Sotomar stood and his features turned dark, “I want to speak to Salazar.”
Emily spun suddenly with wide eyes.
Mark chuckled, “That can be arranged… though we don’t punish him at all anymore.”
Sotomar frowned, “Why not?”
Silas opened the door, “We’ll explain on the way down.”
Sotomar glanced once more at Emily as she paced, and then followed Silas and Mark out of the room.
Emily looked up at Chevalier and the confusion was prevalent in her eyes.
“We wouldn’t have brought him in here if he was going to hurt you,” Chevalier told her, and then held his hand out.
She looked at his hand for a moment and then timidly slipped hers into his.
“I’ll walk you back to the room, and then I have a meeting,” Chevalier said. She followed him up the stairs to their room.
Emily stopped and frowned at the four strange heku at her door.
“They’re Cavalry,” Chevalier told her.
She gripped his arm tighter and caught the eyes of the heku with the lame horse. Once inside, she sat down on the floor in front of the fire while Chevalier left for his meeting.
Chevalier stopped outside the door and looked at the four members of the Cavalry, “She doesn’t know you, so stay out unless there’s trouble.”
“Yes, Elder,” they all said with a bow.
***
Emily curled up by the fire and watched the flames until she fell asleep. Chevalier’s meeting was running late and the sound of falling rain helped her fall asleep beside the warmth of the fire.
She woke up suddenly when someone kicked her in the side. She gasped and sat up, then looked into the eyes of the heku with the lame horse. Emily grasped her side and tried to stand up, but he pushed her back against the floor.
“Stay down,” he growled, and then stood close to her and looked down. “It’s time you learn your place. You got me put on probation and got my horse taken away.”
Emily tried to get up, but he kicked her in the side again, sending her back against the floor.
“Nice thing is… with you being mute and all, I can do this nice and peacefully,” he said, smiling. “You… are nothing but a weak-minded, fragile, dim-witted mortal, and you will not interfere with the Cavalry again… do you understand?”
She grasped her side and just looked up at him.
He scowled down at her, “I’m one of the Equites elite… not a mortal babysitter, so when I’m your guard, I expect you to sit in here and do absolutely nothing.”
She panted softly and watched him.
The heku squatted down, “Do you understand me? I want nothing to do with you… nothing. It’s humiliating to be made to tend such a pathetic little mortal. I get it… you know? You were a great weapon, that I can see protecting. Now, however, you are mentally incompetent and there’s no reason that we shouldn’t put you out of your misery and get on with life.”
Emily quickly breathed through the pain in her side and tried to scoot further away from the heku. He reached down and grabbed her foot to keep her from moving.
“Course… I do see one, little, thing you can do to make it up to me,” he said, inhaling deeply.
She whispered a soft groan and tried to pull away from him, but he instantly trapped her on the floor with his body as his nose ran along her neck. He locked her hands above her head with one of his hands, and the other brushed the hair away from her neck.
“Mmmm,” he groaned, and lightly ran his tongue up the vein in her neck as she fought uselessly against him.
Emily looked fearfully into his eyes when he leaned his head up and looked at her.
“I wish I could use your neck… but I’m not into doing something dumb enough to be seen. Tell anyone, and I’ll have to punish you,” he said, and then smiled. The heku slowly lowered his mouth to her arm and roughly sunk his teeth into the soft side.
She gasped softly at the sting in her arm, and then faintly whispered, “Chev.”
The heku looked up suddenly when he heard her almost silently call for the Elder. He turned just as the bedroom door flew open and Chevalier appeared, followed shortly by Kyle and Mark.
He quickly jumped to his feet as Chevalier and Kyle descended on him. Mark picked Emily up swiftly and blurred her into the bathroom so she couldn’t see the heku torn apart in the bedroom.
Mark gently sat her on the counter and grabbed a soft towel from the warmer. He held it up against the underside of her arm to stop the bleeding.
He was shaking with anger as he checked under the towel, “The bleeding’s almost stopped.”
Emily jumped and looked at the door when a loud crash sounded. Mark glanced at the door, and then back to the towel.
“Did he hurt you, other than your arm?” Mark asked her.
She looked at him, but didn’t speak.
He smiled slightly, “It’s too late to be quiet. We all heard you speak.”
She watched him for a few seconds and then glanced at the door.
“He deserved it,” Mark said. “Damn, he was pretty rough feeding, wasn’t he?”
Mark checked under the towel and saw that the two puncture wounds had scabbed over. He dropped the bloody towel to the floor and then forced Emily to look at him.
“You didn’t answer, did he hurt you?”
She jumped and tried to get off the counter when the door opened, but Mark held her on the counter. Kyle and Chevalier stepped in and shut the door, obviously hiding the heku cleaning in the bedroom.
Chevalier moved quickly to Emily and wrapped his arms around her, “Are you ok?”
Kyle smiled, “You did it, Em! You spoke.”
She looked over at him from the safety of Chevalier’s arms.
“She won’t talk now though,” Mark told him.
Chevalier pulled away from her slightly and looked her in the eye, “Are you ok?”
She swallowed hard and looked at the heku in the room.
He calmed himself and then smiled, “I’m so proud of you for calling for help.”
Emily jumped off the counter and couldn’t help but gasp at the sharp pain in her side.
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “What?”
“General?” Kralen asked from the doorway.
Mark looked over at him and Silas
“Who was it?” Silas asked.
“It was Thayer,” he said, and looked back at Emily. “Gather the entire Cavalry out on the south lawn.”
Kralen nodded, “Yes, General.”
Silas and Kralen disappeared and the others turned back to Emily.
Chevalier studied her as she stood quietly and watched them, “Ok so… you can either tell me if you’re hurt, or I’ll have to try to find out.”
Dr. Edwards appeared in the bathroom, “What’s wrong?”
“She was fed from,” Mark growled.
He looked over at her and instantly caught sight of her arm, “Rough I see.”
“We think she’s hurt too, but she’s not saying.”
“Come on, Em,” Chevalier said. “Where are you hurt?”
She hesitated and then finally lifted the side of her t-shirt slightly, revealing dark purple bruises around her ribs.
“Damnit,” Chevalier growled.
Dr. Edwards immediately moved forward and bent down to look, “I’d say 3 broken.”
Emily stood silently while Dr. Edwards bandaged up the ribs.
“I’m proud that you called for help,” Chevalier told her. “But it would be nice if you would have called before he broke your ribs.”
Kyle looked over at Mark, who was shaking with rage, “Are you going to kill the entire Cavalry?”
Mark instantly disappeared from the room.
“I wouldn’t want to be in his path,” Kyle said.
When the doctor finished wrapping up Emily’s side, he dug around in his bag and pulled out two small pills, “Here’s for the pain.”
He looked up at Emily and sa
w her slightly shake her head.
Dr. Edwards smiled, “Well… it’s hard to argue with that.”
“I’m going to argue that,” Chevalier said. “Take the pills, that has to hurt.”
She sighed and took both of the pills and went into the bedroom to get some water. She sat down slowly on the side of the bed and looked at the heku.
Kyle walked over and glanced out the window. His eyes grew wide and he blurred from the room.
Chevalier went over and looked out the window and gasped, “Mark’s really mad.”
Dr. Edwards nodded, “I would imagine.”
Chevalier called for the Chief of Defense out to the south lawn, and then turned back to Emily, “What do you want for lunch?”
***
Kyle blurred down to the south lawn and stood beside Mark, who was yelling at the Cavalry as Silas, Horace, and Kralen walked among them. The Cavalry was lined up in perfectly straight rows and didn’t even move to breathe.
“I won’t be humiliated by another member of my Cavalry, is that understood?” Mark yelled.
“Yes, Sir,” they all said in Unison.
“Emily is an important part of this faction and I won’t tolerate what happened today.”
Kyle watched carefully as Kralen slammed his fist into the back of one of the Cavalry’s heads and then slammed him down onto the ground.
“Enough!” Mark roared. “Every one of you is going to be punished for the stupidity of Thayer.”
The Chief of Defense walked up to stand beside Kyle, “Am I here to save the Cavalry, or help punish them?”
Kyle shrugged, “I fully plan on helping.”
The Chief of Defense nodded, “If they are alive when Mark’s done… I get them.”
“Shirt’s off!” Mark yelled. The Cavalry immediately removed their shirts and winced as the hot sun beat down on them, “Now kneel.”
Kyle slipped on some sunglasses as the Cavalry fell in unison to their knees. When the heku Kralen had slammed to the ground recovered, Silas grabbed him by the neck and hauled him to the front of the line, and then forced him to his knees in front of Mark.
“Are you causing problems?” Mark asked.
The heku shook his head, “No, Sir.”
“You’re off the Cavalry.”
The heku gasped as Silas hauled him away.
Kyle sighed, “We may not have a Cavalry left when he’s done.”
The Chief of Defense nodded, “I’m thinking not.”
While the sun pounded the exposed flesh of the Cavalry, the Cavalry’s leaders and those on the Council stood in the shade and watched for any sign of disobedience.
Chevalier joined them several hours later and the Cavalry grew even quieter when he appeared. He stood back and listened to Mark yell.
“I’ve had nothing but grief from most of you since Emily returned, and I have news for you… I’ll kill you before I’ll let any of you so much as look at her wrong,” Mark said.
Kyle looked over at Chevalier, “Who’s with Emily?”
“Derrick is,” Chevalier said, eyeing the Cavalry carefully.
“He’s already kicked one off the Cavalry.”
Chevalier just nodded.
Mark glared when one of the members of the Cavalry shifted slightly on his knees, “Buck!”
The heku straightened up and looked up with wide eyes.
“The next one to move gets to join Emily for dinner… eating what she’s eating,” Mark yelled.
Kyle chuckled, “Nasty.”
“How long do you think he’ll punish them?” the Chief of Defense asked when night fell.
“He’s had so many problems with them,” Kyle said. “I would think it may be through the night too.”
Early the next morning, Alexis and Dain walked out and glanced at the perfect form of the standing squats the Cavalry had held through the night as Mark yelled at them.
“Good morning,” Kyle said, though his eyes didn’t leave the Cavalry.
“He better let them have it,” Dain growled.
Alexis hit him on the shoulder, “Stop it.”
“What’s up?” Chevalier asked them.
“We thought we’d come take care of the horses,” Alexis explained.
“She thought it up, and I’m being forced to help,” Dain added.
Chevalier chuckled and looked back at the Cavalry. Though the squats weren’t hard for them, standing in one position for that long was beginning to irritate them.
Alexis and Dain headed off to the stables. Four hours later, they came back and met up with their Dad again.
Alexis sighed, “How long is he going to do this?”
“Not sure,” Chevalier said.
“Well he needs to stop.”
“Why?” Dain asked.
“Because Mom’s watching.”
The heku all turned and looked up at the fifth-floor where they could see Emily sitting in the bay window watching them.
“I didn’t realize she was watching,” Chevalier said.
“She is… and she hasn’t eaten either,” Alexis told him. She looked again at the Cavalry and then started inside.
Dain watched the Cavalry with interest, “I always wondered what happened when Mark hit the end of his rope.”
“Have him move them to the north lawn,” Chevalier said, heading inside. “I’ll go get Em to eat.”
Kyle nodded and went to talk to Mark.
Chevalier stopped at Derrick and Garrett, who were standing in front of the bedroom door. He frowned slightly at Garrett, “Why are you in the palace?”
Garrett bowed slightly, “Alexis understands that I can be trusted, and spoke to the other Elders.”
Derrick smiled, “That and they were running out of options.”
“Has Emily seen you?”
“No, Elder,” Garrett said.
He nodded slightly and then stepped inside and ordered pancakes before shutting the door and stepping up to the window, “Em?”
She looked over at him.
He sat down, “I heard you aren’t eating.”
Emily looked down at the lawn and then frowned.
“We’re moving them to the north lawn,” Chevalier said when he looked down at the empty lawn.
She turned and took his hand, and looked down at it.
“We know you can talk now, why not tell me what’s going on?” Chevalier asked.
Emily just turned back to the window.
“At least eat.”
She looked over at him and slowly bent forward, surprising him when she pressed her lips against his. She kissed him softly for a few moments before sitting back and watching him.
He smiled, “Or that…”
She dug in her pocket and pulled out the essence ring and handed it to Chevalier.
“It won’t stay on you unless we’re bonded.”
She touched her neck softly and then took the ring out of his hand and looked at it.
“I’m ready when you are.”
Emily handed it back to him and then held her left hand out.
“It won’t stay.”
She pushed her hand closer to him.
“Ok,” he whispered, and then slipped it on her finger. It didn’t fit and easily slid off.
Emily sighed and looked at the ring.
“Was it that bad that you don’t want to do it again?”
She touched her neck again and watched him.
“I don’t have to go for your neck.”
When she slipped the ring back into her pocket, he smiled, “As I said… when you’re ready. There’s no rush, bond or no, you’re still my wife.”
After a few minutes of silence, Chevalier smiled, “Do you know that one of your guards right now is Alexis’ boyfriend, Garrett?”
Emily’s eyes grew wide and she ran to the door and opened it. Derrick and Garrett both took a step back.
Derrick smiled, “Coming out?”
Emily stared at Garrett.
Garrett bowed slig
htly, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
She watched him, but didn’t speak.
Garrett looked nervously at Chevalier.
Chevalier grinned, “Emily took Alexis’ last boyfriend on a car ride. Maybe you two should go out.”
Garrett gasped, “Gabe? He was banished for that.”
“Yes he was,” Derrick said, amused.
Emily reached out slowly and started to unbutton Garrett’s shirt.
“Sir?” Garrett croaked.
“Let her look,” Chevalier ordered.
Garrett avoided looking at Emily as she unbuttoned his shirt and lifted his t-shirt to see his chest. She dropped it back down and then walked slowly around the heku.
“What exactly are you looking for?” Chevalier asked her.
She silently studied Garrett’s back and then stepped around to look at his face.
Garrett stayed perfectly still and watched her.
“Mom?” Alexis asked, walking into the hallway.
She looked over at her daughter and then turned to Garrett.
“Why’s your shirt open?” Alexis asked him.
Garrett smiled slightly, “Your Mom did it.”
“Oh, that’s right. Well have you been introduced?”
“Alex… now may not…” Garrett started.
Alexis shook her head, “Mom, have you met Garrett?”
Emily didn’t reply, but moved around Garrett again. He shifted nervously and looked over at the Elder, who seemed amused by the encounter.
Alexis sighed, “What are you doing?”
Emily moved to Garrett’s front and crossed her arms as she watched him. Her eyes narrowed slightly and he was obviously uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
“Dad…”
He chuckled, “Suck it up, Boy. I bet you thought I was intimidating… course, Kyle’s on a mission, so you’d have to wait a few days.”
“Dad!” Alexis yelled. “Stop it.”
Chevalier leaned back and watched Emily as she slowly circled the nervous heku again.
“Mom, stop staring at him. You’re being rude,” Alexis told her.
Dain heard the commotion and joined his Dad against the wall, “What’s she doing?”
“I have no idea,” Chevalier told him. “I like it though.”
Garrett swallowed hard and looked at the Elder.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 77
