Dr. Edwards appeared by the door, “I don’t like it.”
“I know, but there won’t be any Valle this time. We have the entire Cavalry out in the trees to make sure there are no visitors.”
“Has she agreed to go?”
Chevalier looked over at him, “Has she agreed to anything in the last 2 ½ years?”
“True”
Kyle came into the room a few minutes later with a cowboy hat and cowboy boots on, “She almost ready?”
“She doesn’t know,” Chevalier told him.
Kyle nodded, “Ok, should be interesting.”
“Her horse is saddled and ready to go. The Cavalry has cleared the trees and four are waiting for you,” Chevalier said. “This should go smoother.”
“If her heart rate goes up that bad again, bring her back,” Dr. Edwards said.
Kyle smiled, “She’ll be fine.”
Emily came out as she fastened her overalls, and looked up when she saw heku in her room. She saw Kyle immediately and ran back for the bathroom. Before she could even get to the door, Kyle was standing in the way.
“No use fighting. We’re going out horseback,” he told her.
Emily spun to Chevalier, but he only smiled, “I’m not helping you with this. I agree with Kyle.”
“Unless you specifically tell me no, then we go,” Kyle said, taking her wrist.
Emily started to pull away from him, but was instantly in his arms. Her eyes were wide and she started to struggle to get out of his grasp. Kyle simply smiled and headed for the stairs.
“Stop,” Dr. Edwards said frantically. “Her heart rate is over 150, it’s not good.”
“She’s fine,” Chevalier said, and held Dr. Edwards back. “If it bugs you that bad, you can stay here with me.”
The doctor sighed and watched Kyle disappear out the door with Emily.
Kyle fought to keep a firm grip on Emily without hurting her, and finally made it to the stables. Mark was waiting with three of the newer recruits.
“Good morning, Chief Enforcer,” Mark said, grinning when he saw Emily fighting.
“Good… morning,” Kyle said through gritted teeth. He was trying to hold onto Emily without holding too tightly, and she was on the verge of getting loose.
“Need help?” one of the closer members of the Cavalry asked.
“Yes, hold her while I get onto the horse.”
“I got her,” Mark said quickly. He dismounted and took Emily as she fought against him, “No Valle this time. It’s going to be fun.”
Kyle winced when Emily sunk her teeth into Mark’s arm, “Hand her up.”
Mark handed her up to Kyle a little too roughly, and then cradled his arm while it healed.
“Are you ok, General?” one of the Cavalry asked, laughing.
“Fine,” he growled, and mounted. “Let’s head out.”
Kyle wrapped his arms around Emily and clicked his tongue to start her stallion out in a slow walk. She continued to try to get free, but soon they were out on the hills with the entire Cavalry. Each of them was scanning the area carefully, making sure no one intruded on the therapy session.
Kralen chuckled when they got closer, “Need help?”
Kyle looked down and gasped. He hadn’t realized that Emily had managed to slide both legs onto the same side of the horse and was inches from dropping to the ground. He pulled her back onto the stallion and wrapped one arm around her waist.
“She’s a slippery little thing,” Kyle said. He couldn’t help but grin when he felt Emily’s fighting go from frantic to angry.
“Look, Em. This’ll be fun,” Silas said, pointing to two mounted guards out in the field. “They are playing a game. The first one to fall off of their horse loses.”
Emily ignored him and pried at Kyle’s fingers. Her heart was racing, making the Cavalry nervous, but Kyle held firmly and seemed calm.
“Murdoch, Hatch, you two are up,” Mark called out. Two of the Cavalry walked their horses out into the clearing.
“We’re going to walk around a bit,” Kyle said, kicking the horse softly. Emily gasped when they moved away from the Cavalry and she looked back at them with terrified eyes.
“I give her 5 minutes,” one of the Cavalry said.
“Unacceptable,” Kralen growled.
“Sorry, Sir.”
“I realize that when you joined the Cavalry we weren’t guarding Emily,” Mark hissed. “But I suggest you adapt and stay in line now that we are.”
“Yes, General,” he said, and turned back to the training.
“First one off their horse loses,” Silas called out. “Same rules as before. No injuring the horse, but all else is fair game.”
Kyle tightened his grip on Emily when they neared the trees and then whispered to her, “Calm down. No one’s in those trees.”
Emily was breathing in short gasps and her hands pried at Kyle’s as her heart raced. She kept glancing from the looming trees, to the far away Cavalry.
“Stop it,” Kyle whispered. “You don’t need your guards. No one’s in the trees and Salazar’s locked up. You’re going to pass out if you don’t calm down.”
Kyle quickly looked down at Emily when she made a sound similar to an inhale before speaking, but she remained silent and tense as she scanned the trees. He was pleased that she wasn’t currently fighting him, but was worried about her intense surveying of everything around them.
“We’re not going to let anything Salazar said keep you away from the horses you love,” Kyle said softly. “So you might as well sit back and enjoy being out here again.”
Emily jerked suddenly and looked behind them when a squirrel chirped at them from the top of a nearby tree.
“No one’s in the trees, Em. You have to trust us,” Kyle said. “I also wanted to talk to you about why it is you aren’t speaking. Did Salazar threaten you if you spoke?”
She spun and looked the other direction when the Cavalry began to cheer.
Kyle glanced back at the Cavalry as he headed along the tree line, “They’re just having fun. Now you’re meeting with two Psychologists today, who are both concerned that you aren’t speaking. They’re talking about putting you on medication.”
Emily’s breathing picked up and she looked quickly into the trees again when a light breeze blew through the branches.
“I know you don’t want medicated, but we don’t have a choice. They’re saying you could be going through a psychosis and Chevalier and I are worried that they may drug you so badly you won’t be able to communicate.”
He waited for her to respond and then continued, “So we’re going to fight them. But if all 3 agree you need medication, then we may have to do it. You’ve come a long way in 2 ½ years, but the no-talking thing is a biggie.”
Kyle turned the horse around and they began slowly walking back toward the others, “We know that you quit talking when Salazar buried you…”
She stiffened in his arms and her heart raced.
“Breathe, Em.”
Emily took a shallow breath and looked around the clearing.
“He can’t do it again. We aren’t going to punish you for anything. So will you tell me, please? Did he threaten you if you speak?”
She began to tremble beneath his arm, so he tightened his grip on her, “I won’t let anyone hurt you again. We made a mistake by thinking you were dead. It’s hard to know if you even forgive us for that.”
Suddenly, Emily sat up straight and put her hand out toward the Cavalry.
“What?” Kyle asked, scanning them carefully.
She took the reins from his hands and kicked the horse. Kyle wasn’t sure what she was doing, so he let her lead. Mark watched Emily run the horse closer, and told his Cavalry to freeze.
When Kyle and Emily got to the others, she started to slide off of the horse, but he held her on, “No, you can’t get off.”
She pushed against his arms.
“I said no,” Kyle said, and then his eyes grew wide and
he gasped and clutched his chest. The burning was only a few seconds, but it was familiar and caught him off guard.
Silas watched him, “Is there a problem, Chief Enforcer?”
Kyle nodded and panted, “She burned me.”
“Emily did?” Mark asked, stunned.
He took a deep breath, “Stings a bit is all.”
Emily pushed against his arms again.
“She can’t run from us, let her down,” Kralen suggested.
Kyle was more than happy to let her down so he could recover from the brief burn. Emily slid off of the horse and walked over to a palomino stallion. She looked up at the heku rider and watched him.
He shifted uncomfortably, “Am I about to be burned?”
“Not sure,” Mark said. “Em, what’s wrong?”
She just stared at the heku on the palomino.
“Get down,” Silas ordered.
“Yes, Captain,” he said, and quickly dismounted. Once he was off his horse, Emily unfastened the saddle and let it slide to the ground.
“Hey,” he growled, picking it up.
“Watch it,” Mark snapped at him. The heku immediately stood at attention.
Emily took the reins and handed them up to Kralen. He shrugged and took them, then watched her. She walked a few yards and then turned and looked straight on at the horse, studying his feet.
Silas got off of his mare and joined her, also looking at the stallion’s feet, “What do you see?”
Moving off to the stallion’s side, Emily again studied his feet with Silas doing the same.
“What do you see?” Mark asked him.
“Horse hooves,” Silas said with a slight grin.
Emily walked forward and lifted the front left hoof of the horse, and examined it for several minutes with Silas shadowing. She set the hoof down and moved to the right front hoof. After lifting it and studying the bottom, she put her hand on the hoof and sighed.
“What?” Silas asked.
Emily looked at him and then gently took his hand and placed it against the hoof.
“I still don’t get it,” he told her.
She picked up the rear right hoof and held his hand to it.
Silas frowned and then felt the horses front right hoof again, “This one’s way hotter.”
“Meaning?” Kralen asked.
Silas shrugged, “I have no idea.”
Emily again picked up the right front hoof and felt along his entire lower leg. She concentrated on every inch of it while the entire Cavalry watched. Finally, she set it down and stood back to watch the horse.
“What’s wrong with it?” Mark asked her.
“Nothing’s wrong with my horse,” the heku said angrily.
Silas glared at him, “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, he’s fine.”
Emily frowned slightly and took Silas’ hand. She pulled him over to the horse and reached his hand down to feel the lower leg.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” Silas told her. “Other than a pulse that is.”
She moved him over to feel the other front leg, and then looked up at him.
“Oh, this pulse isn’t as strong and the leg is cooler,” Silas said as he ran his hand along the stallion’s leg.
“Em?” Kyle asked.
She looked up at him.
“Is it lame?”
Emily took the reins from Kralen and began walking back toward the palace with a slight limp.
“Are you hurt?” Kralen asked, following her on his horse.
Kyle grinned, “Em, you have saddle butt!”
She turned and glared at him.
“She has what?” Mark asked, following them.
“She hasn’t been on a horse in almost 5 years. She’s sore from the saddle,” Kyle chuckled.
“Where’s she taking my damned horse?!” the heku yelled.
“8am, my office,” Silas growled at him. “Everyone get back to the stables. I want it spotless by nightfall.”
The horseless heku blurred back toward the palace while the others rode toward the city.
It was a long walk back to the palace, but Emily walked slowly with the injured horse and soon her limp was almost gone. Kyle, Mark, and Kralen went along with her while Silas went ahead to make sure the stables were being cleaned.
Chevalier was waiting for them when they arrived, “Why are you limping?”
Kyle dismounted and tied Emily’s horse to the hitching post, “Em has saddle butt.”
“Oh,” Chevalier chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of that. Is that why she’s walking?”
“No, something’s wrong with that horse,” Mark said.
Kyle smiled broadly, “She burned me.”
Chevalier gasped, “She did?”
He nodded, “Yes, I thought she was trying to get away, but she was actually trying to get to a horse she saw something wrong with. When I told her no and held on, she burned me.”
“That’s great!” Chevalier said excitedly.
“Painful, but I do see how that’s a good thing,” Kyle said. He followed Emily into the stables with Chevalier following, “What’s wrong with it, Em? No one saw anything odd.”
Emily passed by him without a word and went into the tack room. She came out with a large gray bag and then disappeared into the horse’s stall. Chevalier peeked over the door and saw her wrapping a bandage around the horse’s lower leg.
“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, hoping she’d respond.
She didn’t say anything, but continued wrapping his leg.
“Nothing’s wrong with it,” the horse’s owner said, still livid. “I’ve been riding him all morning and nothing’s wrong.”
“I take my bets on Emily,” Chevalier said. “If she thinks something’s wrong, then something is.”
“With all due respect, Elder. Nothing’s wrong with my horse.”
The Elder looked over at him briefly before Mark pulled him to the side, “No one here doubts what Emily says about a horse. She’s been around horses longer than you and she apparently spotted something that was big enough to burn the Chief Enforcer over.”
“Sir, she’s not been around a horse in 5 years. She’s obviously out of touch and doesn’t know what’s happening. If she bandages him up and I don’t ride him for a while, he’ll need to work back into routine patrols,” the heku argued.
Kralen shrugged, “It’s easy enough. Let’s take him to the vet in town.”
Kyle smiled, “Can we take bets?”
“No one that knows her will bet against Emily,” Horace said as he shut his horse’s stall door. “She knows her stuff.”
“I’ll bet against her,” the heku said. “Eight guard hours says that horse is fine.”
Emily appeared from the stall and looked at the heku that were talking.
Chevalier smiled at her, “He all fixed up?”
She watched Silas and the horse’s heku.
Silas nodded, “I’ll take that bet. Eight guard hours says something’s wrong with his leg.”
“I’m in on this,” another member of the Cavalry said. He had only been on the Cavalry for 2 years, but seemed haughty and pompous.
Kralen began to write on the board, “I’m 8 hours for Emily.”
He wrote two columns, one that said Emily and one that said Kuttner. Cavalry began crowding the board, writing their name in one of the columns. Chevalier watched with amusement when anyone that knew Emily before her capture by Salazar put their name under hers. Cavalry starting after Emily disappeared, put their name under Kuttner.
Emily looked over when Kralen pulled his F450 up with the horse trailer attached. The horse’s owner loaded the stallion up into the trailer and then laughed as Kralen drove away with Horace.
“That horse isn’t even limping,” he said, smiling at Emily.
She silently watched him and then looked over at the board.
“Let’s go get lunch,” Chevalier said, holding his hand out.
Emily didn
’t move from the stall, but watched the heku around her.
Mark looked around carefully and then cleared his throat, “I thought you were supposed to be cleaning.”
The heku scattered through the stables and began scrubbing every inch of it.
Chevalier smiled, “Stop being shy. Let’s go.”
Emily looked once more at the board and then timidly took Chevalier’s hand. He walked her in to have lunch and sat with her at the table. She looked carefully around the dark room and stared hard into the shadowed corners.
“Nothing’s in here to hurt you,” he whispered.
She turned back to him when her lunch came, and then watched the heku chef leave.
“Are you going to eat?”
Emily looked down at the steak and potatoes and then back up to Chevalier.
He sighed, “This would be a thousand times easier if you’d talk.”
Chevalier looked up when he heard someone enter. Lori and Dr. Edwards were with a strange heku.
“Elder, this is Dr. Norwood,” Lori said, and then smiled down at Emily.
“Elder,” Dr. Norwood said, bowing slightly.
“Emily,” Lori said, sitting down. “Dr. Norwood is the heku Psychiatrist you’re seeing today. The other is mortal so we wanted to meet real quickly with Dr. Norwood so he can get the full details of what happened.”
Emily looked over at the strange heku. He stood almost a foot shorter than Chevalier, and had blond curly hair and a stern look. She was somewhat fascinated that he wore glasses.
Dr. Norwood smiled, “It’s good to meet you, Lady Emily. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She looked over at Chevalier and saw him studying the new doctor.
“You’re not to be alone with her,” Chevalier said to him.
Dr. Norwood nodded, “Understood, Elder. Lori has filled me in on the details of her confinement. I’m… well… amazed that she’s not having more trouble than she is to be honest.”
“So are we,” Dr. Edwards said. “However, she’s come a long way in the 2 ½ years since she was back, but we can’t get her to talk.”
“Have we ruled out physical inability?”
“Yes, there’s nothing to indicate that she is unable to speak.”
Emily frowned slightly.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 73
