Encala

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Just calm, Child. We can discuss this,” the tallest Encala Elder said.

  “Start discussing,” she snapped.

  “We can pay you, anything you would like, for a female infant,” he said, smiling.

  Emily laughed some, “No.”

  “Consider it, Child. It would bring peace back to the factions.”

  “Call me child again and you won’t get another breath.”

  He stepped back behind his guard, “No offense.”

  “If it’s peace you want, then why would I give you a weapon?” she asked him.

  “To even things up.”

  “It’s out of the question. As it stands, the Equites have me and I am in control of my abilities, which makes me the peace keeper.”

  “Still unfair,” the Valle Elder said.

  “I’m pregnant now… which of you gets the baby?” she asked, and sat back in the large chair.

  Chevalier looked at her oddly and secretly smelled her. Her smell was not off, it was normal, and he turned back to them and grinned.

  “Is that true?” the Encala asked Chevalier.

  He nodded, “Yes.”

  Emily watched as the Encala and Valle Elders began to bicker. Soon, their arguments turned into pushing and then a fight erupted with the Equites Council watching.

  “Enough!” Maleth yelled, and the fighting heku looked at him. “Lady Emily is not with child, but she has proven to us that you do not have the ability to control one of the Winchesters, as you can’t even control yourselves.”

  “It is only fair that we have equal powers to you!” the Valle yelled.

  “We will get a Winchester… even if it causes another war,” the Encala said, sternly.

  “Over my dead body,” Emily yelled, watching them.

  “That is all we will say about it. You haven’t proven to us that you can handle a Winchester in your faction,” Leonid said. He then stood and exited out the back door, followed by Maleth and most of the Council.

  Chevalier and Emily sat and watched as the opposing factions scowled and left the room, bumping shoulders angrily with Emily’s guards.

  “They are going to try to get me aren’t they?” Emily asked, looking over at Chevalier. She saw her guards move in closer to them.

  “Yes,” he scowled.

  Emily looked over at her guards, “You ready for this?”

  One of them smiled, broadly, “They won’t get past us… Wow, we really are guarding a Winchester!”

  Chevalier stood up, “I need to talk to the Council alone.”

  Emily nodded and stood up with help, “That’s fine. I’m going to take Allen down to the kitchen for some dinner.”

  Chevalier appeared in the Council’s conference room and saw all were present before he shut the door, “Interesting.”

  “Yes, very. Each faction having a Winchester would cause an immediate war. Each thinking they could obliterate the other,” Maleth said, as his fingertips pressed together.

  “Emily was right. She is more of a peace keeper to us… their fear of her keeps them at bay,” Leonid said. “If they had the same ability, it would most surely cause conflict.”

  “Not to mention, Lady Emily made it very clear she wasn’t going to give each of them a baby,” Damon reminded them.

  “It’s different with mortals. They are extremely attached to their offspring. There’s no way she would willingly give up a baby,” the Chief of Finances explained.

  Chevalier nodded, “Now, though, we need to be ready for attacks. If the Valle and Encala team up and attack, it is not going to be a pretty fight.”

  “How many can Emily take care of at a time?” Damon asked.

  “I wasn’t there, but Kyle said she took out 13 in quick succession, and over a two-hour period, turned 83 to ash.”

  “That’s not enough to protect us against a combined attack,” Leonid said, looking around the Council.

  “It also begins to wear on her. At first, as you saw previously, she could turn them to ash in less than a second. The more she does, the longer it takes,” Chevalier said, leaning against the table.

  “We cannot let them get a Winchester,” Damon said, icily.

  “So what do we do? Take her out of the palace to an undisclosed location?” Maleth asked.

  “That’s risky,” Damon said. “Here she is well guarded. If we send her out, she’ll have what? The Elder and maybe 30 guards? If her location was discovered, it would be easy for them to take her.”

  “I could take her back to the Island. The pier is the only way in and there are a thousand heku living there,” Chevalier said, deep in thought.

  “That’s one of the first places they would look for her,” Damon said.

  “Is it a practiced skill?” Leonid asked. “I mean, if she practiced would she get better at it? Maybe able to do a hundred at a time?”

  Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure. She won’t do it though. The only way to practice would be to turn a heku into ash.”

  “So we agree she’s safer here?” Maleth asked them all.

  When no one disagreed, he turned to Chevalier, “Will she abide by strict rules?”

  “That would depend on the rule. She’s not unreasonable, but sometimes the seriousness of the danger eludes her,” Chevalier explained.

  “We have to consider that they may try to take Allen as a means to lure her to them,” Damon said.

  Chevalier was surprised he hadn’t thought of that, and was glad that Damon was made the Chief Enforcer. He was sharp and missed nothing.

  “What rules shall we enforce then? She has 2 guards on her at all times, and so far hasn’t skipped out on them,” Maleth said.

  “She promised not to, for that, she saw the need,” Chevalier said.

  “I say we up it to four and two on Allen,” Damon suggested, and the rest of the Council agreed.

  “No more horseback riding through the city,” Maleth suggested.

  “Can we keep her confined to her room then?” Leonid asked.

  Chevalier grinned, “No… we cannot. She’s mortal, they aren’t known for their patience, and when Emily gets bored, she gets into trouble.”

  “Can we confine her to the palace?”

  He shook his head, “She’ll fight against that.”

  “So she is unable to sit in one location for long?” one of the council members asked.

  “That’s common for most mortals,” Chevalier said, smiling. He knew Emily was actually worse than most.

  “So is there nothing we can do more than four guards for her and two for Allen?” Maleth asked, frowning.

  “What about the Cavalry training? She’s not going to want to give that up,” Chevalier said.

  “I say she keeps training. During that time, she is with no less than thirteen guards at once,” Leonid said, and smiled slightly.

  “Alert her guards, I don’t care what it is, if anything suspicious happens around Emily, they are to dispose of the culprit,” Damon said, sternly.

  “Just please, don’t let Emily know that,” Chevalier said.

  “Will you please ask her to be more careful about where she goes? Maybe stress the importance of not slipping her guard, though it shocks me that a mortal can elude two heku,” Damon said, baffled.

  “You just don’t know Emily,” Chevalier replied.

  “There’s one more thing…” It seemed like Maleth was hesitating.

  “Yes?” Chevalier asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Allen is almost 3, is he not?”

  “Yes”

  “Were there plans for another?”

  “No, Emily doesn’t want more,” Chevalier told them.

  Maleth gasped, “So the Winchesters will die off with her?”

  Chevalier nodded, “It’s not my place to insist on another baby. She’s the one that has to carry it, and go through labor, and she doesn’t want to.”

  “Those powers though, we can’t let them disappear,” Leonid added.

  “I do
n’t think she cares about the powers. She’s been attacked her entire life, including when guarded, and she may not wish to pass that on.”

  “Ask her, please. See if she will consider having a girl,” Maleth asked.

  “You realize we don’t get to choose the gender.” Chevalier gave half-grin.

  Maleth nodded, “Still, please try.”

  “I will ask, but I know already what the answer will be.”

  “How is it being prevented?” Leonid questioned.

  “Pills… mortals have made a pill to prevent pregnancy,” Chevalier said, and then grinned. He still thought that was funny.

  “Replace them with something… something that looks the same,” Maleth thought out loud.

  Chevalier frowned, “I will not. I’m not going to trick her into a baby.”

  “No, no, I didn’t really mean that. All we can ask is for you to try.”

  Once the preparations were made, the Council adjourned for the night. Chevalier met Emily and Allen back up in their room. There were already four guards posted by the door.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, watching as Emily and Allen cuddled by the T.V.

  Emily shushed him with her finger, and he noticed that Allen was asleep in her arms.

  Chevalier picked Allen up and laid him down in his bed, kissing his forehead lightly. He came back out and shut the door.

  “I see I got more guards,” Emily said, sitting down on the bed.

  “Yes, the Council is worried about the coming attacks,” he said, joining her.

  “Are you?”

  “Yes,” he said, seriously.

  “Is that it? Four guards?”

  “Four for you and two for Allen.”

  “And?”

  “That’s it for now, though they asked that you not horseback through the city anymore. The Council would feel better if you would stay in the palace, but I’ve told them that won’t happen.” He took her hand in his.

  “Do I get to keep training the Cavalry?” She was worried about that.

  “Yes, it’s the safest place for you, actually. You’ll be with at least thirteen heku.”

  “I see, and I’m guessing they will be touchy.”

  He nodded, “We have to have them watching carefully.”

  “I know what you’re going to ask and yes… I will be good,” she said, smiling.

  “We understand it’s hard for you to be under so much protection, but we can’t risk them getting to you,” he said, and kissed her softly.

  “I’ll behave, I promise.”

  “There’s one other thing,” Chevalier said, hesitating.

  Emily looked at him suspiciously, “What is that?”

  Chevalier rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, “It’s something… rather personal. I told them no, but I had to promise I’d ask.”

  She frowned, “Just spill it.”

  “The Council wants us to consider having another baby,” he said, grinning sheepishly.

  Emily laughed, “They didn’t.”

  He nodded.

  “Why do they care?”

  “The Winchester powers only go through the female blood line.”

  “Oh I see, and when I die, the ability to ash leaves with me,” she said, understanding.

  Chevalier nodded, surprised she was finding this amusing.

  “So that’s what the Council wants… what do you want?” she asked, crawling onto his lap and facing him.

  “I want what you want,” he said, and pressed his lips against hers.

  She pulled back, “That’s a cop out. What do you want?”

  He sighed and brushed the hair off of her shoulder, “I wouldn’t mind another.”

  “Wouldn’t mind?”

  “What do you want me to say? Yes… I’d like to have another baby.” He grinned, knowing she’d won that.

  Emily smiled, “I’ve been thinking about it anyway, Allen is 3 and he needs a sibling.”

  Chevalier looked at her shocked, “So that’s a yes?”

  She nodded, “They do realize, though, it could be a boy.”

  “I told them that. I can’t believe you said yes.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “You were so adamant about not having another.”

  She shrugged, “Yeah well, things change. Understand, though, that I wasn’t even supposed to have one baby. It may not matter what we do, there may not be any more Winchesters.”

  Chapter 3 - Play Time

  “I’m calling a day off,” Emily said, as they gathered for cavalry training. She’d had her cast off for a few weeks, and it was time to have some fun. They all looked at her questioningly as she was in her black sports bra and a pair of cut-off sweat pants that were rolled down at the top to fit against her hips.

  “You are?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, can I do that?”

  “Sure”

  “Good… then line up,” she said, and watched as the recruits lined up on the left and the Cavalry lined up on the right. Kyle went and stood by her.

  “Ok… you,” she said, pointing to the first new recruit. “Take your shirt off.”

  He frowned slightly and then did as he was told.

  “Ok, Mark,” she said, turning to the second cavalry member, “Shirt off.”

  Kyle looked at her, oddly, not sure what she was up to.

  Emily went through the two lines and every other heku removed their shirt.

  “Kyle, your turn.” She grinned.

  He shook his head and took his shirt off, “Now what?”

  Emily disappeared into the tack room and came back with a football, “Time to play.”

  The gathered heku all grinned and divided up automatically, shirts against skins.

  “I’ll be quarterback for the shirts… obviously.” She couldn’t help but blush some, “Kyle will be quarterback for the skins. When we aren’t playing offense, we’ll help with defense. The end zones are already marked with my shoes.”

  The heku looked at both ends of the lawn and saw shoes on each side. Emily pulled out a quarter and turned to the skins team, “Call it.”

  She tossed the quarter into the air as they called heads. She caught it in her hand and looked, skins were going first.

  “There’s just one tiny problem,” Kyle said as they lined up.

  “What’s that?” Emily asked.

  “We can’t tackle the quarterback… that’s kind of cheating.” He grinned.

  “Oh right, well…” She tried to come up with a solution, “Then tackle me, I’m tougher than I look.”

  Kyle shook his head, “The Elder would kill us for that.”

  She frowned, “He won’t even know.”

  “Ok then… don’t hit her full force, though,” Kyle said, turning to his team, and they all agreed.

  Emily lined up behind one of her teammates and put her hands out to him. He hiked the ball and she backed up, looking for someone who was free. Her linemen were doing a good job keeping the opposing team off of her, and she finally saw a guard off to the side with his hands up. She threw the ball as hard as she could and he caught it nimbly, then blurred to the end zone.

  “Touchdown!” Emily shouted, doing a victory dance.

  They re-lined up on what was somewhere near the center of the field and this time, Emily was one of the lineman. She grinned at the shirtless guard across from her. Emily glanced to the sidelines when she saw movement and laughed, there was a crowd gathering.

  From up on the third floor, Chevalier paced his office, thinking. He stopped for a quick glance out the window, and looked down to see what was going on below. He smiled and shook his head as he saw the Cavalry and the new recruits gathered playing football. Chevalier laughed when he saw Emily lined up defensively against one of the larger recruits. She looked miniscule in comparison to him.

  As the ball was hiked, Emily lunged at the new recruit and he turned just as she jumped. She slammed into his back and wrapped her arms and legs around hi
m. He took off down the field as Emily struggled to make him fall. She finally hooked her elbow around his neck and threw herself backwards. The heku fell back and landed to the side of her.

  Chevalier decided he’d worked enough for one day, and headed down to join the growing crowd that was watching. He arrived just as the skins team made a touchdown. The scoring heku was high-fiving his teammate.

  “Move to the front, Elder,” one of the heku in the crowd offered.

  “No, I’ll stay back out of sight.” He was afraid their game would end if they knew he was watching. They were seriously breaking the ‘no touching’ rule, but he knew that the entire idea had to be Emily’s, and he was enjoying watching her have fun.

  Emily lined up again behind a heku and put her hands out. As soon as the ball was hiked, one of the skins broke away and tackled Emily. She felt herself being hit and then somehow gently set against the ground. Chevalier started to jump toward them, but saw that the heku who tackled her was being extremely careful.

  She stood up and got back in position. Chevalier looked around, there had to be at least two hundred heku gathered to watch.

  “What’s going on?” Maleth asked, standing by Chevalier.

  “Emily has the Cavalry playing football,” he explained.

  “Interesting.” Maleth turned back to the game.

  The heku playing center hiked the ball to Emily and she fell back, looking for an open guard member. Her eyes fell on a hole, and she tucked the ball under her arm and ran as fast as she could. She heard her team surround her and knock out the opposing team as they tried to get to her. Emily suddenly felt her feet leave the ground as strong arms grabbed her around the waist, and blurred her to the end zone.

  The Cavalry member set her down and she spiked the ball and did a victory dance. She high-fived the guard that had carried her into the end zone, just as Kyle held up a hand.

  “I don’t think that’s legal,” he said, returning to the front line.

  “What’s not?” Emily asked, and walked back to her position.

  “Nowhere in the rule books does it say someone can carry the quarterback into the end zone,” he said, laughing.

  “Nowhere in the rule books does it say they can’t,” she said, and pushed him playfully.

  Emily lined up facing one of her guards again, and looked him in the eyes. The skins team hiked the ball and Emily dodged around her guard and ran for Kyle as he looked around for someone to throw to. She dove and landed hard against his legs, wrapping her arms around both of his ankles. He swayed slightly and then passed the ball to a member of his team, who then blurred into the end zone.