She woke up early the next morning to the sound of another boat approaching. She looked up and her guards weren’t by the door. Dain was already on the floor playing, so she snuck up the stairs and listened by the door.
“Why are you following us?” Kralen growled angrily.
“We’re out looking for anything suspicious, and look what we found… Equites…” a voice gruff voice said.
“Yeah you found us. Now get lost.”
“I think not, prepare to be boarded.”
“You have no right to board this boat.”
“You’re outnumbered, that give us a right. I want to know why the Equites are out on a leisurely cruise… that’s more something the Valle would do.”
“What we’re doing is none of your business,” Kralen said, angrier.
“As Encala, we have a right to know everything the enemy is doing… again, we’re boarding.”
Emily stepped out onto the deck, still in her nightgown, and faced Frederick, the Encala’s Chief Enforcer, “Freddy, are you causing problems?”
Frederick gasped, “We didn’t know you were on board.”
“Doesn’t matter if I am or not, seems to me you’re being a pain in the ass.”
“Winchester or not, we’re on orders to stop any ship we find.”
Emily’s eyes raged, “Including helpless mortals. Decided to drain 17 of them did you?”
Frederick’s eyes narrowed, “We did no such thing.”
Emily held a hand out, “Phone.”
One of the guards handed her a cell phone, and she dialed while the others watched her.
“Let me talk to William,” she said, irritated.
Frederick watched her carefully.
“Don’t give me any lip! This is Emily.”
She rolled her eyes, “William… I’m at a bit of a stand-off with your Chief Enforcer. I suggest you tell them to leave us the hell alone, or you’ll have a boat load of ash and no one to revive them.”
“Heku tradition says you can’t hurt me,” Frederick said haughtily.
“Yeah, that’s what he just said, and I want you to name one heku tradition that I haven’t broken yet,” Emily said, and grinned when Frederick shifted nervously.
There was a pause and then Emily spoke again, “One other thing… 17 mortals out on a boat were drained by the Encala. What are you going to do about that?”
She nodded, “I better not find out any different.”
Frederick sighed and glanced at the heku next to him.
“Fine,” she said, and hung up, then handed the phone back to the guard.
The Encala all looked up when their radio sounded. Emily couldn’t hear what was being said, but knew the rest could.
Frederick glared at her, “You’ll pay for that.”
“Bring it on, Freddy,” Emily yelled.
“Stand down,” Kralen ordered when a few of the guards started to advance on the Encala.
“Get us out of here,” Frederick said, and the Encala ship moved away quickly.
“Bring it on?” Kralen asked, turning angrily to Emily.
Emily sighed and walked down into the living area to make coffee.
“She called the Encala Elder on my phone,” the blond guard told Kralen.
“Yeah, I saw that… I’ll let the Council know,” Kralen said, and headed down after her. “What’s with picking a fight with the Encala?”
“I wasn’t picking a fight.”
“Sounded like it… saying ‘Bring it on’ to Frederick is dangerous.”
“I can handle them, should have ashed them all.”
“No, you should have stayed below where you belong and let us handle it.”
Emily turned to Kralen, “Where’s this coming from? You always let me do whatever I want.”
“Not when I’m in charge and you’re about to get us all killed.”
“Oh, sorry, Captain…”
Kralen turned and walked up the stairs, “Stay down here, that’s an order.”
***
The line of guards to the helicopter ended with the Elders by the door.
“Welcome back,” Zohn said, and smiled.
“Thanks,” Emily mumbled, obviously not happy about something.
“What is that?” Quinn asked when one of the guards pulled a large cage out of the helicopter.
“He’s mine,” she told him, and started down the stairs without another word to anyone.
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Was there a problem?”
“A couple,” Kralen said. “I’m ready to give a full report.”
“I guess we should make it official. Let’s go to the council chambers,” Zohn said.
“I’ll meet you there,” Chevalier told him, and blurred down to his room. He shut the door and looked over at Emily as she unpacked, “What happened?”
Emily ran into his arms and buried her face in his chest.
“Next time there’s a turning, I’ll go to my own house, by myself,” she said, and wrapped her arms around him.
Chevalier sighed, “Did you get into a fight with the guards.”
“Just one of them.”
“Kralen?”
Emily shrugged.
“Over what?”
“Telling Frederick to ‘Bring it on’.”
“When did you see Frederick?” Chevalier asked, confused.
“Out on the water after they drained 17 mortals,” she explained.
“Come, I want to hear this briefing and you should be there.”
“I don’t want to. I want to get on my horse and head out alone.”
“For me,” he asked, and kissed the top of her head.
“Fine, let me change and I’ll be down.”
Chevalier nodded and blurred to the council chambers. He sat down and sighed, “She’ll be right down. From the sounds of it, I want her here.”
A few minutes later, Emily came in dressed for riding, with her hair pulled up into her cowboy hat and as she sat down, she slipped on her riding gloves.
“Going out?” Quinn asked.
“Yes… alone.”
He sat back in his chair and turned to Kralen, “We’re ready for a full report.”
“Other than the storm, the first day went smoothly,” Kralen started. “Nothing happened until the next day when I received an unmanned S.O.S. We followed it to a boat adrift out at sea. I headed up the stairs and gave strict instructions for everyone else to stay onboard Emily 2.”
“He means me,” Emily said, irritated.
“I didn’t find anything up on the top decks but heard a scream below. That’s when I realized Emily followed me and started her own inspection. She somehow managed to fall into 17 dead mortals… all drained and covered in the distinct smell of Encala.”
Unaware of what she was doing, Emily wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward a bit.
“Fell into them?” Zohn asked her.
She nodded.
“Emily found a new pet, and after supplies were taken, I burned the boat to hide any evidence,” Kralen said.
“Pet?” Chevalier asked.
Emily didn’t answer. She just stared down at the desk.
“Ok… then what?” Zohn asked when it became quiet.
“Storms again that night but nothing happened… until the next morning when I saw a boat approaching. It was a larger class boat, and there was no way we could outrun it, so I dropped anchor and they pulled alongside us. It was the Encala being led by Frederick.”
Kralen glanced at Emily and then continued, “They were insisting on coming aboard until Emily appeared, but that didn’t stop them. The next thing I knew… Lady Emily was on the phone with William.”
“The Encala Elder?” Dustin asked, shocked.
“Yes, he pretty much agreed to stand down, and told the ship’s Captain as much. Frederick told Emily she’d pay for that, and she told him to ‘Bring it on’,” Kralen told them, still angry. “Luckily, Frederick decided not to defy his Elders
, and they left.”
“You picked a fight with the Encala’s Chief Enforcer?” Kyle asked, frowning.
“Yes, I did,” Emily told him.
“That’s pretty dangerous.”
“So I’ve heard… I’ve already gotten reamed by Kralen, and then he pulled rank and grounded me,” Emily said, and stood up. “So you all can just sit here and bitch about me all day, I’m going out alone.”
“Em…” Chevalier whispered, and tried to take her hand. She pulled away from him and left the council chambers.
Kralen waited until she left, “She started having nightmares again, after the drained humans.”
“Nothing else?” Zohn asked.
“Nothing… she stayed in the living area with Dain and didn’t speak until we arrived here.”
“48 hour pass to all from the yacht,” Quinn said, and Kralen nodded and disappeared from the council chambers.
“Back to our original discussion. What do we do?” Zohn asked.
Chevalier sighed, “I’d personally like to keep him as far away from here as we can… however, he is a former Elder and his request isn’t unheard of.”
“We can’t send Emily away yet, not this soon… shall we just accept his request and then warn him to stay away from her?”
“Except that’s why he’s coming… back in the 17 and 1800’s he was the foremost authority on the Winchesters. It’s only natural that he wants to study her,” Dustin said.
“If he has to come, I suggest Kyle mentor him here,” Quinn said, and turned to Kyle. “You know her well. Let him know about things like bringing up her height or calling her Child, that sort of thing.”
Kyle nodded, “Yes, Elder.”
“I will notify Camber that he may visit,” the Court Reporter said, and left to make the phone call.
“A new group of Cavalry members starts in 4 days. Why don’t we tell Emily that Camber is here to study them?” Quinn suggested. “He gets to watch her, she gets to train, and think that Camber is merely studying the Cavalry.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Chevalier said, thinking. “If she finds out though.”
“True… it’ll be best if we tell her the truth.”
“Silas?” Chevalier called out when the Council heard Emily’s Aero leave the garage.
“Yes, Elder?” he asked, stepping into the council chambers.
“Where has Emily gone?”
“She won’t say, and she wouldn’t let us go.”
“No idea at all where she might have gone?” Quinn asked.
“No, Elder… she won’t talk to anyone at all.”
“Camber is coming to stay for a week… please advise all involved with guarding Emily to be wary of those two when they are together.”
Silas nodded, “Understood.”
Chevalier picked up his phone and dialed.
“Hello,” she said softly.
“We’re worried about you. Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back soon. I needed to run an errand.”
“Where are you?”
Emily sighed, “I’m on the way to a ferret rescue.”
Chevalier’s eyebrows rose, “You’re getting more?”
“No, apparently ferrets like the heku as much as cats, he’s terrified.”
“Oh, you’re getting rid of the ferret.”
“Yes”
“Can you return and take Silas?”
“No, I won’t be long. I love you,” she said, and hung up.
Chapter 14 - Maid
“Still not talking to me?” Kralen asked as he followed Emily out to the pool along with three other members of the Cavalry.
Emily shrugged.
Kralen grinned, “Be mad if you want… you can’t stay mad for too long though.”
She stepped into the pool room, turned and glared at Kralen, and then shut the door in his face. He opened it and stepped in.
“Sorry, Ma’am, we’re to stay in sight of you at all times for the next week,” one of the guards told her.
“Joy,” she mumbled, and slipped her shoes off. There were 4 hot tubs lining the pool, and one was designated as hers, though she wasn’t sure why. No one ever used it, even if they had to cram into the other three. She’d argued and complained, but still no one got into her hot tub.
Emily walked over, aware of the eyes on her back and flipped on the switch for the jets. She walked over and started to step in.
“Wait!” Kralen yelled and blurred to her.
“What?” she asked, irritated.
Kralen bent down by the hot tub and inhaled, “Something’s not right.”
She sighed, “What do you mean? It looks fine.”
“He’s right. I smelled it when I came in, but wasn’t sure what it was,” another guard said.
Kralen smelled the water from the other hot tubs, “Something different is in yours, something with a strong smell.”
Emily bent down and smelled, but didn’t catch anything. She shrugged and started into the water again, but one of the guards pulled her away. She growled slightly and crossed her arms, waiting for the guards to let her into the water.
One of the guards knelt down beside the tub and stuck his hand in. He screamed and the smell of burning flesh filled the room.
Emily’s eyes grew wide when he fell backwards, his hand nothing more than bone and he screamed in agony. Suddenly, there was a blur of Cavalry as they ran into the pool area, led by Mark. Emily rushed to his side and bent down. She wrapped a towel around his hand as the muscles very slowly began to reform. He leaned back, eyes shut tightly, and groaned.
“What happened?” Mark asked, watching the guard on the ground with Emily.
“That hot tub is full of acid,” Kralen said, shaking from how close Emily came to getting in.
Mark knelt down and inhaled over the steaming water, and then glanced over at Emily, “Did you get hurt?”
She shook her head. It was obvious she was upset about it, “No, they stopped me.”
“Get the Chief Investigator,” Mark growled.
Emily helped the guard to his feet, “Come into the palace.”
He nodded, and she helped him toward the palace as the guards spread out through the entire building, searching for other problems. Emily was shaking. She’d come very close to getting into the hot tub. By the time they got to the palace doors, her eyes were full of tears, someone tried to kill her again.
“What happened?” Zohn asked, rushing down the stairs. The guard was still in excruciating pain and Emily wasn’t able to talk.
Emily went to the closest bed she could think of, the holding cell by the front door, and helped the guard sit down. She pulled the towel off, and Zohn gasped at the sight of the bones in his hand. The flesh was creeping down slowly from his forearm, but it was agonizing and he leaned back on the hard cot, trying to breathe.
“Mark!” Zohn called out. The General appeared in the holding cell, “Explain this.”
“Someone put acid into Emily’s hot tub,” Mark said, outwardly furious.
“What!?” Chevalier roared from behind them. Emily turned around when she heard him, and quickly moved into his arms, burying her face in his chest.
“We have the Chief Investigator out, and the entire Cavalry is canvassing the building. We’ll find out who did it,” Mark assured them.
“Did you touch it?” Chevalier asked, and Emily shook her head against him.
“Kralen noticed an odd smell and stopped her,” Mark explained. “This guard reached into the water and within seconds, his hand was only bone.”
“I want to know who did this,” Chevalier growled, and then blurred Emily up the stairs to their room. Alone with Chevalier, Emily’s entire body began to tremble.
“I almost stepped in.”
Chevalier nodded and sat down with her cradled in his lap, “I know.”
“He… lost… was… bone,” she stammered, and gripped his shirt tightly.
He nodded again, now too furio
us to speak.
“Is he ok?” she asked, and looked up at him.
Chevalier whispered toward the door, and then turned back to her, “He will be, it’s taking a while.”
“Will they ever stop trying to kill me?”
“No, that’s why we need your guards.”
“I don’t like when they get hurt because of me.”
“I know, but they love their jobs and would die for you.”
She frowned, “Why is that exactly? I’m just… me.”
Chevalier smiled, “When will you believe me, that you are very important to this faction. More important than even myself?”
She shrugged.
Chevalier cocked his head slightly to the side, “That was fast… seems they caught who did it. Do you want to come?”
“No,” she whispered, and crawled out of his lap. “I’m going to take that extra mare out. She’s afraid of heku.”
“Take Silas, please.”
She nodded, “Sure, I’ll meet him in the stables when I get changed.”
Chevalier kissed her softly and then blurred into the council chambers. The heku knelt down before them looked at him with terrified eyes. He knew that Chevalier was easily the most dangerous member of the Council, and he also knew how protective he was of his wife.
Mark and Kralen stood behind the quivering heku and watched him angrily. The Chief Investigator was just sitting down.
“That didn’t take long,” Quinn said to him.
“It wasn’t on purpose, though extremely careless… it wasn’t an attack,” he explained.
“How do you call filling Emily’s hot tub with acid, harmless?” Zohn asked, frowning.
“I didn’t say harmless… stupid is what it was,” the Investigator said. “This is Geoffrey, and his job is to keep the outbuilding clean.”
Chevalier growled and the heku looked up at him.
“Start talking…” the Investigator said to him.
“It’s common… to clean hot tubs with acid, I swear,” he finally managed to say in his defense.
“So if you were cleaning Emily’s hot tub, there must have been signs… warnings, so she wouldn’t get in?” Kyle asked, irritated.
“Yes! I put up a warning sign.”
Kralen slapped him on the back of the head, “Where?”
Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series Page 32
