Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (70 page)

Emily stopped as soon as she saw them,
and held the gun tightly in her hand.

“
Please, come and sit with
us,” the man on the left said to her, and smiled.

“
I’m fine here… why did you
come?” Emily asked skeptically.

“
We are the Elders for the
Encala, and we have come with a peace offering, of sorts.” He
smiled again at her.

“
We are alone,” the Elder
on the right told her. “Please have a seat. If we misbehave, you
may turn us to ash.”

Emily inched closer and sat on the
edge of the blanket. Her hand rested in her lap with the gun
gripped tightly, “What kind of offer?”

“
You know Vaughn already. I
am William and this is Koly.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

“
You are unhappy here, are
you not?” Koly asked her.

Emily thought for a moment, “I guess
it’s no secret that you are correct.”

“
You are restricted here,
watched, guarded… maybe even controlled?”

Emily nodded.

“
You have a free spirit,
one that must be unrestrained and left to soar. That is the opinion
of the Encala Council,” William told her.

“
Ok,” Emily said, watching
them closely. She felt comforted by the weight of the gun in her
hand, even though it would only slow them down.

“
We want to offer you that
freedom.”

“
In exchange for what?”
Emily asked, narrowing her eyes.

“
Peace,” Koly said,
smiling.

“
How exactly do you figure
on getting that?”

“
Our idea,” Vaughn said,
“Is to give you your own coven, anywhere you want. You would be the
sole leader of the coven… meaning you would set the rules, and
punish those who didn’t follow. You would be your own master, and
the heku in the coven would follow your every word.”

“
I don’t know how to lead a
coven,” Emily reminded them.

William smiled, “Oh but you do. With
your own coven, you would never be told what to do. You would have
complete autonomy in how you ran things.”

Silas walked up to where Kyle, Zohn,
and Chevalier were talking. They turned to him when he arrived,
“Yeah, she was in the stables but she’s gone out for a
ride.”

“
That’s good, that means
she’s thinking about something,” Chevalier said,
nodding.

“
Damn though, I can’t get
that cat smell out of my nose. I hate those things. Why would we
have a cat in the barn?” Silas asked.

Kyle and Chevalier looked at each
other quickly.

“
Damnit,” Chevalier
growled, and blurred out of the palace and into the stables,
followed by the others. He stopped in the stables and inhaled,
smelling around the stable, “It’s him. How long ago did she
leave?”

“
Thirty minutes ago, maybe
a little longer,” Silas said, frowning. “What’s the
panic?”

“
Sam in familiar form is a
cat,” Kyle told him. “I can smell him in here.”

“
So she left with Sam?”
Silas growled.

“
Her scent is stronger out
here, won’t be hard to follow,” Zohn said, and blurred into the
city.

“
How did you get the Valle
to agree not to attack this coven of mine?” Emily asked
them.

Vaughn smiled, “They agree that it
would be best for the Equites to lose the hold they have on you. It
would humble them some. Both the Valle and the Encala factions
believe that peace will come when you are out of Equites
control.”

“
The Valle?” Emily frowned.
“They tried to kill me last week… again.”

“
That was to protect
themselves. They weren’t after you. They were destroying the boat,”
William explained.

“
Yeah, with me on
it.”

“
They are sorry, I assure
you.”

Emily looked down at the gun, giving
herself time to think. Their offer had some appeal. Her own coven
would mean freedom to do what she wanted. She wasn’t sure she
wanted to be in control of that many heku though. However, if she
had complete power over them, it would give her the ability to do
whatever she wanted. She thought of raising Alexis in a place where
no one tried to kill her or kidnap her, where no one would give her
guards, or watch her every move.

“
Think about it, Emily,”
Sam said. “I really think this is a good offer. I hate how the
Equites treat you like a piece of property.”

“
Complete freedom,” Emily
whispered, still thinking. Images ran through her mind of how her
coven would act, how they would respect her, and do as she asked.
Then the image of her ranch flew into her mind, the sounds of the
fire raging, the images of the dead horses.

“
Child?” Koly asked when a
tear slipped down her cheek.

“
You burned my ranch and
killed fifteen of my horses… that was my life,” Emily said, getting
angry.

“
That was not sanctioned by
the Elders. That was a coven attack. I know you wouldn’t know this,
but your ranch was within two miles of a large Encala coven, and
they were nervous having you that close,” William
explained.

“
Those horses had to have
suffered,” Emily glared at them.

“
The coven is no longer
there. They have been punished severely for that attack,” Koly
said, and Emily saw true sadness in his eyes.

“
I’ll need to think about
your offer. I don’t want to make a rash decision,” Emily said to
them.

“
What offer might that be?”
Kyle asked from behind her.

Emily sighed and didn’t even turn
around. The Encala Elders stood up and crouched
slightly.

“
Go away, Kyle. This is a
private meeting,” Emily said, and patted the blanket for the Encala
to sit down.

“
A private meeting with the
three Encala Elders? This should be interesting,” Zohn
said.

Emily finally turned to see who all
was behind her, and then turned back to the Encala, “Sorry for the
interruption.”

Sam was still crouched slightly. He
placed himself between Emily and the Equites. The Encala slowly sat
down, but kept their eyes on the Equites.

“
I am assuming this is a
limited time offer,” Emily said to them.

Vaughn nodded, “Yes, we’ll need a
decision within the month.”

Emily nodded, “Ok, I’ll let you know.
Give me a phone number, and I will call you when I
decide.”

Koly handed a card over to Emily, and
she heard Chevalier growl when the Encala got near her. Koly sat
back down by the other Encala Elders and Emily looked at the
card.

The Encala stood up and looked down at
Emily, “We look forward to hearing from you.”

Emily nodded, and watched as they
blurred away. She turned to Sam, “Stand down.”

Sam nodded and stood out of his
crouch.

“
What was that all about?”
Zohn asked her.

“
None of your business,”
she said, and stood up from the blanket.

“
It is the Council’s
business. Your little meeting could be construed as treason,” Zohn
said calmly.

Emily glared at him as Chevalier
spoke, “No it’s not. She’s not held to the heku laws, and you know
it.”

“
The Council will want to
interrogate Sam though,” Kyle said.

Emily gasped, “Not in that
room!”

Kyle shook his head, “No, just in the
council chambers is all.”

Emily nodded, “Sam, go back with them,
answer them truthfully, but not a word about this
offer.”

Sam sighed, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“
You too, the Council will
want to talk to you,” Zohn said.

Chevalier glared at him, “I said,
no.”

“
I’m going riding. I need
to think,” Emily said, and walked past the Equites.

Mark headed after her, but Chevalier
stopped him, “Whatever offer they gave her, if we follow her or she
feels threatened, she’ll run into it.”

Mark sighed, “I guess you’re
right.”

Emily mounted the horse and kicked her
into a gallop toward the hills. Zohn, Kyle, Mark, and Chevalier
escorted Sam to the palace and called an emergency meeting of the
Council. When they arrived, the Council was already in their chairs
and looked at Sam, shocked. The three took their places, while Mark
stood at Sam’s side, holding his shoulder.

“
Interesting, you have
returned,” Quinn said, raising an eyebrow.

“
I have,” Sam
said.

“
Where have you
been?”

“
I have been with the
Encala.”

Quinn glanced at Chevalier, “I see,
and have you given them information about the Equites, like the
palace layout, or coven locations?”

“
No, I have not,” Sam
said.

“
What exactly have you
talked about for this long?”

“
Emily”

Maleth gasped, “You have been talking
to the Encala about Emily? What about exactly?”

Sam looked at the Elder, “Her likes
and dislikes. Things I’ve seen here that she doesn’t agree with.
Things that I’ve seen that would make her happy.”

Chevalier frowned, “So you gave them
the ammunition to make her an offer to come to their
side?”

Sam stood quietly.

“
She banned him from
talking about the offer,” Zohn told the rest of the
Council.

“
Offer?” Maleth asked
Zohn.

“
Yes, Emily was in a
meeting out in the forest with the Encala Elders. Now she’s off
riding so she can consider it,” Zohn explained.

Maleth looked at Chevalier, concerned,
“She is actually considering it?”

Chevalier nodded, “I believe
so.”

“
We should bring her back
here immediately,” Quinn said, frowning.

“
No, we shouldn’t. If we
interrupt the process in any way, she’ll run to them. I can assure
you of that. Emily is lost and desperately wants a place to call
home,” Chevalier said, and looked down at his hands.

“
She’s not homeless. She
has the palace,” Quinn said.

Kyle spoke softly, “She doesn’t feel
that she belongs anywhere. If the Encala offered her a place where
she can fit in, it’s a better offer than we have given
her.”

“
It concerns me that she
met with the Encala Elders without our approval,” the Chief
Investigator said. Chevalier frowned. He was one of the silent
council members that Emily felt hated her because of his lack of
communication.

“
Emily has never needed our
approval to go between factions. She is free to do what she wants,”
Maleth said. “If we limit that freedom in any way, we might as well
throw her to the wolves.”

Chevalier nodded, “I
agree.”

The Council all looked up when the
trial doors swung open violently. Emily stepped in and her face was
furious. She stormed over to Sam and before Mark could react, she
balled her hand into a fist and punched Sam in the nose. He fell to
his knees and yelled as blood poured out of his nose.

“
How dare you talk to the
Encala about me,” Emily said, cradling her hand.

Mark glanced at the Council, and then
took a step back when they whispered to him.

“
I… it was in your best
interest,” Sam said, and stood up, still clutching his
nose.

“
Am I or am I not your
master?” Emily asked him, seething.

“
You are.”

“
And as such, do I not
deserve even a smidgen of privacy?”

“
You do.”

“
Yet you felt free to go
and tell the Encala about my feelings, my wants, and desires…
things I’ve told you in confidence?” Emily took a step towards
him.

“
I thought they could help
you. They offered you your dreams,” Sam said, his eyes starting to
swell shut.

Emily pulled the pistol out of the
back of her jeans with her left hand and leveled it at
Sam.

“
Emily,” Chevalier said
softly from the council stand.

Sam dropped to his knees, “Please,
forgive me.”

“
I’m done with you,” Emily
said, and pulled back the hammer.

Sam cringed, but opened his eyes when
Mark spoke, “Let me do it, you aren’t a killer.”

Emily nodded and handed the gun to
Mark. He glanced at the Council and then leveled it at Sam,
shooting him directly between the eyes. The gunshot rang through
the palace, and suddenly, the trial area was full of frantic
guards. Mark whispered and they all looked at him and then returned
to their posts.

“
Emily?” Maleth said
softly.

She turned around and he frowned at
her swollen hand, “Does that mean you aren’t taking the Encala up
on their offer?”

Emily frowned, “Why would I do
that?”