“How dare you talk to the Encala about me,” Emily said, cradling her hand.
Mark glanced at the Council, and then took a step back when they whispered to him.
“I… it was in your best interest,” Sam said, and stood up, still clutching his nose.
“Am I or am I not your master?” Emily asked him, seething.
“You are.”
“And as such, do I not deserve even a smidgen of privacy?”
“You do.”
“Yet you felt free to go and tell the Encala about my feelings, my wants, and desires… things I’ve told you in confidence?” Emily took a step towards him.
“I thought they could help you. They offered you your dreams,” Sam said, his eyes starting to swell shut.
Emily pulled the pistol out of the back of her jeans with her left hand and leveled it at Sam.
“Emily,” Chevalier said softly from the council stand.
Sam dropped to his knees, “Please, forgive me.”
“I’m done with you,” Emily said, and pulled back the hammer.
Sam cringed, but opened his eyes when Mark spoke, “Let me do it, you aren’t a killer.”
Emily nodded and handed the gun to Mark. He glanced at the Council and then leveled it at Sam, shooting him directly between the eyes. The gunshot rang through the palace, and suddenly, the trial area was full of frantic guards. Mark whispered and they all looked at him and then returned to their posts.
“Emily?” Maleth said softly.
She turned around and he frowned at her swollen hand, “Does that mean you aren’t taking the Encala up on their offer?”
Emily frowned, “Why would I do that?”
Quinn shrugged, “You went to think…”
“Yeah, about whether to get rid of Sam or not. Damn, you all seriously doubt my loyalty to the Equites don’t you?” Emily asked, irritated.
She turned and took the gun from Mark, and then grumbled as she left the chambers, “I need to learn to how punch with breaking my own damned hand.”
Mark couldn’t help but grin when the door shut, and he turned back to the Council.
“I guess we’re done interrogating him,” Zohn said, irritated, as he looked at Sam’s body.
Mark looked up and stepped out of the trial area, shutting the door behind him.
“We shouldn’t be surprised. She’s always been very loyal to this faction,” Maleth said.
“True,” Quinn replied, deep in thought.
“He needed to go. Emily hasn’t trusted him since he kept Allen’s secret from us,” Chevalier said, and then he looked up when Mark came returned.
“Lord and Lady Thukil would like a moment,” Mark told them.
Quinn nodded, “That’s fine, show them in.”
A short, squat heku walked in, dressed in elaborately decorated velvet green clothing that was puffed around the legs and thighs. Beside him walked an older stout woman in a velvet green dress that always reminded the Equites Council of the southern belles before the civil war. The two of them were always smiling and warm. They had the second largest coven in the Equites, just a few hundred heku short of Chevalier’s island.
“Good to see you again.” Quinn smiled at them.
“Always good to come to Council City,” Lord Thukil said.
Maleth smiled, “What can we do for you?”
“Well,” Lord Thukil said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve come to talk to Lady Emily, actually. We wanted to offer her our coven for a week, to see if she would mind coming for a visit.”
Chevalier chuckled, “That’s different.”
Lord Thukil’s belly shook when he laughed, “Yes, yes it is a bit unorthodox. You see… our elite guards, our Cavalry, were on the front lines of the battle with the Valle. A lot of them were hurt and were shipped to Island Coven to recover.”
Chevalier nodded and turned to the Council, “Emily wouldn’t leave the injured alone. She spent hours out there holding their hands and helping as she could.”
Maleth frowned, “There’s no way to help a heku recover.”
“She highly impressed our most choice guards,” Lord Thukil explained. “They said they’ve never before seen such compassion from human or heku. They said that every time she touched them, they felt a little more comforted and that it helped in the healing process… helped the pain lessen, if you will.”
“We had reports though that she killed some of them,” Zohn said, still irritated at the thought.
“Yes, we heard that also… but do you know she asked them first? If they were in pain and weren’t able to heal, she gave them the option of helping them out of their pain,” Lord Thukil said. “It’s almost embarrassing. We leave our injured alone to heal, that’s just our way. That child broke tradition and somehow managed to work her way into the hearts of some of our most aggressive guards.”
Kyle laughed, “She does have a way of doing that.”
“Our guards have asked if she can visit. They want to show their appreciation,” Lady Thukil said, her voice was high pitched and rather squeaky.
Chevalier grinned slightly, “I’ve actually been afraid of her going to Thukil Coven.”
Lord Thukil’s smile faltered and he frowned, “Why is that?”
“She may never leave,” Chevalier chuckled.
Lord Thukil grinned, “I’m sure we could accommodate her.”
“I see no problem with Lady Emily going to Thukil Coven for a week,” Quinn said, and glanced at the Council. “Anyone opposed?”
None of the Council opposed the idea.
“Emily would need to bring Alexis,” Chevalier told them. “She doesn’t like to be away from the baby.”
Lady Thukil squealed, “Oh! That would be wonderful!”
“Mark, please ask Emily to come,” Chevalier said.
Mark nodded and blurred from the room as two heku came in and hauled Sam’s body away. He came back in and shut the door.
Chapter 21 - Thukil
“It’s going to be a bit, while she… gets… bandaged up,” Mark said, and grinned slightly.
Lady Thukil gasped, “Is she injured?”
“She… umm…” Mark looked up at Chevalier. “She injured her hand.”
Chevalier added, “Again.”
Emily came in a short time later with her hand in a black brace. She blushed when everyone looked at her, and then walked up to the Council, skirting around the Thukils.
“What’d I do now?” Emily asked, and glanced back when the Thukils laughed.
“Emily, this is Lord and Lady Thukil. They have the other coven that was attacked by the Valle,” Chevalier explained.
Emily smiled and turned to them, “I owe three of your heku some thanks. They jumped into the water with me, and then killed the Valle just after I threatened to ash them.”
Lord Thukil laughed heartily, “They neglected to mention the threat.”
Emily blushed again, “Well, thank them for me, please.”
“We were hoping you could thank them yourself,” Lord Thukil said with a smile.
Emily watched him curiously, “Are they here?”
“The Lady and I are actually here to ask if you would come to our coven for a week… call it a vacation.”
Emily smiled, “Really?”
Lady Thukil nodded, “Yes, the guards are very anxious to see you again. A lot of them, you nursed on the grass of Island Coven.”
“Thukil Coven,” Chevalier explained, “Is an... agricultural coven.”
Emily’s face lit up, “There’s an agricultural coven?”
Lord Thukil nodded, “Yes, one of the few.”
“And I can come?”
Lord Thukil chuckled, “Yes, Child.”
“Now?”
“Yes, you can come now.”
“Alexis?”
“Bring the baby,” Lady Thukil said, smiling.
“I’d need Silas,” Emily said, and turned to the Council.
“You may take any of our Cavalry with yo
u,” Maleth told her.
She jumped, excited, and ran for the door “Let me go pack!”
Chevalier couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t seen her this excited in a while.
“Just a word of warning, though,” Quinn said. “Emily’s abilities interfere with the creation process.”
“Interesting,” Lord Thukil said. “We have none planned, so that won’t be a problem.”
“I think this may be an opportunity for us to do some ourselves,” Zohn said, pulling out a stack of papers to go through.
Within the hour, Emily, Alexis, and Silas were on a helicopter heading for a coven in northern Texas. After two fuel stops, they arrived just as it started to get dark, so Emily wasn’t able to get a good look at what the Thukil’s called, “the Ranch”.
Emily looked out of the helicopter doors as she held the sleeping baby in her arms. She smiled when a path was made from the helicopter into a mansion by mounted guards with vibrant green shirts and green capes.
“Emily, meet our Cavalry… we had the first in the faction,” Lord Thukil said.
Emily saw a guard appear beside her and put an arm out to help her out of the helicopter. She jumped down onto the grass and inhaled deeply. The Ranch smelled like her home in Montana, and she smiled and followed the guard past the Cavalry and into the mansion.
She looked up when she got inside. The mansion was homey and warm. There were no hidden servants. They all came out to greet her when she walked in. Emily handed Alexis over to Silas, so she could shake their hands.
“We were going to wait until morning for this, but the Captain of the Cavalry is most anxious to see you,” Lord Thukil said.
“For what?” Emily asked, shaking the hand of another servant as they bowed to her and welcomed her to the Ranch.
“Come, Child, we will show you,” Lord Thukil said, and motioned her toward a door.
Emily followed his lead and gasped when he opened the door to a large banquet hall. There were hundreds of heku guards gathered, and they all turned toward her. Her heart skipped a beat and she had the urge to run, but caught the eyes of some of the guards and felt herself relaxing. Their eyes were kind and inviting. She didn’t see any of them look at her with hatred.
“You ok, Em?” Silas asked from behind her.
She nodded and then walked toward the large heku at the end of the room. He had his hand out to her and was smiling softly. He was close to seven feet tall with broad shoulders and muscles that threatened to break out of his uniform. As she got closer, she saw that he had shoulder length brown hair and soft blue eyes.
“My Dear, Lady Emily, thank you for coming,” he said to her when she approached.
Emily stood back from him and smiled, “Thank you for inviting me.”
“I’m Darren, Captain of the Thukil Cavalry,” he said, and took her hand. “It is my pleasure to have you in our home.”
Emily blushed and glanced back at Alexis. She was still asleep in Silas’s arms.
“You may wonder why we’re all gathered here.”
Emily nodded, “Yes, sort of.”
Darren smiled, “We are here to induct you into the Thukil Cavalry.”
Emily glanced at Silas and then back to Darren, “Really? An actual member?”
Darren nodded, “Yes, never before has anyone… human or heku, shown such kindness to this guard staff, and we would be honored if you would join our ranks.”
Emily smiled, “I would love that.”
Darren stepped forward and pinned a platinum hoof on Emily’s shirt, the center was an emerald ‘T’.
“Thank you,” Emily said, and pulled the pin up to look at it.
“No… thank you. We have taken the liberty of talking to your tailor, and there’s an official uniform in your room. Please feel free to wear it while you are here. You are inducted at the rank of Commander,” Darren explained.
Emily nodded, still in shock at being a member of the guard staff.
“Please meet, Commander Emily,” Darren said to the gathered heku, and the entire hall erupted in claps and cheers. Emily turned to look at them and felt the blush return to her face.
“Come, Child, there is some dinner waiting for you. You must be hungry,” Darren said, putting a hand on her back gently. Emily walked up the aisle with him and felt like a child next to his hulking size.
“I’m going to take Alexis to bed,” Silas said, and when Emily nodded, he followed one of the servants up the main staircase.
Darren led her into a large hall. She was relieved to see there were only about thirty of the guards in this room. Emily smiled when she recognized some of them from the Island’s lawn. One of them ran up to her and pulled her into a hug. Her feet dangled off of the floor and she wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank you… so many times, thank you,” he said, and sat her back down.
“It’s so good to see you again.” Emily smiled. A servant came by with a tray of tiny finger sandwiches and Emily grabbed one, suddenly hungry. Another came by with glasses of champagne and Emily noticed there were five or six of them wandering around with various foods, even though she was the only mortal in the room.
“Lady Emily?” she heard, and turned toward three towering heku. She wondered briefly if this entire coven was made of massive heku.
“You may not recognize us…” one of them said, but Emily ran into his arms.
“Thank you for coming into the water with me,” she whispered, and then turned to the next and also hugged him.
“You do recognize us.” He smiled.
“Of course! It’s not often I threaten to ash someone who turns around and saves me two seconds later.”
They all laughed and more guards joined them.
Emily hugged the last one, “I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was our pleasure,” he said, grinning. “It’s not often we get to stage a water rescue.”
“Yeah, I bet not,” she said.
“I see you are injured though, are you ok?” he asked, glancing briefly at her braced hand.
“Oh that? No, the hand wasn’t during that… I’m just accident prone.”
“Good to know, we’ll pad your room.” Darren laughed from behind her.
“Actually I punched someone and broke my hand.” She blushed.
Darren chuckled, “First course of action… we teach our new Commander how to hit.”
One of the guards nodded, “Good call.”
Emily was surprised when she saw a lot of the heku guards with a glass of champagne in their hand. The bottles seemed to be flowing, and Emily sipped on hers and watched the guards interact with one another. Late into the night she danced, and drank, and ate. It seemed everyone wanted to talk to her, and by 3am, she was dead on her feet.
“I think I’ll turn in,” she said, swaying slightly. She had lost count of how many glasses of champagne she drank, but it was more than usual, and she was feeling tipsy.
“Hannah, come!” Darren called out, and a young blond heku came up to Emily.
“Come, I’ll show you to your room,” Hannah said.
Emily nodded and followed her out of the large room. Hannah led her through the halls until the heku opened a door and stepped aside.
“Thank you,” Emily said, and walked into the room.
Hannah turned on the lights, “I will be outside of your door if you need anything.”
Emily nodded and shut the door. The room was fairly large, with a soft feather bed in the center and a fire in the fireplace. Emily’s bags sat on a desk off to the side of the bed. She saw three doors in the room. The first went to a bathroom, the second to a closet with only one garment bag hanging, and the other looked directly into where Alexis was sleeping. Silas watched her sleep and rocked in the chair. He smiled at Emily when she peeked in.
Emily pulled her nightgown out of the bag and was soon asleep under the fluffy down comforter.
She woke up and almost laughed when she heard a rooster crowing. She inhal
ed and savored the smells she associated with home, the fresh cut hay, the freshly cut logs by the fire, even the cow pasture.
Emily sat up and looked around the room. The fire was still going and it was warm and cozy. She crawled out of bed and walked into the room with Alexis. Alexis was sitting on the floor playing with a wooden horse on wheels.
“Mommy!” she yelled, and jumped into Emily’s arms
Emily kissed her cheek, “You’re up early.”
Silas nodded, “Roosters.”
“I love it!” Emily grinned and kissed Alexis again, “Can you believe I’m a member of their Cavalry?”
Silas grinned, “Quite an honor, their Cavalry is legendary.”
“Guess I better see how bad the uniform is. I hope all they got from my tailors was the size.” Emily laughed and headed into her room. She pulled the garment bag down from the closet and zipped it open. She was happy to see that for the most part, the uniform was the same, with a few feminine touches that she was positive were suggested by Margaret.
Emily stripped and slipped on the jeans first, regular blue jeans, but there were heart cut-outs down both of her legs and they fit low on her hips, but were comfortable. The shirt was Equites green and was embroidered with an intricate golden pattern. It had a collared neck with a diamond cut out on her chest and a small emerald dangled from the top of the diamond shape. The sleeves were long, but there was a small gather at the top that added a slight pouf. The one part of the shirt that worried her was the length. It didn’t reach all the way to the waist of her jeans, so there would always be a band of skin showing and the shirt was fitted and hugged every curve.
Emily looked into the bag and pulled out a pair of new black cowboy boots. She slipped them on and then looked at the cape. She had seen this exact cape on every guard she’d ever come across in the Equites faction. She slung it around her neck and fastened it with the Equites crest. Last, she pulled the Cavalry Commander pin from her t-shirt and hooked it to her left collar.
Emily turned and looked into the mirror, and she couldn’t help but laugh. They had turned her into a miniature feminine guard.
Emily stepped into Alexis’ room, and Silas stood up, his mouth wide, “Wow.”
Emily blushed, “What do you think?”
Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series Page 48
