Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Kyle led them silently to the kitchen and held the door open for them. Emily took her place beside Allen at the table and waited while Kyle found the chef and got him some ice cream.

  Emily read while Allen scarfed down the strawberry ice cream and Kyle stood silently beside them.

  The rest of the evening was the same. Emily did things with Allen and ignored Kyle completely. He was relieved when Emily put Allen down for the night. When she came back out, she grabbed her book, but Kyle interrupted her.

  “Emily?”

  She looked at him.

  “Come sit, let’s talk,” he said, patting the couch beside him. She hesitated and then sat down by him.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “I want to talk about what’s going on with you at night,” he said, bringing up the topic he promised Chevalier he would.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re walking in your sleep.”

  “I don’t walk in my sleep,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  “Well… you have been lately.”

  “So?”

  “So? That means you’re either stressed or anxious about something.”

  “Oh great, complete obedience isn’t enough for you two is it? Now you want to delve into my psyche?” she mumbled, irritated.

  “Don’t say it like that. That makes you sound like a slave.”

  “Oh... so define slave... let’s see. Forced into obedience… check. Held against my will… check.”

  “Emily…”

  She cut him off, “Every move watched and studied… check.”

  “Emily, you aren’t a slave and you know it,” he said, frustrated.

  “Yes I am. I guess if Chevalier wants to get a little then I may upgrade, but until then I only earn the slave title,” she said, and glared at him.

  Kyle gasped, wide eyed. She’d never talked to him like that and he truly hoped that wasn’t how she truly felt. He reached out and put his hand on hers softly.

  “I suppose now you’ll order me into bed too, shall I go naked or would you rather do that yourself?”

  “Emily!” he said, pulling his hand back quickly.

  “Why else would he bring me here? This is a palace full of men, he needed a little sex once in a while,” she snapped.

  “You know that’s not true, he loves you.”

  “Yeah, sure he does,” she said. “That’s why I keep having to cover bruises… he loves me about as much as Keith did.”

  Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “That’s the Elder you’re talking about, and your husband, you know as well as I do that he’s nothing like Keith.”

  “Do I?”

  “Yes you do, now calm down and stop acting like a martyr.” He stood up angrily and she stood up to face him.

  “You’re lucky I have to have permission to move or I’d slap you,” she scowled at him.

  “Permission granted,” he hissed, less than a second before her hand connected with his face. He was shocked. He didn’t think she’d actually do it.

  “Go to bed,” he said, and stormed out of the room.

  “Is that an order?” he heard her yell as he shut the door.

  He walked across the hallway and slammed his head into the wall.

  “That bad?” he heard Chevalier say from behind him.

  “How do you put up with that temper?” Kyle asked, turning to him.

  “With a lot of patience,” Chevalier said, patting Kyle on the shoulder.

  “She slapped me,” Kyle chuckled.

  “Oh? Me too… she’s on a roll.” Chevalier laughed and sat down on the chair.

  “Yes, but I gave her permission.”

  “Why did you do that?” Chevalier asked, looking at Kyle questioningly.

  “I didn’t think she’d do it,” Kyle laughed.

  He sighed, “How was your day?”

  “Boring, she won’t talk to me at all… we went to the library, she took Allen for ice cream, which reminds me, she hasn’t eaten in two days,” Kyle said, looking at the door.

  “Damn she’s stubborn,” Chevalier sighed.

  Kyle nodded.

  “My time is running out. I’m going to hit the two-month mark too soon,” he said softly.

  “I know.”

  “She needs something to do, something so she’s not bored.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I’m thinking about it. Emily doesn’t handle boredom well, and here, there’s nothing for her to do but sneak out.”

  Emily appeared in the doorway fully dressed and walked past them slowly.

  “Here we go again,” Chevalier said, standing up.

  “Maybe we should follow her, at least today she’s dressed,” Kyle suggested.

  “Ok, let’s do that,” Chevalier said, following slowly behind Emily.

  She walked out into the fifth-floor foyer and down the long set of marble stairs. Once she hit the ground floor, she turned and walked down the right hallway. Her eyes never focused and she never looked around or changed her expression.

  “Where is she going?” Kyle asked.

  Chevalier shrugged.

  Emily came to a long dark hallway and turned to face the wall. Her hand moved out slowly and she pressed a brick, opening a secret door.

  “Oh… no we don’t,” Chevalier said, picking her up.

  “How did she know that was there?” Kyle asked, surprised.

  “I don’t know, but she’s not going down there,” he said, and carried her back upstairs.

  Chevalier laid her back in bed and covered her up. He watched her for a moment, but she didn’t stir.

  Kyle and Chevalier went back out into the hallway and shut her door quietly.

  “Do you think she found her way down into the prison yesterday?” Kyle asked.

  Chevalier shrugged, “There’s no telling what she did, but when I found her, she was at the other end of the palace.”

  “Ok, back to a job of some sort,” Kyle said, thinking.

  “She prefers animals, but there’s not a barn in the entire city.”

  Both of them were deep in thought when Emily emerged again. Chevalier let Kyle take her back to bed this time, while he thought about something to keep Emily busy during the day, something to give her a purpose.

  “She may like something working with the heku,” Kyle suggested.

  “That defeats the purpose of keeping her away from them though.”

  “Yeah, well maybe if she has an official job with them, she’d stop finding ways to interact on her own.”

  Chevalier smiled, “You may have something there.”

  “All there are in this palace are guards and servants though.”

  “What if we start a mounted guard unit?” Chevalier asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Kyle looked at him, “Would the other Elders go for that?”

  He shrugged, “If I can find a place for some stables, maybe. She could take care of the horses and teach the heku guards how to ride.”

  “That could be perfect. Thukil Coven has a Cavalry, and I’ve always thought it sounded interesting,” Kyle said, smiling.

  “We’d need someone to watch Allen.”

  “Ugh, yeah we would. We could bring Anna over,” Kyle suggested.

  “She’s doing something else now, and I can’t take her away.”

  “Emily’s not going to let us pick someone from the city at random.”

  “I don’t much like that idea either,” Chevalier said.

  “We could get a guard to do it, but they would consider that a demotion,” Kyle said as he thought.

  Chevalier smiled, “Send for Sam.”

  Kyle rolled his eyes, “Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll have him here in the morning.”

  “As soon as I find a stable location, we’ll bring Patra over, too.”

  Chevalier sighed when Emily appeared in the doorway, “I’m going to start tying her in bed,” he said, standing up to carry her back to bed.

 
This time he curled up next to her and watched her sleep. She stayed in bed the rest of the night.

  Chapter 18 - Cavalry

  It took only four weeks to get the location and the stables built, one of the advantages of having non-sleeping workers. Emily was so excited to see Sam, that she forgot about being mad at Kyle and Chevalier and her mood improved. Sam was happy to help with Allen, and the Elders loved the idea of a mounted Cavalry. A heku could run faster than a horse, but having them up on horses set them apart from the everyday heku guards of the city. It was unanimously decided on in the Council that the Cavalry would be home to the elite guards.

  Chevalier guided Emily out the doors and along the neatly trimmed grass, she was blindfolded.

  “Tell me again where we’re going,” she said as she held tightly to Chevalier’s arm so she wouldn’t hit anything.

  “It’s a surprise.” He grinned, “We’re almost there.”

  Chevalier got Emily into position, and Kyle brought Patra out to the front doors of the stables. When he pulled the blindfold off, she gasped and ran to Patra, hugging her tightly.

  “Oh thank you,” she said, rubbing her nose on the mare’s muzzle.

  “It’s not all fun, Em. We have a job for you,” Chevalier said, smiling.

  She looked up, “A job?”

  “The Elders have decided on a mounted Cavalry. It’ll be your job to tend to the horses and to teach the heku how to ride,” Kyle explained.

  Chevalier was still smiling, “Kyle will be the battalion Captain, so he’ll be here with you every day.”

  Emily tied Patra up to a post and went into the stables. There were rows and rows of stalls full of horses of all breeds and colors. The stables were pristine and smelled like new wood. She knew that would all pass soon enough.

  Emily ran out and jumped into Chevalier’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, hugging her tightly.

  She pulled back and looked into his eyes, “When do we start?”

  Kyle chuckled and pointed to seven guards heading their way, “There’s your first set.”

  Emily looked over at the unhappy heku and frowned, “They don’t want to do this?”

  “They don’t have a choice,” Chevalier said, setting her down on her feet.

  Emily sighed and then went to meet the seven guards. They wouldn’t even look at her as she introduced herself. She thought for a moment and then went back to Chevalier.

  “I’ll talk to them,” he said angrily, but she put her hand against his chest.

  “It will go smoother if an Elder isn’t watching, and send Kyle away for a few minutes,” she suggested.

  Kyle started to argue, but Chevalier held a hand up, “Fine… he’ll be gone for 5 minutes… that’s it.”

  Kyle frowned and went into the stables as Chevalier walked away. Emily went back to the guards.

  “Now… there’s no Elder and no Captain watching. I’m Emily,” she said, and they looked down at her. She rarely felt small, but at this moment she did. They towered over her.

  “I know you don’t want to be here,” she started, and they shifted uncomfortably.

  “I understand that it’ll be hard taking instructions from a mere mortal.” She grinned and watched as they relaxed slightly.

  “I’ll make this as painless as possible. Besides, as my first group, you’ll get to see me fall on my ass on a regular basis so at least this will be entertaining for you.” She smiled when they laughed, “I don’t give orders, ok? I don’t want anything more than to help you get up on a horse and not injure the animal or yourself.”

  They nodded, and she felt a small glimmer that they were less mad, “Let’s get going. The Captain’s inside, seething because he can’t see me, so we’ll give him a break and go in.”

  She walked into the stables and heard them follow behind her. Kyle turned around when she came in, and looked at the heku guards, surprised that they seemed in much better moods.

  “First off… pick a horse,” she said, looking around the stables, and then she walked over to Patra. “Except this one, this one’s mine.”

  The heku looked around hesitantly.

  “Do you have a suggestion?” one finally asked.

  “Let’s see.” She went over to the guards and looked at each one of them.

  Emily took the hand of one of the guards and he froze and looked at Kyle. Kyle sighed and turned away. She pulled on his hand and led him over to the stables.

  “You’re the tallest, so you are going to need a larger horse.” She led him through the stables and stopped at a tall Appaloosa.

  “Here, this will be yours.” She opened the stable and handed a brush to the heku, “Start brushing him, you need to bond.”

  She left him with the stallion and shut the stall door. She repeated that with each guard, taking their hand and leading them up and down the rows of horses until she found one that suited them.

  She gathered up seven bridles and passed them out, showing each heku in turn how to put it on correctly.

  “Once you get them on, lead them out here to me,” she called down toward the stalls.

  She smiled at Kyle, “This is fun.”

  Kyle glared, “You don’t have to touch them.”

  She slapped him playfully on the chest, “Trust me.”

  “Oh that’s part of your plan? To break all of the ‘don’t touch the Elder’s wife’ rules?” he scowled.

  “No, it’s part of getting them to trust me,” she said, and Kyle relaxed some, that made sense.

  Over the next two hours, Emily walked them through putting a saddle on their horses. She had to watch carefully so they didn’t over cinch the straps and injure the horse. She lost count of how many times she had to tell them to be gentle with the horses.

  “Ok... now... all together, you’re going to go to the horse’s left side, put your foot in the stirrup, and hoist up,” she said, and cringed slightly. She wasn’t sure how this was going to go.

  She smiled when they all swiftly mounted their horses. She often forgot how naturally graceful the heku were.

  “Great! Now sit there and get comfortable while I adjust the stirrups.”

  Kyle watched as Emily went horse to horse and adjusted the stirrups to fit the long legs of the heku guards. He hated how much she had to struggle to do it. He could more easily have done the adjustments, but she pushed him away when he came to try.

  When she was finished with the last one, she came over to Kyle, “We need to talk shoes.”

  “What’s wrong with their shoes?” he asked, looking at the guard issued steel toed boots.

  “Cowboy boots are made that way for a reason, it helps keep their feet in the stirrups,” she explained.

  “Ok, we’ll get some here in the next few days,” he promised.

  “Great guys, now get off of the horse the same way you got on, going to their left.” She watched as they slipped off of their horses.

  Emily smiled. They had made considerable progress today, and she noticed it was getting late, “Let’s get them all back to their stalls and feed them.”

  Kyle and Emily watched as they headed back to the stalls with their horses. She jumped toward one of the horses when it lowered its ears, she’d seen that too many times before. There was a heku guard standing directly behind his mare, and she didn’t like it. Kyle reached out for Emily, but his hand barely touched her shoulder when she pushed the heku out of the way just as the horse kicked backwards. Her hoof caught Emily in the back, and sent her flying into the wall of the barn. Emily slumped down onto the floor and bent over, trying to catch her breath.

  Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by eight frantic heku.

  “We should call an ambulance,” one said.

  “No, I can run her to the hospital in the city,” another said.

  “Stop,” she gasped, and they all looked at her.

  “How badly are you hurt?” Kyle asked, running his
hands along her back.

  “Ouch! Stop touching my back,” she said, trying to get to her feet. She sat back down hard, when someone’s hands pushed against her.

  “Go put your horses away and don’t stand behind them,” she said to them. They looked at Kyle and he nodded. The heku guards walked over to their horses, glancing back at Emily, each wondering how much trouble they would get into for this, and on their first day.

  As they rounded the corner back to Emily, they gasped. She had her shirt hiked up in back, and Kyle was looking at a hoof shaped bruise to the left of her spine.

  “See, it’s not bad,” she said, pulling her shirt down.

  Kyle helped her to her feet and he spun to the guard angrily, “Never, ever, stand behind a horse.”

  Emily frowned and turned to Kyle, “Did you hear me tell them that?”

  “Well, no,” he said angrily.

  “Then if you want to be mad at someone… be mad at me,” she said to him, and put her hands on her hips.

  The heku guards watched, shocked. They couldn’t believe that the little mortal woman was standing up for them with their Captain.

  “Still, Emily, why would you push a heku out of the way for that? He would already be healed,” he asked, a little softer.

  “Because he didn’t know, there’s no reason he should get hurt because I forgot to mention it.” She turned back to the guards, “Good job today, now let’s get them fresh food and water.”

  “Lady Emily?” one guard asked.

  “Yes?” she said, turning to him.

  “You really should have let me get kicked, Ma’am,” he said softly.

  She smiled, “I’m ok, seriously. This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time I get kicked by a horse.”

  Emily went over to the oats and tried pulling up the lid. When it didn’t come off, she put her fingers under the edge and leaned her body back when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Let me get it, Ma’am,” a member of the new Cavalry said, and he easily pulled the lid off.

  Kyle watched their interaction in shock. In their short amount of time with Emily, she had managed to gain the respect and admiration that normally would have taken years. He shook his head as he saw them intermingle with her easily. She walked them through feeding the horses and getting them fresh water. They helped her reach the buckets, helped her turn the water crank, anything they could to make it easier for her.