Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (23 page)

“Still…”

Chevalier put his hand gently on her arm,
“It’ll be good for him to have a coven. It’s not safe for a heku to
live alone.”

“I thought you were going to help me find
Dain,” she reminded him.

Alec sighed, “Allen’s here now, and it’s been
three months. I recon he’s just sulking and will come back when
he’s ready.”

Emily hugged her uncle tightly, “I don’t want
you to leave.”

“I know, but this is good. We’re not enemies
now, so I can visit whenever I want.”

She finally pulled away from him, “Do you
need help moving?”

“No, I’m all ready to go, and Roca has
already sent a truck for my things.”

Kyle shook Alec’s hand, “Tell Lord Fritschle
hello from me.”

“I will,” Alec said, and then smiled at Emily
and crawled into a truck.

Emily watched him drive off and took a deep
breath, “I don’t want him to go.”

“Roca’s a good coven. They’re new to
agriculture though, so Alec will be a huge help with that,” Kyle
explained.

“I think he needs to be needed,” Chevalier
told her.

“I know… it’s just…” Emily stopped talking
and kept watching where the truck had disappeared into the
city.

“Elder, Lord Jeffs is here,” Kyle said.

Chevalier nodded, “We’re headed in for a bit.
Why don’t we go riding later?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she mumbled, and then walked
to the stables when Kyle and Chevalier headed inside. She walked
slowly through them and looked in at the horses. Some of the older
ones were retired now and were being replaced by the racing horses
that Thukil was producing. She checked to make sure they were all
taken care of, and then grabbed her phone when it rang.

“Hello?” she said, unsure who the strange
number belonged to.

“It’s me,” Dain said, sounding tired.

“Dain! Where are you?”

“I need to keep away from Dad for a
while.”

“I’ve been so worried about you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I just wanted you to
know that I’m ok.”

“You haven’t called me for three months?!”
she screamed. “I thought the Valle had you, or…”

“I’m ok. Dad and I just don’t see eye to eye,
and it’s getting old. I’m going to explore the world and see what’s
out there.”

“It’s dangerous for a heku to be alone…”

Dain chuckled, “That sounds like something
Dad would say.”

“Yeah… he did a few minutes ago. Can I keep
this number?”

“Yes, call me when you want… and Mom, if Dad
ever hurts you, I want to know.”

Emily sighed, “He doesn’t do that and hasn’t
in years.”

“He will someday. His temper is bad, and I
don’t really trust him with you.”

“Come back and let’s talk.”

“No, I don’t want to be in the same city with
him.”

“You won’t stop calling me right?” Emily
asked.

“I promise I won’t,” Dain said, and then hung
up. She looked down at her phone, wishing he’d call back. After a
few minutes, she headed inside to tell Chevalier that he’d
called.

Derrick smiled when he saw Emily approach,
“Do you need to see the Council?”

She shrugged, “Is Lord Josh in there?”

“Jeffs, and yes, but I’m sure you can go
in.”

Emily studied him silently for a moment.

“What?” Derrick asked, his smile fading.

“How many heku a day do you kill when they
try to run?”

His eyes grew wide, “Do what?”

“I saw you kill a heku that tried to run from
the Council. How often do you do that?”

“I… don’t… Go on in,” he said as he opened
the door.

Emily just shook her head and walked in. She
frowned slightly when she saw a large heku standing before the
Council alongside a smaller, lanky man.

Lord Jeffs looked back at her and bowed
slightly before turning to the Council, “That’s all we can
ask.”

Zohn nodded, “We’ll have them there within
the week.”

Emily watched the smaller man beside the heku
and thought it odd. She’d never seen a heku this small before and
figured he was only about 5 inches taller than she was.

Chevalier smiled when he saw her, “Em, come
meet Lord Jeffs.”

She jumped slightly at her name and then
smiled and stepped forward, “It’s good to meet you.”

“An honor,” Lord Jeffs said, bowing
slightly.

The man beside the heku watched her closely,
and when she looked at him, he smiled and bowed.

“Lord Jeffs is Coven Lord of a coven in
Hawaii,” Zohn explained.

“Oh, you’re a long way from home.”

He nodded, “Yes, on important business.”

“And who are you?” Emily asked, extending her
hand out to the man beside Lord Jeffs.

He took her hand and shook it weakly, “I am
Gaston.”

“He’s Lord Jeffs’ familiar,” the Chief of
Staff said.

Emily’s eyes narrowed and she drew her hand
away from him, “You’re a familiar?”

“Yes,” he said timidly.

“What’s your form?”

“My natural form is a cat.”

“Em?” Chevalier asked, standing slowly.

Before anyone knew what she was doing, Emily
lunged at the man and knocked him back to the ground. He let out a
small yelp and then turned into a cat and scurried toward the door,
with Emily in hot pursuit. She kicked at him until Chevalier picked
her up gently, even though she squirmed to get out of his
grasp.

Lord Jeffs was too stunned to react, so he
watched, afraid to intervene with a Council member involved.

Chevalier chuckled, “Em… not every familiar
is like Sam.”

Gaston turned back into the thin slight man
and turned to her angrily.

“I don’t trust him,” Emily said, and tried
again to get away from Chevalier.

“Most familiars are very trustworthy,” he
said, heading up to the Council stand with Emily clutched tightly
in his grasp.

“Are you ok?” Zohn asked the familiar.

“Yes… nothing more can be expected from
her.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning… she killed a familiar for doing his
job.”

“He was spying on me!” she screamed.

Lord Jeffs hissed at the man, who immediately
turned his eyes to the ground.

“Do not judge her,” Kyle said to him. “He
lied and deceived her.”

“Then his master should have been punished,
and not him,” the familiar said. Though he looked down timidly, his
voice held anger.

“Enough,” Lord Jeffs growled, and his
familiar fell completely silent.

“We will call you when the shipment has
arrived,” the Chief of Staff said. Lord Jeffs simply bowed and then
walked out, followed by his familiar.

Kyle turned and grinned widely, “That was
some tackle.”

“I can’t believe you let him in here!”

“Lord Jeffs is a very good Coven Leader and a
strong supporter of this Council,” Quinn told her.

“Not him! The familiar… they should be
banned.”

“Not every familiar is like Sam.”

“How many in the faction have a
familiar?”

Chevalier looked over at the Records Keeper,
and he shrugged, “Last count was only 223.”

“In the Equites?” Emily asked, surprised at
the high number.

“Yes, we don’t keep track of mortal
familiars.”

“Wait… mortals can have a familiar?”

“Yes, though they don’t know it,
obviously.”

She sighed, “I just don’t like them.”

Chevalier chuckled and took her hand. Emily
looked over at him, “Oh wait! I forgot to tell you. Dain
called.”

“What did he say?” Chevalier asked
calmly.

“Just that he was ok and can’t live near
you.”

“That’s his choice.”

“You aren’t worried about him?”

“No”

“You told Alec it’s not safe for a heku to
live alone though.”

“Dain is stronger than Alec.”

She frowned, “How can you not be worried
about your own son?”

“Because he’s an adult and can fend for
himself.”

“You are so frustrating!” She didn’t yell,
but it was obvious she was completely irritated at him.

“Em… it’ll be good for him to get out in the
real world and find out that he’s not special.”

Emily frowned at him, “He is special.”

“No, he’s no different than any other
heku.”

“He’s special because he’s your son! Oh my
God, Chevalier.”

Chevalier glanced down at the watching
Council, and then turned back to Emily, “Let’s talk about this
later.”

“You’re damned right we’re going to talk
about this later!” she said before standing up and storming out of
the council chambers.

When Chevalier looked over at the Council,
they all suddenly turned toward the trial area and pretended they
didn’t see the small argument. It wasn’t until the last trial for
the day was over that anyone said anything.

“Do you need suggestions on how to handle
Emily?” Zohn asked.

Chevalier looked irritated, “I think I can
handle this.”

“Just because she hasn’t pushed you in a
while, doesn’t mean Dain’s sudden departure won’t cause it to
return,” Kyle said. “I’d feel better if I was there.”

“We don’t need a chaperone.”

“No, but you have to admit at times you need
a mediator.”

“For now it doesn’t matter,” the Chief of
Defense told them. “Lady Emily is out with the Cavalry.”

“Do you want me to go up there and talk to
her?” Kyle asked.

“No,” Chevalier said bluntly, and then
disappeared from the room.

***

“It’s stupid,” Emily said, watching the heku
out in front of her.

They were facing each other with a chain
strung between them, hanging from their middle fingers. They were
pulling as hard as they could, trying to get the other to fall
forward. Devia was at the horse’s feet, watching with
curiosity.

“It’s not stupid,” Silas told her.

“Why are you even up on the hills to do
this?”

“We were in training when the two heku began
to argue about strength.”

“So they just decided to try to rip their
fingers off?”

“They won’t lose a finger,” Mark said, amused
at the odd face-off of the two heku. Both were still tugging hard
at the chain with their fingers.

“He’s bleeding though,” Emily replied as
blood dripped from the finger of one of the heku.

“Ok, so maybe they’ll lose a finger.”

“So stop them.”

“Naw, they’re fine.”

She sighed and watched them, still trying to
figure out how an intelligent species could come up with such a
brainless test of strength.

“Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you come up here
for a reason?” Kralen asked, finally looking over at her.

She shrugged, “Not really, just trying to get
away from the Elder.”

“The Elder?”

“Yes… that annoying Elder, who sometimes
pretends to be a father.”

Mark cringed, “What happened?”

“Dain called…”

“He did?! Where is he?”

“He wouldn’t say. He just called to say he’s
ok, and that he can’t live with Chevalier.”

It was never a good sign when Emily called
Chevalier by either his title or his full name. Mark, Silas, and
Kralen quietly discussed whether they were able to ask more
questions to try to help, or if their interference was a breach in
protocol.

Getting irritated with the discussion, Kralen
looked over at Emily, “What did the Elder say to that then?”

Mark glared at him.

“He doesn’t care! How can he not care about
his own son off in the middle of nowhere alone?”

“He does care… just…”

“No he doesn’t.”

“Let’s go out tonight.”

“Where?” she asked, looking at him from under
the low brim of her cowboy hat.

“I don’t know… can we, General?” Kralen
asked.

Mark was still frustrated with Kralen and
huffed slightly, “We’d have to clear it with the Council.”

“Since when?” Emily asked, pulling her horse
around to face Mark.

“Since the three top ranking members of the
Cavalry would be out in the mortal city with the wife of an Elder,
while a lunatic is running around feeding carelessly,” he told
her.

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“Of course you aren’t.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked,
getting mad.

Silas came to Mark’s defense, “It just means
that you often don’t see things that we consider dangerous.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Fine… then we’ll just see
how one top ranking member of your Cavalry will do out in the city
with the puny mortal wife of a grouch.”

“I’m not taking you alone,” Kralen said
quickly.

“Why not?”

“It’s against protocol.”

Silas smiled suddenly, “Besides… you’re not
mortal.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Define mortal?”

She just looked at him, “No.”

“You’re an immortal now, proven when you
returned from the dead.”

Emily kicked her horse into a walk toward the
city, “Come on, Kralen. You can hit the donor bar, and I’ll get
some egg rolls.”

Kralen looked over at Mark, who started after
Emily, “He’s not going into the city alone with you.”

Emily mimicked what Mark had just said. They
all had a sudden flashback of how she used to be before she began
agreeing to do what the Council asked.

Wanting to put a stop to any rebelliousness,
Mark caught up with her, “Do you want to talk about the Elder
thing?”

“No, I want Chinese food.”

“Then the three of us will go.”

Silas and Kralen caught up while Horace
watched over the fighting heku.

“Fine, but no talking about the old pain in
the ass.”

Mark smiled, “Deal.”

Emily glared at him, “You think this is
funny?”

“No, not at all. What I find funny is how you
talk about an Elder.”

“He’s not my Elder.”

Silas chuckled, “It doesn’t matter. It almost
makes my heart stop when you say something against him. Normally,
you’d be killed for it.”

“You can’t kill me. I'm immortal, remember?”
she said as she slid off of her stallion. She reached down and pet
Devia before putting her horse away.