Encala (44 page)

Chevalier nodded, “Put a shadow on her.
Someone you trust to not be seen. If she leaves the palace, I want
to know, and we need the city in their houses.”

“
I will do it,” Mark said,
standing at attention.

Chevalier nodded, “Do not be seen.”

Mark nodded and blurred from the room.

***

Emily opened her eyes and looked around the
room. It seemed surreal. She wasn’t sure what to believe. She was
finally warm, and her clothes dried from the rain and hail the
night before. She looked down at herself. All of her clothes were
encrusted with dirt, and her feet were throbbing because of the
cuts from the gravel. She hadn’t wanted to change, hadn’t wanted to
even trust enough to undress.

“
Emily?” Sam said from
Allen’s door.

She turned and looked at him,
suspiciously.

“
Mommy!” Allen yelled, and
ran at her. He jumped on the bed and into her arms. She held him
tightly as tears spilled from her eyes. She kissed him and pulled
him closer to her.

Sam walked slowly to the bed, “Are you
ok?”

Emily’s hair was knotted and dirty. Her
clothes were covered in soot, and he couldn’t help but glance at
the bottom of her feet, which were full of cuts and inflamed
skin.

Emily didn’t answer. She just glared at him
and held Allen.

“
Do you want me to help you
into the bathroom to clean up?” Sam asked, watching her
carefully.

“
Sir, Sam’s with her,” Mark
said from outside her door, he whispered too softly for anyone but
heku to hear.

“
Damn, we forgot about
Sam,” Chevalier whispered back. “Is she angry at him?”

“
No, she just sounds
suspicious,” Mark answered.

“
You would like that,
wouldn’t you, Sam?” Emily asked, with a tense edge to her
voice.

Sam wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t seen
her for over 48 hours, and hadn’t been informed of what happened to
her while she was away.

“
I… don’t know how to
answer that,” he said, moving to the foot of her bed.

“
Stay away from us,” she
said to him.

“
Please let me help. I can
get some food and bandage your feet.”

“
I’m watching you,” she
said, and he bowed and left the room.

“
Sam’s out of the room,”
Mark reported, quietly.

Chevalier relaxed some when he heard Sam
order breakfast, enough for an army.

A few minutes later, Sam returned with
something hidden in his shirt. He didn’t see Mark watching from the
shadows, but he locked the door after he was inside.

“
Sam’s back, he’s hiding
something,” Mark whispered.

“
Tell me if you hear
anything, I want to know what he’s up to,” Chevalier said. He sent
his senses out, but her lack of trust blocked him.

Mark watched as a heku knocked on the
bedroom door and waited for an answer.

“
Put it down and step
away,” the servant heard from the shadows. He did as he was told
and blurred away.

A few moments later, the door opened. Sam
grabbed the tray and shut it again, quickly locking it.

“
Mommy, let go, I’m
hungry,” Allen said, pulling against her.

“
Wait,” she said, and
watched Sam as he put the tray on the table. He lifted the dome and
walked backwards into Allen’s room.

When Allen’s door shut, Emily let Allen go.
He ran to the table and started to eat the pancakes. Emily stood up
slowly. Her entire body was sore, and her feet were screaming
painfully. She limped to the table and sat down, looking around,
suspiciously.

“
Mommy… you’re dirty,”
Allen said, and took another bite.

Emily grabbed a piece of bacon and ate it,
fully expecting the food and warmth to disappear at any moment.
Once she’d started eating, she couldn’t stop. When they were done,
Allen ran into his room and got Sam.

Emily watched Sam carefully.

“
Please, I got some things
for the cuts on your feet,” Sam said, showing her some peroxide and
bandages.

She nodded, but narrowed her eyes at him. He
moved to her, slowly, and picked up one of her feet, setting it on
his knee. He cleaned them and winced every time she did, he still
wasn’t sure if she was going to kill him or not. Her eyes were
vicious and untrusting. After he’d gently bandaged her foot, he
moved on to the next and did the same. Once he was done, he stood
and sighed with relief.

“
Can I take Allen out? His
tutor is here,” Sam said to her, lowering his eyes.

“
Yes,” Emily said,
apprehensively. She still wasn’t sure any of this was
happening.

“
Sam and Allen are out of
the room,” Mark whispered from the shadows, unseen.

“
What’s she doing?”
Chevalier asked.

“
Sounds like she’s back on
the bed.”

“
If she falls asleep, I
want to know,” Chevalier said.

“
Will do, and Sam forgot to
lock the door,” Mark told him.

Only a few minutes later, Mark notified the
Elder that she had fallen asleep. He watched as Chevalier blurred
up and quietly opened the door. He checked for himself, and Emily
was sound asleep. He left the door open for a fast escape and
walked to the bed to look down at her. She hadn’t changed her
clothes from the Mortal Trap, but he was glad to see her feet were
bandaged.

He stood perfectly still and watched her. He
knew from the motion of her face that her dreams weren’t pleasant,
and that she could wake up at any moment.

Even in her sleep, Emily felt that she was
being watched. She opened her eyes and sat up suddenly, looking
around the empty room. The breakfast tray was still on the table,
the fires were burning, but the room was silent.

Emily stood up and limped to the door of her
room. She knew she couldn’t stay there forever. She opened the door
and scanned the hallways to make sure they were empty.

Chevalier heard Mark’s order loudly, though
he knew Emily’s mortal ears couldn’t pick it up. He ordered all of
the hallways cleared immediately, which meant she was out of her
room.

“
Where is she going?”
Chevalier asked, looking at his office door.

“
Not sure yet, down the
stairs,” Mark answered.

Chevalier listened to the sounds of the
palace. He was pleased to hear nothing but the sound of one set of
uneven footsteps.

“
She’s going to the game
room,” Mark said, sounding uncertain.

Chevalier frowned, “Stop her if she tries to
go through.”

“
Yes, Sir,” Mark answered,
and then paused before giving a report. “Just her arm. She didn’t
go all the way.”

“
I’m here, too,” Kyle
whispered from the dark shadows in the game room.

Chevalier heard a scuffle and ran for the
game room. He blurred inside and saw Emily on the floor with Mark
sitting on her legs. Both Mark and Kyle were trying to catch her
arms as she clawed at them and screamed. Kyle caught her wrists in
his hands and held them to him.

“
Emily,” Chevalier said,
kneeling down. “You can go anywhere and do anything… but go through
that wall.”

Emily stopped struggling and just watched
him.

“
Ok?” he asked. He wanted
to reach out and touch her.

She just stared at him, skeptical.

“
Let her up,” he said, and
stood. Mark and Kyle both let her go and stood up, moving off into
the shadows.

Emily stayed on the ground, not moving. Her
eyes were fixed on Chevalier.

Chevalier backed slowly out of the room,
“Three new recruits are starting today. Kyle and Damon will take
care of them for you.”

She narrowed her eyes, still lying on the
floor. When he was gone, she sat up and looked toward the shadows.
She knew they were there. Kyle gave the order and both he and Mark
left the room.

Emily got to her knees and stood up, slowly,
and then limped back up the stairs into her room.

***

The three new recruits stood at attention
facing Damon and Kyle. They were lined up in front of the
stables.

“
Here’s how this is going
to work. We’re going to start with the non-horse related training
until Emily gets back on her feet,” Kyle said to them.

“
Yeah, I bet she stays off
of her feet,” one of them said, grinning.

The other two laughed and he added, “And on
her back.”

Damon blurred to him and knocked him to the
ground with a fist to his neck. The guard coughed and choked for a
few seconds, and then healed and looked up at the Chief Enforcer,
wide eyed.

“
That’s enough of that.
She’s the Elders wife,” he scowled, and stood up.

The guard got up slowly and then fell back
to attention.

Kyle watched them closely and continued,
“I’ll say this once… and only once… Emily is to be treated like an
officer when you are in her presence. She will teach you everything
you need to know about horses, and will be treated with the
uppermost respect.”

“
Yes, Sir,” the three said,
simultaneously.

“
She isn’t to be touched
either. I don’t care if it seems polite, keep your hands off and
your noses away,” Kyle said to them, irritated at the smugness on
their faces.

Damon and Kyle turned when they heard
footsteps and saw that Emily was limping toward them. Kyle was
surprised to see she’d showered and was wearing clean clothes. He
turned back and glared at the three recruits.

“
Good morning, Emily,”
Damon said, looking at her strangely. Her eyes had changed, the
fierce passion was gone.

She nodded at him and went into the stables,
quietly followed by Ford.

“
Follow her, get your
horses,” Kyle said to them. They turned and followed her
inside.

Damon looked at Kyle, and he shrugged.

Emily came out a short time later with the
cattle prod in her hand. Damon winced when she walked past him, but
she didn’t stop. She continued into the storage room and put it
away. She then walked over to Patra’s stall and slipped onto her,
bareback, and led her out to the front.

“
Ok, bring your horses out
here,” Kyle said, frustrated.

The three heku walked out with their horses
bridled and brushed. Emily watched them, but said nothing.

“
Couple of rules, first,
never stand or walk behind a horse. Only mount from the left and
they are now your responsibility, you feed, water, and take full
care of them,” Kyle said, when Emily didn’t speak up.

The largest of the recruits had a horse that
was starting to shy away from him. He yanked hard against the
reins, “Stupid horse, behave.”

Emily slipped off of Patra and limped over
to him. Kyle grinned, waiting for her to give the guard a lashing.
She took the reins from the heku and hoisted herself up onto the
nervous horse, clicked her tongue, and then walked the mare slowly
out toward the city.

Kyle frowned and jumped on Patra, “Damon,
watch them.”

He kicked Patra into a gallop and caught up
with Emily, “Em?”

“
Yes?” she asked,
quietly.

“
Are you ok?” he asked,
matching her speed.

“
She’s just skittish around
your kind. She’ll be ok,” Emily said, patting the mare’s
neck.

“
I wasn’t asking about the
horse.”

Emily turned the mare around and headed back
toward the stables. Kyle followed her, silently. She took the mare
over by her guard and stopped her to face him.

“
Take a step forward,” she
softly said to the heku.

The guard looked at Damon, who nodded, and
he took an irritated step toward the mare. The horse whinnied and
took a nervous step back.

“
Shhhhh,” Emily whispered,
and patted the mare’s neck.

The guard snarled and took several steps
toward the uneasy horse. The mare reared back and stomped at the
guard, then bucked. Emily held on for a few seconds but then fell
backwards, landing hard against the ground. She saw the horse’s
hoof and was able to roll out of the way before it stomped her.
Kyle grabbed the horse’s reins and pulled her way from Emily and
the guard.

“
What the hell was that?”
Damon snapped at the guard, and then knelt down by Emily. He looked
down at her as she tried to catch her breath.

“
Are you hurt?” he asked
her, and she shook her head. She slowly got to her feet and limped
over to the mare. Taking the reins from Kyle, she led her back into
the stable and disappeared around the corner.

Kyle was toe-to-toe with the guard in an
instant, “What was that?”

“
Stupid horse,” he
growled.

Kyle swung back and punched the guard,
shattering his lower jaw. The guard bent over in pain as his jaw
healed.

“
Anyone else want to act
up?” he asked, turning to the other two.

The other two shook their heads as the third
joined them.

“
When a horse is acting
strangely, let Emily take care of it,” he said to them, sternly.
They nodded.

They waited a few minutes for Emily to bring
out another horse, and when she didn’t, Kyle ordered the two to
take theirs back to the stalls and give them food and water. Kyle
took Patra’s reins and handed them to the third, telling him to do
the same.