Chapter 12 - Forgive

“Mortal, do you know where you are?” Maleth asked Emily. The blue robe obscured his face, but she recognized his voice.

“No, please,” Emily begged. She was knelt down on the cold, dirt floor of the ceremonial room wearing a green scratchy robe.

“Do you know what is about to happen?” he asked her. His voice was cold and ominous.

“Don’t do this, please, Chev.” She looked up at the figure robed in black. He looked down at her and his eyes glowed red.

“Do you do so willingly and without coercion?”

“Stop this! I said no,” Emily said frantically.

“Proceed,” Maleth said icily, and stepped back against the wall.

Emily tried to run, but Quinn caught her foot and pushed her to the ground. She felt the burning sting as thirteen heku pierced her skin with their sharp fangs.

“Em… wake up,” Chevalier said softly, and touched her arm.

Emily sat bolt upright in bed and looked around, out of breath. Once she realized she was in the safety of her room, she buried her face in her hands, trying to wipe the images from her mind. Chevalier’s strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her onto his lap. He held her tightly to his chest.

“Damn,” Emily said, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“You’d think after a year those would stop,” Chevalier whispered, and kissed her forehead.

“Yeah, you’d think so.”

“Why don’t you go back to sleep for a while? You got in pretty late from the ranch.”

“No, I’ll just go out for a run, clear my head,” Emily said, and crawled off of his lap to sit down at the table. A servant had set out some hot coffee and French toast for her.

Chevalier walked over and sat with her at the table, “I talked to Allen a bit, he mentioned you were up a lot because of the ghost.”

“Yeah,” Emily said, and grabbed some sausage.

“I wish you would let one of the heku check it out. There’s no such thing as ghosts, and I’d like to find out what the noises are.”

“Everyone’s checked it out. The twins even slept up there for a few nights, but it didn’t happen while they were there,” Emily explained.

“No heku has checked it out though,” he reminded her.

Emily smiled, “It’s just a ghost.”

“Em…”

“Stop, it’s not going to help by telling me for the hundredth time that there are no ghosts. That ranch house is haunted, period.” Emily poured another cup of coffee, and ignored the way Chevalier smirked.

“Ok, well, Allen said there’s an odd smell when the noises start,” Chevalier said.

“Allen is a 6-year-old with an imagination and keen senses.”

Chevalier sighed and then smiled, “You may want to tell your… twins… that telling stories of the Navajo’s skinwalker won’t scare a boy that lives with vampires.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”

She finished breakfast and disappeared into the bathroom. She came out a short time later in the tell-tale sports bra and cut-offs with an iPod in her hand, “Don’t forget, Alexis needs her vitamins with breakfast. She should be up soon.”

“I’ll remember,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“And Allen is grounded. I want all of the non-cavalry stalls mucked out,” she said, and tied her hair up in a high pony.

“I can get someone to do that…” Chevalier said, but Emily cut him off.

“No, Allen can do it. That boy is spoiled and has his nose stuck in a book all the time. He needs to get out and get some fresh air,” Emily said. She blew Chevalier a kiss, and then ran out of the room.

Chevalier went into the nursery when he heard Alexis start talking to her mobile. She stood up and reached for him, and when he picked her up, she laid her head against his shoulder. He smiled, never in the thousands of years of his existence had he ever imagined being a father, nor had he ever imagined how much he would enjoy it. He kissed the top of the baby’s head and walked her down to the dining room for breakfast.

Emily turned up the music on her iPod and clipped it to the strap on her arm. She stretched briefly and took off running toward the city. There was something stimulating about running. It let her mind clear and she could focus on more important things. She felt like it was alone time, even though she saw curtains move as the heku from the city watched her pass.

Today she thought over the mustang. He’d been running wild in the corral for over a year. Things had gotten busy, and he was put on the back burner. He allowed a bridle and saddle, but no one had tried to break him in yet, but that was her goal for the week. Allen refused to ride since Damnit’s death, and Emily planned on giving the mustang to him once he was gentle enough.

She cried out when an arm wrapped around her and a hand was placed over her mouth. She was dragged into a dark alleyway, kicking and biting.

“Stop it. Damn,” Damon said, and let her go.

“What the hell, Damon?” Emily asked, scowling at him. She pulled the earphones out and slung them across her neck.

“Sorry, I needed to talk to you in private.”

“No,” Emily said, and headed back for the street, but Damon took her arm and pulled her back.

“Yes, it’s been long enough.”

“For what?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“For you to forgive me. You know the Elders watch us together, and they are still suspicious about why you won’t even look at me anymore.”

“They’ll get over it.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve said it a thousand times, but I’ll say it again. I didn’t mean what I said to you in Paris, and I’m sorry I hurt you,” Damon said, his eyes pleading.

“Apology accepted,” Emily said, and again tried to run to the street but was held back.

“What now?”

“That’s not good enough,” Damon said.

“What do you want me to do?” Emily asked.

“Forgive me.”

“I just said I did.”

“I know you said so, but I don’t believe you,” Damon told her.

“What do you want to do? Kiss and make up? I don’t like you,” Emily said.

“I just… I wanted you to know that I don’t think you are spoiled, I don’t think that all you are to the Elder is a piece of ass…”

“Nice, Damon,” Emily cringed.

“I wanted you to know that I realize how important you are to this faction. You’ve turned the entire heku world on end, and that’s just what everyone needed,” he told her, watching for a reaction.

“Good to know,” Emily said, irritated.

“What can I do to make it up to you?”

“You know what I think?”

“No, what’s that?” Damon said hesitantly.

“I think you’re under the spotlight by the Council, and you are looking for an easy out. I don’t like you, not sure I ever will, but I’m not going to tell them what you said or did that day,” Emily promised.

“I wish you would tell them, stop the suspicious glares, and the way they watch me when you’re around.”

“So you tell them.”

Damon nodded, “Maybe I will.”

“Damnit, Damon, don’t,” Emily sighed.

“Why not? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah… well… maybe I don’t want the Council to know what everyone in the faction thinks about me, ok?”

“No one thinks about you like that.”

“Right,” Emily said sarcastically.

“I’m serious, the heku respect you a lot.”

“No they don’t… they are afraid of me, there’s a difference.”

Damon sighed, “There’s more to it than being afraid of you.”

“Oh, that’s right… they also couldn’t understand why the Council allowed a mortal in the palace. Then it dawned on them, what started out as an easy lay, turned into a breeder with the ability to make trophy children,” Emily told him, and he was shocked to see from her face that she was serious.

“You can’t honestly think that.”

“Oh? Can’t I?”

“I wish, just for a moment, that you could see what the Equites truly think of you,” Damon said to her.

“You know what? I have already seen it, and I don’t care to see it again.”

Damon shook his head and watched as Emily took off running down the street as she put on her headphones. She turned back and headed for the palace. After talking to Damon, she felt self-conscious about the glances out of the house windows, and she just wanted to get back to the privacy of her room in the palace.

After seeing the entrance to the palace filled with heku planning for the coronation and reception that night, Emily opted to go in the back door, and took the servant stairs up the back of the palace to the foyer. She glanced quickly down the stairs. The ground floor was full of heku hauling things into the grand ballroom. She shook her head and went into her room. When she saw no one there, she took a shower and changed into jeans and a t-shirt for the day.

Emily stepped out of the room as she pulled on her riding gloves and looked up when she saw someone.

“Oh good, you’re back,” Chevalier said. He was still holding Alexis, and she had pieces of egg in her black ringlets.

“I’m going to work on that mustang,” Emily said.

“Have you reconsidered about tonight?” he asked as Alexis played with the Equites insignia on his cape.

“No, I’m not going,” she told him again.

“Then come down and meet some of the Coven Leaders. They are anxious to meet you,” Chevalier held his hand out for her.

“I’d rather not. If you need me, I’ll be out in the corral,” she said, and headed back down by the servant’s stairs.

Chevalier took Alexis into the bedroom and quickly changed her out of her nightclothes. He swung by Allen’s room and took both of them downstairs to meet the coven dignitaries. They all wanted to meet Emily, too, but she had been elusive to non-palace heku since her trip to Paris, and no one quite knew why.

Emily watched the mustang for a bit. He’d been in the bridle and saddle for two days straight, and as she slipped through the wooden fence, he watched her carefully.

“I wish you’d let me do that,” Mark said, leaning against the fencepost.

“What fun is that? Besides, I thought you liked to watch me fall on my ass,” Emily said, holding a treat out for the mustang.

“Yeah, that is amusing,” Mark laughed.

Emily was glad that the mustang was now used to the heku. It made her life easier because she never seemed to make it out to the corral alone. She wasn’t sure if they were hoping to catch her when she got bucked off, or if they hoped to catch sight of her falling. Ford sat beside them, watching with interest.

Emily saw Mark cringe when she put her foot in the saddle and swiftly pulled herself up onto the mustang. Before she’d set her other foot in the stirrups, he began to buck wildly and she held tightly to the saddle horn. It was only a few seconds before Emily lost her handhold and flew off of the horse. She landed hard against the ground and rolled under the fence, out of the way of the angry horse’s hooves.

Emily lay on the ground looking up at the blue sky. She saw Mark’s face appear above her and she felt Ford’s warm, sticky tongue run up her face.

“That was your back, not your ass,” Mark said, and grinned, then put a hand out to help her up. “Ever think that he could be a lost cause?”

“I like lost causes, haven’t you noticed?” Emily said, and crawled back through the fence. She was able to walk back up to the mustang and she rubbed his neck for a bit. Just before trying again, Emily heard laughter from the fence and looked over as Silas joined Mark.

Taking a deep breath, she put her foot in the stirrup again, and hoisted herself up onto his back. She froze when the horse didn’t move, and she was afraid to even breathe. The mustang let out a loud whine and began to kick and twist. Emily’s death grip on the horn was stronger, and she held on until he began to slowly calm down. She patted his neck softly when he finally stopped bucking.

Emily pressed her feet slowly into his side and suddenly flew out of the saddle and landed hard up against the fence. She looked over and the mustang was staring at her from across the corral.

“See… that was your ass,” Mark said from behind her, laughing.

“Do you just bleed easy or do all mortals do that?” Silas asked, amused.

Emily took a large piece of horse droppings in her gloved hand and turned, keeping it away from the heku. She threw her arm back and then sent it flying toward Mark and Silas. Because of her bad aim, they both accidentally ducked right into it, and it splattered across their green cloaks.

Emily grabbed another hand full and scrambled through the fence, taking off running for the palace doors. She heard the heku as they blurred past her just before she rounded the corner for the doors, and they stopped and turned to face her.

Emily stopped and watched them. She held her hand up, ready to throw. Ford was weaving in and out between them.

“Traitor,” she said to the Border collie.

“That… was disgusting,” Mark said, grinning evilly.

“That… was deserved,” she replied, smiling.

“What are we going to do about it?” Mark asked.

“I’m thinking…” Silas answered, grinning. He took a step toward her.

“I’m warning you, get back,” Emily said.

“Water?” Mark asked.

“Water,” Silas said, nodding.

“No!” Emily screamed, and let her hand fly, pelting them with the horse droppings. She turned to run, but didn’t make it even a step before her feet left the ground as she was thrown over Mark’s shoulder. Ford began to jump and nip at her feet.

The heku laughed as they headed for the small stream on the other side of the palace lawn, but froze suddenly as they rounded the corner by the doors. Mark gently put Emily down on the grass, and she spun quickly to see what had stopped them. As she turned, she took in the sight of over thirty heku staring at them, and she stepped quickly behind Mark.

Emily cringed when she heard Chevalier laugh, “Might as well come out, Em, they’ve seen you.”

Emily emerged from behind Mark, overly aware that she was covered in dirt, and had blood dripping down her right shoulder from one of her falls.

“Ah, so this is the elusive Emily,” one of the Coven Leaders said, smiling.

Emily nodded and pulled closer to Mark.

“I take it the breaking-in didn’t go well?” Chevalier asked, amused.

Emily shrugged.

“Why don’t you two go get changed, you smell awful,” the Elder told Silas and Mark. They nodded and laughed as they blurred away, leaving Emily standing out by herself. She blushed as she felt all of them watching her.

“Are you bleeding, Child?” one of the Coven Heads asked her, concerned.

She nodded and cleared her throat, “If you… will… please excuse me.”

He nodded, and Emily turned and ran to the service entrance at the side of the palace by the stables. She didn’t stop until she was safely in her room with the door locked. She stripped off her gloves and shirt, and turned to look at her shoulder in the mirror. It wasn’t cut badly, and only had a small amount of dried blood that had trickled out.

She turned when she heard a knock at the door.

“Yes?”

“It’s me,” Chevalier said, his voice still amused.

Emily walked over to the door and unlocked it, stepping back out of the way so no one in the hallway would see her.

Chevalier shut the door and turned to her, “That was… well… interesting.”

Emily sighed, “Sorry.”

He laughed, “Don’t be sorry. It’s not often coven dignitaries get to see the palace guards covered in horse feces or the fabled Winchester looking so guilty.”

“Why are they even here? Last year they tried to kill you all,” Emily said, slipping on a clean shirt.

“Not these ones. These are the covens that stood behind us.”

“Ahh”

“So now that you’ve met them, there’s no reason you can’t go to the coronation.”

“Where’s Alex?”

“Damon has her. He’s introducing her around, and she’s having a ball. She… isn’t shy,” Chevalier said, and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m not shy,” Emily said, and sat by the empty fireplace.

“No, just elusive.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Chevalier nodded, “I know, and I won’t ask you again. I would like for Allen and Alex to go though, it’s important for us to be open with them.”

Emily nodded, “That’s fine. By the way, don’t get mad at Mark and Silas for being… stinky.”

Chevalier laughed again, “I won’t. It was obvious what happened.”

Emily sat down with a book to eat dinner alone in her room. The coronation was under way, and she could hear the sounds of hundreds of the elite Equites gathered below her in the grand room. She glanced again to make sure her door was locked, and then started to eat. It had been a while since she’d eaten dinner alone, but preferred it over three hundred heku watching her every move.

Emily sighed and looked around after dinner. She was tired of reading, and nothing was on TV. She decided to take a bath and then go to bed early. She wanted to have another go at the mustang in the morning, and it would help her sore muscles relax. She sat in the tub for almost an hour as she read more of her book. Once she was entirely pruned, she got out and threw on one of the pink satin nightgowns, and then climbed into bed. She rolled over and looked at the ceiling, not quite ready for sleep.

Emily sat up suddenly when she noticed the entire palace was quiet. She frowned, wondering what would cause that many heku to fall completely silence. She knew that by now, they would be in the reception hall.

Unlocking the door, Emily peered out into the hallway and listened. She heard mad voices coming from the reception hall, and she stepped out to the floor’s foyer to listen better.

Emily’s heart missed a beat when a mad voice yelled, “Where is she?”

“We’ll kill one of the Council very ten minutes until the Winchester is brought to us,” another voice said.

Emily cringed and ran down the stairs, her bare feet padded softly on the tile. Having explored the palace numerous times before, she knew a back way that would take her behind the curtained stage of the reception hall. She stepped silently onto the stage and peeked through a tiny opening in the curtain.

Emily watched carefully, taking in what was going on in the reception hall. The council members were being restrained at the far end of the room, though she couldn’t see Chevalier or Damon. The guests were all sitting along the walls while angry heku in gray cloaks watched over them. She felt her anger rising when she saw a Valle holding Alexis, while another restrained Allen as he struggled to get away.

Emily didn’t care how mad her actions would make Chevalier, she had to do something. They were holding her children. Stepping through the curtain onto the stage, Emily balled her hands into fists and yelled toward the Valle that was speaking.

“Looking for me?”

The Valle turned toward her and hissed, his teeth showing menacingly, “Get her.”

“I don’t suggest that,” Emily said, narrowing her eyes at the few heku who headed toward her. They stopped and turned to look at their Commanding Officer.

“She can’t kill us all, now get her,” he ordered.

“Last warning,” Emily said, and they stopped again nervously.

“Shhh, it’s us,” Emily heard Mark say from behind her. She felt two heku move to her sides, but didn’t take her eyes off of the Commander.

The Valle laughed, “Two guards, you think that will help you? Get them all, now.”

Without taking her eyes from the Commander, the four heku that were headed for her fell to ash on the floor.

“You’ll pay for that,” he hissed at her. “I suggest you don’t do that again, or you’ll be punished for each of them.”

“Who’ll do the punishing? You?” Emily asked, and narrowed her eyes as he dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. The Valle around him stepped nervously away from him and looked up at Emily.

Emily released him and he stood up furiously, “You need to learn obedience!”

“Where’s Chevalier?”

“Oh, your precious Elder… I do believe he was the first to turn to ash. He didn’t like us playing with the wee ones,” he said, and smiled at the heku holding their children.

“I don’t see Damon,” Silas whispered.

Emily scanned the gathered heku and finally found the Valle’s Chief Enforcer, “I suggest you bring him back.”

“Who’s going to make me?” he asked haughtily.

“I will, and the next time I take your little knife, you’ll never see it again,” Emily told him, ignoring the gasps from Valle and Equites heku.

“If you touch the dagger again, I’ll drain you before you have time to so much as yell,” he hissed at her.

“Where’s Damon?”

“Yes, where is he?” the Valle asked Quinn.

Quinn shrugged and watched Emily. He no longer fought against the heku restraining him, there were too many.

“Seems he decided not to join this little party. I do hope he’s not dead,” the Chief Enforcer said, laughing.

Quinn and Maleth both turned around suddenly when they felt the restraining hands release. They glanced at the ground and then to Emily.

“Stop it! You have no idea who you’re messing with,” the Valle said angrily, when he saw the ash at the feet of the Equites Elders.

Emily felt a hand press against her lower back, supporting her. She wiped away the trickle of blood running down her lips and ignored the way her head began to pound.

“Emily, Stop,” she heard Damon whisper from behind her. “We can get them another way.”

“I know exactly who I’m messing with. I’m messing with a coward, one who desires something he’ll never get. A coward who attacks without provocation and one who doesn’t have the balls to come after a mortal woman by himself,” Emily said, clenching her jaw.

The Valle’s growl echoed through the silent reception hall, “How dare you speak to me like that.”

A brief scream stopped as suddenly as it had started and the rest of the Council found themselves no longer restrained.

“Sixty-five down,” Emily said to him.

“Emily, that’s enough,” Damon said, worried. “Let us take it from here.”

“I swear to you, you will pay for that,” he snapped at her.

“Will I pay for…” ten more Valle heku fell, “Those?”

“Yes, you will,” he growled.

“Maleth, take the baby,” she said, watching the Commander.

“Don’t give her up,” the Valle officer yelled. He watched in horror as the heku holding Alexis turned to ash just as Maleth reached out to take the baby. He caught her quickly and held her tightly to him, returning to where the Council stood.

“Seventy-six,” Emily whispered.

“We still outnumber you… and you, my Dear, are slowing down,” the Valle officer said, smiling.

“I don’t have to ash you all... just you…” Emily said, pointing at the Chief Enforcer, “And you…” She then pointed at the Commanding Officer.

“Rules of war etiquette, Child. The Commanding Officer and the Chief Enforcer aren’t to be harmed,” he said, still smiling.

“Those are the rules?” Emily asked Quinn.

Quinn nodded nervously.

“We mortals have a better rule… All’s fair in love and war,” Emily said as the Chief Enforcer for the Valle turned to ash.

“Such atrocities… we should have expected no more from a weak mortal. I’m amazed how you swear your allegiance to, and are willing to die for a faction that uses you like a purebred bitch.” The Commander smiled when he saw that he’d struck a nerve.

“Why are you here tonight?” she asked him, her eyes were glued to his.

“To bring you back to the Valle.”

“So you can turn me?”

“Perhaps. We have the infant now. You are no longer necessary as a mortal,” he said, and looked at Alexis.

Emily let her temper flare and over a hundred of the Valle fell to ash, their empty clothes scattered across the floor. She fell back a step, but a supporting hand held her up.

“What good would turning me be?” Emily asked, ignoring the fierce look in his eyes.

“Has no one told you?” he asked, grinning.

Another hundred of the Valle turned to ash before him. Now that the Equites outnumbered the Valle, the remaining Valle were restrained. The Commander, however, was still locked in conversation with Emily.

“Tell me.”

“Emily, come on,” Mark said, and he tried to pull her back away from the curtains, but she stood firm.

“Rumors… all speculation about what it would mean to have a heku Winchester,” he said, watching her loathingly. “Some say she would be the most powerful heku ever, with the ability to not only destroy but to revive at will. Some speculate that those who turn her would be granted her abilities. Others… believe it would end the bloodline.”

Emily frowned. She hadn’t heard most of this.

“Give the Equites time. Now that they have their child heku, and an infant Winchester heir, next they will find out which, if any of those are true,” the Commander said.

Hundreds of screams rose from the Valle as they burned slowly from the inside. The smell of burning flesh filled the air before they fell as ash against the floor.

“You’re growing tired. You can’t keep this up,” he said to her.

“I am so tired of the Valle and the Encala. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” she screamed. She felt not only the supporting hand on her back, but strong hands on her shoulders.

“We will never stop until we get what we want.”

“You’d rather every one of your faction turned to ash before you’ll grant me the peace that I deserve?”

He nodded.

“Fine… then so be it,” Emily said, and she lowered her head slightly as the hundreds of remaining Valle began to scream and clutch at their chests. The stench of burning flesh was sickening as a smoke filled the air. Emily concentrated harder. Her head was pounding, and she could feel blood trickle from her ears as she let her hatred for them flow until they fell to ash as a wave swept through the now silent hall.

“You watch, one day, you will pay for this,” the Valle Commander said, his voice was tense and fearful. He was the last Valle standing in a room full of Equites.

Emily sunk to her knees, still watching him. She tried to turn him to ash, but couldn’t muster up the fear or anger anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to stop the pain. She felt strong hands lay her against the wooden stage.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed, not caring who it was.

Emily managed to pull herself to her feet, using the wall as support. She heard loud noises behind her, the murmur of the Equites, and the screaming of the lone Valle as he was taken into custody by the elite guards. Her mind swam. The things around her looked familiar, but far away, as if they didn’t belong.

“Em,” she heard Chevalier say from behind her, but she jerked away from him when he touched her.

Emily saw a heku holding the baby and she stumbled over to them.

“Don’t touch her,” Emily said, and took Alexis from Quinn. He looked at Chevalier, but Chevalier’s attention was on Emily.

“Come on,” she said to Allen, and he followed her, too afraid to do anything else.

Emily finally made it to the garage, very much aware of the hundreds of heku gathered in the hallway to watch her. Their eyes were filled with concern and confusion, yet still amazed at what they had witnessed. They could smell fresh blood coming toward them, and most turned away or stepped outside to get away from it. Those who watched her saw the whites of her eyes turning blood-red.

“Where are you going?” Chevalier asked as Emily climbed into the Durango and sat the baby in the passenger seat. She reached out to start the car, but the keys were gone.

“Montana,” she whispered, and then looked around the floor for the keys, confused.

Taking Alexis, Emily stepped out of the Durango and almost fell as she moved into Quinn’s Zonda C12 F. Allen crawled into the passenger seat and held Alexis when she handed the baby to him. Again she couldn’t find the keys.

“Emily, no car in here has keys,” Chevalier said as he saw the last of the heku guards moving away from the garage with the keys in their hands.

“I’ll walk,” she whispered, her words slurred. She got out of the Zonda and slowly stumbled toward the doors, leaving Allen and Alexis in the passenger seat of Quinn’s car.

“You can’t walk to Montana,” Chevalier said, and took her arm to steady her. He then glanced at the others, “She gets confused if she ashes too many.”

Emily fell to her knees, grabbing the side of her head. It was pounding too loudly to hear anything, and her vision was like looking through a long tunnel. Voices were distorted and sounded more like angry growls.

Chevalier picked her up, ignoring the way her weak hands pushed against him.

“Let me go,” she whispered.

“Ok,” he said, and then carried her inside. The heku split to form a path between them, and lowered their eyes as a symbol of respect.

“I said don’t touch me,” she mumbled, her words almost unintelligible.

“Ok,” he told her again, and started up the stairs.

“Montana”

“I know, you’re walking to Montana,” Chevalier said, and then kissed the top of her head.

The faction doctor met them in their room. He already had an I.V. set up, “Same as last time?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t kill as many as last time,” Chevalier said as he laid her down on the bed.

The doctor took out a stethoscope and began to check her over as she pushed at his hands. He sighed when he looked in her ears and saw the fresh blood pooled in them.

“So?” Chevalier asked impatiently.

“Let’s let her rest on her own and see if she can pull out of it. The confusion and slurred speech make me nervous. I’d like to see her blood pressure go up, and some clear thought process,” the doctor said as he easily removed her hands as they gripped his wrist.

Chevalier met her gaze after she tried to slap him. He cradled her face lovingly in his hands and told her to sleep.

He kissed her hand and laid it by her side and then pulled the covers up. Allen ran in and pushed his Dad angrily. He turned around and looked at his son, shocked.

“What did you do to her?” Allen asked, growling.

“We’re just helping her sleep,” Chevalier said softly, and glanced at Emily.

“She wanted to go to the ranch. You promised you wouldn’t stop her,” Allen said, with rage and emotion beyond his years.

“This was different, she’s sick.”

“She’s not sick! What did you do?” Allen hissed.

Chevalier picked up Alexis and nodded at Kyle, who took Allen away as he kicked and screamed.

“Elder?” Damon said from the doorway.

Chevalier turned to him.

“The Valle Elders are requesting an audience within the next six hours,” Damon told him. “They want to… apologize for the behavior of this coven.”

Chevalier looked at him, irritated, “Apologize?”

“Yes, a formal apology for the unsanctioned actions of the Valle.”

“I don’t want to see them.”

“They insist that you and Emily are present,” Damon said, and glanced quickly at Emily.

Chevalier growled, “Fine, I’ll be there. Tell them Emily is too mad to talk to them right now.”

Damon nodded and left the room.

Chevalier looked at the doctor, who was deep in thought.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

The doctor shook his head, “I was just wondering if she would agree to an EEG or MRI of her brain before, during, and after she’s turned a heku to ash.”

“I can tell you right now she would never go for that,” Chevalier said as he sat on the bed and took her hand.

“It could tell us a lot. Maybe even teach us how to stop the aftermath.”

“I’m sure it would.”

“With the bloody nose and ears, I’m afraid that one of these times, she’s going to have a stroke,” he told the Elder.

Chevalier nodded, “The problem is getting her to stop doing it.”

“She saved us tonight,” he said softly.

Chevalier sighed, “I look forward to hearing what happened. I saw one of them take Alexis, and the next thing I knew, Damon was reviving me.”

“It was…” the doctor looked at him warily, “Magnificent. We hear about her abilities, but to see them… how she can talk to one heku, and turn hundreds of others into ash simultaneously is amazing.”

“We have it on security camera,” Maleth said from the door.

“We do?” Chevalier asked, surprised.

Maleth nodded, “Yes, I’m having the tape pulled now. I want to watch again. I couldn’t see a lot of what was happening.”

“If I might be so bold as to talk about her while she’s not able to respond…” Quinn said from behind Maleth. “I believe had she not been there tonight, the Council would have been wiped out.”

“How did that many Valle get in without a single warning?” Chevalier asked, frowning as his mind wrapped around the possibilities of what might have happened.

“It’s also too much of a coincidence that they chose to attack when most of the city’s defense is away fighting at the Powan skirmish,” Quinn added.

“We aren’t sure, but I can promise you, we’ll find out and it won’t happen again,” Zohn said as he walked into the room with the rest of the Council.

“Mama mama mama,” Alexis said, extending her hands out for Emily.

“Shhh, she’s sleeping,” Chevalier said, and kissed her on the forehead.

Alexis frowned and then pressed a finger to her lips, “Sssss.”

Chevalier nodded and she smiled at him, exposing her only teeth, the four front ones. He pulled her into a hug and felt her small hand pat his shoulder. No one noticed that Ford was pacing in front of the bed until Alexis reached out for him.

Chevalier set her down and she walked slowly to the Border collie, and held onto him with a handful of hair. She smiled at the dog, her dimples and a head full of black ringlets gave her the ability to melt even the heku’s volatile hearts.

“Call me when she wakes up,” the doctor said, checking her pulse.

Chevalier nodded and watched as the doctor left.

“We’re ready,” Damon said from the door, and the Council all filed past him. Alexis stumbled over to him and held her hands up. Damon picked her up and kissed her fat cheek, a gesture normally uncharacteristic for the heku, but they found that the beautiful child had broken all of what they believed of themselves.

Chevalier and Damon were the last to sit in the Council chairs, and Alexis was on Damon’s lap, playing with a pen from the table.

The Council watched as the security tape replayed, starting from when the Valle first flooded into the reception hall. They watched, entranced, as Emily appeared on the stage to the left side of the screen. The chamber was perfectly quiet except for the recorded voices of the Valle commander and Emily as they spoke. Chevalier frowned when he saw the look on Emily’s face when the Valle commander commented on how the Equites treated her like a ‘purebred bitch’. The replay ended just as Emily fell back behind the curtain.

“What’s the total?” Damon asked, still watching the blank screen.

“She wasn’t able to completely ash the Commander, so 529,” Zohn told them.

“Is she ok?” Maleth asked Chevalier.

He shrugged, “She’s killed more, but she still got confused afterwards and has a severe headache. Now we just wait to see how she is when she wakes up.”

Maleth nodded, “We owe her a great debt.”

“We just have to make it so she doesn’t have to do it again. The toll on her body is too great,” Quinn said as he pictured the confused look on her face when she couldn’t get out of the garage.

The Council all turned toward the doors when they were told that members of the Valle Council had arrived.

“Send them in,” Quinn said sternly.

Four members of the Valle Council, including Elder Jeaniel, came in with no guards, a common symbol for peace.

They bowed before the Equites Council, another sign that they were trying to make amends.

“Why have you asked us here?” Maleth asked them coldly.

“Where is the Lady? We asked that she be present to hear this,” Jeaniel asked.

“She is quite upset by the happenings tonight, and has retired early,” Quinn told them.

Jeaniel smiled and nodded, “We have come here to apologize for the misguided attempt by one of our covens to contact Lady Emily.”

“Contact?” Chevalier asked. “You mean kidnap.”

The Valle Elder cringed, “Perhaps, we have not yet spoken to their leader.”

“I find it hard to believe that this wasn’t sanctioned,” Damon said skeptically.

“It was in no way sanctioned by the Valle Council!” Jeaniel calmed herself, “Again, we are here merely to apologize for the behavior of that coven.”

“Very well,” Maleth said.

“Now, may we have our Chief Enforcer?” Jeaniel asked hesitantly.

“That all depends. It seems to us that your Enforcer has defied the Council,” Chevalier said angrily.

“Yes he has, and he will be dealt with.”

“Then you may have the dagger, but we will keep the ashes,” Damon told them.

“Did… did the Lady take the dagger?”

“No, she did not,” Damon said, grinning. He still thought it was funny that such an ancient rule was broken by the naivety of a mortal.

“Very well, we will take it and replace him as a show of goodwill,” the Valle Elder said.

The Valle council members nodded and left, meeting their guards in the hallway, they headed out to their waiting helicopter.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use some time alone with the Commanding Officer,” Chevalier said, standing up.

“I think I’d like to get my hands on the former Chief Enforcer,” Damon said, and hurdled the desk, landing softly on the trial room floor.

Chevalier and Damon headed down to the prison to try out a new addition to their Interrogation chamber.

***

Emily opened her eyes slowly and watched the ceiling as her eyes adjusted. She felt a fog over her mind from the long sleep, but it was slowly clearing.

“Good morning,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“What happened?” she asked quietly. Her head hurt badly and talking made it worse.

“First, how is your head?”

“Is it smashed in?” Emily whispered, and covered her eyes with her arm.

“Feels like it, huh?” he answered, slightly amused.

“There were Valle.”

“Yes”

“They had Allen and Alex.”

“Yes, but we have them now, they never left the palace.”

“I was pretty mad,” Emily said, and she fought to remember what happened.

“I would imagine you were.”

“Are you mad?”

Chevalier smiled and touched her cheek softly, “No, I’m not mad.”

“Did I get them all?” she asked, looking up at him.

“You left one, but he’s been dealt with.”

“Damn, my head hurts,” Emily said, sitting up slowly. The doctor handed her two pills and some orange juice, and she took them without even asking what they were.

As Emily’s eyes adjusted, she frowned and looked around the bedroom at the flowers, balloons, teddy bears, and gift baskets that lined one entire wall, “What’s that?”

“You have some supporters,” Chevalier told her, and looked at the gifts again.

“Supporters?” Emily asked, and then laid back down.

“The coven dignitaries that would have died had it not been for you.”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“I’m not, sadly.”

“I’m pretty hungry,” Emily said, and looked over at the doctor.

“Yes, please eat.” He smiled.

Emily sat up when the tray was delivered and grabbed the cheeseburger first thing and started to eat. She looked up self-consciously when she noticed the two heku were watching her.

“Can I help you with something? Why are you watching me eat?”

“Sorry, we’re overdoing it again aren’t we?” Chevalier asked, and then stood up to talk to the doctor at the door.