Encala (39 page)

“
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.