Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (30 page)

“Partly,” Andrew said. He looked over toward
the trees, and when Emily did the same, William came out of them
and sat down beside her.

“
We’re sorry about the
dog,” William told her.

“News travels fast, eh?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“But you didn’t have time to drive over from
Encala City, so you were close,” Emily said.

William turned to the fire, “Yes.”

“Why?”

“We want to help you with Dain.”

“I know, and I asked him, but he doesn’t want
to remain in an Encala prison.”

“No one does, but the other option is
banishment.”

“Why don’t you help me lead the way to a
banishment free species?” Emily asked, looking over at William.

William smiled and shrugged, “We can’t get
rid of it. Most don’t deserve death.”

“So I’ve heard,” she said. “I just hate
it.”

“I know.”

“Didn’t take the Encala long to get a spy in
the palace.”

William chuckled, “Not really. They never
left.”

She gasped, “Wait! So when you were almost
wiped out, they stayed at their post?”

“Yes”

“What would they have done if you had been
completely wiped out?”

“Become an Equites I would imagine.”

“That’s just wrong.”

Andrew watched her for a few minutes and then
frowned slightly, “What’s up with you and the old Ancient’s room in
the Equites palace?”

She almost choked but managed to catch her
breath after coughing. Once breathing, she looked at Andrew,
“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Well… I was being poisoned and was having
hallucinations and paranoia.”

“What were your hallucinations about?”

“I’m not going to tell you that.”

“How long ago was it?”

“I don’t really remember. Before Dain was
here though. Had to have been around the time I started the
ultimatum.”

“Had to have been one heck of a
hallucination.”

“It was,” Emily assured him.

“So tell us,” William said.

“No!”

“Why not? Were we in on it?”

“I don’t remember.”

Andrew grinned, “Yeah ya do.”

“Fine, William was in on it.”

“What’d I do?” William asked.

“I’m not going to tell you, so drop it.”

“Was it for feeding?” Andrew asked.

“Stop interrogating me.”

“I just want to know.”

“You and every Equites I know,” Emily
said.

“You’re so stubborn.”

“Runs in the species.”

“So you admit to being partially heku?”

“I never denied it.”

“You always called yourself mortal or human
though.”

“I am.”

“But you just said…”

“Don’t be so literal. I’m both.”

William sat back with a broad grin and
watched the fire.

***

Emily stood before the Council and waited for
an answer. The horses that she and Thukil were breeding couldn’t
keep up with the aging horses the Cavalry was using.

“Let’s send Palace Guards with her then,”
Kyle suggested.

Emily’s nose wrinkled, “I don’t know
them.”

“The Cavalry is busy though. They won’t be
back until late tonight.”

“I’m going to a horse ranch not two hours
from here. I’ll be ok on my own.”

Chevalier sighed, “I’m thinking.”

“Do you know any City Guards?”

“No”

“We could send Derrick,” the Chief of Defense
suggested.

Emily couldn’t help but smile, “Then who’d
kill the prisoners for the Council.”

“Em…” Kyle whispered.

“Oh I’m kidding, lighten up.”

“We might lighten up if you’d tell us why you
were found having a bonfire with the Encala.”

“I already told you. I was chatting. No
faction stuff, nothing serious, they just showed up.”

“You didn’t invite them?” the Chief of
Finance asked.

“No”

“Seems hard to believe.”

“She’s telling the truth,” the Chief
Interrogator said to him. “She didn’t invite them.”

“Chev?” Emily asked, fidgeting slightly. She
hated when the Council started to argue, and she was anxious to go
pick up the horses.

He studied her and then nodded, “Hurry
back.”

“Yes!” she yelled, and then ran out of the
room. She was almost afraid he’d change his mind and send her with
strange City Guards.

As quickly as she could, she backed her truck
up to the stables and began hooking up the trailer. She hoped to
get five more horses and have them home before nightfall. Chevalier
had relaxed a lot on her protection, but she knew that ended when
the sun went down.

The trip there was uneventful, and within two
hours, Emily was pulling up at the large horse ranch. The woman
running the ranch came out to greet her.

“Good evening,” Emily said, reaching out her
hand.

The woman smiled and shook her hand, “To you
too. Would you like to come in for coffee or just go see the
horses?”

“I would love some coffee, but I swore I’d be
back by nightfall.”

“Great, let’s go. There are eight Arabians
and ten Pintos to choose from. All are broken and pack
trained.”

“Sounds good. Oh wow,” Emily said, looking
around the massive stables. She loved the rustic look and the
strong smell of hay.

As they walked toward the Arabians, Emily
spun suddenly when she felt something nibble at her hair. She
smiled at the small gray donkey that was picking at her braid.

“Stupid jenny,” the woman said, and shook her
head.

“She’s cute.”

“She’s not very bright.”

Emily chuckled and then started back down the
aisle. She turned when she heard footsteps and saw that the donkey
was following her.

“Get!” the woman said, and tried to scoot the
donkey away.

“She’s ok,” Emily said, and turned to the
first Arabian. Within an hour, and with the jenny following, Emily
picked out the five largest horses and loaded them into the back of
the trailer.

“You must have huge riders,” the woman said
as Emily locked the trailer door.

“You have no idea.”

“If you need any more, let me know.”

“I will. It’s good to have a close source. We
keep expanding.”

“Sorry about your belt.”

Emily reached back and pulled her leather
belt out of the donkey’s mouth again and laughed, “She’s quite
interested in it.”

***

“I guess, all things considered, it went
well,” Mark said, heading up to his bedroom. “Make sure Emily’s
covered and give the rest of them some leave. I’ve already told
General Manning to cover our posts for the next week.”

Silas nodded, “It’ll be nice to have a break.
I don’t mind going off to fight, but babysitting covens isn’t my
thing.”

“What’s that smell?” Kralen asked, covering
his nose.

Mark looked up and down the hallway in front
of his bedroom and shrugged, “Smells kind of like a horse.”

“I’ll see you in the morning then,” Silas
said, bowing slightly. He and Kralen walked off toward their rooms
as Mark opened his door and gasped. Silas and Kralen both turned
when they heard a loud bray echo through the halls of the
palace.

Mark stepped in, eyes wide, as the donkey
looked over at him with a mouth full of a black Cavalry issued
shirt.

“Erm.” Was all Kralen could think of to
say.

Silas chuckled, “Guess she’s back.”

“Emily!” Mark yelled, and then started
pulling his shirt out of the donkey’s mouth.

Chevalier looked over at Emily as she sat
beside him in the council chambers. She was watching the trial door
and slowly standing up.

“What did you do?” Kyle asked her.

“Um… would you excuse me, please?” Emily
whispered, and then ducked down and crawled under the desk.

Chevalier moved his chair back to see her,
“What did you do to Mark?”

She held her finger to her lips and then
winced when Derrick stepped in, “The General would like a
moment.”

Zohn chuckled, “Let him in.”

Chevalier returned his chair and sat looking
forward, pretending he didn’t have his wife cowering at his
feet.

Mark came in with a torn shirt gripped in his
hand. Silas and Kralen were behind him, laughing.

“Can we help you?” Quinn asked.

Mark grinned evilly, “I know she’s in
here.”

“Who might you be referring to?” Kyle
asked.

Derrick opened the door to let the waddling
Bulldog into the trial area. The heku watched as he ran across the
room and up to the Council stand. Mark followed him as he ran up to
Emily and wagged his tail hard enough his entire hind-end was
moving.

“Come out,” Mark said, shaking his head.

Chevalier backed his chair out so she could
stand, but Emily didn’t move. She was in a tight ball with her face
buried. The dog reached over and licked her arm, leaving a dripping
trail of saliva.

“Out,” Mark said again.

“Shhhh,” Emily whispered. “I’m busy.”

“What exactly is the problem?” Chevalier
asked.

“Em, out now!”

“There’s a donkey in Mark’s room,” Silas
said, still laughing.

“You got a donkey?” Zohn asked her, though
she hadn’t moved.

“I wondered what that smell was,” the Chief
Interrogator said, going back to his paperwork.

“Permission, Elder?” Mark said, still
watching her.

Chevalier shrugged, “Have at her.”

Mark reached under the desk, and with a hand
on each side of her waist, picked her up and carried her down the
stairs.

Emily looked over at Chevalier and was
laughing, “Help?”

He shook his head.

“I call for diplomatic immunity.”

He shook his head again and grinned just as
Mark carried her out of the room.

Kyle turned to Chevalier, “This is great! She
hasn’t played a prank since she died.”

Chevalier nodded, “I know. It's good to have
her back.”

“Mark! No!” Emily screamed when she realized
what he was doing. With the recent rains, the lower corral was a
mess of muddy manure, and he was heading right for it.

“A mule, Em? Really?” Kralen asked, following
them.

“It’s a donkey.”

“Does that really matter?”

“Mark!” she screamed again when he dumped her
into the deepest bed of mud. She sank down and got even more on her
when she tried to get up. The mixture of manure and horse urine
formed a sticky goo that made it almost impossible to get traction,
so she ended up falling forward and soaking her front.

Mark just watched her with his arms crossed,
“When will you learn?”

“This is disgusting!”

“He ate my shirt.”

“He’s a she…”

“Ok, so she ate my shirt.”

“Gifford!” Emily yelled, knowing he’d come to
her aid. He and Captain Darren were doing all they could to try to
get back in her good graces.

Silas and Kralen turned when the Thukil
blurred up and frowned. He immediately went to help Emily out of
the muck.

“Leave her,” Mark said, grinning when Emily
looked up at him.

Emily finally just sat down in the slime and
looked up at Gifford, “I’m on the Council, help me up.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Kralen
asked, watching her.

“It… is an ass… so it went into Mark’s room,”
Emily replied, and then started to laugh.

Mark had to stifle a grin, “Not funny.”

Emily looked up when the rest of the Cavalry
suddenly blurred into the corral, “What are you doing?”

Silas smiled, “We’re going to teach you a
lesson.”

Emily again struggled to stand up and managed
an unstable stance with her feet sunk deep into the gooey mud,
“No.”

“Yes”

She smiled and then almost fell again but
caught herself by grabbing a member of the Cavalry, thereby
covering his arm in manure. He wrinkled his nose and stepped
back.

“What are we going to do with an ass?”
Gifford asked her.

“Don’t talk about your General like that,”
she replied, and then started to laugh again, hard enough she
slipped back and fell into the mud.

“Just aren’t going to learn, are you?” Mark
said, trying not to laugh.

Emily finally regained control and then
nodded, “Yes, I learned my lesson, oh’wisest of vampires.”

His eyes narrowed, “Try that again.”

She slowly gathered a handful of the
gelatinous mess and then quickly hurled it toward Mark. The three
heku standing in its way stepped aside and Mark shook his head,
still grinning.

“That’s it…,” she mumbled, and then crawled
over to the fence. The Cavalry all watched, unhelping, and started
a round of applause when she finally made it steadily to her
feet.

“Now go get it out of my room,” Mark told
her.

“Nope, she’s yours to deal with now,” Emily
said, and then headed inside to change. Servants fell in behind her
and cleaned up any goo she left on the pristinely clean floors of
the palace. Derrick started to call her into the council chambers
but stopped and shook his head as she passed.

As soon as she was up the stairs, Derrick
walked into the trial area, “Trust me. Wait a few minutes before
calling her in.”

“What happened? And what’s that smell?” Quinn
asked.

“That’d be Lady Emily.”

“Oh, well… then yes, call her in when she’s
cleaned off.”

It was less than an hour later when the
Council was told Emily was on her way in. What they didn’t expect
is that when she entered, she was being followed by the donkey,
which picked at her hair and belt when she stopped before the
Council.

“Yes?” she asked them.

Chevalier smiled, “Care to explain?”

Emily didn’t even turn around, “Not
really.”

“Will it be living in the palace?”

“Why would a donkey live in the palace?”

Quinn chuckled, “We’re not even sure why one
is currently here.”

Emily smiled, “She’s cute.”