Chevalier spun to him, “Oh? Let’s see how well you can control yourself… Emily, tell Kyle who took you to the airport.”
Emily turned at the top of the stairs and glared at Chevalier, “It was no big deal.”
“So tell him, see what Kyle thinks,” he said, taking a step up.
Kyle looked at her suspiciously “What’s going on?”
“He’s just freaking out because I let Exavior drive me to the airport, and before he chimes in, we danced too… oh and spent two weeks horseback riding,” she added, and stormed into her room.
Kyle stood, wide eyed, “The Valle Exavior?”
Chevalier growled and followed her into the room, slamming the door behind him.
“What do you mean you spent two weeks riding horseback with him? How often were you two alone?” Chevalier hissed.
“A lot,” she said, crossing her arms.
“If you were heku, I’d tear your head off for treason,” he growled, stepping toward her, his hands balled into fists.
“Treason? What, you think I was out there telling him Equites secrets? We’re friends… nothing more” she scowled.
“Valle aren’t friends, they are our enemies. You’re lucky you aren’t chained up in a Valle prison right now.”
“Ha! He didn’t even talk to me about the Valle and he had plenty of opportunities to snag me if he’d wanted to. He… is... my... friend,” she yelled.
Chevalier took her arm roughly and pulled her to face him, “What part of this are you not seeing the danger in? You cannot be friends with a Valle.”
“You’re hurting my arm.” She glared at him.
“Good, maybe it’ll sink into your thick head that heku are dangerous.”
“Let go,” she demanded.
Chevalier pushed her onto the bed, roughly, “You are confined to quarters until I decide what to do with you.”
“Oh no, I’m not. I’m not one of your subjects, and you can’t order me around.” She stood up and faced him, but took a step back when she saw his body shake with anger.
“You were fraternizing with a member of the Valle Council… a dangerous member of the Valle Council, and you will learn one way or another, how to avoid that in the future.” He walked toward the door.
“Fraternizing? You sound like we were playing slap and tickle. We’re friends, nothing more,” she said, rubbing her arm.
He turned to her, “You will not be friends with him.”
“Oh, ok Keith.” She glared.
Chevalier blurred to her and pinned her to the wall with his hand around her neck, her feet dangled over a foot from the floor.
“Do not compare me to him,” he growled.
Emily couldn’t breathe. She clawed at his fingers and kicked out at him.
“You will not be friends with Exavior,” he said again, gritting his teeth.
Emily could feel pain in her lungs as she tried to inhale. She saw blackness creep across her vision.
“Emily?” she heard the soft voice from far away. Her lungs hurt and her head was pounding.
“Come on, Emily, look at me,” she heard again, and she was finally able to open her eyes and look up at Kyle.
Emily gasped in a breath and sat up suddenly, her hands at her throat. She looked around the room anxiously.
“He’s not here, Maleth has him downstairs,” Kyle said. Emily noticed that his voice held an air of irritation.
Emily crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She looked at the deep purple bruises around her neck.
“Can you blame him?” Kyle asked, watching her.
Emily spun around to him, “Yes, I can. I did nothing wrong.”
“You hung around with one of the most dangerous members of the Valle Council, the Chief Interrogator,” he said, seething.
“I didn’t know who he was, and he was nothing but polite and friendly.” She walked out into the bedroom. Emily looked around and grabbed her phone, then headed toward the door.
“The Elders have asked that I keep you in here,” he said to her, blocking the door.
She glared at him, “Get out.”
“Fine, but I’m watching you,” he said, leaving her room and slamming the door behind him.
Emily was out the window within seconds, scaling down the side of the building like she’d done before. She checked around her and ran for the stables. Once inside, she climbed up into the loft and hid behind a stack of hay. She dialed the number with shaking fingers.
“Yes?” the gruff voice said.
She couldn’t answer. Suddenly, she was wracked with fear.
“Who is this?” he questioned, irritated.
“Exavior?” she finally managed to ask.
“Emily?” he said, concerned. His voice was no longer stern.
“He knows,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
There was a pause, “Are you ok? Did he hurt you?”
Emily nodded, knowing he couldn’t see it.
“I wanted to warn you,” she said finally, trying to control the fear in her voice.
“Warn me? Emily, are you hurt?” he asked again, quickly.
“Yes,” she whispered, feeling the ache in her neck.
“I’ll come get you, are you in Council City?” he asked.
“No, don’t come, he’ll kill you,” she said, suddenly.
“I have diplomatic immunity. He can’t touch me,” Exavior growled.
“Stay there, but be careful. He…” The phone was ripped roughly from her hands.
“Stay away from my wife,” she heard Chevalier hiss into the phone.
Exavior was yelling loud enough that Emily could hear him through the phone, “Why, so you can kill her? Feel good beating up a mortal a third your size?”
“You don’t know who you are messing with,” Chevalier scowled.
“I think I do. I’m talking to a creature that has no problems assaulting his mortal wife,” Exavior said, angrily.
“Leave her alone,” Chevalier said again.
“You first,” he yelled.
“She’s none of your concern, Valle,” he hissed.
“Yes she is. She’s my friend and if she needs my help, she’ll get it.”
“She’s taken care of here. She doesn’t need you,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.
“Taken care of? Not only is she injured right now, but you’ve left that Encala rune on her. Why is that exactly?” Exavior roared.
“How did you see that?” Chevalier asked, and slammed the phone against the wall when Exavior hung up.
Chevalier pulled Emily to her feet by her arm and shook her, “How did the Valle see the runes on your thigh?”
“Stop it,” she said, as he slammed her into the wall.
“How?”
Chevalier let Emily go when Leonid and Maleth appeared behind him, and Leonid put a hand on his shoulder, “Let her go.”
He glared at her, “How did he see it?”
“It’s not what you think,” she said, moving back into the corner.
“Tell me.” Chevalier stepped toward her.
“Stay away from me. I’m warning you,” she said, glaring at him. “I’ve let you go too far this time, and I’m not letting any more slide.”
“Or what?” he scowled. Maleth and Leonid both gasped when Chevalier suddenly fell into a pile of ash. Emily ran past them and scrambled down the ladder. She heard a faint voice in the wind call for Damon.
Kyle grabbed her just as she headed into the garage. He was holding her wrist gently, “This time… I’ll stay with you.”
He led her up the stairs and into the bedroom, “Elder’s orders, you stay here, and Chevalier stays away from you.”
“If Damon decides to revive him that is,” she said, pulling her wrist away from him.
“Emily, tell me you didn’t turn him into ash,” he sighed.
“Sure, if you don’t mind being lied to.”
“Sit.” He pointed at the bed.
Emily sat d
own on the bed and glared at him. She heard a loud crash outside of the palace and moved to the window. She gasped when she saw the drainpipes being removed from along the wall.
“I’ll be in the hallway if you need me. This got too far out of control this time,” he said, slamming the door.
Emily was locked in her room for two days. She demanded to see Allen numerous times, but no one would answer her. Her food trays were pushed quickly into the room and the door was left locked from the outside. She had become a prisoner in the palace.
Finally, her door opened and Damon stepped in, “Come with me.”
“No, where is Allen?” she scowled.
“Your presence has been requested in the council chambers,” he said, moving aside so she could leave.
She walked past him, apprehensively, and walked into the lower portion of the council chambers. She saw the dark gray cloaks of the four heku standing before the Equites Council. Exavior turned when she walked in and his eyes immediately fell to her bruised neck.
Emily avoided looking at Chevalier and walked over to Exavior, “You shouldn’t be here.”
He smiled, “Stop trying to protect me.”
“They won’t let me see Allen,” she whispered to him frantically.
Exavior turned to the Council, “Why has she been denied her son?”
“That was a Council decision, to keep him safe until all tempers calmed down,” Maleth explained.
“Bring him here. It’s unreasonable to keep her from him,” he said, calmly.
Leonid nodded, and a guard by the door disappeared.
“So you see,” Damon said, taking the stand, “that she is alive and well as promised.”
“Well?” he asked, and looked at her. “You consider this well?”
“Tempers flared, and we regret the actions of one of our council, but it has been taken care of,” Maleth tried to assure him.
Emily wrapped her arms around herself. She felt on display.
“What about the runes then? Have they been removed?” he asked them.
“Not yet,” Leonid answered.
“That’s disgraceful and negligent to leave that mark on her,” he scowled.
“I take it you know how to remove it then?” Damon asked, arrogantly.
“Yes I do,” he said, and Emily looked at him with wide eyes.
“We cannot kill the Encala that put it there,” he said.
“You don’t need the rune’s keeper to get it off,” he said. “Especially when it’s ink and not a tattoo.”
Chevalier scowled at him, “I have yet to determine exactly how you saw it in the first place.”
“Please don’t,” Emily whispered to Exavior.
He frowned, “Why are you keeping it from them? That wasn’t your fault.”
Her eyes were pleading.
Exavior turned back to the Council, “It’s not my place to say.”
Emily turned when the door opened, and Allen ran into her arms. She picked him up and held him tightly to her. She kissed his cheek as tears rolled down her face.
“I bring up my original complaint. It is the opinion of the Valle Council that you are repeatedly mistreating a mortal in your palace, and should be dealt with according to the laws set forth when the ancients were banished,” Exavior said to them.
“We are not continually mistreating a mortal,” Maleth replied.
“Oh? That’s not how it looks,” he said.
“What we have here is a matter of tempers. When two are bonded and love each other, but both have tempers, it can lead to accidents,” Maleth explained.
“Love each other? I’ve never seen anyone assault one they truly love, and I don’t see any marks on the Elder,” he said.
“I had to revive him from ash,” Damon explained.
Exavior smiled slightly, “Self-defense, I’m sure.”
“Take us with you,” Emily asked, turning to Exavior with Allen still held tightly in her arms.
“She’s afraid to be here,” he said, watching Chevalier closely.
“Over my dead body,” he scowled.
“Everybody calm down,” Leonid said, standing up. “No one is in danger here, we can discuss this calmly.”
Exavior raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t yet even raised his voice, “I agree that it is best if she stay here, as long as she isn’t kept from her son, and isn’t confined in any way.”
“No,” Emily said, shocked. “Take us with you.”
Exavior smiled at her, “It’s ok, you’ll be safe here.”
“Why?” she frowned.
“The Valle Elders aren’t going to want to let you stay with me. They will want you at their palace with the Elders,” he explained.
Chevalier frowned when Exavior told her the truth.
“I do have conditions,” Exavior said, “Or I will be back.”
“What conditions?” Maleth asked.
“I’ve stated two, the other is that she be allowed to contact me at any time and I her. I will be checking up on her from time to time. I also ask that the runes be removed,” he said, narrowing his eyes. His voice was calm and controlled.
Maleth nodded, “That is reasonable, though, we’ve been unable to get them removed.”
Exavior smiled, “Does that mean you do not know how?”
Leonid glanced at Maleth and shrugged, “That is correct.”
Exavior turned to Emily, “I can do it, but it’s quite painful.”
She looked into his eyes, “Get it off of me.”
He turned back to the Elders, “I will need a ceremonial room. It’s a long process, and we cannot be disturbed.”
Maleth looked at Chevalier, and he nodded, glaring at the Valle.
“I will be back in one week to remove it. I’ll also check on her welfare at that time,” Exavior said. He turned to Emily.
“Call me if any of them so much as touch you,” he said.
Emily nodded and watched the Valle walk out of the council chambers. She was still clutching Allen in her arms.
She headed for the door, but the guards stopped her and she turned around, her eyes full of terror. Chevalier felt his heart jump. He had never seen her that terrified before. He wanted to run to her and hold her, but he realized he was the cause. The purple bruises on her neck were proof enough of that.
“There is one more thing to discuss,” Leonid said, and motioned for Emily to step forward. She took just a few steps toward the Council quietly.
“It is against faction law to fraternize with members of the other factions,” Leonid told her. “You may not have been aware of that rule.”
“Since when have I been forced to abide by the rules of the heku?” she asked softly, her eyes ran along the council members.
“We are just concerned that you became friends with one of the Valle council members,” he said, softly.
“I didn’t know he was Valle, or a council member, until the last day,” she told them.
“Yet you spent two weeks with him?”
“Yes”
“You knew he was heku?” Leonid asked.
“Yes”
“Did he tell you he was Equites?”
“No, he wouldn’t tell me his faction,” she explained.
Leonid sighed and sat down, “We will discuss this further as a Council.”
She just watched them.
“How did the Valle see the runes on your thigh?” Damon asked, frowning.
“Death, betrayal, or infidelity?” Emily asked, pulling off the essence ring.
The council members gasped.
“This one’s on you… it was still attached until a few minutes ago,” she said, walking up to Chevalier’s side of the table. She set the ring down in front of him.
Emily turned and left the room with Allen.
Chevalier picked up the ring and turned it around in his fingers. He whispered, “Two weeks.”
Leonid nodded, “Two weeks to put it back on her before the bond is completely severed.”
“Try, Chevalier, don’t let this fight end it for you two,” Maleth said, softly.
“I’m not sure I can fix it,” he said, looking at the ring.
“Try,” Leonid said.
“Maybe Exavior is right. Maybe she’s not safe here with me,” Chevalier whispered.
“She loves you,” Maleth said, softly. “She just needs reminded.”
Chapter 15 - Times Up
Emily heard a knock on her door and she looked up from her book, “Who is it?”
“It’s me,” she heard Chevalier say.
Emily looked at Sam frantically, and he ran to the door and stepped out, “What do you want?”
“I came to talk to Emily,” Chevalier said.
“You’ll have to talk to her through me,” Sam said, crossing his arms.
“It’s been four days. I need to see her,” he said.
“Sorry, boss’s orders.”
“She hasn’t even left her room since the council chambers, I just need to talk to her,” Chevalier said. He debated pushing the familiar out of the way and getting what he demanded, but knew that wasn’t the way to win back Emily’s affection.
“I’ll give her your message,” Sam said, and went back into her room, squeezing through the door and locking it behind him.
“What did he want?” Emily asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed with her book.
“He just wants to see you,” Sam said. He sat back down with Allen and a puzzle.
“How does this keep happening to me?” she sighed.
“Well…” Sam said.
“Oh, I know how it happens.” She glared.
“Have you asked Exavior what to do?” Sam asked her.
“No, I’m afraid to tell him,” Emily said, putting her book down, “But this room is driving me crazy. I need to get out of here.”
“Not without them noticing,” Sam said, putting the last piece in the frame of the puzzle.
“Freak,” she yelled, standing up to pace the floor.
“You need to let me get some crackers and Sprite in here or Allen’s going to… t-e-l-l.” Sam said, not looking up.
“Oh no, that wouldn’t clue them in,” she scowled.
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