Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Is that his name? He’s a…” Emily began, but Kyle cut her off.

  “In the barracks?” he asked her, shocked.

  “Yeah”

  “You shouldn’t be in the barracks, Emily,” he said, sternly.

  Emily turned on her heels and headed into the palace mumbling, “Don’t do this, Emily. Don’t do that, Emily. Kiss my what, Emily?”

  Kyle stifled a grin and turned back to Mark, “Was she actually inside the building?”

  “Yes, she was looking for Frank,” Mark said, coming back out of the stable.

  “She could have been killed,” Kyle sighed.

  “I know. That’s why I took extra precautions to get her back here safely,” Mark said, watching him.

  Kyle nodded, “Thank you, and get Kenneth into my office.”

  Mark nodded and blurred away. Kyle went inside and knocked on Chevalier’s office door.

  “Enter,” he said.

  Kyle stepped in and sat down, “For someone that can’t get one, I’m sure starting to get a headache.”

  Chevalier chuckled, “The guards acting up this morning?”

  “Guards? No… your wife though…”

  Chevalier sighed, “What did she do now?”

  “She decided to go into the barracks.”

  “Wait… inside?”

  “Yup, then she picked a fight with Kenneth,” Kyle sighed.

  “I swear, I’ll kill her myself,” Chevalier said, angrily, and blurred from his office. He felt Kyle follow him up the stairs to his room. He slammed open the door and looked around, but the room was empty.

  “What did you do with her?” he asked Kyle.

  “Nothing, she stormed away from the stables and into the palace,” Kyle said, looking around.

  “Sir!”

  Chevalier spun when the guard yelled from the door, “What?”

  “Lady Emily, she’s locked herself in a cell,” the guard said, frantically.

  “Let her out and bring her up here,” Chevalier hissed.

  “We… well… we can’t, Sir.”

  “Why not?” Kyle asked.

  “She has the only keys and won’t give them back,” the guard said, looking at the floor.

  “She’s a mortal!” Chevalier yelled. “How did she get the only keys away from you?”

  “She… threatened us, Sir,” the guard said, embarrassed.

  “Leave her there then. If she wants to be in jail so badly, we’ll see how she likes living alone for a few hours,” Chevalier said, throwing a vase hard against the wall.

  “She’s not alone,” the guard whispered.

  “What?” Chevalier turned, angrily.

  “She’s in with Frank, Silas, and Nelson. They are trying to get her to give the keys back, too, but she’s dropped them down her shirt and so...” the guard stopped when Chevalier blurred from the room, followed by Kyle.

  “Emily get out of there,” Chevalier growled into the cell. The three guards stood immediately at attention.

  “I can’t, we have five years left on our sentence,” she said, sitting on the bed.

  “Frank… get the key,” Chevalier said, watching as Emily’s eyes grew wide. She spun and curled up into a tight ball, face down on the bed.

  “Sir?” Frank asked, nervously.

  “Get the keys from her.”

  “Sir, they are in her shirt,” Frank stammered.

  “Do it,” Chevalier said, scowling.

  Frank reached down and put his hands on Emily’s waist and picked her up. She didn’t change positions at all from the small ball.

  “No!” she screamed at him.

  Frank glanced at Chevalier and then sunk his hand into Emily’s shirt, cringing as she bit his arm. He pulled his arm out quickly, and handed the blood covered key to Kyle. He opened the door and Chevalier hauled Emily out of the cell by her arm. He re-locked the cell and shoved the key back into the hands of the guard.

  “Try to keep it this time,” he hissed, and blurred after Chevalier and Emily.

  “Let me go,” Emily said, coldly.

  “Elder… stay calm,” Kyle said when he caught up with them at the bedroom door.

  “Oh, I am calm,” Chevalier said, and slammed the door in Kyle’s face.

  “What happened to my freedom?” Emily asked when he turned around, her arms were crossed at her chest.

  “Freedom to die? Is that what you want?”

  “How is visiting the barracks looking to die?”

  “The heku guards in the palace, the ones on the Cavalry, have a very high tolerance for mortals. They respect my decision to take you as my wife, but that’s not the view of all of the guards. Those are left in the barracks to patrol the city, far away from you,” he growled. “Now I have to go punish Kenneth for even talking to you. It’s forbidden without a station on the Cavalry or in the palace.”

  “You told me I was accepted,” she scowled.

  “If I killed every guard who doesn’t approve of you, we’d have only about 1/8 of our guards left,” he said, realizing he hadn’t told her.

  “I don’t care what you do to Kenneth, but the three from last night don’t deserve five years in a cell.”

  “They drank, it is against the rules.”

  “Five years for drinking? They’ll be miserable down there without being able to feed,” she said, sitting down on the bed.

  “I thought we agreed that you would leave the rule breakers to me.”

  “I thought we agreed that I have the freedom to do what I want and when I want.”

  “Your freedom does not extend to the heku you are standing by.”

  “Let them go.”

  “I’m not in the mood to fight with you,” he said, forcing his temper back under control.

  Emily screamed, angrily, and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her. Chevalier heard a session of the Council called and blurred from the room.

  He was the last to sit at his chair, and he spun to face the front. He raised an eyebrow when he saw four Encala standing before them.

  “The Encala come to us with a request. You know, Chief Enforcer to Chief Enforcer,” Damon said, watching the four from the opposing faction.

  “What exactly is your request?” Leonid asked them.

  “There were two items taken that we are requesting be returned. Let’s start with the remains of our Elders,” he said, glaring at the Council.

  “They are not ours to return,” Maleth said, watching them.

  “Who do we ask then? Only the Equites were in the palace that day,” the leader asked.

  “Oh, they are being kept by a member of the Equites, just not one of the Council,” Maleth explained.

  “Can the Council not control its people enough to demand their return?”

  “We have full control of our people, I assure you,” Damon scowled.

  “What is the second item you ask returned?” Leonid asked him.

  The door behind the Council opened and they spun their chairs to see who would intrude on a session. Emily came in, supported by Kyle. She was pale and grasping at her thigh.

  “It burns,” she moaned.

  “Ahh... that would be it,” the Encala said, amused.

  It took both Damon and Maleth to hold Chevalier in his chair. He growled at the Encala leader.

  “We demand you release her, immediately,” Leonid yelled at him.

  They let Chevalier go when he tried to get to Emily. He knelt down by her.

  “She said it started burning a few minutes ago,” Kyle whispered.

  Chevalier nodded, “We’ll make it go away, Em.”

  “It burns,” she said, as her shaking hands clawed at her jeans.

  “I will not release her. She was promised to me by an ancient, one who outranks your entire faction. She is mine by primordial right,” he said smugly.

  “We will not abide by the conditions set forth by an ancient. One that was supposed to have been banished for eternity,” Maleth
told him.

  “Come, Emily, it is time to go,” the Encala said, and grinned when she screamed.

  Emily’s entire leg felt like it was on fire. She clawed at her jeans with her fingernails, trying to tear them off of her burning thigh.

  “I suggest you stop torturing her this instant,” Leonid growled. “You are outnumbered, and I have no qualms about watching you die.”

  Emily stopped screaming and leaned back against the floor, panting.

  “She’s mine and you know it, by order of the Ancient. I can control her and do with her as I wish,” he said, smiling.

  “Control her?” Damon asked, standing up. “Where was this control when she decided to slaughter half of your city?”

  “I didn’t have time to tell her to stop. Had I done so, this wouldn’t be an issue right now,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

  “So you can control her?”

  “Yes”

  “I’d like to see that,” Damon said, sitting down. He glanced at Chevalier, who glared at him icily.

  “Come to me, Emily,” Vaughn said, softly.

  Emily got to her feet and looked down on Vaughn. She descended the steps slowly as the Equites Council watched. She walked over and stood, facing him.

  “Good, Child. She knows her place and obeys as promised,” Vaughn said, smiling at the Council.

  Vaughn spun suddenly when the three Encala with him fell to the ground as ash, “Don’t call me child.”

  The Equites Council all relaxed and looked at one another grinning.

  “You will obey me,” Vaughn said, looking into her eyes.

  “Take this thing off of my leg,” she hissed at him.

  “Obey me,” he said, sterner, concentrating hard on her green eyes.

  Vaughn fell to his knees and screamed, clutching his chest. The muscles in his body flexed with the pain, and he fell to the ground.

  “Emily,” she heard Chevalier say softly from behind her. She turned to him and released Vaughn from the pain.

  “Let us handle this, please,” Maleth said to her. She wiped the blood from her nose and walked back up the stairs. The council member to Chevalier’s left stood and let Emily take his chair.

  Vaughn struggled and got to his feet, “I will release her if you will return the Elder to me.”

  “Just the Elder?” Leonid asked.

  “Yes, you can keep the Ancient, but we need the other Elder,” Vaughn’s voice was strained.

  Leonid turned to Emily, “They are in your possession. Do you wish to return the Encala’s Elders?”

  “That would be kind of hard,” she said, looking at Vaughn.

  “Why is that, Dear?” Leonid asked.

  “I mixed them all up together and…” she said, and frowned when she heard gasps from around her. She looked at the council members, and they were half amused, and half astonished that she would do such a thing. Only Chevalier was grinning.

  “That’s despicable! Never have I heard of such disgusting behavior,” Vaughn yelled at her.

  “She’s a mortal. She knew no better,” Maleth said. “Do go on.”

  “Well I’m not going to tell if you all are going to treat me like I did something wrong,” she said, and frowned.

  “We will not… you… you just caught us off guard. We’ve never heard of such a thing,” Maleth explained, and smiled softly at her.

  Emily pulled a chain from around her neck and dangled the locket from it, “This is all I have left of the ashes.”

  Chevalier had to turn his chair away from Vaughn to hide his laughter. Kyle chuckled at Chevalier.

  “Where is my Elder?” Vaughn asked her, angrily.

  “Well…” she looked at Maleth, questioningly.

  “Where is he?” he asked her.

  “I dumped some in the river,” she began, and ignored the stifled laughs from the Council, and the angry hiss from Vaughn, “and the rest I... well… kind of… dumped… somewhere over New Jersey.”

  “You did what?” Vaughn gasped, and his rage permeated the room.

  Maleth tried to control himself, “Emily, is that really what…” He turned his chair away from the Encala when he couldn’t stop laughing.

  Damon growled and jumped, landing against Vaughn mid-air as he lunged at Emily. They crashed to the ground with a loud thud and began to fight, their movements nothing but a blur to Emily’s eyes. Two more council members jumped the table, and the Encala was soon restrained against the back wall.

  “Put him in prison until he learns some control,” Damon ordered the four guards that were summoned. They took him, fighting, out of the room.

  “Dear, did you really do as you said?” Leonid asked her.

  She nodded, “I’m sorry if I caused you more trouble.”

  “No trouble, Dear, none at all,” Maleth said, smiling at her.

  “Your mortal thoughts and actions just… well… astonish us at times,” Leonid explained.

  “That means I’m not getting rid of this rune then,” she said, looking into the eyes of the council members.

  “If you had some shred of restraint, we would have a bargaining chip with which to have it removed,” Damon said, coldly.

  “Kyle… get me my cattle prod,” Emily said, standing up.

  “Don’t threaten me.”

  “I don’t threaten, Sweetheart. I do.”

  “I’m not afraid of a mortal.”

  “Bite me!” she growled.

  “Don’t tempt me,” he said, maliciously.

  “You couldn’t handle it.”

  “Is that an offer?”

  “You’re non gradus anus rodentum,” she said, grinning.

  “Both of you sit down!” Leonid ordered. Both Damon and Emily sat down quickly, his voice demanded immediate results.

  “Is there some kind of problem between you two?” Maleth asked them, frowning disapprovingly.

  “She needs to learn some respect and obedience,” Damon said, calmly.

  “He needs to learn how to die,” Emily said, watching him.

  “Enough!” Maleth said, angrily.

  “Damon, don’t you have something you should be doing?” Leonid asked, and Damon blurred from the room.

  “Elder, why don’t you escort your wife back to her quarters,” Leonid said, to Chevalier.

  He stood up and reached a hand out to her, “Come on, Troublemaker.”

  She took his hand and followed him up the stairs.

  “You told a heku to bite you?” Kyle asked from behind them, chuckling.

  “It’s just a phrase,” Emily told him, as they got to the door of the bedroom.

  “Yes, but someone may take you up on it,” Chevalier said, ushering her inside and shutting the door.

  “Ok, let me have it,” Emily said, pulling off her boots and sitting on the chair by the fireplace.

  “Have what?” Chevalier asked, watching her.

  “Isn’t that why I’m confined to quarters? Time for me to get yelled at for calling Damon an idiot?” she asked.

  “You didn’t call him an idiot,” Chevalier said, trying not to smile.

  “Oh… well I should have,” she sighed, and turned back to the fire.

  Chevalier picked Emily up, sat in the chair, and then sat her down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and looked into the fire, “What exactly is it about him that you don’t like?”

  “He’s pompous.”

  “Ok”

  “Arrogant, selfish, egotistical, conceited, rude, impolite, crotchety, and I think he might be in the middle of a homosexual panic,” she said, leaning her head back against Chevalier.

  “Oh is that all?” he chuckled.

  “You better watch out. He might think I’m competition for your affection,” she said, running her fingers along the muscles in his forearms.

  Chevalier chuckled, “Heku aren’t homosexuals.”

  “None of them?” she asked. She had some very close gay friends back in Montana.