“Maybe not,” Chevalier said. “I haven’t yet gotten out of her why she’s not using that ability.”
“It’s because she can’t,” Lori said from the door. “Her history shows that 3 ½ years without turning anyone to ash means she no longer has that ability.”
Chevalier growled.
“We’re not saying she doesn’t need protection,” Quinn said, trying to calm him. “What we’re saying is that the level has decreased. Taking Emily is still a good way to get back at you, but right now no one will touch her.”
“Don’t count her out yet,” Kyle said angrily, and sat back in his chair.
“The only reason the other factions would want her at this time is her notoriety, or her ability to produce unique children,” the Chief of Staff said.
Chevalier turned to him as a shadow crossed his face and the Chief of Staff recoiled and sat back.
***
“We have to be more fun than the stuffy Cavalry,” one of the guards said to Kralen.
“They aren’t stuffy,” he said, and carefully scanned his section of the city. The guards all had rain gear on and the streets had become a flooded mess of tiny rivers.
The guard smiled, “We’re more fun, trust me.”
One of the Lieutenants looked toward the city when he heard footsteps, “Why in the world is anyone out tonight?”
“Could just be the Cavalry looking around. They do that sometimes,” one of the guards said.
Kralen shrugged and then narrowed his eyes to see better through the pouring rain, “Damnit.”
The other guards gasped when Emily came into view. She was still wearing only a nightgown and was stumbling barefoot and soaking wet through the city. Kralen blurred to her and she looked up at him.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he asked, and slipped off his raincoat to put on her.
She just looked up at him, but didn’t speak. She could barely see him through her wet hair.
“Get back inside before you get pneumonia.”
“Sir?” one of the guards said. “I know you’re new out here… but we can’t talk to her.”
Kralen sighed, “We can’t just leave her out here.”
Kralen gasped when Emily reached up and removed his new City Captain’s pin.
“We most certainly can’t touch her,” another guard gasped.
“I didn’t touch her, she touched, me,” Kralen explained, and then turned back to Emily. “He’s right. I’m not supposed to even talk to you as a City Guard. You need to get back inside.”
Emily looked silently at the other guards, and then with shaking fingers, tried to put the Cavalry pin back on Kralen.
He moved back, “You can’t do that.”
She nodded and took a step toward him.
“I mean… I know you’re Council, but the Elders removed that pin.”
He watched her and saw her breath vapors disappear into the rain.
“Captain,” one of them whispered. “You’re going to get us all banished.”
Kralen nodded and called for Silas.
Emily shivered in the frigid night and again tried to get to Kralen’s collar. He stepped back and shook his head, “No.”
She looked over when the sound of hoof beats came from behind her. Three members of the Cavalry rode up and when she didn’t recognize any of them, she quickly moved to Kralen and gripped his arm.
“Captain Silas is busy,” one of them said with disdain. “What do you want?”
Kralen frowned slightly and looked down at Emily, “She needs to get back inside.”
The member of the Cavalry snarled, “You touched her?”
“No!” Kralen yelled. “She’s touching me!”
Emily’s grip tightened on his arm and she moved slightly to stand behind him.
“Come on, Lady Emily,” the mounted guard said, and held a hand out for her.
When she buried her face in Kralen’s back, he sighed, “She doesn’t know you and isn’t going to go with you. Get either the General or Horace if Silas is busy.”
“You can no longer tell us what to do!” the Cavalry guard yelled. “Emily get up here now.”
Kralen growled softly and then turned to Emily and softened his voice, “Em, you need to go with them. They won’t hurt you.”
“Don’t speak to her!” the guard yelled, and slid off of his horse. He took Emily’s arm a little too roughly and she pulled against him. To save his own life, Kralen held his tongue and moved back with the other City Guards. It was no longer his place to protect Emily.
Emily wasn’t able to break free of the guard’s grasp, and when he mounted and pulled her up onto his horse, she looked at Kralen pleadingly. He turned his eyes down and then sighed when the Cavalry rode off.
The angry Cavalry Lieutenant harshly slid Emily off of his horse at the palace doors, “Get inside.”
The Palace Guards opened the doors and watched as she glared at the Cavalry.
“I said get inside,” he told her.
“What’s going on?” Silas asked, blurring up to the Cavalry.
“Escapee,” he said, looking at Emily.
Silas sighed and walked up as she shivered in the rain, “What are you doing out here?”
“We need to go deal with Kralen,” the guard said. “Not only did he speak to her, but he touched her.”
Silas looked over at him, “Mark and I will handle Kralen. Go back to your post.”
He nodded and rode off with the rest of the Cavalry.
“You came out to find Kralen?” Silas asked her.
She looked around and ignored the shiver as the rain grew colder.
“You’re going to get sick out here, and the Cavalry’s no longer your guards. Where are your Palace Guards?” he asked.
Emily slipped her arms into Kralen’s raincoat and then started back for the city.
Silas took her arm, “Em… you can’t go after him.”
She gasped and he let go of her, then called for Mark.
“What the hell is she doing out here?” Mark growled when he blurred up.
“She’s after Kralen.”
Mark sighed and looked her over. She was soaking wet and her teeth were chattering in the cold, “Let’s get you back inside.”
When he took her arm she gasped again and he let go, “Are you hurt?”
Emily didn’t answer, but tried to head around him to the city. Mark blocked her way and called for the Elder.
Chevalier came out a few minutes later and ducked down from the strong rains, “What’s up?”
Mark moved aside and he caught sight of Emily and sighed.
“She’s out after Kralen,” Mark explained.
“Found him too,” Silas said. “The Cavalry said he not only talked to her, but touched her. I spoke to him and he said she touched him and he only tried to get her back inside.”
“She tried to re-pin him,” Mark said, smiling slightly.
“Get inside,” Chevalier yelled.
She glared at him and again tried to get around Mark.
“You want pneumonia now? Is that it?”
When she didn’t answer, he grabbed her arm and quickly let go when she gasped. He then reached out and pulled down the shoulder on her jacket, revealing a hand bruise on her upper arm.
“Who did that?” Chevalier growled.
Silas turned toward the city and then back to the Elder, “Saden, he said she tried to get away from him when he got on his horse.”
“Where are your guards, Em?” Chevalier asked.
She pulled her jacket back on and watched him.
Chevalier calmed his temper and stepped side, “Come inside, let’s talk.”
It was obvious she was cornered and getting angry. Chevalier briefly wished she would ash one of them to prove to the Council that she could, but instead, she threw Kralen’s raincoat at them as her eyes filled with tears. After hesitating, she stormed inside and started up the stairs, leaving a long trail of water as it drippe
d from her nightgown.
“I’ll talk to her,” Chevalier said. “She’s not happy with Kralen’s demotion or the Palace Guards around her.”
Silas nodded, too upset to speak. He turned and walked back to the stables after Chevalier followed Emily inside.
Emily sat down in front of the fire and pulled a heavy blanket over her shoulders. Chevalier watched her for a moment and then sat down next to her.
“I don’t like the Palace Guards either, but I was outvoted,” Chevalier said. When she didn’t answer, he continued, “However, Kralen’s demotion was a unanimous decision. He was reckless and we can’t have that in our elite.”
Emily glared at him, but didn’t speak.
He watched the fire, “I understand you are close to him, but running off after him can get him into trouble with his General. I’ll talk to him about tonight, so Kralen doesn’t get into trouble, but you need to leave him alone.”
She shifted a few more inches away from Chevalier.
He ignored the slight move, “Kralen’s having a hard time adjusting to life outside of the Cavalry, and you’re making it harder by running off after him.”
After a few minutes, he stood up, “Until I can convince the Council to reinstate the Cavalry, please stop slipping your Palace Guards.”
She ignored him and watched the flames dance in the fire.
Chapter 34 - Alexis
Emily sat in the bay window and watched over the hills. She hadn’t gone back out after Kralen in the two months since the rainstorm, but had refused to talk to anyone, even Chevalier. Mark and Silas had both tried to assure her he was fine, but it was apparent that Emily was still angry over Kralen’s demotion.
Garrett had tried several times to get Emily’s permission to marry Alexis, but got no response at all and was afraid to carry on with the bonding without Emily’s approval. Alexis tried to talk to her Mom, but also got no answer.
News reports of the missing mental patient had died down, but the Encala were set to meet with the Equites today over the reports, though the Valle hadn’t made mention of them.
The Council waited for the Encala to arrive and were silent as the tension grew.
Derrick finally stepped in, “Encala Elder William and their Faction Liaison Officer are here to see you.”
Zohn nodded, “See them in.”
Derrick moved aside so the Encala could enter. The Elder and Liaison Officer came in with four Encala Palace Guards. It was obvious that William was still nervous about being in the enemy palace.
“What do we owe this honor?” Quinn asked.
William glared at him, “Is it true?”
“What?”
“Don’t be stupid! Is Emily back?”
Chevalier nodded, “Yes.”
William gasped, “She is?”
“Yes. She awoke after her burial and a heku then sold her to the Valle’s former Chief Interrogator.”
“How long have you known?”
“Almost 4 years.”
William’s eyes grew wide, “He had her for 2 years?”
“Yes, tortured her for 2 years. She’s still recovering.”
He turned to the Liaison Officer and then back to Chevalier, “Recovering?”
Kyle nodded, “We still don’t know what all happened. She’s non-verbal and extremely nervous and timid.”
“She hasn’t spoken about it?”
“No, anything we’ve learned was from those involved.”
William grinned slightly, “They’re alive?”
Chevalier couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m still learning from them.”
“Can I see her?”
“We spoke to her doctors and aren’t sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? I did nothing.”
“Neither did Sotomar, but that wasn’t a good meeting. She kept offering to let him feed and then several times assumed punishment positions.”
William frowned, “Did he know?”
“No, the Valle Council didn’t know Salazar had her.”
***
Emily sat up straighter in the bay window seat when she saw a dark figure appear on the hills outside of Council City. She couldn’t be certain, but the mounted silhouette looked too small to be heku. Her heart began to pound as fear filled her and she strained to see the trees. Salazar convinced her that the trees were full of Valle spies, and her daughter was out beside them.
***
“We still don’t feel it’s any of our concern,” Kyle said to William. “Yes we destroyed your city, and we’re leaving you to rebuild… however, we won’t help you.”
“The unwarranted attacks on my city…”
“Unwarranted?” Quinn asked, frowning.
“Yes unwarranted! You destroyed the Encala because of one rogue Elder.”
“Your faction kidnapped four members of this council and held us hostage for 5 months,” Chevalier said.
“I don’t see the Valle paying for the actions of Salazar,” William growled as he crossed his arms.
“I thought about it, don’t get me wrong.”
Without another word, William spun suddenly and blurred from the room.
Chevalier smiled, “That went well.”
“Well we knew it would get out soon enough that she’s back,” Kyle said to him.
“Now,” Chevalier said, turning to the other Elders, “I want to talk about Emily’s guards.”
“We’re sympathetic, really we are,” Zohn said. “However, there’s no reason for that amount of security on her. Palace Guards are more than sufficient. She rarely even leaves the palace.”
“You’re handing her over to the other factions,” Kyle said angrily.
“No we’re not. If they were to kidnap someone, it would be Alexis, yet no one’s even tried.”
“She’s always had her guards, unlike Emily.”
Zohn sighed, “There’s no reason to kidnap her now.”
Kyle stood and furiously headed for the back doors. He froze when a call sounded for all City Guards to go to the hills outside of town. Kyle decided to check it out and noticed Chevalier was with him.
The City Guards were all standing on the hills looking at something and whispers filled the wind. Chevalier pushed to the front and then gasped at what he saw.
Scattered around the clearing were hundreds of piles of ash and pieces of dead heku. Emily was kneeling above Kralen, who was unconscious, and she was glaring at the guards with scarlet eyes as a slow trickle of blood fell from her nose. The four wolves paced in front of her, angrily snarling at the gathered heku.
“Stay back,” Kyle whispered.
Chevalier stepped forward slowly and carefully surveyed the area. He saw Alexis lying off beside one of the disembodied heku and she wasn’t moving.
Garrett saw her at the same time, “Alex!”
Kyle went to grab Garrett just as he fell to ash before the rest of the gathered heku.
“Em?” Chevalier said softly, and put his hands out.
She looked at him with disgust and whispered, “Stay back, Exavior. No warnings.”
He nodded, “Look at me, Emily.”
Kyle turned to Mark, “What happened?”
He shrugged, “We got a call that Kralen had suddenly left his position and disappeared from the city. We followed him up here as soon as we heard, and found this.”
“Has Alexis moved?” Silas asked, frowning.
“No”
Emily gently picked up Kralen’s bloodied head and cradled it in her arms.
“Emily, we have to get to Alexis,” Chevalier told her.
She looked over at her daughter and then glared at Chevalier, “I won’t let you near her.”
“She’s hurt.”
Horace came up and whispered, “604 sets of ashes here, not including Garrett and Julius. We have leashes on the way to move the wolves.”
“What happened, Emily?” Chevalier asked, taking one step closer. Mark ordered four of his Cavalry to sneak around be
hind her to see if they could get to Alexis.
Emily smiled when the four behind her turned to ash, “Stay back.”
Chevalier nodded and whispered to Mark, “She’s obviously in full control, keep everyone back.”
Silas knelt down, “Can I go help Lexi?”
She turned her blood-red eyes to him, “Only if you want to burn.”
“Look closely at me,” Chevalier said to her. “I’m not Exavior.”
Emily turned and scanned the ash behind her, then looked back over at the heku.
He nodded, “You’ve ashed a lot and you’re confused. You need to trust us.”
The heku could tell she was beginning to panic. She reached down and shook Kralen’s shoulders, “Please, wake up… help me.”
“He needs help, Em,” Kyle said to her.
She shook him harder as a bloody tear trailed down her cheek and she whispered, “Kralen… I turned them to ash. They are going to bury me and I need you to help me.”
Chevalier sighed, “We’re not going to bury you.”
Her voice lowered, though all could hear, “If you punish me first, maybe they won’t bury me… please… wake up.”
“We’re not going to punish you.”
“Did Kralen do this?” Mark asked, looking around at the scattered remains of 18 heku.
Emily looked down at Kralen, “He told me not to ash them.”
“I think we need to reconsider Kralen,” Kyle said.
Chevalier nodded, “We may have been hasty.”
Mark sighed, “Em, we need to get Alexis some help. She’s not moving.”
She shook Kralen harder, “Wake up, help me… Exavior’s after us.”
They all watched when Kralen took a slow breath. The bites on his body were inflamed and healing too slowly.
Chevalier thought for a moment and then slowly stepped back into the gathered crowd where Emily couldn’t see him.
She looked up and scanned them, “Where did he go?”
Kyle tried to lock her eyes, but she was too far away, “He’s gone. Now can we help Alexis?”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 83
