Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “No”

  “Why must you be so stubborn?”

  “Why must you try to interrogate me?”

  “Thanks to the Encala, that’s all we’ll get out of her,” Zohn told Chevalier, and left the room.

  “Stop sending him in to interrogate me,” Emily said angrily.

  “Then stop hiding things from me that I need to know.”

  “I can take care of this.”

  “Let me… for once… Let me do it.”

  “I’m not doing anything right now. I’m going back to the island with Kralen and Silas, and I’m going to ride my horse, weed the garden, and sleep.”

  Chevalier sighed, “Ok.”

  Kralen and Silas appeared at her door, “We’re ready to go.”

  Chevalier whispered for them to see if they could get out of Emily what she’s hiding, and then told them to head up to the new helicopter.

  Emily picked Dain up when Chevalier grabbed her bags, and they walked up to the roof together.

  “I’ll try to come in a week,” Chevalier said. “If you need me before then, let me know.”

  Emily nodded and kissed him softly, “Try to get Alexis out of class for me, see if you can bring her with you.”

  “I will,” he said, and then shut the door after she crawled inside. He watched as Kralen piloted the helicopter up and toward the island.

  Once they were at the correct altitude, Silas crawled back and sat on the couch beside Emily, “They stocked the fridge and wet bar.”

  Emily nodded, “Yeah, I saw.”

  “Seems weird that the Valle bought you a helicopter.”

  “Guilty consciences,” she said, and grabbed a juice from the bar. She sat Dain down to play on the soft carpet.

  “I never got to ask how things went with Exavior while you were there,” he said, and noticed how she tensed.

  She shrugged, “Didn’t see him much. I spent most of my time in the bedroom… when I wasn’t ashing covens, that is.”

  “Harsh… I can’t believe they did that.”

  “I can, they’re idiots… I do have to admit, this isn’t a bad way to fly.”

  Silas grinned, “A bit cushy.”

  “Some of us like cushy.”

  “Are you feeling better now, then?”

  “Yes”

  “Did Exavior mention turning you?”

  “No”

  “What’re your plans for the island?” Silas asked, trying to be subtle about Chevalier’s request.

  “Not much, I want to take the horses out onto the beach, sit and watch my garden grow.”

  “How long are you planning on being gone?”

  “A while… so you and Kralen can head back to Council City whenever you want.”

  “What if we want to stay?”

  Emily looked at him doubtfully, “Yeah right.”

  “Maybe we do! It’s been pretty boring lately.”

  “Yeah and the island is much more exciting.”

  Silas glanced around the helicopter.

  “Why did you turn?” Emily asked, drawing her knees up to her chest.

  “Oh… well… why not?”

  “That’s not really a good reason.”

  Silas grinned, “Tell me why you won’t turn, and I’ll tell you why I did.”

  “What if I don’t know,” she said, watching him.

  “You don’t know why you won’t turn?”

  “Nope”

  “Do you know why the ceremonial room freaks you out?”

  Emily frowned, “It doesn’t freak me out.”

  Silas raised an eyebrow, “Yes, it does.”

  “I don’t like it, wouldn’t say I’m afraid of it though.”

  “How did Exavior get you into one?”

  Emily tensed again and he noticed the change in her heart rate, “I thought he was just removing the runes.”

  Silas touched her arm softly, “What did he do?”

  She watched him, “If I tell you, then you’ll tell Chev, and before I know it, the entire Equites faction knows.”

  “I won’t tell him then.”

  Emily smiled, “Yes you will.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “I’ll deal with it on my own.”

  “So he did.”

  “I’m not telling you.”

  Silas grinned, “What if I promise not to tell the Elder?”

  “Then I wouldn’t believe you,” she said, and smiled slightly.

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Heku rules… you have to tell him, don’t think I don’t know that.”

  “I didn’t tell him about Truth or Dare.”

  Emily grinned, “Because he never asked you.”

  Silas nodded, “Yeah, that’s true.”

  “Coming up on the island,” Kralen said over the speaker after a few hours.

  Emily looked out as the castle came into view. She picked Dain up off of the floor and he immediately started to chew on her finger.

  “I thought the Elder told you not to let him do that,” Silas said, watching him.

  “Chev can’t tell me what to do,” Emily told him, and grabbed Dain’s bag.

  “Oh yeah,” Silas chuckled. “Not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”

  ***

  “Ew!” Emily yelled, and pulled a worm off of her shoulder. “Behave.”

  Kralen chuckled, “Was just seeing if you were afraid of worms too.”

  “I’m not afraid of mice, geesh.”

  “Sure you aren’t,” Silas said, and moved over to the next row.

  “Are you sure you’re not pulling the vegetables?” she asked, looking over at them.

  “I’m pretty sure… well… actually no,” he said, and grinned.

  “I don’t recall weeding a garden to be part of the guard or Cavalry training,” Kralen said, tossing another weed into the pile.

  “I told you that you don’t have to be out here,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, well, I can only imagine how much trouble you could get into out here by yourself.”

  “Oh yes, I might kill myself on a dandelion.”

  “When’s the Elder coming?” Silas asked, glancing toward the city.

  “Tomorrow,” Emily said, and then looked over at Ford. He was suddenly holding very still and looking toward the city. She turned to look too, but didn’t see anything.

  “Em, take Dain… get in the barn,” Kralen said, and she noticed he was also watching the city.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, standing up and grabbing Dain. She again looked toward the city, but didn’t see anything.

  “Just get in the barn,” Silas said, and Emily shrugged and started for the barn. She turned suddenly when she heard the sound of hooves against cobblestone. She froze and looked toward the city.

  “Go!” Kralen yelled, and Emily took off running for the barn. A dozen horses were stampeding through the town, headed straight for them. Her feet left the ground as Silas grabbed her and blurred her into the barn, just as the horses flew past them.

  “What the hell!” Emily yelled, and handed Dain off to Anna, who was waiting in the barn for them. She quickly bridled her stallion and grabbed a lasso off of the wall.

  “Em, no,” Silas said as she took off after the horses. He bridled his mare and took the other lasso, and followed them out while Ford took off after Emily.

  Ford headed instinctively to the front of the stampeded and started trying to head them back toward Emily. She easily caught up to the first horse and lassoed him quickly, then wrapped the rope around her arm and slowed him to a walk. She led him back to the corral and turned to see where Ford was. She saw him off to the right and rode after him, re-setting the lasso.

  Silas on horseback, and Kralen on foot, were on the opposite end of the field, rounding up the few horses that headed away from the others. Two hours later, Emily led the last horse into the corral and Kralen shut the gate.

  She leaned her head against the neck of her stallion, panting to catch her
breath, “What the hell was that?”

  Kralen grinned slightly, “The pier guards said the ferry arrived with a dozen horses on it. They thought they could just lead them up here, but the horses panicked and took off through the island.”

  “Who puts horses on a ferry?” Emily asked, looking over at them.

  “And what kind of horse runs like that?” Silas asked. “That was weird.”

  “They’re Tennessee Walking Horses… they have a unique walk that’s born into them. You can’t teach it,” she explained.

  “So back to your question… who puts horses on a ferry?” Kralen growled, remembering how close Emily came to getting trampled.

  “The pier guards want us to come over,” Silas told her.

  Emily put a hand down for Kralen, and he jumped onto the stallion behind her. She kicked the horse into a canter and headed for the pier. They all slid off of the horses and tied them to a post, and then walked onto the pier.

  “Ma’am,” one of the pier guards said. “There’s a package on the ferry for you.”

  Emily frowned and walked onto the ferry toward a box wrapped in pink paper that was sitting off to the side of the bridge.

  “Wait, Em,” Kralen said, and blurred to it. He picked it up and looked it over and then shrugged, “Has your name on it, but no sender.”

  Emily took the package and opened it. She pulled out a maroon, diamond and ruby encrusted bridle and a note, “Dearest Emily, Please accept this small gift as a token of our enduring friendship. From, the Encala Council.”

  “What!?” Silas growled.

  Emily sighed, “Great… what am I going to do with 12 more horses?”

  “Nice that they almost killed you with a gift,” Kralen said angrily.

  Emily glanced around, “Have you seen Ford?”

  “Last I saw him, he was rounding up the last few horses,” Silas said, and glanced around. Ford was always at Emily’s heels when she was on horseback.

  “I’ll go find him,” Kralen said. “I want to get as many of those horses as we can into the barn, there’s a storm coming.”

  Emily looked over as Silas spoke to the Captain of the ferry. She walked over to listen.

  “They were mortals, said there was a horse delivery to the island,” the Captain explained. “I don’t ask. I just run the boat.”

  Silas sighed, “No name?”

  “No, Sir”

  Silas turned to Emily, “We’ll fill the Elder in later, let’s go get the horses put up.”

  Emily nodded, and soon they were both back on horses heading toward the barn. She looked over and saw Silas grinning.

  “What?”

  “Just seems like a divorced couple, fighting for the love of a child.”

  “What does?”

  “The Encala and the Valle… one buys you a helicopter so the other buys you horses,” Silas chuckled.

  Emily sighed, “I need to put a stop to it before someone gets hurt.”

  “Or something…” Silas said, and glanced off into the distance.

  Emily followed his gaze and saw Kralen carrying Ford in his arms. Emily gasped and kicked her horse into a gallop, heading for them. Before the horse even completely stopped, Emily jumped off and ran to Kralen.

  “What happened?” she asked, looking over the limp dog.

  “I’m guessing he was kicked by a horse,” Kralen said. His shirt was covered in blood.

  “We need to get him to the vet,” Emily told him, her eyes filling with tears.

  Kralen glanced at Silas and the heku touched her arm, “Em, it’s too late.”

  She rested her hand against the Border collie’s chest and waited for it to rise, but it didn’t. Emily took the dog from Kralen and started off across the field.

  “Leave me alone,” she whispered when she realized the heku were following her. Both Kralen and Silas backed off to the barn and let her be.

  “We should notify the Elder,” Silas said, turning back toward the barn.

  “Let’s finish up in here and see if she comes back,” Kralen said. “We only have four open stalls though, that’s going to leave 8 of the horses out in the snowstorm that’s coming.”

  “Can we double any of them up?”

  “I don’t think so… let’s get with Kyle, he’ll know what to do.”

  “Good idea,” Silas said, and headed inside the house. They went into Kyle’s office and called Kyle’s desk in Council City, but didn’t get an answer. Next, they tried the Council.

  “Equites Council,” Zohn said, sounding irritated.

  “It’s Kralen, we’re looking for Chevalier and Kyle,” Kralen told them.

  “We’re both here,” Chevalier said. “What’s wrong?”

  “A few things… first off, the Encala sent 12 horses on the ferry, which caused a stampede through town, and almost trampled Emily,” Kralen said. “We finally rounded them up, but Ford got stepped on and didn’t make it.”

  A low growl sounded over the phone and Kyle finally spoke, “How is she?”

  “I don’t know. She told us to leave her alone and she headed off carrying Ford,” Silas explained.

  “She’ll go after the Encala for that,” Kyle said.

  “What else, then?” Quinn asked after a few moments of silence.

  “There’s a freak snowstorm coming, and the barn only had room for 4 more horses. That leaves 8 of them out in the corral and it’s supposed to dip well below freezing,” Kralen said. “We weren’t sure exactly what to do. We don’t have time to come get the trailer.”

  “How big are they?” Kyle asked.

  “Em called them Tennessee Walking Horses.”

  “Big ones then… you’ll have to see if she has coats around. That’s about all we can do,” Kyle told them.

  “Who the hell puts horses on a Ferry?” Chevalier finally asked, irritated.

  “The Encala. They sent her a new bridle in a box with a card,” Silas said hesitantly.

  “When’s the storm supposed to hit?”

  “I can already smell it, it’s right on us.”

  “So I won’t be able to make it before… you’re going to have to take care of Emily. Kyle’s right, she’ll go after the Encala for Ford.”

  “We’ve already stopped the ferry because of the storm. We’ll lock up the yacht, so there won’t be any way off of the island,” Kralen said.

  “We better get going and get those horses covered,” Silas suggested.

  “Keep in touch and have Emily call me,” Chevalier said, and disconnected the line.

  Kralen and Silas headed back out to the barn and started going through the storage room. They finally found a dozen heavy horse blankets and were covering the last of them when Emily came back to the barn.

  “We moved the smaller ones inside, and these eight we’ve covered,” Kralen said softly. He looked out and saw the first flurry of snow.

  Emily nodded and started to shut up the barn. The heku helped her, and then they all headed inside. She skipped dinner and went right to bed. From the bed, she watched the late spring storm from the window and drifted off to sleep.

  She got up sometime after dark and looked around the dark room. The fire was roaring and she could hear the wind pounding against the castle. She quickly put on jeans and a sweater, and tied her hair up. Fishing under the big dresser, she found the sheet rope that she often used to get out of the castle.

  Emily quietly opened the door to the balcony and was immediately pelted by stinging cold wind and snow. She finally got the door shut behind her, and started to tie the rope off to the balcony’s railing.

  “Need help?” Kralen asked from the corner of the balcony.

  His voice startled her, and she dropped the rope and turned around, “No… thank you.”

  Silas opened the balcony door and stepped out, “Come on in, Em.”

  Emily sighed and went back inside the room, followed by Silas and Kralen.

  “We’ve stopped the ferry and tied up the yacht, there’s no
way off the island right now,” Silas told her.

  She didn’t answer, but sat down on a chair by the fire and watched the flames dance around the stone fireplace. Silas went out to the balcony, and Kralen went into the hallway and shut the door behind him.

  Several hours later, Silas came inside the room when he heard Emily call to him faintly. Kralen heard also, and was coming in from the ante-chamber at the same time. They both looked at each other when they saw the empty room.

  “Damnit, she didn’t come out the balcony,” Silas said, looking in the bathroom.

  “Well she didn’t come out the front door either,” Kralen told him, and looked under the bed.

  “Kyle told me she has a secret way of getting out of this room,” Silas said, and crossed his arms. “So that means she slipped us.”

  “She still can’t get off of the island.”

  “No, but she can freeze to death trying.”

  Kralen growled and stormed out of the room. Silas looked around one more time and left after him.

  “Wait,” Silas said, and frowned slightly, turning around.

  Kralen came up to him, “What?”

  Silas walked back into the room and looked carefully at the floors and ceilings, “There’s no way out of here other than the front door and the balcony.”

  “Right,” Kralen said, “But I don’t see her.”

  Silas inhaled, “She’s still here.”

  Kralen nodded, “Yeah… she is.”

  “So she hides until the guards think she’s missing and go looking for her… leaving her free to stroll out of here.”

  “Hiding where though?” Kralen asked, looking around.

  Silas turned to the hidden passageway down to the cave room, and opened the door. Emily glared at him as the door opened, “Come out.”

  “I need off this island,” Emily said, sitting down in a chair by the fire.

  “No, it’s below zero out there, and I’m not going to let you go attack the Encala alone either.”

  “They killed Ford.”

  “I know…” Silas said. “Please, just get some sleep.”

  Emily watched as Silas returned to the balcony and Kralen took up a post in the ante-chamber. She watched the fire and tried to think of another way to get off the island. Her heart ached for Ford, her companion for over 8 years. She remembered the way he nipped at her heals when she readied her horse, excited for the impending run. She smiled slightly at how he used to try to herd Alexis and her toys into a circle.