“I like it… very… let’s just leave it at I like it,” Silas chuckled. “Except…”
“What?” Emily looked down at herself.
Silas walked over and flipped the left side of her cape over her shoulder, and straightened her commander’s pin, “There, perfect.”
“I’m going to have to guess that the regular guards don’t have these?” she asked, and pointed to the hearts that were cut out down the sides of her jeans.
Silas laughed, “I’m thinking not.”
“You’ll be ok here?” Emily asked, and started for her room.
“Yes, we’re good,” Silas said, and sat down on the floor by Alexis.
Emily quickly pulled her hair back into a French braid and grabbed the green cowboy hat and leather riding gloves that were on the desk. She stepped out into the hallway and Hannah greeted her.
“Good morning, Commander,” Hannah said with a bow.
Emily laughed, “Not sure I’ll get used to that.”
Hannah grinned and started down the stairs, “Better get used to it. In this coven, that’s what you are.”
Emily followed her as Hannah took her to a small dining room. There was a pot of coffee and a pile of biscuits with steaming sawmill gravy, “Can I get anything else for you?”
“No, thank you,” Emily said, and sat down to eat.
“The Cavalry is already convened. The Captain said he will meet you out in the stables when you are done.”
“Ok, thanks,” Emily said, and poured herself some coffee.
Hannah bowed and left. Emily looked around and couldn’t help but smile. She already loved this coven with its rustic look and pleasant attitudes. She thought back to the hundreds of heku and not one angry or loathsome expression, they all seemed genuinely glad to have her there. She also couldn’t wait until Chevalier saw her in a guard’s uniform as an actual Commander, either.
After she ate, she walked out of the front doors and immediately saw the stables. She’d never seen such a large stable and guessed it had room for close to two hundred horses. Darren was waiting out in front of them and grinned when he saw her.
“Good morning,” he said, and put his hand out for her.
“Good morning to you, too.” She smiled and took his hand. He led her inside the colossal stables and Emily looked around, shocked. Everything was pristinely clean. All of the saddles and bridles were set out in matching pairs, and there was a conveyor that brought fresh food to the horses throughout the day.
“We need to get you a horse. You have your pick,” Darren said, and grabbed a bridle off of the wall.
Emily walked through the stables and looked into all of the stalls. She couldn’t imagine a wider variety of horses. A gray thoroughbred stallion caught her eye, and when she walked up to him, he lowered his head to her immediately. She took his head in her hands and laid her forehead against his velvety muzzle.
“Oh, you’ve met Thunder,” Darren said, and leaned against the stable wall.
“He’s gorgeous.”
“He’s yours then.”
Emily smiled and reached out for the bridle.
Darren hesitated, “Do you know how to put that on?”
“I’m sure I can figure it out.”
Darren watched as she quickly bridled the horse and led him out into the corridor.
“Oh dang, I forgot,” he said, and blurred way. He returned less than a minute later and handed Emily a belt, holster, and an FNP-45.
“I get a gun?” Emily asked, slipping the holster onto the belt and then fastening it around her hips.
“We thought it might help if you had a weapon.” He smiled and handed her a lasso as soon as she holstered the gun, “This is a lasso, just for show mainly. It’s part of the uniform.”
Emily nodded and watched as Darren went to get her a saddle. She grinned and slipped onto the thoroughbred bareback, and walked the stallion behind the Captain.
Darren turned, his eyes wide, and then laughed, “Well aren’t you full of surprises.”
“I’ve been around a horse or two in my day,” she told him, and clicked her tongue to follow the Captain out into the training grounds.
“Cavalry!” he shouted, and seventy five mounted guards came toward them and then lined their horses up in rows.
“Meet your new Commander,” Darren said, and turned to her.
Emily blushed and nodded at them, “Hello.”
“They were just doing a training course, you may watch if you’d like,” Darren said.
“Ok, sounds like fun.” Emily followed the Cavalry as they returned to a large field.
One member brought his horse to a gate, and when the whistle sounded, he kicked his horse into a gallop. Emily watched intently as he wove his mare through eight barrels, jumped over two fences, lassoed a loose horse, and then dove off of the mare and tackled a running heku. He blurred over and caught his horse and then returned to the starting gate.
Emily clapped with the rest of them when he rode up, “That was great!”
The heku tipped the brim of his hat, “Thank you, Ma’am.”
Each of the Cavalry had to qualify on this course, so Emily watched each of them maneuver the course and then come back for their score. It took over 90 points to qualify, and no one had yet to drop below 98. They were almost done just before lunch and the guards had grown rowdy. They were now cheering loudly, and hitting one another on the back.
Emily saw one of the Cavalry’s horses take off when the heku jumped. It bucked once and ran across the pasture. She kicked her stallion hard and he jerked into a fast gallop. She leaned forward and took the lasso in her hand as her hat flew off behind her. She tested the strength of her hand and then began to twirl the lasso above her head as she neared the spooked horse.
The Cavalry all watched her, stunned at the smooth elegance she exhibited on the horse. They were motionless as they watched her race toward the rogue horse and expertly throw the lasso over its head. She then wrapped the rope around her good arm and slowly stopped her horse. The scared horse slowed with her and then walked back to her.
Emily patted the horses head and then kicked her stallion into a canter, blushing when she saw the entire Cavalry was watching her with amazed expressions.
“Been around a few horses, eh?” Darren asked she rode up.
“Yes, a few,” Emily said, and smiled.
Darren was shaking his head, “Anything else we should know?”
Emily thought, “I play a mean game of football.”
Darren laughed and rode off toward the stables. Emily grinned and followed him.
The Cavalry were all off of their horses and sitting around on the ground, relaxing in the shade. She put her horse in the corral with the others, and took a small bag from one of the servants. She sat down on the straw and pulled a sandwich out and started to eat.
“So how’d you learn to do that?” one of the guards asked, sitting beside her.
“I was raised on a ranch up in Montana, rodeod a bit, and then I trained the Council City Cavalry how to handle a horse,” she said, and leaned back against a bale of hay. It was nice to be able to visit casually with him, without Kyle watching to make sure no one touched her.
“Nice,” he said, and smiled at Darren when he walked up and sat down by them.
“That’s where the confusion came in. We thought you just sort of helped with the Cavalry. I guess I didn’t realize you trained them,” Darren said.
“Only the horse stuff, the rest I left up to their Captain.”
“So you ride, rope, nurse, punch, and play football… is that about it?” another guard asked. They were starting to migrate toward where she sat.
“I get in a lot of trouble, does that count?” she asked, finishing her sandwich.
“Doing what?” one of them asked. “I can’t imagine the wife of an Elder getting in trouble for anything.”
“Oh you’d be surprised what I get myself into trouble for.”
“Is it
true then? What they say about your heritage?” one of the guards asked, but he quieted down immediately when Darren glared at him.
“That’s rude,” Darren growled.
“No, it’s ok. Yes, I’m a Winchester,” she said.
“Can you… you know…” he asked, and got another glare from the Captain.
“Ash a heku? Yes.”
“You dim-wit, we already told you she could,” one of the guards said. Emily recognized him as one of the injured from the Island.
“Yeah… well… maybe we didn’t believe you,” he hissed back.
“Can you show us?” another guard asked, and Emily almost choked on her coke.
“No!” she said, wide eyed.
“You offering, idiot?” Darren asked, and smacked the heku upside the head.
“Rumor has it you off’d over 1800 Encala at once,” a heku in the back said.
“Damnit, you are all being rude,” Darren growled.
“No, really, it’s ok.” Emily smiled and patted the Captain’s hand, “Yes, I did, though not at once, it took me a few minutes.”
Everyone fell silent, and when Emily looked up, they were glancing nervously at each other.
She grinned, “I have control, it’s ok.”
“I want to see it,” someone from the back said.
Emily chuckled, “Is that an offer?”
“Do it!” another yelled.
Emily laughed and took another drink. She watched the playful banter of the guards and with the sounds and smells of the ranch, she felt a sense of belonging. None of them seemed afraid of her or embarrassed that she was made a member of their elite guard.
“So what’s up for this afternoon?” Emily asked.
Darren shrugged, “Boring patrols through the city. I’ve set you up with a team you’ll lead.”
“Erm… lead?” she asked nervously.
Darren laughed, “It’s ok, all you do is patrol through the city and look for anything out of the ordinary.”
“You mean like a mortal with a gun?”
Darren started to laugh again, “Yeah, like that.”
“Hey, why don’t we get a gun?” one of the guards asked.
“Because you’d shoot yourself with it,” Darren said, and stood up. “Mount up, playtime is over.”
After patrolling the city with her team for a few hours, Emily followed them back to the stables. Silas was waiting in front of them with Alexis.
“Hiya, Baby,” Emily said, smiling.
“Hi to you, too,” Silas replied, and laughed.
“Gah, not you,” Emily chuckled, and took Alexis when Silas handed her up. Emily kissed her on the cheek.
“Would you two like to go on a tour?” Darren asked, riding up beside Emily. He smiled at Alexis. It wasn’t often he saw a baby at the Ranch, “Oh, sorry, you three.”
“Think you can get on a horse, Silas?” Emily asked, smiling.
“I think I probably could.”
“Pick a horse, bridles are on the wall by the saddles,” Darren said.
Silas nodded and grabbed a bridle, disappearing into the stables. He came out after a few minutes, bareback on an appaloosa.
Darren glanced at them both, “Hrm. Do you all in Council City have problems with saddles?”
“Well, you know, saddles are for those who can’t hold on with their thighs,” Emily said, and kicked her horse into a canter.
Darren glanced at Silas with his eyebrows raised.
“That’s Em,” Silas said, and kicked his horse to catch up to her.
When Darren caught up to them, Silas and Emily were laughing about something and Alexis was pointing over at a cow.
“We have over eight thousand head of cattle here, and out west are all of our dry farms,” Darren said, pointing out the agriculture sites as they rode by.
“Why do it? I mean… I know why Em runs a ranch, but why would heku? You don’t need the food, obviously, money’s never been a problem,” Silas asked.
“It gives us a sense of responsibility, a sense of purpose,” Darren explained.
“It’s touching, how you all care so much about something other than just heku,” Emily said, her mind far away.
Emily rode beside Silas and Darren as they talked about the Ranch, its protection, and its guard strategy. They noticed quickly that she wasn’t paying attention and got deeper into protocols and regulations of the Cavalries.
When they had the horses put away for the night, Darren and Silas visited with each other while Emily and Alexis had dinner. Alexis was yawning by dessert, so Emily laid her down after a quick story.
She walked out to where Darren and Silas were visiting, “I’m going to go out for a run as soon as I change.”
“Wear that, if you can,” Darren said, looking at her uniform. “It’ll let the coven know you belong here.”
Emily nodded and glanced down, “Ok, I’ll slip on my shoes though.”
“Commander?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Are you… you know… going out, now?”
Emily frowned, “I need to go for a run.”
“It’s ok, I’ll go with her,” Silas said.
“No you won’t. I need to be alone, and you need to watch Alex.” She turned and ran out of the mansion as soon as she’d put on better running shoes.
“She has no sense of danger,” Silas told Darren.
“I’m sure she’ll be ok, but what mortal goes running through a heku city in the dark?” Darren asked, frowning.
“Welcome to the world of Emily,” Silas said with a sigh, and then headed back up to Alexis’s room.
As Emily ran, her head swam with the possibilities of an agricultural coven. When the Encala offered her any coven of her choice, she hadn’t known such a thing existed. She wondered if it would be possible for her to make an agricultural coven work and thrive. If she had her own coven, and could do anything she wanted with it, there would be no reason not to have livestock and farms. No reason why her heku couldn’t learn the ranching trade and eventually might even learn to like it.
Her mind began to fill with things the Encala had done to her, the runes on her thigh that marked her as a slave and drove her to Exavior’s coven. The feel of Vaughn’s hands on her as he savored her before the ceremony. Her father, the Ancient, killed her mother and her brother. He killed her baby, and would have killed her, too. She could feel the necklace pounding against her chest as she ran, the necklace that contained the ashes of the Ancient and his Encala Council.
Emily stopped when her mind was clear again and her thoughts turned entirely back to the Equites. She caught her breath and looked around. While her mind was preoccupied, she had run out of Thukil Coven and into the woods surrounding it. She looked around at the dark trees and sighed.
“Damn, where am I?” she asked no one.
She turned off her iPod and looked around the trees, then heard a noise, soft whispers, and she walked quietly toward it. The wind was blowing through the trees, and she felt somewhat comforted that she was downwind of whomever it was making the noise. She moved tree to tree when she saw shadows in the streams of moonlight through the branches. She peeked out from behind a large tree, and her eyes grew wide.
Heku were gathered, hundreds of them, and they were standing around a clearing. In the dark, Emily wasn’t able to tell the color of their capes, but she was pretty sure they weren’t Equites.
“All of you quiet down!” she heard someone yell. The voice was familiar, but she wasn’t able to place it.
Her breathing seemed noisy in the quiet night as the heku moved to form straight rows in the dark clearing. Watching their backs, she was able to see the E on their capes. They were the Encala, and Emily suddenly recognized the voice, it was Encala Elder Koly.
“The Valle attacks weakened them, and they won’t be expecting an attack this soon. It’s rumored that Selhman and Ingram are either here or in Council City. Now that Island Coven has the Winchester, we will attack just
the two, each in turn, not separating our forces. Prepare your teams. We leave in two hours,” Vaughn said.
Emily felt the anger beginning, the familiar call to destroy those that threatened her and the ones she loved. This group was going to attack her new friends. The heku bent solely on raising cattle and taking care of them. The Cavalry that had taken her in and made her one of their own was now in danger, and they didn’t know.
Emily sighed, knowing the fight this was going to cause her later. Chevalier was always telling her to stop protecting the heku, and this was a prime example of what she wasn’t supposed to do.
She walked around the clearing until she was directly behind the three Elders, then stepped out, feeling the anger growing.
“You offered me peace,” Emily said, and the Elders spun, their eyes wide.
A murmur ran through the army as an Equites Commander stepped into the clearing, unafraid.
“You’re… you’re here,” Vaughn said.
“You’re messing with my friends… again,” Emily said, glaring at him.
A panic swept through the army and the Elders looked at each other nervously.
***
“She’s been gone a long time,” Silas said to Darren.
“How long is she usually gone when she runs?”
“An hour, maybe 90 minutes.”
“Let's you and I get on the horses and see if we can track her,” Darren suggested, and Silas looked over at Alexis.
“I can’t leave her alone.”
“I’ll send Hannah in to watch her.”
Silas nodded and ran out to the stables. In a few minutes, he had a bridle on one of the horses and had caught Emily’s scent. Darren rode out behind him, also catching the scent.
“Sir, what’s up?” one of the patrolling Cavalry asked when they passed.
Darren sighed, “Emily went out for a run three hours ago. She didn’t come back.”
The three Cavalry guards glanced at each other, and the front one spoke, “We’ll gather the forces. There’s a lot of forest out there.”
Darren nodded and soon he and Silas were surrounded by the entire Cavalry. They turned their horses and followed Emily’s scent. Almost a mile into the forest, Silas jumped off of his horse and ran to Emily as she stumbled through the trees. The smell of blood was strong.
Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series Page 49
