Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (88 page)

“What’s his rank?”

“Lieutenant”

Emily leaned forward on
the treadmill and watched him. His sleek movements and effortless
fighting style was intriguing and relaxing to watch.

“You said he’s quiet?” she asked, not
turning away from Wen.

“Yes, I don’t personally
like him. He is gruff and doesn’t take any crap though, so I guess
that’s good for the city guards.”

“What is he doing?”

“He’s really heavy into
mixed martial arts. Not sure why when heku fighting involves biting
and scratching… pretty much tearing each other apart. His moves
wouldn’t do him a lot of good other than to block incoming attacks,
seems useless,” Kralen told her, and leaned up against the
wall.

“He’s huge.”

Kralen grinned, “Yeah,
he’s a big ol’ boy… not interested in the Cavalry at all. The
Council made him an offer, but he decided to stick with the
city.”

“Why?” she asked, looking
over at the Captain.

Kralen shrugged, “Not sure really.”

“How tall is he?”

“Seven seven, somewhere about there.”

Emily stepped down off the treadmill and
Kralen followed her out of the room. He put a hand on her arm when
she went to enter the training room.

“He doesn’t like to be disturbed,” Kralen
told her.

Emily looked at the door
and then back to Kralen, “I’m a member of the Council, he’ll
survive.”

Kralen shook his head and
stood outside of the door, listening in case Wen got
angry.

Emily stepped in, and the
massive heku turned toward her. His eyes were enraged. He was
panting and his enormous arms were tense at his side.

“What?” he growled.

She froze. His voice was
deep and furious and he looked at her like he could rip her head
off without a second thought.

“Can I talk to you? Just for a second?” she
asked.

“You’re a member of the
Council. You can do what you want,” he said. His English was very
good, but shrouded by a heavy accent.

Emily could instantly see
why Kralen didn’t like this heku, he wasn’t only gruff, he was rude
and abrasive.

She cleared her throat, “I keep getting
beaten up.”

His eyes narrowed, “Ok.”

She sighed, “Can you help me with that?”

“Getting beaten up?”

“More like avoiding it.”

His eyes narrowed, “Why?”

“Why am I asking you, why should you do it,
or why do I get beaten up?”

He smiled slightly and shook his head, “Why
do you keep getting beaten up?”

Emily saw a small spark of
compassion and caring in him in that one moment, that disappeared
when she spoke, “Seems to be the favorite past-time of the Encala
and the Ferus… somewhat the Valle, but not as bad as the
others.”

“You could kill me right now without even a
warning, couldn’t you?”

“Yes”

“Do you mind pain?”

“No, or hard work.”

“Why would I help you? Unless you are giving
me a direct order.”

“I’m not going to order you to… but think
about it, not often do you get to abuse the Elder’s wife.”

“I can’t teach you. I
can’t even touch you.”

“I can fix that.”

He looked over her, “Your guards won’t like
it.”

“They’ll live.”

“Neither will your husband.”

“He’ll understand. So will
you help me?”

He grinned an evil, malicious grin, “Will
you cry?”

Emily set her jaw, “No.”

“Come here,” he said, and
got into a fighting stance.

She suddenly felt fearful,
but bottled it up and stepped toward him.

“Let me see what you can do.”

She nodded and slipped her right foot back
and hung her arms loosely at her side, “Bring it.”

“Come on, hit me.”

Emily lunged at him but found herself
instantly pinned against the floor by his strong hands, one around
her neck, the other on her stomach. The room filled with guards and
Wen was thrown back against the wall and restrained.

“Stop it!” Emily screamed,
and the guards looked at her. “Get out this instant.”

“But…” Kralen started.

“No, get out.”

Kralen nodded to the others and they left,
obviously unsure if they should.

“Sorry about that,” Emily said.

“Why do you need me, when you have
guards?”

“They aren’t always around.”

“Why not?”

“Listen… I don’t need
another guard… I need someone to help me avoid getting backhanded
by a heku, and someone who won’t be afraid to hurt me or to knock
me on my ass to show me how to defend myself… can you do that or
not?”

He nodded, “I can… but first you have to get
Elder approval. I could be banished for what I just did.”

Emily nodded, “I’ll get it… can you meet me
here tomorrow at 1pm?”

“Yes,” he said, and walked
past her and out the door.

“Are you ok?” Kralen asked her, stepping
into the training room.

“I’m fine,” she said, and
grinned. “This is going to be great!”

“You’re asking for
trouble, more than you even understand.”

“I can handle a lot… I need this.”

Kralen nodded, “If you
think so… let’s go talk to the Council.”

They fought the storm and
finally got back into the warm palace. Derrick immediately let
Emily into the council chambers.

“Good morning,” Zohn said, looking up and
smiling when she came in.

“Good morning.”

“You need to talk to us?”

“Sort of… do you know Wen?”

“Yes”

“He’s going to teach me
some self-defense, but won’t until I get your approval.”

Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “We
can have the Cavalry train you.”

“I want Wen.”

“He comes very highly
recommended because of his cruelty and callousness. I’m not sure I
feel comfortable if you are with him.”

“Zohn, please, I need this.”

“He said no,” Dustin told
her, and leaned back in his chair.

“No, I didn’t deny the
request. I just need to think on this,” Zohn told him, and then
turned back to Emily. “I guess if your guards…”

“No guards, just me and Wen.”

He sighed, “That’s too dangerous.”

“He won’t do it unless ordered anyway, he
doesn’t like… well… anyone, especially mortals,” Dustin added.

“He already said yes,”
Emily told him, and then turned back to Zohn. “Please, I’m tired of
being knocked around. He can help me.”

“For now, I will say yes…
however, I will be watching and can revoke that permission if I see
it getting out of hand,” Zohn explained.

“Thank you!” Emily said,
and turned for the door.

***

Emily walked into the
training room and saw Wen was already there. He turned and looked
at her and the fury in his eyes made her stop at the door and
wonder if this was a good idea.

“Come,” he growled, and
she took a breath and stepped forward.

She stood before him and
looked up into his rough, dark face.

“I’m not going to hold back just because
you’re mortal.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“You are going to get hurt.”

“I can handle it,” she told him.

He sighed, “The last bruise you had… what
was it from?”

“A backhand.”

“From a heku?”

“Yes”

“Did you see him coming?”

She looked down at the ground, “No, I knew
it was coming… but I didn’t see when he actually came in.”

“How did you know it was coming?”

“I provoked him.”

Wen grinned, “You are trouble, aren’t
you?”

“I had to provoke him to get the door
open.”

Emily gasped when Wen
disappeared, and she spun and saw him behind her.

“Did you see me move?”

“No”

“I can’t teach you to defend yourself if you
can’t see the attacker.”

“Sometimes I do though.”

She ducked when he instantly appeared in
front of her with the back of his hand against her face, “Too
slow.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Show me how to defend
myself and I’ll worry about seeing the attack coming.”

Wen took a step back and
looked her over, “You have to learn to work with what you have.
From what I can see, you’re weak, slow, short, and frail… not a lot
of power to work with.”

“I’m not weak or frail.”

He grinned, “Prove it.”

“Bring it,” she growled,
and crouched slightly. He blurred to her back, and as he began to
wrap his arms around to restrain her, she slammed her elbows into
the crook of his arm, spun, and when she brought her palm up to
smash his nose, he quickly grabbed her wrist and twisted. Before
she could react, he had her pinned, face down on the mat with her
wrist at her back.

“Damnit!” she yelled and stood up.

“Too slow,” he told her.

“I’ve broken a fair share of noses with
that.”

“Just because they
probably weren’t ready for a fight… if someone’s attacking you,
they will be waiting for it.”

“So fix it… what do I do?”

“You never let them get close enough to hit
you.”

“How?”

“Turn them to ash, easy.”

“That’s not always an option.”

“Kick me.”

Emily frowned, “Kick you?”

Wen nodded, “Yes, kick me.”

“Where?”

“You won’t hit me, so kick anywhere.”

Emily chose his knee, and
tried to kick him as fast as she could, but he easily sidestepped,
“See, too slow… must be aggravating to be that weak.”

Her eyes narrowed and she
flew at him. Every punch and every kick he easily dodged, and the
more he evaded, the more furious she became. After a few minutes,
Wen pinned her up against a wall with her arm trapped behind her
back. She was panting and covered in sweat.

He held her with her chest
pressed against the soft matt on the wall and whispered into her
ear, “I can’t help you. You’re too feeble.”

Emily quickly tried to
slam her head back into his nose, but he easily avoided it and
flung her around, pinning her onto the floor with his hand around
her neck.

He looked down at her, “You can’t fight a
heku…”

She screamed at him and
tried to hit him, but he grinned.

“Your best bet, Princess,
is to stay with your guards,” Wen said, and stood up. Emily quickly
got to her feet and glared at him.

“You just decided to get me in here and call
me names?”

“Pretty much,” he said,
and leaned against the wall, grinning.

“I’m not weak.”

“Yes, you are, even by
mortal standards, and don’t let anyone try to tell you
differently.”

“You don’t know me…”

“Oh, we all know you. The
entire faction watches as you keep the palace walking on eggshells
around your temper and your moods. You constantly throw yourself
into danger, putting the Cavalry into danger to either protect you
or try to get you back.”

She froze, his words were brutal.

“Yes, you do have the
ability to turn a heku to ash, that can come in handy, but I also
know how many times you’ve turned the Council to ash, or the
Cavalry, even your poor husband… yet they all tolerate you and your
outbursts, your stupidity, your selfishness, all because you would
be too dangerous in the hands of others.”

Emily gasped. She couldn’t
believe this heku was talking to her like this.

Wen shrugged, “I’m sure
there are parts of you I don’t know about, like how you have them
all wrapped around your little finger, but trust me, Princess,
someday they will stop rescuing you.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Kralen said, coming in
through the front door. “You are way out of line.”

Wen stood at attention,
“Sorry, Captain. I thought she might finally want the
truth.”

“None of that was the
truth and I should take you to the Council for what you
said!”

“No, let’s go,” Emily
whispered, and walked out of the room.

Kralen glared at Wen, “Go to your quarters
until I tell you to come out.”

“Yes, Captain,” Wen said,
and blurred from the room.

Kralen quickly caught up with Emily and the
three other guards as she quietly went into the palace and headed
up the stairs. At her bedroom door, Kralen put his hand on her
arm.

“He wasn’t telling the truth.”

“Actually, he was,” she
said, and shut the door behind her.

Kralen sighed and turned to the others, “I’m
tempted to return him to China.”

“There was no reason for that,” one of the
other guards said, irritated.

Kralen instinctively
turned toward the stairs when the Council called for Emily. He
knocked lightly and came in when she called out.

“The Council needs you
immediately,” he told her.

Emily nodded and stood up
from the couch, still carrying Dain. He grinned at Kralen when they
passed, and the guards fell in behind her as she headed for the
council chambers. She could hear the angry voices that quieted
immediately when she opened the door and stepped in. She saw
Sotomar, and he was angry and glaring at Zohn. Four Imperial Guards
stood with him. She walked around him and sat in Chevalier’s
chair.

“What’s up?” she asked, adjusting Dain on
her lap.

“We need a peace keeper,”
Zohn told her, though his eyes never left Sotomar.