrected, furiously.

  “I told them to report to you in the morning,” Chevalier told him.

  “To hell with that! I’m going to get them tonight,” Kyle said, heading for the door.

  He stopped when he felt a hand on his arm, “Leave them alone.”

  “This is none of your concern,” he told her, and pulled his arm away from her grasp.

  “It is because this is my fault. I picked the bar instead of a restaurant. I’m the one that got pushed around by some mortal. They did nothing wrong,” she said, angrily.

  “They drank. I don’t care about the bar fight, though I am concerned that you felt the need to jump into it,” Kyle said, stepping toward her.

  “I told them to drink. It was an order,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “Oh really?”

  “Yes”

  “Well the order not to drink came from the Elders, and that’s higher up than you are,” he blurred from the garage.

  “Come on, Em, upstairs,” Chevalier said, taking her arm.

  She tried to pull away, but his grasp was too tight.

  “Stop it, right now,” she said.

  He turned to her.

  “You have no right to treat me like this. I can go out drinking every night if I want. I can get sloshed off my ass and dance until my feet bleed. You can’t do anything about it!” she yelled.

  “Fine,” he roared, and blurred into the palace.

  She walked in, scowling, and went up to her room. She pulled on an old t-shirt and went to bed.

  Emily woke up when Sam took Allen down for breakfast. Her head hurt a little, so she took a few aspirin, and got dressed quickly. Today was the day off of cavalry training, but she still wanted to see the three heku from last night. She threw her hair into a high pony, and ran out of the palace and into the stable.

  She slipped a bridle on Patra, and jumped up onto her, bareback, kicking her into a gallop. She had to stop and ask directions twice, but finally saw the barracks. She slid off of the mare and tied her to a post, then stood outside of the barracks. She wondered if she was allowed inside, and then shrugged and opened the door.

  All eyes turned to Emily when she entered. She looked around with wide eyes. The entire barracks was one large room. There were no beds, just chairs with stacks of books and armor in various stages of repair.

  “What do you want?” a guard asked her, irritated.

  “I’m looking for Frank,” she said, feeling uneasy at the way he looked at her, loathingly.

  “He’s not here.”

  “Where is he?”

  “None of your business,” he hissed.

  Emily advanced on him, “Do you have a problem with me?”

  He turned and faced her, “Yes, I do.”

  Emily stopped right in front of him, and she felt the guards surround the two of them. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the path to the doorway was now filled with angry looking heku.

  “Then get it out… come on…” she said, pushing him with both hands.

  “Yeah, like I’m going to talk bad to the wifey of an Elder. Do I look stupid to you?” he asked, high-fiving another guard.

  “I don’t see him around now, have at it,” she said, scowling.

  “So you can turn me to ash? No way, Tiny,” he said, grinning down at her.

  “I don’t have to turn you to ash to kick your ass,” she said, balling her hands into fists.

  The heku laughed at her, “Pretty scary for a mortal.”

  Emily ran up to him and drew her hand back, but someone grabbed her wrist as she was about to punch him.

  She turned angrily, and then screamed when Mark threw her over his shoulder, “I’m calling general quarters,” he yelled at the guards.

  They grumbled and blurred, disappearing to somewhere Emily couldn’t see.

  “Put me down,” she ordered.

  “No,” Mark said, walking out of the barracks.

  It infuriated her when he got onto Patra, still holding her over his shoulder. He hoisted her off of his shoulder and laid her across the mare, then kicked her into a gallop.

  She struggled to get up, but his strong hands held her down, “Let me up.”

  “No,” he said, maneuvering through the city streets toward the palace.

  “I’ll ash you,” she screamed.

  “No you won’t.”

  Kyle watched as they approached the stables and his eyes grew angry, “What do you think you’re doing, Mark?”

  Kyle helped Emily down, and Mark jumped off of the mare, “Saving her life.”

  Kyle frowned, “How so?”

  “She was in the barracks… picked a fight with Kenneth,” Mark said, taking Patra back to her stall.