“You can rule from our prison,” Zohn said, and watched the Cavalry take the Encala away.
Kyle grinned, “Technicality.”
“Let’s just ban her from the prison again,” Dustin suggested.
“Agreed, alert the guards,” Zohn told Kyle.
Kyle nodded and began whispering instructions to the prison guards.
“Will the Elder be coming down for the next trial?” the Chief Investigator asked.
“No, he’s listening though and can give us a verdict when we need one,” Quinn said.
Chapter 19 - Confusion
“You’re letting them go with you?” Mark asked Emily when she emerged in her jogging clothing. She’d only been back from the Encala palace for two weeks, but her limp was already improving and there had been no further strokes.
“Yes”
“All four of them?”
She smiled, “Yes, the guards can go jogging with me if they’d like.”
“Thank you,” Mark told her, and grinned. “Don’t outrun them.”
Emily glanced at the four members of the Cavalry, “I don’t know, they are pretty small.”
“Small?” the largest one asked, chuckling.
“I won’t ditch them… promise.”
“I’m holding you to it, they’re all we have right now,” Mark said. He eyed the Cavalry with her and it made him nervous that they were all rather new to the position and hadn’t yet been assigned to Emily without a seasoned member with them.
“Why’s that?”
“The rest of us are heading out on a mission.”
Emily looked at her guards, “You don’t want to go?”
Again the taller one spoke, “We have duties here.”
“So babysitting me instead of going out on a killing rampage? How fun.”
He grinned, “What makes you think they’re going out on a killing rampage?”
Emily put her hands on her hips and looked at Mark, “I can just tell. He’s either going out killing or he’s going to rough someone up.”
“You can’t read me that well,” Mark told her.
“Oh yeah? So what are you going to do?”
“Confidential heku stuff.”
“Killing”
“No, now enjoy your run and don’t ditch them.”
Emily shrugged and started down the stairs with her four guards following behind. Just as she ran past the palace’s front lawn, the helicopters took off from the roof above. She turned up her iPod and headed for the front gates of the city.
She tried to ignore the peeking heku as she passed, how the curtains pulled slightly to the side or the doors opened just an inch. Things felt better when she passed through the front gates and headed down the side of the road.
Emily was deep in her own thoughts, and when one of her guards appeared ahead of her and stopped, she slammed into his back and fell to the ground.
“What was that?” she mumbled, and stood up slowly. She pulled the earphones from her ears and peeked around the line of four guards who were blocking her from something.
“Make it easier for you, Son. Hand her over,” Frederick said to the highest ranking of the Cavalry.
Emily sighed and tried to step in front of them, but they blocked her.
“You have no business here,” the Cavalry Commander told him.
She could barely see Frederick from between the guards and he was grinning, “You can’t protect her forever… then she’ll be mine.”
In an instant, Frederick disappeared and the four members of the Cavalry took off after him. Emily wasn’t even sure which way they went, but they disappeared from the road. Unsure exactly what to do, she headed back into the city. She was within sight of the gate guards when a strong headache hit and she stumbled slightly and braced herself against a tree.
***
Kyle grinned down at the heku in the trial area, “I just don’t see why any of this matters.”
“It matters because I would be next in line for Elder,” the heku told him. His white shirt was dingy and gray and his red cape hung threadbare at his back.
“Says who?” Quinn asked.
“It’s well known that as soon as Frederick returns, he was to be banished and I was to take his place.”
Chevalier shrugged, “Not important now. I’m tired of the Encala and I’m ready to do away with the entire faction.”
“It is though!” he yelled. “There has never been only 2 factions. The consequences could be astronomical.”
“That’s stretching a bit, isn’t it?”
“We wouldn’t know.”
Kyle glanced at Chevalier, “What’s your vote? It’s still tied.”
“I see no reason why we need to keep any Encala alive,” Zohn said to Chevalier.
“We really don’t know though… what would happen to the balance of power with only two factions,” Quinn said.
Chevalier leaned forward and looked at the proud Encala, “Hmmm… well…”
“I beg you, think about what you’re doing,” the Encala said to him.
“I may wait and see… I did promise Emily I wouldn’t punish you.”
“You already punished us! Elder Aaron was one of our finest Elders ever.”
“I didn’t kill him. We told you that.”
“You’d do more good if you’d stop holding the Encala responsible for everything Frederick’s done, and start helping us hunt him down.”
“Really?” Chevalier asked, slightly amused.
“Yes… he’s gone rogue. Elder William told you that.”
“I can do both. I don’t need the Encala’s help to do away with Freddy.”
The Encala sighed, “Emily is our friend… has been for a while. We wouldn’t have allowed any of this to happen if we had known.”
Chevalier’s face grew furious, “You have no right talking about her.”
The Council turned to Kyle’s chair when he disappeared from the room.
“What luck… I can’t banish you this exact second,” Chevalier told him. “You’d be wise to hold your tongue and not to talk about Emily.”
The Encala lowered his voice, “She’s our friend.”
Quinn’s fists slammed into the desk in front of him, “Get him out of my sight!”
Derrick appeared and hauled the Encala out of the courtroom.
Zohn sighed, “We should decide soon whether we want to get rid of the Encala all together or just lessen their numbers.”
“I’ll make a decision soon,” Chevalier told him. “I promised Emily I wouldn’t punish them though, and I’m not ready to break that.”
“Does she even know they are imprisoned?” the Chief of Defense asked.
Zohn grinned, “He’s not that brave.”
“I’ll tell her… when she’s feeling better,” Chevalier said, and chuckled.
“So she’s getting better?” the Court Reporter asked.
“Yes, every day she gets a little stronger.”
“Maybe Frederick has backed off.”
He shrugged, “Hopefully, but the doctor said there can be residual strokes that can’t be predicted or prevented.”
“But we’ve not seen any of those?”
“No”
Derrick hesitated in the doorway and then walked up to Chevalier, “The Chief Enforcer is requesting your presence at Luke and Tracy’s house in the city.”
“Did he say why?”
“He just asked that you come quietly.”
Chevalier nodded and followed Derrick out of the council chambers. By the time the Elder got to the small house in the city, a small crowd had gathered and Kyle was keeping them back away from the house.
“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked, looking around the gathered heku.
“I swear… we didn’t touch her!” Luke said frantically.
Kyle sighed and turned to him, “I told you, you aren’t in trouble!”
Chevalier turned to look at Luke and Tracy, the residents of the house he was s
tanding in front of. They were both terrified and seemed to be waiting for Kyle to turn on them at any time.
“Do we need an audience here?” Chevalier growled. The heku in the area all disappeared and he smiled, “There… now what’s going on?”
Kyle turned to the door of the house, “Go on in.”
Chevalier frowned slightly and walked up the two steps to the door. He opened the door and stepped into the warm house, then sighed when he saw Emily curled up on a rocking chair in front of the fire.
“Em?” he said, stepping closer to her.
Emily pulled a blanket tighter around her shoulders and looked over at him and smiled, “You’re home.”
He nodded and pulled up a chair, “Are you injured?”
“No, why?”
Chevalier looked around the small home with its quaint wooden fixtures and warm beige décor, “Just asking. So… how long have you been here?”
She shrugged and turned back to the dead fireplace, “I got home a few minutes ago.”
“Where are your guards?”
“They went after Frederick,” she told him, and began to rock the chair slowly.
“You ran into Frederick today?”
She nodded.
“Did he attack you?”
“No”
“And the guards went after him?”
“Yes”
“They left you alone?”
“Yes, but I came right home.”
Chevalier turned when Kyle and Dr. Edwards walked into the home. Chevalier motioned for them to sit down.
Emily smiled at Kyle when he sat down.
“So what’s up?” Kyle asked.
“Just relaxing,” Emily told him.
He nodded while Chevalier filled him in quickly.
“So if we have to play along with this, how do we get her back to the palace?” Kyle whispered to him.
“I’m not sure… any ideas?”
“Well… we need to hurry, whatever it is. I can’t convince Luke and Tracy that they aren’t going to get banished for this.”
“She just walked in, didn’t she?”
Kyle nodded, “Em?”
She looked over at him and he instantly locked her gaze.
Chevalier watched them closely while Kyle told Emily to return to her home in the palace. She got up, almost as if in a dream, and walked out of the house, followed by Chevalier and Kyle.
Once in the palace, she walked up and into the bedroom. Kyle softly told her to lie down, and when she was asleep, Kyle and Chevalier returned to the council chambers, where they met with Dr. Edwards.
“He filled us in,” Zohn told Chevalier.
“It happened then, right?” Chevalier asked the doctor.
He nodded, “Yes, I believe so.”
“Her guards ran off after Frederick.”
“Have they returned?” Quinn asked.
“Not as far as I can tell.”
“Mark will be back soon,” Kyle said. “I say we put ranking on her again and make sure they don’t leave her, even if Frederick appears.”
Chevalier nodded, “Agreed… even if only one of them is left, at least to keep her from wandering into heku homes. It wouldn’t be hard to find some that would retaliate.”
“She’s lucky she found Luke and Tracy,” Dustin said. “They’ve always been big mortal supporters.”
“So she just walked into their home?” Quinn asked.
“Yes… she thought it was hers,” Kyle explained.
“How can that be?” Zohn asked. “Has she ever even been in their home?”
“Not that I know of,” Chevalier said, and turned to Dr. Edwards.
“The human brain just works that way. Confusion is one of the main symptoms of strokes.”
“Will she heal?” Quinn asked him.
“She should.”
“Where is she now?”
“Kyle locked her and put her to bed. We didn’t know how to play along and still get her back here,” Chevalier explained.
“You locked her?” Dustin asked, surprised.
Kyle nodded, “Yes. I’m not sure if she allowed it or she’s weakened.”
The Chief of Defense cocked his head to the side slightly and then turned to the Elders, “The four members of Emily’s guard have returned… or 3 of them I should say.”
Quinn frowned and turned to the door, “Let them in.”
Derrick opened the door and three of the Cavalry came in wearing torn, bloody shirts, and all looking tired and haggard.
“What happened?” Kyle asked.
The Commander stepped forward, “Frederick appeared just outside the city gates. We followed him and were ambushed in the north trees by over twenty Encala.”
Chevalier growled softly.
“They killed Caleb, but we managed to get away after a fight,” he said, looking at the ground.
Zohn frowned, “It’s unacceptable that you fell into such an obvious trap.”
“We…”
“No!” Quinn shouted. “There’s no excuse for our elite to fall into enemy hands that way. Report to Mark as soon as he returns.”
They nodded and walked out of the council chambers.
“If the Lady had been with them…” Richard, the Chief Interrogator, whispered.
Chevalier nodded, obviously angry, “It’s time we put a stop to Frederick.”
“It won’t help if we make fools of ourselves and our so-called elite run into their hands,” Kyle said angrily.
“How to catch him though?” Dustin asked. “He’s obviously just toying with us.”
Quinn smiled slightly, “He wants Emily… let’s give her to him.”
Chevalier frowned, “Excuse me?”
“No… now hear me out. What if we use Alexis as bait to lure him out into the open?”
“There’s obviously a scent difference between them.”
“Not if we enlist the help of the Valle.”
Zohn sighed, “That’s just asking for trouble.”
“It would get Frederick out where we can capture him,” Quinn said.
“I won’t risk Alexis though,” Chevalier said.
Dustin grinned, “What if we use one of our smaller heku… one that smells like Emily.”
Chevalier growled, “No.”
“Just think about it Chevalier,” Quinn said. “We’ve done it before… we give… say… Mariah, Emily’s scent.”
“She is tiny compared to the rest of us,” Kyle said, deep in thought.
“No,” Chevalier said again.
“Put the Cavalry on his trail,” Zohn said. “Call in Powan if we need to. Let’s see if we can find him first.”
***
“Em, lie down,” Chevalier whispered, and then pulled her back into the warm bed.
“I have to feed the cows,” she said, and pulled against his hands.
“It’s 4am.”
“So?” she asked, and looked at him.
“Kyle has already fed them.”
“Oh…” she said, and looked around.
“Come on, back in bed,” he said again, and this time he managed to get her into the covers.
“Chev?”
“Yes”
“If that cow calves, I’ll need to go out there.”
“Silas is watching her… he’ll let us know.”
She nodded and snuggled up beside Chevalier, “Ok, good night.”
Chevalier lightly kissed the top of her head and watched as her swirling thoughts turned into confusing and unrealistic dreams. He still wondered when she would start healing from the last few minor strokes she’d had since she walked into the heku’s house in the city. The minor strokes were causing memory problems for her and she was now watched continuously throughout the day and night, never to be alone.
One thing that worried Chevalier was her personality change. She was more clingy and a lot more calm and docile. She rarely showed any temper and when she did, it was muted and controlled. Her voice stayed soft and tim
id and she rarely spoke to anyone but her closest friends.
No one had the heart to tell her she was no longer on a ranch, and each of her guards were careful to play along, yet steer her clear of finding out the truth. They were having to come up with unique and inventive ways to keep her calm and stress free when all she wanted was to take care of her cows and horses.
Chevalier pulled out of his trance when he felt Emily begin to wake up. She’d slept another four hours so he let her up when she got up to get dressed.
“Are you heading out?” Chevalier asked as she pulled her hair into an old black cowboy hat.
“Yes, I want to go find out what’s scaring the cows,” she told him, and kissed him lightly before heading out.
Chevalier waited until he heard Mark and Silas join Emily on her horseback ride, and then went into the council chambers for the trial day.
He sat down and started to thumb through the docket.
“Where’s she off to today?” Kyle asked.
“Out chasing off cow spooks,” Chevalier said, and smiled slightly. “Are we going to get Kaela out of the way?”
“That’s going to take a few days,” Quinn told him.
“So we break in the middle, let’s get it out of the way.”
“Let’s handle Suzanne first. That’ll be an easy one.”
Zohn turned to the door, “Derrick, bring her in.”
Dustin turned to the others, “Are we going to address the blatant disregard of the rules last night by high-ranking members of our Cavalry?”
Zohn growled slightly, “What rules might that be?”
Chevalier looked up. He was afraid he knew where this was going.
“We cannot sit by while Elder’s orders are ignored in lieu of doing what they feel might be right.”
“They gave her coffee, Dustin. Not exactly grounds for banishment,” Quinn said, annoyed.
“Still… Elder’s orders were that she wasn’t to have it.”
“She hasn’t had a stomach pain attack in weeks,” Chevalier reminded him. “New orders were to appease her to lessen any stress, and that’s exactly what they did.”
“I still see it as grounds for punishment.”
“I disagree.”
“Ditto,” Zohn said, turning to the door when Derrick came in with their prisoner.
“Three against it,” Quinn said to Dustin.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 48
