Vaughn moved his face to her neck and ran his tongue along the pounding vein.
“Tonight, Child,” he said, and set her back down. “Can we release her hands?”
“Yes, yes, it’s her eyes we have to worry about,” the Ancient chuckled.
Vaughn moved behind her and released her hands, and then wound his arms around her shoulders. Emily’s injured shoulder screamed, but she forced the pain down.
“It’s time,” the Ancient said. “I will see you in there.” He left quickly, leaving Emily and Vaughn alone.
Vaughn began to kiss Emily’s neck and shoulders as his hands ran lightly across her exposed skin, “Mmm you will love me, Child. I promise you that.”
“Not now, not now! Get going, Vaughn,” she heard a female heku say. Vaughn chuckled and pulled away from her, leaving the room quickly.
Emily was left alone, and she looked around the room. There was a single empty closet, but the door had a mirror on it so she stepped in front of it. She was right about the feel of velvet. Her outfit was blood-red and stitched with tiny, sparkling jewels. She tried to pull the skirt up higher. It felt like at any minute, it could fall off of her, but it wouldn’t move.
“You can do this, Emily,” she said to herself, and then moved away from the mirror.
“Come, Child,” someone said, and she turned to the heku at the door. He was a stern looking older man, balding and withered.
Emily stepped toward him and he led the way. She followed silently, watching the hallways as she walked past. He stopped in front of two large stone doors.
“You walk down the aisle to Vaughn. He’s been sworn in, now you just need presented to the Council,” he said to her.
Emily nodded. She’d done this once before, and was dreading the judgmental eyes on her.
As the doors opened, the great hall fell silent and all eyes turned to Emily. She saw Vaughn standing on the platform at the other end of the room. Emily began the slow walk toward him. The hisses and inhales from the crowd made her want to run, but she held her course, focusing on the Ancient, her ultimate target.
Vaughn smiled broadly as she approached him, and he reached out and touched her waist, “I present to the Council, Emily Winchester.”
There were more gasps and soft muffled voices as the news shocked the gathered Encala.
“Step forward, Child,” one of the Encala Elders said. Emily stepped up onto the stairs, ignoring the empty Elder’s chair.
“Are you, in fact, one of the fabled Winchesters?” he asked her.
“I am.”
“And do you hold their powers?”
“Yes”
Again, a murmur ran through the hundreds of heku in the audience.
“Will you show us?”
“Yes,” she said to him.
He smiled, “Turn around, Child, pick one.”
Emily turned to face the heku. They avoided her eyes, and began to shift uncomfortably. She didn’t care who she picked, tonight she hoped to turn most of them to ash before she was killed.
“You,” she said, pointing to an Encala that looked a lot like Vaughn. He stepped forward and bowed at the Elders.
“Do it, Child,” the Elder said, leaning forward.
Emily looked at him and the heku turned to ash in an instant. She ignored the panic that started in the audience, and turned back to the Elder.
“Impressive, Emily, your mother never could do that,” the Ancient said, smiling proudly.
“Calm… calm…” the Elder said, motioning for the audience to be quiet.
“Do you then, Emily Winchester, agree to take Vaughn as your mate, and to break the bond you have with the Equites?” he asked, smiling.
“I do not,” she said, turning her eyes to the Ancient. Suddenly, a blindfold was placed over her eyes, and her hands were bound in front of her.
“You do not have to agree, Child, for it to happen,” the Elder told her.
“A blindfold?” she asked, smiling.
“It’s merely a precaution. We cannot have you attempting to kill one of us,” she heard the Ancient say.
“So the blindfold will keep you safe?” she asked.
“We have studied the Winchesters carefully. We know of your weaknesses,” she heard Vaughn say at her side.
Emily was pushed roughly to a velvet wall, and her hands were pulled up. The binds were attached to something far above her head. She felt a hand on her back, and then hard lips pressed against hers. She fought to keep her anger at bay. She would need it soon enough.
“I expect none of this attitude tonight,” Vaughn said, pulling away from her.
“Now for the last bit of news…” Vaughn said. “Tonight I make Emily my mate.”
“You are so wrong,” she said, smiling, and she suddenly felt the eyes on her again.
“Obey, Child,” she heard the Ancient hiss.
“You were wrong about something, though,” Emily said. Her skin broke into goose bumps at the thought of what she was about to do. Her heart also sank. She knew that tonight, she would die. She only hoped that Chevalier and Allen could someday forgive her.
“How dare you speak to us like this!” she heard Vaughn say sternly.
“Blindfolds?” Emily asked, ignoring him. “What are blindfolds to the daughter of an ancient?”
Everyone grew quiet, and Emily smiled.
The fury, the rage, the pain, every emotion Emily felt was suddenly pushed outward. Images flashed through her mind of her father, of Chevalier, and little Allen. She could hear the screams echoing off the walls, and the feeling of exhilaration flew through her, making her stronger. She felt the world begin to spin, and a trickle of blood dripped onto her lips. The pain of the last few months and the loss of the baby re-energized her, and she sent the emotions it brought toward the audience again.
Emily had no idea if what she was doing was working. She waited for the pain of her limbs being torn from her body, but it hadn’t happened yet. She could feel the terror and fear in the room, and the screams were growing fainter. She pushed the fear, the horror, and the anger outward, wave after wave. Her ears began to ring so loudly it drowned out the sound of the heku’s pleas for the burning to stop. Her legs grew weak, but she continued to push as her heart beat so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest.
She finally fell back against the velvet wall when her strength gave way, but a new found anger hit her. The anger that she was being forced to leave Allen without a mother, and she drew more emotions from it and continued her assault on the Encala.
The sounds all stopped. Her rapid breathing was all that she could hear. There were no more shouts, no more pleadings, and the silence was eerie. Emily fought against the binds on her wrists, but was unable to free them. She ran her head along her arms and pushed the blindfold off of her eyes. She looked around the room, and felt an enormous sense of relief. All she could see were the ashen remains of the Encala. The Elder’s chairs were empty except for the swirls of ash. She scanned the rest of the room and nothing moved, nothing made a sound.
Emily felt the pounding in her head as she waited for more Encala to come. She would wait for death. The world was still spinning and the blood continued to drip down her lips. An alarm sounded from far away and she knew the deaths had been discovered. They would come for her now. She was ready for death. The pain in her head was growing worse and her injured shoulder sent painful stabs down her back and arm.
She suddenly looked up at her hands. The pain was causing her to sweat and the binds were slipping. She pulled and wiggled her wrists and was finally able to free them. She fell against an Elder’s chair and got to her knees. She quickly looked through the piles of clothes, and found a small bag. She scooped up the ashes on the chair of the Ancient, and then took small amounts off each of the Council’s chairs. She then attached the bag firmly to her wrist.
Emily got unsteadily to her feet and walked out of the great hall. Her bare feet were covered in the ash of the Encala. She u
sed the wall for support as she scanned the long hallways of the Encala’s palace. The entire palace was quiet. The only thing she could hear was the far away siren. Her hands ran along the blood-red walls as she walked along the corridors. Her bare footsteps seemed noisy in the silence.
A door slammed off to her right, and she heard heavy footsteps fill the palace.
“Find her,” she heard a strange heku order, and she turned toward the sound. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
Emily put her hand against the wall to steady herself. The pounding in her head became stronger and she shut her eyes for a second, trying to regain the control. She wiped the blood off of her lips with a curtain, but a steady stream continued to flow. She felt a tickle in her ear and found blood forming. She knew this was it. The attacks on the Encala were going to kill her.
“Looking for me?” she yelled, and the sound of her voice echoed off of the walls. She heard the footsteps stop.
“I killed your Elders… I killed your Ancient,” she screamed, ignoring how it made her head spin.
“I did it in the name of the Equites… if you don’t like that, then I dare you to come and get me,” she roared, and smiled when the footsteps came closer.
She braced herself for one last fight. She felt the anger in her again as she thought of her home at the palace. She saw the shadows of the approaching heku and readied herself to fight them. She knew it would be the last time, they would kill her.
Emily gasped when she saw the green capes of the Equites. She frowned, her mind whirling with confusion as a hazy cloud covered her thoughts. She watched as over fifty heku in green stopped and stared at her, their eyes wide. She saw someone pushing toward the front, and took a step back when Chevalier and Kyle appeared from the gathered crowd. Her mind tried to grasp why they joined the Encala.
Chevalier had heard her yell, and immediately changed course to find her. As he pushed through the guards, he froze and looked at her. Emily was leaning against the wall. She was pale and her eyes were dazed. There was blood dripping down the side of her neck and from her nose. She looked up at Chevalier, and the whites of her eyes had turned scarlet.
Kyle held out his hand to hold back the guards.
“Don’t move,” he whispered. “She’s confused. We don’t need her turning us to ash, too.”
“Emily,” Chevalier said softly, not moving toward her.
“Are you here to kill me?” she asked, her words slurred.
Chevalier shook his head, “No, Emily, we’re here to help.”
“Why then… why would you join the Encala?”
“We’re still Equites. We came to get you,” he explained.
“But I killed your Elders.”
“She’s not making sense,” Kyle whispered.
“Too much killing,” Chevalier sighed softly.
“Emily, listen to me. We’re here to take you back to the palace, to Allen,” Chevalier tried again.
“This is mine!” she growled, holding the small draw-string bag in her hands.
“We won’t take it from you,” Kyle said.
Emily turned and stumbled away from them. She knew she had to get away. She couldn’t clear her mind enough to ash any more. They were going to kill her, but she had to at least try to run. How could Chevalier and Kyle join the Encala? She was mad at them for it. Mad that they would bring Allen here to live after she died. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned.
“Emily, we’re not going to hurt you,” Chevalier said, and he put a hand against her back to steady her.
“How could you? How could you join the Encala after what they did?” she asked, as a bloody tear spilled from her red eyes.
“Emily, we’re Equites,” he said, and wiped the tear off of her cheek.
“I’m an Equites,” she whispered, looking toward the other heku gathered.
“I know.”
“So we’re enemies now,” she mumbled, her words still slurred.
He reached down to pick her up, but she jerked backwards against the wall.
“I won’t marry Vaughn, just so you can lay a claim to me,” she hissed.
“You don’t have to,” he said softly, trying to catch her eyes and lock her gaze.
“You can kill me if you want… but I’m dead anyway… I die an Equites,” she whispered, and ran her fingers through the blood coming out of her ear.
“We have to get out of here,” Kyle whispered, too softly for Emily to hear.
“Come on Emily,” Chevalier said, walking backward down the hallway. “Come on… follow me.”
She frowned and took an uneven step toward him, “You’re a traitor.”
“I know, now come,” he said, sternly.
“You’re all traitors,” she yelled, scanning her bloody eyes across the green cloaked heku.
“Keep coming, come on,” Chevalier said, holding his hand out toward her.
Emily pressed her hands against the sides of her head, “I can’t think.”
“She’s pretty bad off. Do you think she can still ash us?” Kyle whispered softly.
“I don’t know,” Chevalier said, watching as Emily walked slowly toward him, leaning against the velvet walls of the Encala palace.
As they stepped out into the sunlight, Emily saw the large helicopters sitting on the lush green lawn. She felt the cool grass on her feet and looked down to see bloody ash caked on them. She looked up at the heku again and wiped the last of the blood from under her nose. She saw the heku begin to pile into the massive helicopters and wondered how they could leave the ground with that much weight.
“Keep coming, you’re almost there,” Chevalier said when she stopped moving.
He stepped up into the helicopter and reached down for Emily, “Give me your hands.”
Emily looked up at his hands and took them. She felt her feet leave the ground and reached her foot up to step into the helicopter as Kyle grabbed her around the waist to help her. Her exposed leg faced Chevalier, and he looked at her outer thigh and glared, then pulled her the rest of the way inside.
Emily sat in the chair and looked around, confused. She couldn’t remember where she was. The cloud on her mind was stopping her from remembering. She felt hands buckle her in, and she fought against the restraint.
“Leave her, she’s too weak to get out,” Chevalier said, as one of the heku guards tried to take her hands.
“Get us out of here,” Kyle ordered, and the helicopters took off up above the Encala city.
Emily eventually leaned her head back against the seat and shut her eyes. She was suddenly feeling extremely tired.
During the ride back to Council City, Chevalier was able to study her. Other than the blood he noticed before, she looked ok. His eyes were continually drawn to the signs the Encala had put on her to ensure their claim.
“Did you see her right thigh?” Kyle asked.
Chevalier nodded, “I did. It’s not enflamed. I think it might be ink.”
“They had enough time for a tattoo,” Kyle said, making sure not to look at her for too long.
“We’ll find out later,” Chevalier growled.
“How is Damon taking being called a traitor?”
“He’ll get over it,” Chevalier said, he couldn’t help but smile. “I think her loyalty impressed him.”
Kyle just nodded and watched as the helicopters parted. Most landed on the outskirts of the city, while theirs circled the palace and landed on the helipad.
The helicopter engines fell silent, and everyone looked at Emily as she slept.
“Is it safe to pick her up?” Kyle asked, raising his eyebrows.
Chevalier shrugged, “I have no idea… if she ashes me… just… revive me quickly.”
As Chevalier’s hands touched Emily, her eyes jerked open, and she grabbed the bag on her wrist.
“This is mine,” she yelled, and then glared at him.
He continued to pick her up, and jumped out of the helicopter, landing softly on the roof of th
e palace.
The doctor was waiting by Emily’s bed when Chevalier stepped into the room. He watched, concerned, as Emily was laid gently on the bed. She was gripping the covers tightly and panting. Her red eyes were watching everyone around her.
The doctor reached down to take her pulse, and barely brushed against the leather bag. Emily grabbed it and sat up, “This is mine.”
The doctor nodded, “I won’t take it from you.”
He looked curiously at Chevalier.
Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series Page 26
