Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (50 page)

“How wonderful they used to be?” Quinn
yelled. “We much prefer the little red-headed spitfire who
challenges us to stay on our toes and never lets a day pass without
bringing joy to this palace.”

“I realize you all adore her, but if you
could see a glimpse of her history…”

“Bring back my wife, or
when I do find you, I will make it more painful that you could ever
imagine,” Chevalier growled.

“I want to return to my coven, unharmed,”
Camber said. “I will release her if you will guarantee my
safety.”

Zohn hit the mute button, “Do it… we need
her tomorrow.”

“He will mess up later,”
Quinn told him. “Every Coven Leader makes mistakes… we’ll be
watching him.”

“He can’t let her go though… he’s too
infatuated with her history,” Kyle said. “I can’t see him ever just
letting her be.”

“We need her back,” Zohn
said softly.

Chevalier growled.

Quinn sighed, “It’s two to one… agree to his
terms.”

“We’ll get him later,” Zohn said.

Dustin pushed the mute
button, “We agree to your terms. Release her immediately and we
will leave you alone with your coven.”

Camber sighed with relief,
“It’ll take some time. She will regain herself soon.”

“We need her by tomorrow.”

“I understand,” Camber
said, and hung up.

“Keep this quiet for now,”
Quinn ordered. “If he doesn’t come through, we need to lessen the
impact and right now, things are going smoothly with heku
Emily.”

The Council all
agreed.

“For now, it’s bedtime,”
Chevalier said, and stood up. It was obvious to everyone there that
he wasn’t happy with the decision to let Camber go.

“Elder,” Silas said when
Chevalier came up to the bedroom door.

Emily bowed slightly and stood at her
post.

“Inside, Commander,”
Chevalier told her. It hadn’t taken long for everyone to realize
she responded better to her title than her name.

“Yes, Elder,” she said,
and stepped inside. “Same routine?”

“Yes,” he replied, and sat
down on the chair. She got her nightgown out of the dresser and
went in to shower. Several minutes later, she came back out and
slipped into bed. The nightgown revealed how much weight she’d lost
over the last 10 days without eating. Her lips were parched from
being dehydrated and she had dark circles under her eyes from the
lack of sleep.

“Shut your eyes. You may
get up at 7am,” he told her.

Emily nodded and shut her
eyes. Chevalier was relieved when, at 3am, she actually fell
asleep. Her breathing became slow and rhythmic, and she moved out
of the position on her back and curled up on her side. He watched
her sleep and reveled in the emotions that were coming from her,
emotions that disappeared when she believed herself to be heku. He
was irritated when he was called away to an emergency
meeting.

Emily sighed and rolled
over, stretching in bed. She saw it was already 8am, which meant
she was late for Cavalry training. Unsure why she was so tired, she
groggily got out of bed and grabbed a pancake from the table before
getting dressed. She started for the door, but went back to the
table and grabbed a couple more pancakes before heading
out.

The guards fell in behind
her as she ran down the stairs. She finished her second pancake as
she approached the stable, then stopped and frowned when she saw
the new recruits with horses already, as they lined up in front of
Mark.

“Today we’re going to learn basic tackle
techniques,” Mark told them.

“Who the hell assigned
those horses?” Emily asked, walking up to Mark.

Mark’s eyes grew wide, and
he turned to her, “You did.”

“I did not! When was I
supposed to do that, when it’s the first day today?”

Silas grinned, “Emily?”

She turned, “Yeah?”

“Are you human or heku?”

Emily frowned, “Have you gone mental?”

“I think Chevalier was looking for you,”
Mark chuckled.

Emily frowned and walked
backwards away from them, “You are all completely insane, and when
I get back, I’m checking into those horses…”

“You do that,” Kralen
said, and laughed.

Emily glared at him and almost ran into one
of the door guards.

“Sorry, Commander,” he
said, and opened the door.

“No problem… Private,” she
replied, shaking her head. No one called her Commander unless they
were asking her something official.

“Commander, do you need to
see the Council?” Derrick asked, bowing slightly.

“I was told Chev was looking for me.”

Derrick smiled, “Good to have you back.”

“I wasn’t gone!” she
yelled, and stepped into the trial area when Derrick opened the
door.

“Good morning, Commander,
is there a problem?” Chevalier asked.

Emily stopped and frowned.

Chevalier looked at her and smiled,
“Em?”

“No… I’m freakin Dracula, have you all lost
your minds? Is there some like… heku psychosis no one’s told me
about?” she asked, irritated.

“Sorry, Em, I can explain.”

“Good, then while you’re
at it, explain why Mark is training the new recruits without
me.”

“What did you do yesterday?” Zohn asked.

Emily crossed her arms, “I cleaned the
barracks.”

“Yesterday?”

“Yes”

“And tried to dig up Leonid?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Maybe.”

Zohn smiled, “Explains a lot.”

Emily turned and headed for the door.

“Wait, where are you going?” Chevalier
asked.

Emily glanced back at him, “Going to get
something to eat, for some reason I’m starving.”

“Come back please, just for a moment.”

“No,” she said, and walked
out the door.

Chevalier grinned, “Never thought I’d be
pleased to hear her tell me no.”

“Great! We’re back on for a peace keeper at
the meeting,” Zohn said, pleased.

“Yes, well… she’s bound to
be tired, which makes her really grouchy,” Kyle said, and then
grinned. “Could be interesting.”

“I better go explain
what’s going on,” Chevalier said, and stood up. “The chef just
handed her a glass of water for lunch.”

Kyle chuckled and Chevalier blurred from the
room.

“Calm down, let me
explain,” Chevalier said when he entered the kitchen. Emily was
throwing around some pans while she fixed her own food and the chef
was standing in the corner, confused.

“Explain what? Why
everyone’s calling me Commander, or why others are looking at me
like I’m a leper?”

Chevalier took Emily’s hand and led her into
the dining room, “Cheeseburger and fries,” he said to the chef.

Emily sat down, “What’s going on? I’m
starting to panic.”

Chevalier started to
explain everything that happened over the last 11 days, and
continued even after she got her lunch and started to
eat.

“He better hope I never
get near him,” Emily said angrily, before taking another
bite.

“Me too. Quinn and Zohn
agreed to let him be, but I may have to veto that.”

Emily ate for a few minutes in silence
before looking up at Chevalier, “What’s the name of his coven?”

Chevalier grinned, “Sorry, Em, we need you
here, not running off to ash Camber.”

She shrugged, “Fine… but I
need to go check on some things with the Cavalry first.”

“The meeting isn’t until
4. You have plenty of time for the Cavalry and a nap,” he told her,
and refilled her glass of juice.

“I am tired,” she said,
and pushed away her half-full plate.

“Go talk to the Cavalry
and then I’ll tuck you in.”

She nodded, “I’m serious though, if I see
him…”

“Understood,” he told her,
and kissed the top of her head before leaving. Within a few
minutes, she was back out with the Cavalry.

“Line up,” Mark yelled when she
approached.

“Sorry about yelling,”
Emily said, and then watched the recruits line up.

“It’s ok… you picked out
their horses but nothing else. After that, you just stood back and
watched,” Mark explained.

“I see…” Emily said, deep
in thought. She walked up and started adjusting the stirrups on
several of the saddles without saying a word. The guards glanced
nervously at Mark when she touched them, but he stood and watched
her.

She stopped at the last guard and looked
closely at his legs, “How tall are you?”

“Seven six,
Commander.”

“Slip your foot out of the stirrups and let
your legs hang.”

He did as he was told and
Emily frowned, “You are going to need a longer fender… Mark… we’ll
need to special order him some. We need another 6
inches.”

“We’ll get it ordered,”
Mark said, and wrote it down in a ledger.

“I want to see you each,
one at a time, ride to the north lawn and back… go out at a gallop
and return at a walk,” she said, and moved back some.

The third heku looked uncoordinated and
gangly on top of the sleek stallion. Emily frowned slightly when he
walked the horse back.

“Damn, another one,” Mark sighed.

“Get off,” Emily said, and
the guard did as he was told. She slipped the saddle off and put it
on the fence before hoisting herself onto the stallion, bareback.
“Ok, up you go.”

The new recruit looked at
Mark, who nodded, and he hesitated before quickly jumping up behind
her, making sure there was 6 inches between them.

Emily sighed and lowered
her head, “Come on, Big Boy, move your ass up here.”

The guard moved an inch forward.

She looked over at Mark, frustrated.

Mark whispered something
to the guard, and he nodded and moved up against her. She took his
hands and slid them around her so he could hold the reins, then put
her hands on his forearms and kicked the horse slightly.

“We’ll be right back,” she
said, and kicked the horse into a gallop.

By the time they cleared
the city gates, the heku was starting to get the feel of the horse
and moving in rhythm was becoming more comfortable.

“Let’s run him,” Emily
said, and kicked his stallion into a gallop. She grinned when she
felt the heku almost fall off, but he soon settled in and became
more comfortable with riding. “There, feel it?”

Emily turned when the
guard didn’t answer, and his arms tightened around her. She
followed his gaze and saw two black Ferrari’s parked alongside the
road. The heku slipped off the horse just as Emily saw three men
approaching. They were still too far away to see who they were, but
she could guess they were either the three Valle Elders or the
three Encala Elders, as they were all coming in for a
meeting.

“Stay back,” the heku guard said, crouching
slightly.

“We’re not here to cause
trouble,” William said, and bowed slightly to Emily.

Emily stayed on the stallion and watched
them, “Then why did you get out of your cars and come up here?”

“We saw you up here and thought we’d come
say hello.”

“New boyfriend?” Encala Elder Aaron
asked.

“No, he’s a new member of
the Cavalry,” Emily explained. “We’re training. Why don’t you all
go back to your cars and head into the city?”

“That took way too long,”
William said when the rest of the Cavalry blurred onto the hills
around them. “We had ample opportunity to abduct you if we
wanted.”

Mark growled.

“You’re not helping,” Emily told him.

William’s eyes narrowed, “You don’t look
well.”

“Why thank you,” she sighed.

“I just mean you are pale
and thin. Is there a problem?”

“She’s of no concern of
yours. Get back in your cars… the Elders are waiting for you,” Mark
told them angrily.

“Not until we come to an understanding about
her safety,” Aaron snapped. “It took her guards way too long to get
here.”

Aaron dropped to his knees and screamed as
he clutched at his chest. The heku guard that Emily was working
with glanced at her with wide eyes.

“Emily…” Mark growled, and
Aaron slumped over, panting to catch his breath.

“I don’t need the Cavalry
to keep me safe,” Emily reminded them, and Aaron finally got to his
feet unsteadily.

“Do not do that again!” Aaron growled.

“What’s going on here?” Sotomar asked as the
Valle Elders appeared on the mountainside.

“Well hell,” Emily yelled.
“Would you all go to the palace where you’re supposed to
be?”

Exavior looked over at Aaron, “Why did you
burn him?”

“None of your damn business.”

“That’s it… we are not
authorized to talk to the enemy Elders… Equites, all head back, and
I suggest you six do the same,” Mark said. Silas slipped onto the
horse behind Emily and kicked him before she could say more. Soon,
they were in a gallop heading back to the city. One of the servants
took their horse when they got off, and they headed into the
palace.

“The Council has been
waiting for you,” Derrick said as he opened the door.

Emily and Silas entered,
and it was obvious that she was livid.

“What’s wrong?” Chevalier asked.