Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (46 page)

“
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.