Chapter 19 - Revenge

“One more lap and we’ll call it good,” the heku said from beside the pool. Emily’s arms shook as she struggled to make it another lap across the pool. She’d been working with a Physical Therapist that Chevalier drummed up out of Canada. In the three weeks since her rescue from the Ferus, she’d spent two of those in the company of the stern heku.

Mark, Jaron, and two other members of the Cavalry stood inside the pool room and scrutinized everything the therapist did. For no good reason at all, they didn’t trust him, and any time Emily was in pain, they would hover over the therapist until he nervously changed what she was doing.

Emily stopped at the edge of the deep end and rested against the side of the pool, panting. Her back wasn’t hurting as much lately, but the laps in the pool made it ache for a few hours.

“Good job today!” the heku said, and stood up. “Want to get into the hot tub?”

“No,” she panted. She’d refused to get into the hot tub since she got back, and no one pushed it.

Mark reached down and helped Emily up out of the pool, steadying her with his hand when she swayed slightly. After swimming that many laps, her legs were shaky.

“Go get something to eat and I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, and left Emily alone with her guards.

“Go get something to eat,” Emily said, mimicking the heku.

Mark grinned, “It’s not just you, none of us like him.”

“He’s a pain in the ass. Why won’t Chev send him home?”

“Because the Elder thinks he’s doing some good.”

“Yeah, well let Chev do ninety minutes of hard laps,” she said, and reached for her phone when it rang. “Hello?”

“Emily, it’s William… are you alone?”

“No,” she said, and glanced up at Mark.

“Please call me when you are,” he said, and hung up.

“Who was that? Didn’t say much,” Mark mentioned.

“Wrong number… let’s go,” Emily said, and slipped on a robe.

“They aren’t awake yet.”

“I don’t care,” she told him, and slowly limped out of the out-building. Mark and Jaron walked alongside her as the other two guards fell in behind. All of the heku were suspecting that Silas and Kralen weren’t going to wake up. They weren’t dead though, and talks were set in motion for their retirement, to see if a few hundred years of rest would help them wake up.

She took the stairs slowly, using Mark’s arm as leverage. The heku were all trying to decide how to hint that they carry her up the numerous flights of stairs, but they knew she would refuse. When they got to the floor with the infirmary, she stopped in the foyer and waited until she could catch her breath.

“Ok, wait here,” she told them, and went into the infirmary and shut the door while guards waited in the foyer.

Emily walked over and slowly sat down on the chair beside Silas. She could see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and was somewhat comforted by that, “Silas?”

He didn’t respond or move at all. She took his hand in hers, “Silas, please wake up. I’m sorry I did this to you.”

She studied his face and kissed his forehead lightly before standing up and sitting down on the side of the bed Kralen was lying on.

“Kralen, please wake up. I’m sorry,” she said, and took his hand. She watched him sleep for a few minutes and then moved to a chair where she watched them sleep for almost an hour.

She looked up when there was a knock on the door. Mark poked his head in, “Dinner’s ready, you still want to eat in the dining room? We’re a lot closer to your room.”

“No, the dining room is fine,” she said, and checked Silas and Kralen again before leaving. She suffered through the pain it took to walk back down the stairs, but smiled when she saw Alexis and Dain already seated.

“Do I have to, Mom?” Alexis asked, looking down at a plate of lasagna.

“Yes, you do,” Emily replied, and sat carefully.

“Owie?” Dain asked.

She smiled, “Sort of… drink up.”

Alexis gagged down her spaghetti while Dain took one of his sippy cups, and they all began to eat together.

“Mom, I miss Allen,” Alexis said between bites.

“I do too,” she said, and felt the familiar hole in her heart, made by her missing son.

“Can’t we go see him?”

“Soon, I promise.”

Alexis nodded and finished her small bowl of spaghetti, then reached over to help Dain. Afterwards, Alexis and Dain went to watch a movie while Emily headed up to her room, telling her guards she wanted to lie down. Once she was alone, she moved to the back of her room and returned the phone call.

“William here.”

“It’s Emily,” she whispered.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes”

“This is private, and we’d appreciate if you didn’t share any of what we’re about to tell you.”

“Ok,” she said, not sure she wanted to hear.

“The Encala have obtained a list of every known Ferus coven location.”

She gasped, “You did?”

“Yes, the other factions know we have it, but the alliance was terminated before we gave out copies.”

“So why tell me?”

“We want to exterminate them… the Encala do, with you.”

Emily glanced toward her door, “The Equites wouldn’t like that. I’m not supposed to ash anymore.”

William chuckled, “So is that a no?”

“No, it’s not… what are your plans?”

“Can you still slip out of the palace unnoticed?”

“Yes”

“Out of the city?” William asked.

“Yes”

“Good, next Friday night, meet us at your old Durango at 1am… can you do that?”

Emily thought, “Yes, I think I can.”

“Please, don’t mention this to anyone.”

“Oh, I won’t. If I do, they’ll stop me.”

“We’ll see you then,” William said, and hung up.

Emily sat on her bed and laid back, deep in thought. She felt the need to get revenge on the Ferus, not just for the Yisolatara, but everything they’ve done. The Equites made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t to turn anyone to ash, except for emergencies, and asked that they be allowed to handle the Ferus situation on their own.

The Encala’s offer sounded intriguing. If they could go coven to coven and wipe out the Ferus without the Equites knowing, then she could handle it without angering the Council. Her back was still touchy, any wrong turn would send painful stabs down into her legs and render her incapacitated for days. If the Encala were there with her though, she could merely wipe out some of them, and let the Encala handle the rest.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Chevalier whispered from the doorway.

Emily jumped slightly at the sudden voice and smiled at him, “It’s probably not worth a penny.”

He shut the door and walked over to the bed, “Had to have been, you were quite deep in thought. You didn’t even hear me come in.”

“That’s because you sneak.”

“I don’t sneak.”

She raised an eyebrow, “You all sneak.”

“Maybe… so what were you thinking about?”

“Silas and Kralen,” she lied, and looked over at him.

“We’re going to have to put them into retirement soon.”

Emily propped herself up on one elbow, “No!”

“We don’t have a choice… they aren’t waking up and we hope that a few hundred years of sleep will revive them.”

“No! I did this to them. I’m not going to let you put them in the ground.”

“They wouldn’t blame you.”

“I don’t care, you aren’t burying them alive.”

“What do you want us to do with them?”

“They aren’t hurting anyone sleeping in the infirmary.”

“They wouldn’t want to stay in there.”

“No,” she said sternly, and frowned.

Chevalier sighed, “The Council is talking about it.”

Emily slowly stood up and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To talk to the Council.”

“Em…” Chevalier said, and followed her as she slowly made her way down to the fourth-floor.

“I need to see the Council,” Emily told Derrick. He glanced at Chevalier and then opened the door.

“Go on in.”

Emily walked into the trial area and stood before the Council while Chevalier took his seat.

“Good to see you,” Quinn said, and smiled.

“I just have a message for the Council.”

“Go ahead,” Zohn told her.

“If Silas and Kralen are put into retirement, I’ll ash the entire Council.”

Dustin gasped, “What!?”

“Emily!” Chevalier growled.

“That’s a promise,” she told them, and turned to leave.

“Wait… you can’t just threaten the Council and leave,” Zohn told her, still shocked at what she said to them.

Emily sighed and then turned to face them, “What else is there to say?”

“Retirement is our way of protecting them.”

“Retirement is your way of sweeping them under the rug.”

“That’s not true,” Quinn said.

“I’m not going to let you bury them.”

Mark came into the trial area after being called by the Dustin.

Emily glanced at him, “He’s not going to change my mind.”

Dustin stood up, “He’s not here to change your mind. He’s here to protect the Council.”

Emily smiled, “Mark is going to keep me from turning you all to ash?”

“What?” Mark growled, and turned to Emily. “Why would you do that?”

“Simple… if they bury Silas and Kralen, I will ash the Council.”

“So now you can consider yourself in custody,” Dustin growled.

“No… she’s not,” Chevalier and Quinn both said.

“She threatened the Council, that’s grounds for death,” the Chief of Staff reminded them.

Emily crossed her arms and looked at him, “You going to kill me?”

“No, I was merely saying that being in custody is calm compared to what normally happens.”

“I suggest she return to the island and be kept there under house arrest,” Dustin said, and sat back down.

“Try it, Toto,” Emily yelled.

“Stop it!” Quinn growled, and then his face calmed and he faced Emily. “Before you decide to do away with the Equites Council, why don’t you just let us explain why this is best for them?”

“No, burying someone alive is never the best… if it were up to me, we’d go dig all of the retirees up immediately.”

Quinn smiled, “That would make a lot of heku very mad.”

“Custody or not… do it and burn,” Emily said angrily, and then walked out, followed by Mark. Three other guards fell in behind her, no longer guarding her, but set to protect the Council.

 

***

Emily rode through the dark trees, heading toward the Durango. It was harder at night. She hoped if she got lost, that the Encala would find her. It wasn’t hard to slip out of the palace. They thought they were keeping a closer eye on her since she threatened the Council, but putting city guards on her was a big mistake.

After a few minutes of wandering in what she thought might be the wrong direction, she finally gave up and called out, “William, I’m lost.”

“Starting to wonder,” Frederick said from just behind her.

“Sorry, I’ve never done this in the dark,” she explained, and pulled her horse around to follow him. She was further from the Durango than she thought. When Frederick joined William and Aaron by the Durango, Emily slid off her horse and tied it to the fender.

“We appreciate you coming,” William said, motioning for her to sit in the Durango. When she sat down, Aaron handed her a warm blanket.

“No problem, your offer is intriguing.”

“I’ll tell you what we propose, and you can add what you’d like. First off, we want to hit covens away from Council City at first. We don’t mind the factions knowing the Encala are going on a killing spree, but we’d rather not let anyone know that you’re involved.”

Emily nodded, “That would be my preference also.”

“Because the Ferus covens are so large, and we’ll be limited by transportation… we’ll need the numbers evened up a bit before we can go in without risking any Encala lives.”

“So I ash a few and then you all take over?”

“Yes, we know that you’re limit is about 400 before you require more than a full night to recover.”

Emily grinned slightly, “Nothing’s secret, eh?”

“No, not really,” William chuckled. “So after we wipe out a Ferus coven, we’ll return you to a home… we’ll purchase one if we need to. We don’t want to overdo it and risk hurting you, so we’ll space things out, making sure you’re completely recovered before going after another. In this manner, we hope to be done in just over a year.”

“When do we start?” Emily asked.

“Do you have anything to add?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“What is done to aid in your recovery after a mass slaying?”

“Sleep, they just let me sleep.”

Aaron nodded, “We’ll contact you with a location where we can start.”

“Any Ferus factions by Savannah, Georgia?” Emily asked.

“Yes, there are three,” William told her. “Why?”

“I have a home there, a plantation. No one would think twice if I was to go visit for a few weeks, and Chev has promised me no Equites guards when I’m there.”

“That’s perfect. We can do a trial run and make sure you recover easily.”

“I’m on house arrest right now,” Emily said. “So I’ll be ready to leave in the morning.”

“Why are you on house arrest?”

“I threatened to turn the entire Council to ash if they put two of my friends into forced retirement.”

“The two sleeping guards?” Frederick asked.

“Yes”

William grinned, “Did you really threaten them?”

“Yes, I did. So I’m not allowed to leave… no better time to head to Georgia.”

“We’ll be ready… when you get to Savannah, let us know, and we’ll arrange the troops. We have two large covens near there we can elicit for help,” William told her.

“You better get inside before you catch pneumonia,” Aaron told her.

Emily handed the blanket back and smiled, “Thanks… this’ll be fun… maybe we’ll do the Valle next.”

William chuckled as she got onto her horse and disappeared into the night. She rode into the stables, fully aware that someone was in there as she’d turned the lights off when she left, and they were back on.

“Do you want to explain where you’ve been?” Chevalier asked angrily. The entire Cavalry was gathered. They were headed out to find her.

“No, I don’t,” she said, and slid off her horse. One of the members of the Cavalry took the stallion to put him away for the night.

“What would possess you to go out in the middle of the night in freezing temperatures?” Mark yelled.

“None of your business,” she told him, and headed for the door. Chevalier grabbed her arm and flung her around to face him.

“Where were you?”

“Out riding,” she told him. “I needed to think.”

“Alone? At night?”

“Yes, some of us actually think at night, too.”

Chevalier began to drag her into the palace.

“Stop it!” she yelled at him.

“No, I’m going to personally make sure you get in bed and stay there.”

“No, I have other plans.”

He didn’t speak until they got into the room and he threw a nightgown at her, “Get ready for bed.”

“No,” she yelled, and threw the nightgown onto the dresser. “I told you, I have other plans.”

“Get in bed,” he growled.

“No”

“Stop telling me no… now get in bed.”

Emily sighed and pulled out her suitcase and began packing.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to Savannah, and it damned well better be heku free and remain heku free for my stay,” she told him, and zipped up the suitcase.

“Don’t leave, not now,” he said, calming some.

She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, “I’m taking Dain, and we’ll be back in a week or so. The threat still stands, so I suggest you keep Silas and Kralen above ground.”

“Em, it’d help the Council a lot if you’d abide by the house arrest.”

Emily reached up and kissed him softly, “I’ll be back in a while.”

“Don’t go, please, the Council needs to talk to you about the threat.”

“Stop making me talk to the Council… You’re my damned husband, and I’m talking to you only… no more Emily vs. the Council,” she yelled. “Alexis! Bring me Dain.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Get away from heku and get some rest… no Council, no Physical Therapists, no guards, nothing.”

“Just take Mark.”

“No,” Emily told him, and took Dain’s hand.

“Then wait an hour and I can go.”

“No, it’ll be good, everyone can stand down and relax,” she said, and smiled.

“Yeah because we’re all relaxed when you’re alone,” he growled.

 

***

 

Emily, dressed in head-to-toe black, peered around the cement wall. Frederick and the Encala’s Chief Enforcer were with her along with a coven of 800 Encala heku.

Frederick whispered, “Just 350 if you can… we’ll get you back and William’s waiting at your house with Dain.”

Emily nodded and replied, “Clear the gate and get me inside so I can see better.”

Frederick motioned for the coven army and they descended on the front gate guards and quickly took them out.

“Go,” Frederick whispered.

Emily stood up out of her crouch and took off running for the Ferus compound. As soon as she stepped inside, with the Encala behind her, the city alarm sounded and Ferus flooded out of their homes. She concentrated and easily took out 350 of the enemy, then stumbled back slightly and felt a strong hand supporting her.

The Encala moved, en mass, into the Ferus coven and Emily could hear the sounds of heku fighting as someone picked her up. She fell asleep as she was blurred back.

“How did it go?” William asked, taking Emily from one of the guards.

“Easy enough. I’m imagining they’re done by now,” the guard said, bowed, and then left.

William laid Emily down and covered her with a blanket. He gently washed the blood from her nose with a warm rag and then waited for the others to return. Before dawn, he shut the heavy curtains and sat down on a chair to wait for her to wake up. Dain stayed on the floor playing with the two dogs.

He looked up when there was a knock on the door and Frederick came in, smiling, “Simple.”

“The entire coven, then?”

“Yes, all gone. Emily turned 350 to ash and put us on a more even playing field. They’re all dead now.”

“So next we can try one a little bigger.”

Frederick nodded, “I’d say so. There’s one nearby that’s 1200. If she can take out 400, then we’ll be good.”

William nodded and watched her sleep.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“What is?” William asked.

“Sleep”

“Yes, it is… she doesn’t sleep peacefully though. She’s quite restless.”

“Have you considered damage control, for if the Equites find out?”

“I don’t think it’ll be us that needs saved,” William explained. “I think it’ll be her that’s in trouble, and if she needs a safe haven, we offer it.”

“You’ve fallen for her.”

William frowned, “I have not.”

They both fell quiet and watched for 26 hours until she woke up. She opened her eyes and looked around the room until her eyes fell on them, “What time is it?”

“4am,” William whispered. “Can we get you anything?”

“Juice and ibuprofen,” she said, and sat up. She pulled Dain off of the bed next to her and cradled him in her arms. “How did it go?”

Frederick went to get what she asked for, so William could give her an update, “It went well. You took out enough that we didn’t lose anyone.”

“Good, so we go again tonight?”

“I’d like to wait a few days, until you’re feeling all the way normal.”

She grinned, “It’s just a headache.”

“If we go tonight, it’ll get worse, and then we’ll be no better than the Valle.”

Frederick came back in and handed her two pills and juice, “Anything else?”

Emily smiled briefly before taking the pills.

“What?” William asked.

“I was just thinking how livid Chev would be if he knew I was housing a few hundred Encala.”

“That he would be.”

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t find out.”

Frederick changed the subject quickly, “The next Ferus outpost by here is about 1200 heku.”

“How many do I need to clear out?”

“400 should do it.”

Emily nodded, “Ok… leave so I can get some sleep.”

“Shall we take Dain?”

“No, it’s… hold on,” she said, and grabbed her phone. “Hello?”

She grinned, “Hi, Chev.”

William grinned.

“No, I’m ok, just a headache.”

Frederick heard a noise downstairs and left the bedroom.

“Yes, lots of rest, I promise.”

She nodded, “I promise, ok, love you.”

Emily hung up the phone and put it on the bedside table.

“If you need anything, just call,” William told her, and left her alone to get some rest.

 

***

 

“Good morning,” Chevalier said, and kissed the tip of her nose.

She wrapped her arms around him, “Good morning to you, too.”

“We need some help in the council chambers.”

“Is that a ruse to get me to come talk to the Council?” she asked, and sat up.

Chevalier chuckled, “No, the Valle and the Encala are here to talk about attacks on the Ferus.”

“Tell them I’ll come down when I’m more awake.”

“Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes, why?”

He studied her, “Just lately there’ve been days when you don’t get out of bed.”

“I’m getting old, what can I say?” Emily told him, and started to get out of bed. “I’ll be right there. See if someone can scrounge me up some coffee.”

“Ok,” Chevalier said, and watched her disappear into the bathroom. He blurred back down to the council chambers and sat down. A servant delivered coffee just before Emily arrived and sat at her chair with the Council.

“Thank you, Emily. We were worried this could turn nasty,” Zohn said.

Emily nodded and put her feet up on the desk, leaned back, and sipped her coffee.

“I don’t see why we brought in Emily. She’s threatened to turn this Council to ash,” Dustin growled.

“We aren’t going to bury Silas or Kralen today, so I think we’re safe,” Quinn said, and grinned slightly.

“It’s ok, Scooby. If I do it, I’ll ash you first so you won’t worry about the others,” Emily said, and took another sip.

“How dare you!” Dustin yelled, and stood up.

“Sit down, she was kidding,” Chevalier sighed.

Dustin sat back down angrily and yelled for Derrick, “Let them in.”

The three Encala and the three Valle Elders all came in and stood with their factions in front of the Equites Council.

“Good to see you, Emily,” Sotomar said, and smiled.

Emily ignored him and studied her coffee. She was afraid to look at the Encala. Any wrong glance could let the other Elders know that she’d spent a lot of time with them over the last few months.

“Why were we summoned?” William asked.

“It was actually because of the curiosity of this Council and the Valle Council,” Chevalier told him.

“Ok… curiosity about what?”

“About how you’re able to take out so many Ferus over the last four months, when we are all aware you have very low numbers.”

“There’s no law about taking out the Ferus. I don’t see as though this should be an issue,” Frederick said, starting to get irritated.

“No, we’re not at all mad about their slow extermination. We are more concerned about how you are doing it,” Sotomar told him.

Encala Elder Aaron grinned, “We have our ways and it’s nothing illegal.”

“How then? Enlighten us.”

“No, it’s not any of your business how we have grown a strategic advantage.”

“Strategic advantage?” Quinn asked.

“Of sorts, yes,” William answered.

“How many Ferus strongholds have you destroyed in the last 4 months?” Valle Elder Ryan asked.

William smiled, “We’ve completely wiped out twelve of them.”

“As Valle, we’ve managed four, and we are stronger. How are you doing it?”

“Again, we don’t wish to give away our secrets… We may need to use it on you someday,” William said, and grinned.

“Is that a threat?” Sotomar growled.

“Calm down, that didn’t sound like a threat to me,” Emily told him.

Sotomar glanced at Emily and then back to William, his voice now calm, “It just seems to the Valle and the Equites that you may have some type of weapon that could be beyond what is allowed by this species.”

“We don’t, rest assured, we are breaking no laws,” Frederick told him.

“To gain a tactical advantage then, why not tell us so we can assist in exterminating the Ferus?” Zohn asked.

“No, we do not wish to divulge our methods.”

“Have there been Ferus attacks on the Encala?” Chevalier asked.

“No, they are leaving us alone,” William replied.

“Then why are you doing it?”

“I saw what was done to Emily, and consider her a friend. We won’t stand for a Valle mistake to cause her harm.”

Emily smiled slightly and set her coffee cup on the desk.

Sotomar’s eyes flared, “They are trying to butter up the Equites to form an alliance!”

“As have you, so calm down,” Emily told him.

“No I will not calm down… if the Encala think for one second that they can align themselves with the Equites to fight the Valle, they are gravely mistaken.”

“No one’s said anything about forming an alliance with the Encala,” Zohn told him. “But Emily is right. You’ve both tried to turn her to your side.”

“It’s preposterous if the Encala think they can befriend her and win an alliance,” Valle Elder Ryan snapped.

“Excuse me?” Emily said, irritated. “I don’t want in on this little…”

She stopped when the trial door suddenly flew open and Silas came in, enraged, “Where is Exavior?”

“Silas!” Emily yelled, and stood up.

“Where is he?” Silas growled, and stepped toward the Valle.

“Silas…” Chevalier said softly.

Emily ran down to the trial area and threw her arms around him, “You woke up!”

His body was tense and he ignored Emily as he focused in on Sotomar.

“He is dead. I killed him in the Ferus’ ceremonial room when we released Emily,” Sotomar explained.

Silas pulled away from Emily and used his hand to gently lift her face to look at him, “Are you ok?”

She nodded, “I’m fine… that was months ago.”

Silas frowned and looked at the Council, “Months?”

Mark stepped into the trial area when the Council called him, “Yes, Eld… Silas!”

“General,” Silas said, and bowed slightly.

“He’s a little behind,” Chevalier said, and smiled. “Please see if you can help.”

Mark nodded, “Come, we have a lot to talk about.”

Emily hugged Silas again and then started out with the guards.

“Emily? We’re not done,” Quinn told her.

“Oh, ok,” she said, and hesitated before returning to the Council stand. She glanced briefly at William before sitting down.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Zohn told them.

“Are they all awake now?” Sotomar asked.

“No, we still have one… sleeping, for lack of another word.”

“I think that until we deem the Encala’s methods safe, they should refrain from taking out any more Ferus covens.”

“No, you don’t have the authority to order us to stop,” William told him angrily.

“As worried as I am about how they are achieving this, we cannot ask them to stop and expect them to comply,” Chevalier said.

“We can if we threaten to wipe them out,” Valle Elder Randall suggested.

“I won’t allow that,” Emily said, and glared at him.

Randall’s eyes grew wide and he took a step back.

“Calm down,” Chevalier said calmly. “They are doing better than we are at eliminating the rogue covens and I see no reason why they should stop.”

“I concur,” Zohn said, and looked at Quinn.

Quinn nodded, “Let them wipe them out. It’s for the greater good of the species.”

William smiled, “And Emily’s safety.”

“So because the Equites say it’s ok, then it is?” Sotomar yelled. “Just because you have the last remaining Winchester, doesn’t make you the supreme ruling body of this species!”

“I didn’t say it did. However, to eliminate the Encala entirely, you would need the Equites assistance and we will not give that,” Chevalier told him. “As for Emily, she would take it personally if you did harm the Encala again, and we do not control her or her actions.”

Sotomar’s eyes narrowed, “This feels like the Equites and the Encala have already joined.”

“We have not,” Quinn assured him.

“In your attacks, have you yet found out who is leading the Ferus?” Chevalier asked.

“We know it was Exavior for certain. Right now we know his second in command has stepped up, but we don’t yet know who he is or where he is located,” Frederick explained.

Sotomar shifted nervously at the mention that a Valle Elder was doubling as the leader of the Ferus.

“So now what?” Ryan asked. “We stand by and let them continue?”

“I see no reason why not,” Chevalier said. “Destroying the Ferus is for the benefit of us all.”

William smiled and risked a glance at Emily.

“This isn’t the end of this!” Sotomar said, and stormed out, followed by the other two Valle Elders.

When they slammed the door, William looked at the Council, “Will that be all?”

“Now that the Valle are gone, will you tell us how you are doing it?” Zohn asked.

“No, we will not.”

Zohn sighed, “Very well, that is all.”

Derrick appeared at the door to escort the Encala Elders out. When they were gone, Emily stood up and started to leave.

“Em?” Chevalier asked.

She turned around and saw the Council looking at her, “What’d I do now?”

“The Council is curious about what you do at night alone.”

Her eyes narrowed, “None of their business.”

“It’s just odd,” Quinn said softly, “And disconcerting, how you sneak out every couple of weeks and even hordes of Equites can’t find you… then you return and sleep for days.”

She shrugged, “I get tired.”

“By doing what?” Zohn asked.

“I wasn’t aware that my nightly activities were of any concern of the Council.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s of council concern exactly.”

“If it’s a marital concern… then I will remind you all again that I did not marry this Council… it was forced on me later, and I do not report to you,” she said, and left angrily.

Emily ran down the stairs and headed out to the stables, hoping to find Silas. She smiled when she saw Mark, Silas, and Jaron talking.

She ran up and threw her arms around him again, “I’m so sorry.”

Silas chuckled, “It’s ok, I feel fine. Just worried.”

Emily pulled away from him and frowned, “About what?”

“You, sneaking out all night.”

She grinned, “It’s nothing dangerous and I won’t stop.”

“What do you do?”

“I can’t say,” she told him, and leaned up against one of the stall doors.

“How’s your back?”

“It’s ok, I just can’t lift a lot is all.”

“And the other… cuts and such?”

“Almost gone,” she told him.

“Em?” Chevalier said from the door.

“Come on in,” she said, but didn’t move.

“Actually, I need to talk to you in private.”

Emily watched as Mark, Silas, and Jaron disappeared, “Ok, we’re alone.”

Chevalier walked in and sat on a bale of hay by her, “Not for the Council then… but for me. Why are you sneaking out?”

“I need to do something alone.”

“What?”

She walked over and sat down beside him, “I can’t say… but it’s not dangerous. It’s just something I need to do.”

“You aren’t working again are you?”

“No”

“I don’t like secrets.”

“Neither do I, so you know this has to be important.”

Chevalier nodded, “Important enough to keep from me.”

“I don’t like when you say it that way.”

“That’s the way it is.”

“It’s not bad though. I’m not having an affair. I’m not killing small children… I just need to be alone sometimes and it would be easier if the guards would let me go… I have to get more creative to slip them,” she told him.

Chevalier grinned, “We could just put Mark, Silas, and Jaron on your tail.”

“I’d still get away.”

“Is this a game to you?”

“No, it’s very serious.”

His eyes narrowed, “Now I’m nervous.”

Emily smiled, “Don’t be.”

He reached over and kissed her softly, “Promise me it’s not dangerous.”

“It’s not.”

Chevalier stood up, “I’ll be upstairs in a bit. I have one more trial for today to sit through.”

“Ok, will see you later.”

Emily watched as he left the stables and grinned when she realized she was alone. Tonight would be the easiest night yet to get away. She quickly threw a bridle on her horse and slid onto his back, then checked the lawn, and kicked him into a gallop out of the city. The way to the Durango at night was becoming familiar and she saw the Encala waiting for her.

“We half expected you to not be able to get away tonight,” William told her as he tied her horse to the bumper.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure I could. Chev threatened to put Mark, Jaron, and Silas as my guards… if he does, it’ll be a lot harder to get away.”

“How do you elude heku?” Frederick asked.

Emily grinned, “I can’t tell you that. I may need it against you someday.”

William grinned and picked Emily up, “Let’s get going. It’s a two-hour ride tonight.”

The heku quickly blurred into the city where their helicopter was waiting. Once inside, Emily changed in a separate room into all black and came back out while she tied her hair up. She sat down next to Frederick, and William started the briefing.

“This coven’s larger than the others. Emily, can you handle 400 of them?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, is that enough?”

“I don’t want to risk more,” William told her. “We have two covens helping today, as there’s probably 2,000 in this one coven. If we get lucky, it’ll be their main one and we can stop these.”

“I don’t know, they’re kind of fun,” one of the guards said, and there was a loud round of agreement.

“Speak for yourself. If the Equites find out, I’ll be locked up,” Emily said with a slight grin.

“Then come live with us. We have to be more fun than those stuffy heku.”

“They’re just… a tad… overprotective.”

“As I said, then join the Encala.”

Emily just grinned and turned back to William, “Where is this one?”

“Northern Illinois,” he said, and then paused when the pilot gave the 10 minute warning. “We’re dropping into the middle. I’ll take Emily, the rest drop in first.”

She sighed, “Seriously, I hate that.”

William grinned, “You just really hate when you can’t do something on your own, don’t you?”

She ignored him and readied for the mission. When the pilot gave the signal, the Encala began jumping from the helicopter and by the time she climbed onto William’s back, the sounds of fighting could be heard. She shut her eyes tightly and couldn’t help but scream when he jumped the thirty feet down to the ground.

William chuckled when he landed, “Em, let go.”

Emily opened her eyes and grinned slightly before crawling off. The fighting stopped immediately when the Ferus caught sight of her.

“This is new,” Frederick said, looking around at the Ferus as they fell back slowly.

She frowned, “What do I do now? They aren’t fighting.”

William shrugged, “Well… we still need to get rid of them.”

“Please, Lady Emily,” one of them said, and stepped forward. “We need you to help us.”

“Do not talk to her,” one of the Encala guards yelled.

Emily took a step back.

“Go, Emily, we can’t let them go,” Frederick told her.

She nodded and then fell to her knees after 400 of the Ferus turned to ash, and the fighting resumed. William gently picked her up and stepped out of the way of the fighting. As soon as he was sure things were going well, he blurred back to the staging location and met up with the helicopter assigned to return her. He laid her down across the seats and she immediately fell asleep. Just before arriving outside of Council City, William quickly cleaned the blood from her face.

“Emily,” he whispered, and locked her gaze once she finally got her eyes open. “You need to ride your horse back to the palace, then go inside and lie down. Tell no one what happened. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she replied.

He blurred her back to the Durango and helped her up onto the horse, then followed her into Council City, but stayed at the tree line. When she disappeared into the stables, he quickly disappeared.

“Out all night again,” Mark commented, irritated.

“Yes,” she said, struggling to put her horse away. She just wanted to sleep.

“We’ve had guards out looking for you.”

“I figured.”

“Where were you?” Chevalier growled from the stable doors.

“I was just out riding,” she told him, and leaned against the stall door when she felt like she might fall.

“I suppose you’ll go sleep now?”

“I am tired.”

He watched her closely, noticing she was slightly pale and shaky, “Out riding?”

“Yes,” she told him, and then shut the stall door. She fought to steady her walk and started for the palace, followed by Chevalier and four members of the Cavalry.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“It’s personal.”

“It’s dangerous or you’d tell me, and to be honest, I’m starting to get angry about it.”

She looked over at him when they reached the bedroom door, “Please don’t. It’s not dangerous.”

“Then tell me.”

“I can’t.”

Chevalier glared at her and then stormed off. She winced when she heard his office door slam from two floors away and then disappeared into their room to sleep.