Encala (7 page)

It was a while before the crowd dispersed,
and the first to leave were the Elders. Emily and Kyle met at
center field and shook hands. They then walked toward the stables,
leaving the teams and the crowd behind them.

“
They’ll have a party
tonight, no doubt,” Kyle said, stepping into the barn.

“
A party?” She tossed the
football back into the storage closet.

“
They are pretty hyped.
That was some training,” he said, and sat on a bale of hay to watch
her.

“
Hopefully it worked,” she
said, sitting beside him.

“
Oh, there’s a reason for
the game?”

“
Of course… so far in
training it’s been cavalry vs. new recruits… now I hope we have a
unified group. One group.”

Kyle shook his head and grinned, “That’s
brilliant, you know that?”

“
Of course! I thought of
it.” She frowned, though, “So if they have a party, then four of
them won’t be able to go, they’ll be watching me.”

Kyle nodded, “They know that’s part of the
job, and it’s 6, not 4. Allen has his guards now too.”

“
What can I do to give them
the day off?”

“
You promised not to slip
out,” he reminded her.

“
I know, that’s why I’m
asking how I can do that officially. What if I promise not to leave
my room? You can even stay in the room with me,” she
suggested.

“
I guess that would be
ok.”

“
Go tell them and I’ll head
to my room. I need to take a shower and get changed,” she said,
standing up.

“
But that would leave you
alone… come with me to tell them and we’ll go up
together.”

“
True… let’s go,” she said,
before standing up and putting a hand out to help Kyle up. They
walked out together and called the recruits and the Cavalry
together.

“
Great job today guys,” she
said, smiling. She loved the way they were excited and acting like
friends.

“
You too, Lady Emily. Who
knew you could play football?” Mark said, laughing.

“
Last bit of news… Kyle
told me you will want to party tonight. So you all get the night
off,” she said, smiling.

The guard’s faces turned from excited to
concerned, “Who will watch you?”

“
I have that covered. I
promised to be good and stay in my room. Training is at 8am,
though, so don’t do anything that’ll keep you from it.” She
suddenly wondered if there was anything that could keep a heku from
functioning, they didn’t drink, and they didn’t sleep.

“
You know… there is another
option,” one of the recruits said.

“
Like what?” Emily
questioned.

“
Like you come and party
with us,” he said, and then looked nervously at Kyle for
approval.

Kyle shrugged, “Go ahead if you want, Em.
Not sure you could be anywhere safer than with thirteen of your
guards.”

“
Really? I can go?” she
asked, but was already heading off with them.

“
I’ll tell the Elder,” he
called after them.

Kyle walked into the palace, smiling, as the
last of the crowd left the lawn. He walked up to Chevalier’s office
and knocked.

“
Come in,” the Elder
said.

Kyle stepped in and shut the door behind
him.

“
Have a seat,” Chevalier
told him.

“
I suppose you saw,” Kyle
said, taking a seat.

“
I did, it was quite
interesting.”

“
I thought she was just
playing. Come to find out, it was her version of a team-building
exercise and, well, I think it worked.”

“
Oh? Were the new recruits
not getting along with the Cavalry?”

“
They weren’t fighting, but
there was a definite line.”

“
I’m guessing Emily is up
taking a shower then?”

“
Well, that’s what I came
to tell you. Emily went to party with them.” He wasn’t sure how
that would go over, so he watched for Chevalier’s
temper.

“
She went to party with the
guards?” he was shocked.

“
Yes, they invited
her.”

Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed,
“Only Emily.”

Kyle nodded, “I figured she can’t be any
safer than that.”

“
Well, while she’s out… we
need to discuss the Mortal Ceremony we have next week,” Chevalier
said, pulling a file out of a pile on his desk.

“
What were you
thinking?”

“
I’m thinking about maybe
sending her and Allen to the island for a week.”

“
There’s one going on next
week on the Island, too. Remember that Englishman?” Kyle reminded
him.

“
Damn, I forgot about
that.”

“
I could take her to my
place in France,” Kyle suggested.

“
I hate to have her that
far away. I have to be here for this one… can you sail?” Chevalier
asked.

Kyle looked at him sideways, “Yes.”

“
Then I say you take Emily
and Allen out on the yacht. Take the Cavalry with you if you need
to. It can hold seventy five comfortably.”

Kyle nodded, “Think she’ll go for that?”

“
I’m sure she will, as soon
as she knows the reason.”

“
I’m going to go feed while
she’s at the party then, want to come?” Kyle asked, standing
up.

“
No, I’m good.” He watched
Kyle leave.

Chevalier waited patiently for Emily to
return from the Cavalry party. He watched as the hours ticked by
slowly. He started to get nervous around 3am, but then heard her
footsteps coming toward the door. She stepped in and smiled at
him.

“
Hi,” she said, walking in
to face him. She wasn’t sure if he was going to be ok with her out
so late.

“
Have fun?”

“
Sure did,” Emily told him,
and headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower. After the
football and the party, she was exhausted.

Chevalier went into the bathroom with her
and watched through the glass door, smiling. His eyes took in every
curve and muscle in her body. Stripping quickly, he joined her in
the hot shower.

***

Emily curled up against him in bed.

“
I need a favor,” he said,
kissing her lightly.

“
Oh?”

“
Next week we’re doing the
ceremony to turn a mortal into a heku.”

She propped up on her elbow, “Ok.”

“
There’s one on the island,
too. Kyle offered to take you and Allen out on the yacht for the
week.” He watched her closely for a reaction.

Emily hid any worry she had, “You can’t
go?”

“
No, I have to be here for
it. Kyle will take the Cavalry with you.”

“
Sure, sounds like fun,”
she said, smiling.

She began to worry. Kyle had shown a strong
attraction to her, and she wasn’t sure how the yacht might affect
him. Of course, with the entire cavalry there, he couldn’t do much
or it would get back to Chevalier.

“
I’ll have everything ready
for you to leave tomorrow,” he said, and pulled her closer to
him.

She nodded and shut her eyes.

Emily yawned and stretched, then opened her
eyes, it was only 6am. She looked around and saw that Chevalier was
already gone. She got up and dressed, then went in to wake Allen
up. He played on the floor while she packed a bag for him.

“
Ee going?” he
asked.

“
We’re going on a boat,”
she said, packing the last of his things.

“
Boat?”

“
Yeah, fun eh?”

He nodded and went back to playing. She
loaded some toys into a basket and then went out to pack her own
things. Allen followed her out and she put in a movie for him. As
she packed a range of clothes for both warm and cold weather, she
heard a sound from her bathroom.

“
Chev?” she asked, going in
to see what he was doing.

A strange heku was crouched in the corner
and hissed at her when she came in. Emily froze and crouched
slightly.

“
Who are you?” she
asked.

He crouched lower and inhaled deeply. That
was all Emily needed, he lunged at her just as she felt her
concentration lock, and ash scattered across the bathroom floor.
Emily ran out of the bathroom and opened the door.

“
I need Chev,” she said
quickly.

The four guards turned to her and saw the
terror in her eyes. One ran to get the Elder, and the other three
came into her room.

“
When did you get here?”
she asked them.

“
Just about an hour ago. We
came when the Elder left,” Mark told her, looking at her
suspiciously.

Chevalier blurred into the bedroom, “What’s
wrong?”

She took his hand and led him into the
bathroom. At first he wasn’t sure what he was looking for, and then
his eyes fell on the ash strewn across the floor.

“
Are you hurt?” he asked,
turning to her.

She shook her head and tears filled her
eyes.

“
Did he bite you?” he
asked, looking at her neck.

“
No, he jumped at me but I…
I ashed him. I’m so sorry,” she said, shaking.

“
Don’t be sorry. I’m proud
of you,” he said, taking her into his arms. He led her out into the
bedroom.

“
There was a strange heku
in here. What time did you get here?” he asked the
guards.

“
We arrived just a few
minutes after you left, Sir.”

“
Damnit, I should have
stayed until you got here,” he growled.

“
Get a servant to collect
that ash. I want to know who that was and what he wanted,”
Chevalier ordered, still holding Emily at his chest. She was still
trembling.

He led her to the bed and sat her down, then
knelt in front of her, “Calm down, ok? Everything’s fine.”

One of Emily’s guards came up to them
carrying Allen, “He said he’s hungry. Can the two of us take him
down to eat?”

Emily nodded and they left, so now only four
guards remained with her.

Kyle blurred into her room, “What
happened?”

“
There were a few minutes
when the door wasn’t guarded, and in that time, a heku got in
here,” Chevalier explained.

“
Is she ok?” he asked,
looking at her. She was still shaking and looked pale and
afraid.

“
She’s ok. She turned him
to ash,” he said, proudly.

“
Good job, Em!” Kyle said,
and looked around the room. “I’m going to look around and make sure
it’s clear.”

Chevalier nodded and touched Emily lightly
on the cheek, “You did nothing wrong.”

She nodded.

He smiled at her, “You have no idea how
proud I am of you. You did it!”

Again she only nodded.

“
Do you want to go get
something to eat with Allen?”

“
No”

“
Have some coffee brought
up,” Chevalier said, and one of her guards disappeared from the
room.

“
You’re going to bring him
back?”

“
Yes”

“
What if he is a servant,
maybe he was just cleaning.”

“
Doesn’t matter. He
shouldn’t have been in here,” he said, taking her hand.

“
Won’t the other Elders be
mad if I ashed an Equites?”

Chevalier smiled, “Not at all. They would
have probably killed him for being in here without permission
anyway.”

Emily took a cup of coffee from the guard
and sipped it slowly.

“
Maybe the yacht is a good
idea, get away for a while,” she said, looking at her half-packed
suitcase.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, it will be. There’s
no chance of you getting attacked there. Did you finish
packing?”

“
No,” Emily said, and stood
up. She finished her coffee with shaking hands, and then started
packing.

“
You’re taking your
bikini?” Chevalier asked.

“
I wanted some sun, am I
not allowed?”

“
No, that will be fine,” he
said, fighting to control his jealous urge to ban her from wearing
it.

Emily sat in the helicopter and watched
Chevalier disappear as they took off for the Island. Allen was
strapped in and laughing. He loved being in the helicopter. Kyle
and two of her guards were with her. The others would arrive by
Suburban the following day, and then they would set out onto the
Atlantic.

Allen fell asleep shortly after takeoff and
Emily followed. She woke up just as the pilot brought the
helicopter down onto the castle’s helipad. Kyle carried Allen into
the castle and laid him down on Emily’s bed, and she walked in
after them.

“
I’ll have Gordon bring up
some lunch,” Kyle said, and left quickly.

Emily curled up by Allen on the bed and
watched him sleep. She was ready to get onto the yacht, away from
attacks, away from the Valle and the Encala. Gordon showed up a
short time later, smiling brightly. He sat the trays down on the
table and left.

Kyle cut the engines to the yacht when they
were far away from any land. He sat in the captain’s chair and
watched Emily. She was lying on the chaise in her bikini, soaking
up the sun. Allen played nearby with one of the guards. He kept
pulling at his life vest, something Emily insisted he wore at all
times.