Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  She nodded, “Yes, but my stallion is different. No one touches him, and no one rides him.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He’s mine.”

  The Coven Lord smiled. The three Coven Lords were interested in starting a mounted unit, and Emily had agreed, reluctantly, to show them around as long as she wasn’t alone with them at any time. Zohn was asked to stay with them for the two days they were in Council City, but he was beginning to wonder if they were there to meet Emily and not to learn about horses.

  “Beautiful stables,” one of them said, looking around.

  Emily nodded, “Thanks. It currently houses 128 horses…”

  “What kind?”

  “We have a mixture. I go find the largest ones I can.”

  “Then you assign them?”

  “Yes, based on height. Our tallest member of the Cavalry, Hadley, has the biggest horse.”

  “Interesting. Who takes care of your horse when you aren’t around then?”

  “I’m always around. As I said, no one touches him…” Emily opened the stall door to her stallion, and then gasped when the donkey’s loud bray sounded.

  “That’s a stallion?” the Coven Lord asked, looking in at the donkey.

  A slow smile formed, “Oooh, the Cavalry’s in so much trouble.”

  Zohn looked into the stall and chuckled, “Paybacks, I’m imagining.”

  Emily turned to one of the Palace Guards, who had followed them out, “Please, use your fast speed thing and find my horse. He has to be in here somewhere.”

  After getting an approving nod from Zohn, the Palace Guards disappeared. Only a minute later, they met back up.

  “Elder, we didn’t find the stallion,” the highest ranking said, bowing slightly.

  Zohn turned to Emily, “You’re going to have to ask the Cavalry yourself.”

  She turned to the nearest Palace Guard, “Go tell the Cavalry that the Council is requesting my horse.”

  “No,” Zohn said, smiling. “This is your fight, dear.”

  “Might we go for a ride?” one of them asked her.

  Emily thought for a moment and then nodded, “Sure, we’ll drop by the barracks and yell at the Cavalry.”

  Zohn smiled and then helped her get the horses ready. Once they were all mounted, they headed off for the Cavalry’s barracks. Tied up outside, was Emily’s stallion, which looked up at her and then went back to a pile of apples at his feet.

  She tied up the horse she was riding and then banged on the barrack's door, “Open up!”

  The heku on horses watched her but heard nothing inside.

  “Mark!” Emily said, knocking harder.

  “I don’t hear them in there,” Zohn told her.

  She eyed the door, “No one?”

  “No”

  “Be right back.” Emily quickly disappeared inside.

  One of the Coven Lords frowned, “Should she be in there?”

  “She is a Commander,” Zohn reminded him.

  “Oh, right.”

  Several minutes later, Emily came out with a large green bag stuffed full of something. She tied it to the saddle pack on her horse, and then mounted him and took the reins of the horse she’d ridden up on.

  “Let’s go,” she said, and kicked her stallion into a walk.

  “What’s in there?” Zohn asked, catching up with her.

  “Do you honestly want to know?”

  “Actually, no. I guess I don’t.”

  “Good call.”

  She looked back when she heard a loud thud, and then she smiled when she saw a Coven Lord scramble to his feet after falling off of his horse, “You ok?”

  “Yes,” he said, rather embarrassed.

  “It’s ok. Seems about 1% of heku can’t stay on a horse.”

  He simply cleared his throat and climbed back on. Emily looked across the grassy hillside when they arrived, and then took a deep breath of the fresh air. It had rained the night before, and the smell was refreshing.

  “Why is your Cavalry down by the road?” one of the Coven Lords asked.

  Emily and Zohn both looked down toward the road and saw the entire Cavalry standing around a lone vehicle while their horses waited nearby.

  “Let’s go find out,” Zohn said, and kicked his horse into a gallop. Emily quickly overtook him and arrived well ahead of the heku.

  She tied her horse to a thick tree branch and then walked up toward the front, “What’s up?”

  “Em, stay out of this,” Kralen said, taking her arm. He gently led her out of the crowd.

  “What’s wrong?” Zohn asked, walking up to them.

  Kralen bowed slightly but kept a firm grip on Emily’s arm, “Encala, Sir.”

  “Is it Andrew?” Emily asked him.

  “No,” he said, and then turned to Zohn. “We stopped the first vehicle, but six more took off when they saw us.”

  Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “An attack team?”

  “Not sure, Elder.”

  “How many are here now?”

  “Eight, Sir.”

  “Get them into the council chambers.”

  “Yes, Elder.” Kralen waited until Gifford took Emily’s arm, and then he walked back into the middle of the Cavalry.

  Emily frowned, “I don’t need restrained.”

  Gifford looked nervously at the Elder. He was trying his hardest to get back on Emily’s good side, and he knew that restraining her wasn’t the way to do that. The Council was helping him, as it was easier when Emily and Thukil were on friendly terms. They hadn’t been close since Thukil thought Emily was going to wipe them out.

  “Brandon, Michael, take her back to the palace,” Zohn said. Two of the Cavalry broke out of the fray and came toward them.

  “Hey,” Emily said, glaring at Zohn. “I don’t need restrained, and I most certainly don’t need babysitters.”

  “They’re just going to escort you back.”

  She ripped her arm away from Gifford and walked to her horse, “I can find my own way back.”

  The two members of the Cavalry also mounted up, and then followed her when she kicked her horse into a gallop. She figured the only way to find out what was going on, was to be in the council chambers when they questioned the Encala. She was irritated that she had Cavalry escorts but ignored them and raced into the city.

  She quickly put her horse away and left the extra horse for the Cavalry to take care of. Her main goal was to get into the council chambers, and she could already hear the Cavalry coming in with the Encala. She ran up the stairs, but Derrick stepped in front of her.

  “They are busy,” he said, looking down at her.

  “Then I’ll go around back.”

  Derrick turned to the door, and Emily watched him. She hated when they spoke where she couldn’t hear them.

  “They ask that you wait in your room.” Derrick turned back to her and smiled slightly.

  Emily had an internal fight. She wanted to know what the Encala were doing, especially if they were attacking, but she’d agreed with herself to do as the Council asked. Sending her to her room felt more like something you’d do to a child though, and she studied Derrick as she debated going in anyway.

  Derrick seemed to sense her conflict, and his face softened, “I’m sure they just want to make sure you’re safe while they figure out what’s going on.”

  Emily shrugged and then walked hesitantly up the stairs, followed by two members of the Cavalry. She began to doubt that she’d ever be a true member of the Council, as her title indicated, and had to fight the urge to spend some time alone.

  Once in her room, she thought a call to Dain might make her feel better. She sat down in the bay window and watched the Cavalry escort red clad heku into the palace.

  “Hi, Mom,” Dain said.

  “Hi, how’s it going?”

  “Ok, kind of boring.”

  “I miss you.”

  Dain paused, and his voice turned concerned, “What’s wrong?”

  S
he shrugged and recognized that she was kind of feeling sorry for herself.

  “Did he hurt you?” Dain growled. Emily realized that he never called Chevalier by anything other than ‘he’.

  “No”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  She sighed, “Nothing bad.”

  “Then what?”

  “The Cavalry stopped a bunch of Encala from coming into the city.”

  “Are they attacking?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “So the Council is keeping you away again, that’s it?”

  She just shrugged.

  “Want me to talk to him?”

  “Not about this, no.”

  Dain’s voice lightened, and she could tell he was smiling, “I’m not going to arrange to turn myself over to him.”

  “I know,” she said, looking out the window.

  “This sounds like something that could turn into a big thing though, Mom.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “I’m going to call you every day at 3pm. If I can’t get a hold of you, I’ll assume you are being restrained, and I’ll call and handle him.”

  “Don’t, Dain. You don’t need to go yelling at your Dad.”

  “I like yelling at him.”

  She finally smiled, “I know.”

  “Deal stands. I’m not going to sit here while the Equites restrain you. It’s done way too often and unnecessarily.”

  “I’m ok. Are you?”

  “Me? I’m fine. I met a girl last week.”

  Emily frowned, “Dain…”

  “No! Mom! I quit doing that. I did ask her out though, and we have a date tonight.”

  “Mortal?”

  “Of course. I’m staying away from heku, remember?”

  She sighed.

  “I’m more careful than I was.”

  “Call and tell me how it goes, ok?”

  “Sure. I better go get ready though.”

  Emily nodded and then hung up. She couldn’t help but smile. Dain appeared to finally be growing up. It just seemed it was about a year too late.

  She sat in the window and looked out. Nothing irritated her more than to be left in the dark, especially when it started to sound like the Equites were about to be attacked. She knew why they left her out of it, but it still irritated her and the more she thought about it, the madder she became.

  When she’d agreed to do as the Council asked and to stop doing things on her own, it was understood, at least by her, that that meant they would stop holding things from her.

  When she felt like this, her first instinct was always to have a drink. She wasn’t sure if that’d ever go away. One tiny drink would at least calm her down, and she wouldn’t be so mad. Chevalier thought he’d rid the entire palace of alcohol, but she had a stash.

  Finally deciding she was tired of sitting in her room, she quickly left, wiping the memory of the Cavalry at her door. Once at the back stairs, she ran down them and headed out to the cemetery. It wasn’t hard to get over the fence to the restricted section, and then she watched the ground carefully, trying to find the hole.

  Once she found the portal hole, she laid down and put her face in it, “Hello?”

  There was silence, and she began to think she couldn’t really hear him, but then he replied, “Who is this?”

  “My name is Emily. Do you remember me?” It felt weird lying in the cemetery with her face in a hole, but she felt bad that he was down there alone.

  “Are you an Old One?”

  “Yes”

  “Do you have a delivery?”

  “No, I just wanted to talk.”

  “How very strange.” Emily thought it was odd how clearly she could hear his voice, even though it seemed soft and distant. She couldn’t hear him moving around or even the sound of his breath, but somehow, his words moved up the cold ground to her.

  “Are you ok?” she asked.

  “Why would I not be?” He started to sound confused.

  Emily smiled, “Can you tell me about where the Equites lived in Europe?”

  “You do not know?”

  “Sure I do, but I want you to tell me.”

  “Such an odd request. Are you an Ancient?”

  “Yes,” she said, laughing to herself.

  “So you want to know about the specus?”

  Emily quickly typed the word into her phone’s Latin to English translator that she installed just so she knew what the heku were talking about when they started talking in their Native, and it came up with the word ‘cave’.

  “Yes, the specus,” she said into the hole.

  “They are in present-day Denmark.”

  “Right, how long did the Equites live there?”

  “They always lived there.”

  She couldn’t help but smile, picturing the clean, servant driven heku living in damp and dirty caves, “Do you need anything?”

  There was a pause before he replied, “Such as?”

  “I don’t know. Books… music…”

  “I do not understand,” he said. His voice was soft and held an air of confusion.

  “It’s just…”

  “Em?” Chevalier said from behind her. She jumped slightly at the sudden voice, and then looked up from the ground.

  “Yes?”

  “What are you doing?” It was obvious that he was about to grin.

  “Talking”

  “About?”

  “Stuff,” she said before saying goodbye to the Ancient and then standing up and brushing the dead grass from her jeans.

  “Having fun?”

  “I guess.”

  “Learn anything new?”

  “Not really.”

  He smiled and then moved to the side so she could walk past him.

  “Kill anyone while I was visiting?” she asked, walking past him.

  “No”

  “You let them go?”

  “No, but I didn’t kill them.”

  “Yet…”

  “Yet,” he said, still smiling.

  ***

  Emily sat on the top step in the palace and looked down the long flight of marble stairs. She was bored and was finding it hard to keep entertained. The Council was in permanent sessions and had been for the last three weeks. She had seen Chevalier only briefly each evening, but other than that, he remained in the council chambers. The Council made sure that Emily stayed away from the council chambers while they were in session.

  After talking to Dain, Emily was pretty sure that the Encala were about to attack and that the Council was worried about their numbers. She’d even tried to contact Andrew or William to verify, but no one answered at the IP address she used to video-conference them in the past.

  Today, the Cavalry was assigned to guard the palace, which only meant that the Council felt threatened by something or someone. Because of that, Emily was asked to stay in the palace but wouldn’t have personal guards following her around.

  Emily looked around again, wishing she could find something to pass the day. She was just having thoughts about visiting the island when she heard whispers coming from down the hall from her. She leaned closer to hear what they were saying.

  “Are you sure she’s not close?” a heku whispered.

  “She’s down in the stables I bet.”

  “Why can’t we drop our voices? This is dangerous.”

  “Because Shen, down on 4th floor, is listening in also.”

  “Fine… so what now?”

  “Chase got the information. He was guarding the council chamber door last night.”

  “Ok”

  “He confirmed that the Valle Council no longer wants Emily under their control but instead wants her dead.”

  Emily frowned slightly and moved even closer to listen.

  “That’s no surprise. She keeps the other factions at bay.”

  “They think she’s given the Equites an unfair advantage.”

  “So that’s why all the meetings. The Valle are after Em
ily?”

  “It’s more than that. The Valle want to attack with the Encala. The Valle will focus on killing Emily, and the Encala will try to take our city.”

  “The Encala have turned on her then?”

  “No, the Encala think that the Valle are after the Council. They have no idea the Valle’s true target, or they would stop it.”

  “That explains why we’re in here.”

  “According to Chase, the Council is trying to figure out how to stave off attacks from both factions.”

  “Why don’t they ship Emily out? Wouldn’t that stop the Valle from joining?”

  “They are afraid that she’d be attacked while away, out from the protection of the Cavalry.”

  “I could use a good fight.”

  There was a chuckle, “So could I. Emily may have been able to keep the factions from attacking for a while, but right now, she’s also the Valle’s prime target, and that may backfire and cause them to attack.”

  “Does the General know?”

  “I’m guessing he does. The Council tells him more than they do us.”

  “If both Encala and Valle attack at once, it’s going to be one hell of a bloody battle.”

  Emily quietly ran down the stairs to her room and then shut the door and looked around. Her protective instincts were pulling forward, and she felt like she needed to get out of Council City to prevent a combined Valle and Encala attack.

  She began to pace, to think things through, and happened to look out the window just as Allen, Miri, and Garrett walked up to the palace. Wondering where Alexis was, Emily quickly left her room and ran down the stairs to them. She stopped on the fourth-floor when she heard that they were all in a rather loud fight.

  “What’s going on?” Emily asked when they walked up. It was obvious that Allen and Garrett were arguing with Miri over something.

  Miri pointed at them, “They are siding with the Council on this, and it’s not right! He is her brother…”

  “Wait, what are you talking about?”

  Garrett calmed his voice, “Ma’am, there have been some attacks in Jersey, and the Council found out that Alexis was harboring Dain in my house.”

  “Where is she?” Emily asked, looking around.

  “He is her brother!” Miri yelled. “It’s her right, and it’s in her blood to protect him.”

  “No it’s not,” Allen told her. “She should have told the Council immediately where he is and let them banish him.”