Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (2 page)

“
I already want her back.
I’m not pushing her away.”

“
Yes, you are.”

“
Stay out of it,” Chevalier
said, and stormed out of the room. He walked up to the bedroom and
looked around the empty room, noticing Emily’s suitcase was
gone.

Chevalier followed Emily’s scent out to the
stables where he saw Mark and another member of the Cavalry
standing outside the front doors.

“
Where is she?” Chevalier
growled.

“
In her new bedroom,” Mark
said, standing at attention and not looking at the
Elder.

Chevalier walked through the stables to the
caretaker’s room that Sam had occupied. Since his death, the room
was abandoned. He knocked on the wooden door and stepped back.

Emily opened the door slightly and peeked
out. When she saw who it was, she stepped back and let him
enter.

“
You’re going to live out
here now?” Chevalier asked, sitting down on an old, rickety chair
by a small table.

“
For now, yes,” Emily said,
and watched him. “You can keep the bedroom.”

“
Interesting new talent you
found.”

“
I guess.”

Chevalier looked around the room, “Everyone
missed you.”

“
Not everyone.”

“
Emily… I…” he started, and
then cocked his head to the side slightly. “I have to
go.”

Emily nodded and watched him leave for the
council chambers. She gave him enough time to get in his seat
before heading into the palace to collect the rest of her
things.

“
Commander?” Darren asked
when Emily got to the fourth floor.

Emily smiled and went over to the Thukil
Captain, “Nice to see you again.”

“
We’re not here for
pleasantries,” Darren said. “The Valle have some of the
Cavalry.”

Emily frowned, “How many?”

“
Six”

“
You’re going to ask the
Elders to help you get them back?” Emily asked.

Darren shook his head, “No, we want to go,
but will need their permission. They are being kept at the Valle’s
palace.”

“
Let me go with you. I can
get them back,” Emily told him.

“
If you wish,” Darren said,
and they walked in when Derrick opened the door for
them.

Emily stood by Darren to address the
Council.

“
We understand the Valle
have some of your coven,” Quinn said, glancing at Emily.

“
Yes, and we want to
petition to get them back,” Darren said. “Myself, the Commander,
and four of Thukil’s Lieutenants want to go talk to them about a
release.”

Zohn frowned, “The Commander?”

“
Yes, me,” Emily said,
watching Zohn closely.

“
That’s out of the
question, but the rest of you may go,” Quinn said.

Emily frowned, “Why? I’m their Commander,
and I want you to name one other Commander you would say no
to.”

“
It’s still out of the
question,” Zohn said. “I’ll go with the Captain and we’ll get them
back.”

Darren touched her arm softly, “It’s ok.
We’ll get them back.”

“
I can help you,” she said
to him, her voice full of desperation. “Please let me
go.”

“
I can’t, not without the
Council’s permission,” Darren said, and glanced back at the
Elders.

Emily looked at the Council for a moment,
and then left the trial area before she lost her temper. She went
up to the bedroom and started collecting the rest of her things
from around the room.

“
Don’t be mad, please,”
Quinn said, and walked into the room. “We are just worried about
you.”

“
Yeah, right,” Emily said,
and dug around in the closet before coming out with an armful of
clothes.

“
Are you leaving?” Quinn
asked, watching her.

“
Not yet. I’m going to stay
in the stables until I figure out where to go,” she told him, and
started throwing clothes into a bag.

“
He’ll come
around.”

Emily shrugged, “Maybe.”

“
Just give him
time.”

Emily turned to Quinn and crossed her arms,
“I want to go to the Valle.”

“
I know, and I have no
doubt you could get them back, but right now, we need you to stay
here,” Quinn explained.

“
Fine,” she said, obviously
not happy.

Quinn couldn’t help but smile some, “It’ll
help Chevalier if you will do what the Council asks.”

“
What does it look like I’m
doing? I’m quietly packing to move into the stables. I’m not
running off to challenge the Valle.”

“
I’m just
saying…”

“
You’re just telling me to
behave, I know.” Emily pulled the full suitcase onto the floor and
started to drag it to the door.

“
Let me get that,” Quinn
said, and picked up her suitcase.

“
I need to put some things
in Kyle’s bathroom, be right back,” Emily said, and ran a handful
of toiletries across the hall.

She came back and ignored Chevalier, who was
now sitting on the bed.

“
Ready, Quinn,” she said,
and they both headed down toward the stables.

Chevalier looked around the empty room. It
was common for members of the Council to have a bedroom, even
though they didn’t sleep. It was considered a private place where
they could go to relax, undisturbed. His room had always been full
of life with Emily’s things scattered around, a reminder of her
presence, even when she was out. Now the room seemed cold and
dead.

“
Enter,” Chevalier said
when he heard a knock.

Quinn came back into the room, “She’s
getting settled in the stables.”

“
Ok”

“
She’s not planning on
staying in Council City for long.”

“
Ok,” Chevalier said
again.

Quinn sighed and walked out of the room,
shutting the door behind him.

Emily looked around the small room. It had
everything she needed to be comfortable, except a shower, and she
was going to use Kyle’s. She sat down on the bed and looked around
the room. It seemed weird to think that Sam was gone, and she was
now living in the stables, a far cry from palace life.

Emily sighed, already bored with the small
quarters. She walked out into the stables to find something to do.
Before long, she was trimming the mane off all of the horses. When
she was done, she started to braid their tails to pass the
time.

“
Em?” Mark called
out.

“
In with Kralen’s horse,”
she told him.

“
What are you doing?” he
asked, resting his arms on the stall door.

“
I’m braiding his
tail.”

“
Why?”

“
I’m bored.”

Mark grinned, “You could always finish
breaking that demon.”

Emily stood up, “You know? That’s a good
idea.”

“
I was kidding,” Mark said,
frowning.

Emily finished braiding the stallion’s tail,
grabbed her riding gloves, and then slipped on a pair of spurs. She
led the mustang out into the corral while Mark watched anxiously.
He was shocked to see her wearing the hated spurs.

The mustang took the bridle and saddle well,
and Emily handed him a treat, then turned around and saw that most
of the Cavalry had come to watch. She blushed slightly, and then
hoisted herself up onto his back. She waited while he settled down
and then took a deep breath and kicked his sides.

The mustang reared up once and tried to buck
her off, but she held tightly and he soon calmed back down.

“
Why don’t you let me do
that?” Mark asked, obviously nervous.

“
What fun is that?” Emily
asked, and again kicked the mustang’s sides. He edged forward a few
steps and then stopped.

“
I guess I lost the bet,”
Silas said from the fence.

“
What bet is that?” Emily
asked as she kicked again and led the mustang around the corral
slowly.

“
I bet he’d kill you before
you broke him.”

“
Gee thanks,” Emily said.
“Open the gate please.”

“
I don’t know, Em,” Mark
said, still unsure of how well the mustang was broken.

“
Just do it,
please.”

Mark sighed and opened the fence. Emily led
the mustang out of the corral and pulled him to a stop, then took
him in a few slow circles and smiled.

“
It’s now or never, eh?”
she said, and then kicked the mustang hard. He jerked forward and
took off at a fast gallop. Emily led him quickly through the city.
She’d never been on a horse this fast, and it was exhilarating. She
was soon up on the hills to the west of town and running toward the
tree line. The mustang didn’t even slow down as he ran into the
woods. He wove in and out of the trees, and Emily turned control
over to him and just held on as she shut her eyes and felt the wind
in her hair.

Emily pulled him to a stop on the far west
side when she saw the dead Durango still sitting out by the trees.
She looked at it for a few minutes, and then headed back. She soon
emerged out of the forest and kicked the stallion into a full
gallop again, racing for the city. The Cavalry was still waiting
for her when she got him back to the stables.

“
Oh good, we don’t have to
come scrape you off of the ground,” Mark said, grinning.

“
Such faith! I think
Damon’s going to be a good horse, but I’m guessing he’ll never be
gentle enough for Allen,” Emily said, and slipped off of
him.

“
You named him Damon?”
Silas asked, shaking his head.

“
Sure, he’s a pain in the
ass and as mean as they come,” she explained, and led him back into
his stall.

Mark followed her, “We could let Chatotay
have him. His horse is pregnant.”

“
Yeah, he can use him until
his mare foals,” Emily said, and scooped food into the stallion’s
trough.

“
He’s not going to want to
ride a horse named Damon though.”

“
He’ll live… now… how do I
get through to your Cavalry to stop letting the mares into the
corral with the stallions while they are in heat?” Emily asked, and
shut Damon’s stall.

Mark shrugged, “I told them… again.”

“
Do they need a birds and
bees lesson? I could go over it with them… how exactly foals come
about.”

Mark leaned his head back and laughed, “That
would be interesting.”

Emily turned to Mark, “That mustang’s the
fastest horse I’ve ever been on.”

“
Really?” Mark asked,
shocked.

“
It’s amazing.”

“
Can I give him a try?
Maybe tomorrow?”

Emily nodded, “Sure, take him out.”

“
Sweet!” Mark said, and
grinned.

“
I’m going out for a run.
I’ll be back in a bit.”

“
Sure, I’ll go too,” Mark
said, and headed in to change.

“
Solo, Mark. I won’t leave
the city, promise,” Emily told him, and then grinned when he walked
out of the stables, irritated.

Within a few minutes, Emily was out running
with her iPod clipped to her arm and her hair tied up high. She ran
through the city, taking random streets and ignoring the way the
heku watched from their windows as she passed.

“
Damnit,” she sighed as her
iPod died. She stopped and pulled the earphones out of her ears to
see if she could fix it, then looked around, not entirely sure
where she was, and sat down against a small store so she could fix
her music. She stopped working on the iPod when she heard
whispers.

“
In three days,” a man
whispered from the alleyway behind her.

“
We’re going to get caught.
We can’t keep letting the Valle in here,” a woman
replied.

Emily’s heart pounded in her chest as she
listened, unmoving.

The man sighed, “We’ve been here for thirty
four years. We can’t give up now. We’re both Generals, and they
don’t suspect a thing.”

“
They are getting
suspicious though, wondering how the Valle keep getting into the
city,” the woman whispered.

“
Until we get Selhman and
Ingram back, we have to just stay here and keep doing what we’re
doing.”

“
Yeah, but that bloody
mortal is back in the palace. That makes things more
dangerous.”

“
She won’t matter once we
take out the Council. Just have patience, Terry. We’ll be back in
our coven soon enough,” the man whispered.

Emily stood up suddenly when she heard the
voices moving closer, but forgot that her iPod was sitting on her
lap, and it crashed loudly to the cobblestone ground when she
stood. Suddenly, the three heku blurred and surrounded her.

“
What have we here?” the
male heku asked. Emily saw the rank tag on his guard uniform, he
was a Commander.

“
An eavesdropper,” the
female said.

Emily suddenly found herself restrained by
the male General. He had one arm around her upper chest and one
around her waist.

“
What did you hear, Baby
Girl?” he whispered into her ear.

“
Enough,” Emily
scowled.