Emily pulled away from him, “He’s from Cascade though.”
“I know.”
“He helped me hide from Keith once…,” she said, looking up at Chuck. “Do you remember that?”
He nodded, “Yes, but that might have been a mistake.”
“What? Why?”
Chevalier took her hand and led her back to the Cavalry.
“Chuck Norris?” one of the Valle asked him, amused.
He chuckled, “It’s Charles Morris… but Emi started calling me Chuck Norris in Elementary school and by Junior High, everyone did.”
“You won’t let him join us?” Emily looked up at Mark and Chevalier when they reached the Cavalry.
“It’s just not that easy to switch sides,” Chevalier told her.
“It doesn’t look like he wants to either,” Mark said softly.
She turned and started back for the Valle, “Chuck, I have an idea…”
Chevalier took her hand to stop her, “Em, he can’t just become an Equites.”
Randall was studying Emily’s old acquaintance.
Emily looked over and saw him staring at Chuck, “Hey, dick for brains…”
Randall turned toward her, furious.
“Touch him for that and I’ll hide you like I did Frederick.”
A smile crossed his lips, “Oh, he won’t be harmed.”
She pulled away from Chevalier and started back for the gate. The Valle moved again and formed a clear path, much to their Elder’s dismay.
Once there, she hit the call button.
“We told you we’re not speaking to you,” a harsh voice sounded.
“It’s Emily,” she said, and then smiled at the Valle next to her.
“Is it clear then?”
“No… is everyone inside ok?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Chevalier chuckled at the terror on the faces of the Valle. He marveled at how they didn’t dare touch her and had let her walk up to talk to the Banks Coven as they split to the sides. Randall was fuming about their behavior, and Mark was watching him carefully in case he decided to attack Emily himself.
“Just hang tight while I see what I can do,” Emily said before turning around and walking back out to the Cavalry. She shrugged at Chevalier, smiled, and then turned back to Randall, “Ok… now let’s talk about what this is all about.”
Randall glared down at her and took a step forward, “Not only do the Equites hold our Elder, but they aren’t the rightful Council…”
“Oh my God! Are you still harping on that?”
“But also… you should be turned over to the Valle to be punished for crimes against the heku.”
“That all?”
“No, that’s not all. You purchased land out from under the Valle…”
She cringed inwardly.
“… and Banks Coven’s members assaulted two Valle in a donor bar.”
“Em, I got this,” Chevalier said from behind her.
“No, let me do this,” she said without turning around. “First of all… Sotomar’s crimes were akin to those by the Ancients…”
Randall growled and his hands balled into fists.
“It’s the Equites right to seek justice for such actions. They are the rightful Council and you need to stay the hell out of it. It’s my land, so deal with it… and lastly… I’m sure your Valle deserved what they got.”
“I won’t stand here and be spoken to in such a manner by the likes of you!” Randall yelled. “You have a hundred heku against our thousands… what are you going to do now?”
She moved closer to him and glared up at him, “What I’m going to do is take your precious little book of covens and go to each one… when I’m done, you won’t find enough ashes to revive!”
Randall moved to backhand her, but Chevalier caught his hand mid-air, “Do not hit her.”
“I’ve had it with the Valle!” she screamed as Mark pulled her back to the Cavalry. “I have no attachment to you as a faction and have no qualms about wiping you out.”
Silas and Horace each took an arm when she tried to get to Randall.
“Get her,” Randall hissed.
“Touch my Cavalry and I swear… I’ll scatter your ashes…” she yelled. The Valle shifted nervously and looked at one another. Their Elder had ordered an attack, but Emily was famous for scattering the ashes of heku that wronged her.
“I said get her!”
The first few to move even a step forward turned to ash as Emily glared at them, “I warned you…”
“That’s enough,” Kralen said when she swayed slightly. “We can get the rest of them.”
Randall said something quietly and was immediately tackled by Chevalier. Emily watched the fast blur and then looked over at the Valle, “Leave them alone. If you try to help your Elder… you’ll have to deal with me.”
Silas and Horace held tighter, making sure Emily didn’t try to join in the fight either.
Emily smiled when the fight stopped and Chevalier had Randall pinned to the ground by his neck, with barely even a scratch on Chevalier. Randall was severely beaten and grabbing at Chevalier’s hand so he could breathe.
Silas and Horace let her go as she walked forward and squatted down beside Randall, “Get out of my sight.”
Chevalier twisted his hand and snapped Randall’s neck before standing up.
Emily shook her head at him, “Show off.”
He grinned and walked back over by the Cavalry.
“Someone get your Elder and get out of here,” Emily said to the gathered Valle. The Cavalry watched as Chuck stepped out of the Valle and studied Emily.
Randall was just getting to his feet when Emily turned to the Cavalry, “Now what?”
“We go see how Banks is,” Chevalier said, stepping forward.
Emily shrugged and turned, and then smiled, “Damn, that was fast.”
The Valle were gone, leaving no sign they’d even been there.
“We make a good team,” Chevalier said. He took her hand and they walked forward.
Silas hit the call button in front of the security gate.
“Lord Banks here,” a rough voice said.
“It’s clear, let us in,” Silas said to him. The security camera moved to see them and then a click was heard when the thick cement gate unlocked. Four heku immediately came out to take posts outside of the gate after bowing to Chevalier briefly.
Emily clung tightly to Chevalier’s arm as they walked past the Banks Coven houses and toward the main house. The last time she’d been in there she was beaten and cut with a knife, and she was feeling tense walking toward the main house again.
“They won’t hurt you,” Chevalier whispered when he noticed her slowing.
“Maybe I should wait out by the gate,” Emily replied, and then let go of his arm and headed the other way.
Mark smiled and took her arm, “Come on.”
She hesitated and sighed before following them into Banks Castle.
“Elder!” Lord Banks said, coming forward. “Thank you, Sir.”
“We need a conference room,” Chevalier said bluntly. He hadn’t forgotten how Banks had treated Emily either, but had business to attend to.
“Lady Emily,” Lord Banks said softly, and then bowed toward her. She tensed unconsciously and moved to grip Chevalier’s arm again. He smiled and then started down a hallway, “We’ll meet in here.”
Chevalier gave brief orders to Silas and then stepped into the conference room with Emily and Mark. Lord Banks sat down next to the top officers in his coven, one of which Emily recognized as the heku that’d threatened to cut her baby from her.
She glanced at the door, but Chevalier slipped an arm around her and led her to a seat. Before she’d sat down, an ice cold Coke was sitting in a glass in front of her. She sat down, but averted her eyes away from those from Banks. Chevalier had told her a few years back that Equites Covens kept mortal food and drink around just in case Emily showed up. It was important that
the covens make a good impression on Chevalier, and keeping Emily happy was a big part of that.
“What caused this?” Chevalier asked as he sat down.
“Our refusal to follow the Council that banished you.”
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Keep going.”
Lord Banks shifted nervously, “They came to us last week, the 12 former Council that’s left…”
“…12?”
“Yes, only 12 are left. When they found out that their Chief Enforcer left the dagger, he was killed immediately.”
Emily looked over at Mark and he smiled at her, then turned back to Lord Banks.
“They insisted that we lead an attack on Council City. Said it was our duty to follow the true Council. We refused…”
“Why doesn’t the Council know this?”
Lord Banks sighed, “It’s all complicated. We support you as a Council 100%, but we understand that we shouldn’t.”
“What!?” Emily yelled.
Chevalier put a hand out to stop her from standing, “We know it’s all going against heku tradition… but you should have told us. Do they have any supporters?”
“Not as far as we know,” Lord Banks said, avoiding looking at Emily. “The laws that came down from that Council were bad. No one really liked them, but we had to follow them. Now we’re all confused. We aren’t supposed to follow you, you know that.”
Chevalier simply nodded.
“No one’s going to go after the former Council. But we all wish you would banish them to make this all official.”
Chevalier looked over at Mark before speaking, “We may need to make that a priority. We’ve let it go because they backed off.”
“They aren’t going to stop, and they have the support of the Valle.”
Emily looked over at Chevalier, “I can take care of the Valle… again…”
He smiled, “No, let us do this. It’s our right to seek revenge on the former Council and we can’t let you have all the fun.”
She shrugged and picked up the Coke.
Chevalier studied Lord Banks for a moment before speaking, “I want to see you and your top officers tomorrow morning.”
Lord Banks swallowed hard and nodded, “Yes, Elder.”
Chevalier stood and put his hand out, “Let’s go.”
Emily looked at the way Lord Banks had paled, and then took Chevalier’s hand and followed him out, “What’d you do to Banks?”
“He has some explaining to do is all,” Chevalier said as he gently lifted her into a cradle.
“Is he in trouble?”
“Maybe”
“Are you going to kill him?” She buried her face in his shoulder when he began to blur toward Council City. The speed made her nervous and it was easier not to look.
“Probably not,” he said, though his voice was strained.
She clutched tighter to him when she saw the Cavalry falling behind. It was hard for heku to keep up with an Old One, but usually Chevalier held back to stay with the group.
She felt him laugh, “I’m not going to drop you.”
“I don’t think you are,” she whispered as Mark disappeared behind them.
“Then why are you afraid all of a sudden.”
“I’m not.”
“You forget… when we re-bonded I can pick up your emotions again. You also tensed when I left the others.”
“I’m not afraid.”
He gently kissed the top of her head, but she could feel him laughing and couldn’t help but tighten her grip.
Chevalier came to a sudden halt in the council chambers, and Emily gasped at the unexpected change in speed. She hit him on the arm when he put her down, then turned and headed for the doors.
“Emily?” Zohn called out.
She sighed, still looking at how close the doors were. She briefly wondered if Derrick would stop her if she tried to run. He answered her silent question by appearing in the doorway and smiling at her.
Emily studied him before he motioned for the Council and whispered, “Turn around.”
She bit her bottom lip, “I think I can take you.”
He chuckled and returned to his post after shutting the door.
When she turned to the Council, she saw the Elders were facing way from her, deep in conversation, but the rest of the Council was watching her.
“Welcome back,” Kyle said, smiling. “Have fun?”
She shrugged and then nodded slightly. She couldn’t help but feel panic when standing before the Council. It irritated her, but she couldn’t control the ingrained fear of the 13 Equites leaders.
“Calm down,” Richard, the Chief Interrogator said softly. “I can see lies forming in your mind, but we haven’t even asked anything.”
“Feeling guilty?” Kyle chuckled.
Emily looked over at the soft recliner sitting in the back of the trial area, and then turned toward Kyle and shook her head.
“We’re not going to lock you up.”
Richard smiled, trying to defuse her fear, “We just have a simple question.”
“What?” she asked softly.
“We want to know what position Andrew holds on the Encala,” he explained. “They aren’t willing to tell us for some reason. We suspect he’s the Interrogator but would like confirmation.”
Emily glanced back at the door.
“Em…,” Kyle said, and then smiled at her when she turned. “No running off. We need to know.”
Chevalier sensed her fear building and looked over at her, “What’s going on?”
“We want to know what position Andrew holds,” Richard told him.
Now she had the attention of the three Elders also.
“It’s…”
“It’s ok, Em,” Chevalier said. “We won’t tell them you told us. If we had any spies over there we’d already know.”
“You don’t have even one?”
“Not one inside the palace. That takes time and as the Encala are so new…”
She knew what he meant. Chevalier had systematically wiped out the Encala and they were still rebuilding, “Well…”
Richard leaned forward and she eyed him nervously.
“He’s not going to be on the Council when I go talk to William,” she said. “So there’s no reason to even say.”
“They won’t release him. Now he’s been on the Council long enough that he would need banished if he’s removed,” the Chief of Staff told her.
Emily gasped and took a step back as Kyle glared at him, “Why would you say that?”
The Chief of Staff looked nervously at the Elders, “It’s…”
“We know it’s the truth… but why would you even mention Andrew being banished?” Chevalier asked him glaringly.
“Is he going to be banished?” Emily managed to whisper.
“No,” Kyle told her. “I’m sure Andrew is fine.”
Emily spun and ran out of the room. Derrick didn’t try to stop her. They all knew she was going to her office to web cam into the Encala Council.
Chevalier sighed and then turned to Zohn, “Has Sotomar been revived.”
Zohn frowned, “What happened to Sotomar?”
“Emily turned him to ash from Banks.”
Kyle whispered and then turned to them, “He’s not been turned to ash.”
“Guess he was too far away.”
“We should record that,” the Records Keeper mentioned. “I’d like to get a distance down on her abilities.”
As soon as she got to her office, she shut the door behind her and locked it. Heku couldn’t break the lock and she needed the Equites to stay out of what she was about to do.
Her laptop came to life and within only a few minutes she’d entered the Encala Council’s IP and was waiting for a response.
William appeared and smiled broadly, “Hello, Emily.”
“Where’s Andrew?” she asked, frowning.
William spun the camera over to where Andrew was sitting, “I’m right here.”
Her heart slowed a bit with proof he hadn’t been banished, “Are you on the chopping block?”
His eyebrows rose, “I don’t believe so.”
William turned the camera back to the 3 Encala Elders.
“What’s wrong?” William asked.
She crossed her arms, “Are you about to banish Andrew?”
“No”
It was obvious she didn’t believe them, “Then I insist that you release him from the Council and put him back as head of the guard…”
“We can’t do that,” Elder Iuna said.
She studied him and her eyes narrowed, “Do it.”
“Em…” she heard Andrew sigh.
“We can’t release him,” William explained. “He’s a damned good Interrogator and…”
“Do it!” she yelled.
“What’s wrong?”
Her eyes darted between them, “Release him without banishment or I’ll ash you.”
“No you won’t,” William said softly. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Did you just promote him because he’s my friend?”
“No, he has an exceptionally keen ability to see if someone’s lying,” William said.
“He also has great interrogation techniques,” Encala Elder Patrick said.
Emily gasped and William glared at him, “Enough.”
“If you banish him…”
“He’s not going to be banished.”
She started to panic, “What can I do to get you to let him return to his guard post?”
“We need him.”
“Em?” Andrew said from off camera. William turned it to face him, “Can I come talk to you?”
She shook her head, “Why does every heku I care about end up on the bloody Council? Why is that!? Next thing I know, Chuck’ll be running the Valle.”
“Who’s Chuck?”
Emily spun suddenly and looked at the strange office, “Where am I?” she whispered.
“Emily, what’s wrong?” William asked.
She turned and looked, wide eyed, at the screen on the laptop, “The Encala?”
William frowned and started to speak, but she quickly shut the laptop before anyone could see she was talking to the Encala Council. She looked carefully around the office trying to figure out where in the Valle Palace she was to be alone in an office full of computers.
When she left, she saw the four members of the Cavalry and backed up against the wall, glaring at them, “Green!?”
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 54
