Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Maleth nodded and glanced at Emily once more before leaving.

  Chevalier sat on the bed by Emily and brushed her hair away from her face. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him.

  “Hi,” he said, smiling.

  She shut her eyes and pulled the covers up over her shoulder.

  “Em, we’ve picked a new Elder,” he said.

  She opened her eyes and looked out the window.

  “That was fast,” she whispered.

  “We can’t go without full leadership for too long,” he explained.

  “So easily replaced.” She turned away from him and shut her eyes again.

  “Today is the last day,” he said, watching her.

  “I know,” she whispered, not opening her eyes.

  “Have you decided against it then?” Chevalier hated to even consider it.

  “I’m just tired.”

  “I know you are, but I also need to know you’re awake enough to make a decision.”

  She opened her eyes and sat up in the bed. She held her hand out to him, “Put it on.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, digging in his pocket for the essence ring.

  She nodded and watched as he slipped it back on her finger. Emily felt the familiar pull as the ring sealed itself to her finger. She laid back down and pulled the covers up, it seemed cold in her room.

  “We need a fire,” she said, shutting her eyes.

  She felt Chevalier’s hand against the back of her neck, “It’s hot in here and over ninety degrees outside.”

  “It’s so cold.” She burrowed deeper into the covers.

  “Ok, I’ll get a fire,” he said, and watched a servant blur into the room and start the fire.

  “Who is it?” she whispered. Chevalier looked down at her and she was watching him.

  “Who is what?”

  “The new Elder.”

  “Quinn”

  Emily frowned, “The quiet guy on the end?”

  Chevalier couldn’t help but grin, “Quiet? He’s one of the meanest Chief Interrogator I’ve ever seen. I swear he could get information out of a turnip.”

  “He’s never said anything to me.”

  “He’s good at his job. I think he refrains from speaking for fear he may come across as harsh and abrasive,” Chevalier said. He suddenly realized what a good choice they made in choosing Quinn.

  Emily looked back out the window, “I don’t like him.”

  Chevalier smiled slightly, “You’re supposed to be at the swearing in.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re… in a roundabout way, part of the Council.”

  Emily shut her eyes again, “I put on the ring, now stop hovering and go to work.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Think about it, ok?”

  She nodded and rolled over.

  Chevalier went down to his desk. He knew he would have a lot of work as he hadn’t been in since Leonid’s burial. He could hear preparations being made for the swearing in of the new Elder. Chevalier left orders for Mark to wait outside of Emily’s room and alert him if she got out of bed. He lost track of time, engrossed in his work, when he heard a knock on his door.

  “Enter”

  Kyle stepped in and frowned, “You aren’t ready?”

  Chevalier glanced up, “Is she going?”

  Kyle shook his head, “She’s not out of bed.”

  “Ok, I’ll be right there,” Chevalier said, and pulled on his green robe, then followed Kyle out of the room and into the great hall.

  He stepped into the great hall from the back entrance and took his seat by Maleth. It didn’t slip his notice that the gathered heku all looked around when he entered, trying to find Emily. He knew that even those heku that didn’t think a mortal should live in the palace, were still fascinated by her heritage. Rumors also spread of the carnage she left in the Encala palace and it instantly made her a legend.

  “Where is she?” Maleth asked, smiling and nodding to someone in the audience.

  “She’s not coming.” Chevalier sat back in the large throne-like chair.

  Maleth nodded, “Just in case, I’ve had fans installed to blow air toward the Council.”

  Chevalier frowned, “Damn, I should have thought of that.”

  The Council all gathered and the audience fell quiet. Maleth stood and addressed the Equites. As customary, he gave a brief detail of the roles and responsibilities of an Elder. Chevalier heard gasps from the crowd and he turned when he heard footsteps. Emily had come in the back door. She was wearing the dark blue, backless gown from her first meeting with the Equites Elders and her hair was tied up. He was always amazed at her beauty, and the few times she actually dressed up, it made his heart skip a beat to even look at her.

  Chevalier could see Emily begin to blush, so he turned back to the crowd. He could feel her move to his side and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. He fought to cage his jealousy as he noticed the number of heku that were watching her and suddenly, the exposed skin on her waist and back seemed too revealing.

  The entire room fell silent when the double doors opened and Quinn stepped in. Maleth and Chevalier stood and moved to the center of the stage as the new Elder walked down the center aisle toward them. Chevalier turned and put his hand out for Emily. He forgot she wasn’t aware of the proper proceedings of the swearing in, but she was also required to greet the new Elder.

  She looked at him with a brief glance of panic, and then stepped forward to his side, taking his hand. Emily kept her eyes on Quinn, to keep from running out of the room screaming. He was a younger looking heku with brown curly hair and a strong muscular frame with broad shoulders. He was only a few inches shorter than Chevalier, but towered over Maleth.

  Emily watched as Maleth and Chevalier spoke to Quinn in what she could only assume was Latin. The words flowed like a cadence broken only occasionally when Quinn would say something back to them. At long last, Chevalier and Maleth moved back to their chairs and Emily stood by Chevalier’s side again. Maleth ended the proceedings and turned back to the Council gathered.

  “Shall we go to the reception?” he asked, smiling.

  The Council all stood and Damon nodded toward Emily, “She going?”

  Emily glared at him.

  Maleth frowned, “She is part of this Council, like it or not.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t know if I can defend her against eight hundred hungry heku,” Damon said, bluntly.

  Emily stepped forward, her heels only helped her height a little, “I don’t need protection from you.”

  “Oh you think? One whiff of you and you’ll be dinner.”

  “Just because you have the control of a wolf, doesn’t mean everyone else does,” Emily glared at him.

  “Maybe if you didn’t smell like a cupcake, Sweetheart.”

  “Sweetheart?” she asked, pushing him on the chest, though he didn’t move, he glared down at her. “Why don’t you crawl back under the rock you came from?”

  “Mortals,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “Fudge packer.”

  “What the hell is that?” Damon asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “Nothing!” Chevalier said, ushering Emily out of the room.

  “Suck me!” she yelled back from the hallway.

  Chevalier shook his head when he heard a response from the great hall that he hoped Emily hadn’t heard.

  “Let me go. I can find my own way to the bedroom,” she growled at him.

  “You can try to come to the reception,” he said, watching her walk up the stairs.

  She slipped off her heels and continued up the stairs, “And give Damon the pleasure of watching the heku drool? No thanks.”

  Chevalier walked back into the great hall, “Why do you have to antagonize her?”

  “I… she started that,” Damon said, sounding offended.

  “You’re at least 4500 years older than she is, act it,” Maleth snapped at him.

  “Suck me?” Quinn asked, amused, as t
hey walked toward the reception hall.

  Chevalier shrugged and they stepped into the reception hall.

  Kyle walked up to Chevalier, “I hate Elder induction nights. The guards make me nervous.”

  Chevalier slapped him on the shoulder, “The one night they can all party together, let them have their fun. At least they take it out of the city.”

  Emily stripped off the gown and tossed her shoes into the corner as soon as she got into her room, and then pulled the pins from her hair. She threw on jeans and a t-shirt, then dug through her closet and found her cowboy boots and pulled them on. Grabbing her Stetson and riding gloves, she walked down to the stables and put a bridle and saddle on Patra. She could hear the music from the reception hall as she hoisted herself up on the mare and took off into the night, still fuming over Damon.

  Emily soon made it to the rolling hills outside of Council City and pulled Patra to a stop. She looked out over the quiet city, and then turned to the trees off to the east. She’d never quite ventured that far out, so she decided to go tonight. She kicked Patra into a canter and turned her for the tree line.

  Emily felt exhilarated as Patra stepped into the dark trees. Something about the freedom of being out of the palace, away from the city, and out where no one knew where she was made her smile. She loved the sound the wind made through the trees and the rhythmic hoofbeats on the forest floor.

  The full moon emerged from behind a dark cloud and she could see things better. The trees were thinner ahead, and Emily could see a faint light. She slowed Patra down to a slow walk and moved toward it. As she got closer, she started to hear voices. Emily pulled her rifle out of the saddlebag and stepped the mare out into the clearing. She gasped, and Patra reared back as hundreds of heku eyes fell on them.

  Emily pulled the reins in for control and turned Patra around, but found herself surrounded by heku guards. The rifle in her hands gave her little comfort as her path back to the trees was blocked.

  “What have we here?” she heard a strange voice say.

  Emily turned and looked at the heku walking toward her. There was a strong smell of alcohol in the air.

  “Let the mortal out for the night did they?” he asked, sarcastically.

  “They don’t ‘let’ me out,” she said. Her mind was telling her to ash them and run, but her stubborn streak won out.

  “Planning on turning us to ash then?” he asked, and the guards all laughed.

  Emily’s eyes scanned the guards. She didn’t recognize any of them and she wondered where the Cavalry was. The rifle was ripped out of her hands by a heku, who blurred to her and away, too fast for her to respond.

  “Going to run back to the Elder and tell him we were picking on you?” he asked her, smiling.

  “Wasn’t planning on it, just as I wasn’t planning on telling Kyle that you are all drinking,” she said, watching him.

  His smug expression became more serious, “We aren’t drinking.”

  Emily smirked, “Whatever, I may not have a heku’s sense of smell, but I sure as hell can smell that.”

  His eyes narrowed, “Well now we have a problem, mortal. We can’t risk you running off and telling the Council.”

  Emily felt his hands on her waist as he pulled her down off of the mare. She was glad there was a strong wind. She hoped they wouldn’t pick up her scent. He set her down a few feet from her horse and looked down at her.

  “So what are we going to do with you now?” he asked, looking at the other guards.

  “Now you’ve touched her too, you moron,” a voice said from the group of guards.

  The heku laughed, “Oh that’s right, hands off the Elder’s property.”

  Emily pushed him hard on the chest and he jerked his head back to her.

  “You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I’m afraid of you,” she scowled at him, and put her hands on her hips.

  He grinned, “You should be.”

  She took a step toward him, “You’re also under the mistaken impression that I let Chevalier fight my battles for me.”

  “Are you trying to pick a fight?” he asked her as another guard clapped him on the shoulder, laughing.

  “Maybe”

  “You are an exquisite creature,” he said, running his eyes down her body.

  “Oh? I was under the impression you all liked boys.” she said, grinning.

  His face fell for a split second and then he leaned his head back and laughed, “You are spirited, aren’t you?”

  Emily turned and walked through the heku guards toward where they were partying earlier. They split, unsure if she was as happy to ash guards as the rumors told. The boisterous heku guard followed her. She went over to a log that had bottles of liquor sitting on top of it and bent down to the CD player sitting on the ground by it. She hit the play button, cringing at the rap music, and then grabbed two bottles of vodka. She turned and handed one to the heku behind her.

  “Here’s to breaking all the rules,” she said, and brought the bottle to her lips and took a long drink. She lowered it and eyed the guard, who was watching her with a smirk.

  He grinned and took a drink from his bottle.

  “There, now we’d both be in trouble,” she said, and sat the vodka down.

  The heku guards watched them both, curiously.

  The guard she was talking to took another long drink, then looked at her, “Why wouldn’t you be allowed to drink? According to Frank, you can put them down.”

  She smiled, “I’m pregnant.”

  He laughed, “Damn, Child, you would be in more trouble with the Elder than we would.”

  “Then lighten up, would you? I’m disappointed… mortals can put on a better party than this.”

  He grinned and the heku broke apart. Emily laughed as she watched their idea of a party. There were bloody, violent fights, and someone turned up the music while others began to drink heavily.

  “Come on, Tiny,” the heku said to her, and took her hand, spinning her out into an open area. He brought her against him and pressed a hand against her lower back. Emily was amazed at how well he danced as they moved gracefully with the music.

  “Why is it you can dance?” she asked him.

  “You have to do something when you’re alive for hundreds of years,” he said, and dipped her, looking into her eyes, and then stood her backup quickly. She saw his face change and she knew he had caught her scent.

  “Hundreds? So you’re just a young pup.” She smiled, trying to distract him.

  Emily’s body tensed as he shut his eyes and inhaled. His hands pulled her tighter against him. She watched his face as he opened his eyes and smiled.

  “Young pup? Compared to you, I’m archaic,” he said, dancing again.

  Emily jumped when she heard the crash of glass and the guard she was dancing with laughed.

  “You always so jumpy?” he asked, and she caught sight of some of the guards smashing empty liquor bottles against a tree as he spun her again.

  “I’m not jumpy,” she said to him.

  “You’re not very smart either, you shouldn’t be out here,” he whispered into her ear.

  “You’re seriously going to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing?” She frowned.

  He laughed, “Not at all.”

  “Cutting in,” she heard from behind her, and she was turned quickly into another guard’s arms.

  As the night drew on, Emily started having fun. The guards loosened up around her and she was able to see them have fun and enjoy themselves. When she saw them, they were normally at full attention and watched her, loathingly. Now they were talking to her and she danced so much, her feet were hurting. The few times a real fight broke out, she would move to another part of the clearing.

  Suddenly, someone cut the music and the silence was eerie.

  Emily looked around and the guards were all staring off to the end of the clearing. The guard she’d been dancing with pushed her behind his back with one hand. Emily glanced at
the remaining bottles of alcohol and ran to the log. She poured some into her hands and rubbed them on her jeans, then dumped the contents out and tucked the bottles under the log. A few of the heku standing by the log watched her, suspiciously.

  Emily headed quickly for where all of the heku were staring. She could hear familiar yelling.