Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (23 page)

Mark looked over at
Chevalier, confused at the amused expression on his
face.

“We’re going shopping,”
Silas told him, though his eyes never left Emily.

“You’re not going,” she
said.

“Oh yeah, I am.”

“I’ll take Kralen.”

“I’m going.”

“No,” Emily said, and took
Alexis’ hand. “We’re having a girl’s night out, no heku or men
allowed.”

Mark grinned, “I think you’re lucky
that only one heku is going.”

“No heku is going,” Emily
told him, and limped for the garage, followed by Silas. “Go
away.”

“No,” Silas said, and
followed her out.

“Is he going to be ash soon?” Mark
asked, looking over at Chevalier.

The Elder shrugged, “I
don’t know.”

“We haven’t told her about Kralen,”
Mark said when he heard the Jeep leave the garage.

“I don’t know how to tell
her. He’s been imprisoned.”

“I heard.”

“For now, let’s see if we
can keep it from her. Her feet are killing her and she still looks
at us like she doesn’t entirely trust us,” Chevalier said. “The
second she finds out, she’ll go after him.”

“Does she even know where his coven
is?”

“No, I don’t think so
actually.”

“Can she find out?”

“Not without asking Jerry.”

Mark sighed and looked over at the
other guards, “Gabe… what’s your problem with Emily?”

Chevalier turned to look at the young
blond guard.

“I don’t know, General,”
Gabe said. “She just told me suddenly that she’s watching
me.”

“You’re Alexis’ guard?” Chevalier
asked.

“Yes, Elder.”

“Have you ever guarded
Emily?”

“No, Sir. I’m not
Cavalry.”

“Yes, I see that… so why is Emily
watching you?”

“I don’t know, Sir,” he
said nervously.

“Well now I’m watching
you, too,” Mark said. “Go back to quarters until Alexis
returns.”

“Yes, General,” he said,
and blurred away.

“Wow, I think Silas went
with them,” Mark chuckled.

“That’s odd,” Chevalier
said, and then grinned. “Now I just hope he doesn’t come back as
ash or in a tutu.”

“We’ll have the cameras
ready.”

“I’ll talk to Emily when
she gets back. It’s odd for her to say that to a guard,” Chevalier
said, and headed up to his office.

***

Chevalier looked up from
his desk when he heard the Jeep return to the garage. He headed
down the stairs and heard soft gasps as he got to the main
foyer.

Silas appeared first. He
was wearing a black Armani suit and sported a short, spiky haircut
and dark sunglasses. Mark came in just as Silas slung the jacket
over his shoulder and walked up to the Elder.

“Thought the makeover was
for the women,” Mark chuckled.

“Yeah… well… they let me go,” Silas
said, grinning.

“Are they coming in?” Chevalier asked,
looking over at the door.

Silas started to laugh,
“Lexi is still trying to get Em out of the Jeep. She let Lexi dress
her up.”

“That bad, eh?”

“Well… no, not at all.”

“Then why…” Chevalier
started, but his eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped when Emily
stepped in. She was obviously embarrassed by the tight fitting, low
cut blue dress that hugged every curve in her body and showed a
sleek line of cleavage. Her make-up was done heavier than normal
and her hair was piled on top of her head in long
ringlets.

“If you laugh… so help me
I’ll ash this entire city,” she hissed when she walked up. It was
obvious her feet still hurt. Alexis was grinning broadly and had on
a similar dress to Emily’s, but one that wasn’t low cut or quite as
tight fitting. She’d cut her long black hair into a short A-line
and had light make-up.

“You look good, Em,”
Chevalier said, and smiled.

Her eyes narrowed, “Don’t say
it…”

“What?”

“Just… don’t,” she said,
and pulled the dress up to walk up the stairs.

“That was fun,” Alexis
said, still smiling. She looked around the foyer, “Where are my
guards?”

“Hm,” Mark sighed and looked around,
“They’re coming.”

“Wish Em did that. Found
her guards when they were missing,” Silas said, and called for
Emily’s guards too.

“Silas… uniform,” Mark reminded
him.

“Oh! Right,” he said, and
then grinned before blurring away.

Emily stepped out of her
room in jeans and a t-shirt, ready to go down and re-shoe some of
the horses. She looked at her guards and sighed, “Who are
you?”

“City guards, Ma’am,” the
tallest said, and then smiled. “We’re trying to get on with the
Cavalry.”

“I see… and where’s the
Cavalry?”

“In the training room.”

“Kralen too?” she asked.
Emily was told that Kralen was on vacation for the first month
after her time in the forest, and for the month after that, she was
told he was on assignment. She was starting to get the feeling that
she was being lied to.

“No, Ma’am.”

“Where is he then?”

“On a mission.”

Emily thought for a moment and then
headed down the stairs, followed by the four over-anxious city
guards.

“Where are you going?” one of them
asked her.

She turned around, “None of your
business, get lost.”

“We can’t, Ma’am. If we
want on with the Cavalry, we have to prove you can’t ditch
us.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Who
said?”

Zohn appeared beside them, “Is there a
problem?”

“Yes,” Emily said, and
turned to him. “Genius here thinks he’s going to be on the
Cavalry.”

The Elder looked over at
the city guards, “Oh?”

“Yes, Sir, if we can successfully
guard her, we have a shot.”

Zohn cringed inwardly.
That information was supposed to be kept from Emily. He looked over
at her just as she crossed her arms and glared at the
guards.

“Whose bright idea was
that?” she asked the highest ranking. His insignia was for one of
the city Lieutenants.

The guard shrugged, “Not
sure.”

“You think I can’t get away from
you?”

“No!” Zohn said quickly.
“He doesn’t think that.”

“Yes I do. How can a human
get away from a heku?”

Zohn sighed, “You four,
get in the council chambers, now.”

The four guards blurred away and Emily
turned to Zohn, “Is that why I’ve had so many strange guards
lately?”

“No, I think he’s
delusional.”

“No guards today. I’m
tired of being followed around by overanxious, annoying, nosey
guards, who watch me like I’m seconds from getting
kidnapped.”

Zohn nodded, “Very well.”

She turned to look at him, “You are
agreeing to back off my guards?”

“Will you stay on the palace
grounds?”

“Yes”

“Then, yes, I am.”

“Fine then, I’ll be in my
office,” she told him, and started up the stairs.

“Also, remember, the new permanent
Staff Supervisor starts today.”

She sighed, “Oh right, guess I’ll be
in my personal office today then.”

Zohn watched her walk up
the stairs and then returned to his seat. Chevalier was talking
quietly to Quinn when he sat down.

“That didn’t sound good,”
Kyle said to the Elder.

“It wasn’t,” Zohn told
him, and then looked over at the guards. “Want to explain why you
are that stupid?”

The Lieutenant frowned,
“Sir?”

Chevalier and Quinn looked over at the
four city guards.

“Were you or were you not
told to keep from Lady Emily, the fact that new Cavalry recruits
have a minimum requirement for hours guarding her?” Zohn
asked.

Chevalier sighed, “Tell me they didn’t
let her know.”

“Oh, they did.”

“Well,” the Lieutenant
said. “We just…”

“No, we just, nothing,”
Zohn growled. “You then made a statement about how there’s no way
that Emily could elude you.”

Quinn grinned slightly, “That wasn’t
very bright.”

Chevalier sighed, “What
were your orders with regards to challenging Emily to get away from
you?”

The City Commander spoke,
“We were told not to mention anything in regards to her not being
able to escape with us watching her.”

“She can’t though. It’s
ridiculous to think she could ditch a heku,” the Lieutenant told
the Council.

Kyle started to laugh, “Have we found
her yet?”

Zohn rubbed the back of
his neck, “No, I was there when it happened. I’ve agreed to no
guards today if she’ll stay on the palace grounds… I’m hoping that
will appease her enough to stay put.”

“You four, back to your
General, you’re off the Cavalry list,” Chevalier said, and watched
them bow and leave the council chambers.

“I’m glad I went out. I
heard her ask them about Kralen and thought I better intervene,”
Zohn said.

“Jerry, has she asked you anything
about him?” Chevalier asked, looking over at the Records
Keeper.

“No, Elder, she has not.”

“She won’t talk to him,”
Kyle told the Elders. “He was a Damon supporter.”

“What?” the Records Keeper
gasped. “That was… I don’t think that should be held over my
head…”

“It is,” Chevalier told
him, and smiled slightly. “Sorry, but that’s how she distinguishes
this Council.”

“After all this time?”

“Yes, if she does come to
you for information on Kralen, it’ll be as a last resort,” Kyle
said.

“How do I remedy that?” the Records
Keeper asked.

“You can’t. If she’s going
to warm up to you, it’ll just happen on its own.”

“Or never,” Dustin added.

Kyle shrugged, “Or
never.”

“Derrick, send Mark in please,” Zohn
said, grinning.

“What?” the Records Keeper
asked, looking at the grinning Elder.

“It’s just so nice to not be on her
list anymore.”

“And you got off of it
how?”

“Not sure exactly. I guess
I appealed to her nature to seek out alliances with those that can
relate to things she finds she needs help with.”

“Such as?”

“Such as assisting with a
personal violation,” Quinn told him.

“So if I help her the next
time she’s attacked, she will then take me off of what the Elder
calls her ‘list’?” the Records Keeper asked.

“Maybe, no guarantees…
ahh, Mark,” Zohn said, and looked up when the General came
in.

“Yes, Elder?”

“The four city guards that
were watching Emily, told her about the required guard hours to get
on the Cavalry.”

Mark sighed, “Damnit, that was working
well too.”

“I’ve given her permission to go
without guards today, if she’ll stay on the palace
grounds.”

“That’s good for today...
but now how do we narrow down the huge list of Cavalry
applicants?”

“We’ll go back to
interviews,” Kyle said. “You and I both, and maybe even
Emily.”

“Fine, but that other way
worked better. We got a feel of how they dealt with her and how she
got along with them.”

“Why do we do that,
anyway?” Dustin asked. “The Cavalry is many things, the least of
which is her personal guard.”

“The least of which?” Mark asked,
irritated.

“Yes, I feel that
protecting the palace is more important, and don’t see why we
choose them based solely on their reactions to her.”

Chevalier smirked and
started going through the guard roster.

“Anyone can be trained to
guard the palace,” Quinn told him. “Emily, however, takes special
considerations.”

“Catering to her whims
again.”

“Yes, we do. Would you
rather her run off to the Valle and have them systematically wipe
us out?”

“No, and I don’t believe
that would happen. If we stop catering to her, she would stay with
the Elder, that, she’s proven.”

“Every spouse, at least in
the 1900 years I’ve been on the Council, has been guarded and given
extra protection,” the Chief of Defense told them. “One of the
easiest ways to get to a member of this Council is through a
spouse.”