Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (104 page)

“
Says who?” Chevalier
asked. “What makes you think we keep her around just for her
abilities?”

“
Why else do it? She’s a
mortal and can hold no value… of course… she does produce valuable
children, so I see another reason,” Sotomar said.

Chevalier rolled his eyes.

“
Emily has many traits and
qualities that the heku lack and we’ve found ourselves, as an
entire faction, becoming quite drawn to her and I, myself, do not
want to see her go,” Quinn said.

“
So you are telling me if
tomorrow she loses all of the inherent abilities and can no longer
produce children, that you would keep her in the palace?” William
asked.

“
Yes, we would… and to be
honest, I think Emily is a pain in the ass that could use a really
good punishment, but yes, we would keep her,” Zohn said, and
glanced at Chevalier.

Sotomar threw his hands up,
“Why?”

“
It’s nothing you would
understand. You would need to first care about Emily, and then get
her to care about you. It would change your world,” Quinn said, and
grinned.

“
I say we kill Emily and
keep the children,” one of the Encala said.

Chevalier stood up, his hands balled
into fists.

“
He didn’t mean that,”
William said, and glared at the other Encala Elder. “Please, sit,
he’s just mad.”

Chevalier glared at him and sat
down.

“
When did our species
become so infatuated with this mortal?” Sotomar said, partly to
himself. “I have a high-ranking member of my council that thinks
he’s in love with her, and often leaves for weeks at a time to try
to find her, himself.”

“
If you would stop
kidnapping and torturing the child, then you would know,” Quinn
said. “It doesn’t take long for the heku to become infatuated with
her. Yes, part of it is her scent, that can’t be denied, but the
other part is just Emily, her personality, her temper…”

“
Her looks?” William asked,
and grinned slightly.

Chevalier glared at him.

“
So we are agreeing to her
terms?” Sotomar asked, and looked around the table.

“
As Equites, we agree,”
Quinn said. The Equites decided before they arrived that if the
other Elders were present, Quinn would speak for the entire faction
because of Chevalier’s involvement with Emily, and Zohn’s dislike
of her.

“
Yes, fine,” William said.
“The Encala agree unless we can, somehow, agree to share the
children?”

Chevalier shook his head,
“No.”

“
Fine, then, yes, the
Encala agree.”

The hour was almost up, and
the Elders decided to wait quietly for Emily so as not to bring up
any hostile issues that could scare her away. She came back exactly
on the hour, and Alexis ran off to color while Emily came to the
table.

She sat down between
William and Sotomar again, “Have you made a decision?”

“
Yes,” Sotomar
said.

“
Let me have it…
Valle?”

“
Yes, we agree,” Sotomar
told her.

“
Equites?” Emily asked, and
looked at Quinn.

“
Yes, we agree.”

“
Encala, then?”

William nodded, “Yes, we agree
also.”

Emily smiled, “Good, then
it’s settled, and the agreement is in place. I will even grant you
a grace period of one month to alert your faction, and get things
settled. During this first month, I will ash anyone I see that may
be after me. So mark your calendars, one month from today, and the
agreement is in effect.”

The Elders all nodded.

The Equites Elders waited
while the Valle and Encala left the building. When they were gone,
they turned back to Emily.

Emily smiled slightly, “So, how’s it
going?”

“
Do you have any idea how
worried we’ve been?” Quinn asked, frowning.

“
Yes, I think I
do.”

“
This is… quite some stunt
you pulled,” Zohn told her.

Emily nodded and looked nervously at
Chevalier.

Quinn stood and took
Alexis’ arm, “Come, let’s find some ice cream… Zohn?”

“
I don’t want to go get ice
cream,” he said, irritated. Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him
from the room.

“
Two months, Em?” Chevalier
asked, his voice hurt.

Emily nodded, “I’m sorry, I had
to.”

“
Not a single word even?”
She noted an angry tone growing in his voice.

“
Please, don’t be mad. I
had to force a change.”

“
Without a single
word?”

Emily looked down at her
hands, “I’m sorry. But you left me alone for two months too, during
the trial. Consider us even.”

Chevalier stood up angrily,
“Are you running off again or are you coming to Council
City?”

Emily looked into his eyes,
“Am I welcome back in Council City?”

“
Of course you are. Though,
I am guessing I still don’t get a choice in the matter,” he said,
and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Emily leaned her head on
the table and started to cry. Her worst fears were coming true. She
hoped Chevalier would see why she had done this, but she was afraid
he would be furious and it would cause a rift between them. She
wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around her. It had been a
long and lonely two months.

Emily looked up suddenly when she felt
a hand on her shoulder.

Quinn sat down beside her, “He’ll get
over it. He’s had a very rough two months.”

“
Well join the club. I had
to do this,” Emily said, almost pleading.

“
I know, and he will too. I
wish you could see how hard he tried to find you, and how every
phone call you could see it flash in his eyes that he thought it
might be you.”

Emily nodded, “I don’t know where to
go.”

“
Come back to Council
City.”

“
He doesn’t want me
there.”

“
Yes, he does. I’m certain
he will see that what you have done will benefit all of the
factions.”

“
Maybe I should just stay
away for a while, let him calm down.”

“
I’m not putting up with
his grumpy self if you decide not to come back,” Zohn said, and
leaned against a wall beside them.

“
Zohn, he doesn’t want me
back. That was obvious,” Emily told him, and he avoided looking at
her tear filled eyes.

“
Yes, he does,” Zohn said,
and glanced quickly toward the door.

Emily looked toward the
door, but it was still shut.

“
Em…” Quinn said, frowning.
“Your scent… it’s not right.”

“
I lost the baby,” she
said, watching her hands.

“
Fly back with us. You’ll
see things are different tomorrow,” Quinn said, changing the
subject. This was something he thought she should be telling
Chevalier.

“
I have the Jeep here,”
Emily said. “Take Alexis back. She’s missed her Dad. I’ll be there
in a couple of days.”

“
I could bring the Jeep,”
Zohn offered.

“
No, really, he doesn’t
want me there,” Emily said, and pulled her suitcase from behind a
curtain.

“
Let me get that…” Quinn
said, but Emily shook her head and hauled it outside. Quinn and
Zohn followed her out and glanced at Chevalier as he watched from
the other side of the room.

“
She’s going to drive back,
go with her,” Quinn whispered to Chevalier.

“
No, let her drive alone,”
he whispered, and picked Alexis up off of the floor.

Zohn walked over to Chevalier as Quinn
and Emily stepped out into the hotel’s parking garage.

“
You’re being stupid,” Zohn
said calmly.

Chevalier frowned, “Excuse
me?”

“
She did the right thing.
No one’s ever come so close to a peace agreement between the
factions. You can’t stay mad at her.”

“
Watch me,” Chevalier
growled.

“
I have, and it’s pathetic
how miserable you’ve been over a mortal. Now you’re going to let
her drive for two days by herself,” Zohn said, and looked over at
the door.

“
Let’s go,” Chevalier said,
and headed for the rental car that would take them back to the
helicopter.

Quinn joined them after a few minutes,
“You’re an idiot.”

Chevalier threw his hands
up, “What is up with you two?”

“
You’re an idiot,” Quinn
said again, and pulled the car out into traffic.

“
It’s none of your
business… either of you,” Chevalier hissed, and looked out the
window.

“
Where’d Mommy go?” Alexis
asked, and looked behind them.

“
She’s coming in the Jeep,”
Quinn said, and smiled.

“
Mommy tries,” Alexis said,
faking a sad face.

“
Your Mommy tries what?”
Quinn asked.

Zohn sighed, “For heaven
sakes. She said her Mommy cries.”

They drove for a few minutes in
silence.

“
You have two days to calm
down or you risk losing her forever,” Quinn said.

“
If that’s what she wants,
then so be it. I don’t have a say in it,” Chevalier said
angrily.

“
Two days,” Quinn said
again, and turned into the small airport where Equites 1 was
waiting for them.

Chevalier grabbed Alexis
from the car and carried her to the helicopter. She had a tight
grip on his neck as he buckled in and waited for Quinn to get the
checks over so they could take off.

“
Fine, let’s say you don’t
take her back, then what?” Zohn asked.

Chevalier frowned, “I didn’t say I
wouldn’t take her back.”

“
You’re sure acting like
it. She’s out there driving right now, trying to decide if she’s
even welcome back in the city,” Zohn said, and crawled up front
with Quinn just before the helicopter took off.

Alexis tightened her grip
on Chevalier and yelled into his ear, “Is Mommy toming?”

“
Yes,” he said, and wiped a
black ringlet off of her face.

“
Is Allen at home?” Alexis
asked.

“
Yes”

“
Is he miss me?”

“
Of course.” Chevalier
smiled.

Quinn landed the helicopter
on the roof of the palace just after dark. A stream of guards came
out of the doors and made a path to the helicopter from the door.
Quinn powered down the Blackhawk and stepped out.

Alexis was asleep in
Chevalier’s arms as he carried her into the palace.

“
So, where is she?” Kyle
asked, and touched Alexis’ hand softly.

“
Who knows, probably out
doing whatever it is she wants to do,” Chevalier said, and handed
Alexis over to Silas.

“
Let’s go, the Council
wants an update,” Zohn said from behind them.

The rest of the Council was
eagerly waiting for them in the council chambers. The Elders sat
down, followed by Kyle, who was still trying to get someone to tell
him where Emily was.

“
So, tell us,” Kyle said
anxiously.

Zohn grinned, “It was quite
interesting. It was the Elders from all three factions, together,
at one table.”

The new Chief Interrogator
frowned, “That seems dangerous.”

“
Not when your host can
turn you to ash if you get out of hand.” Quinn laughed, “She
actually got everyone to agree to a type of cease fire.”

“
Cease fire?” Kyle
asked.

“
Yes, the three of us had
to agree to leave her alone, or she threatened to disappear. The
whole month we searched for her was to prove that she could
disappear forever,” Quinn explained.

“
Like we ever had any doubt
of that. Did she really get the Valle and Encala to agree to leave
her alone?”

“
Yes, believe it or not.
They decided that her terms would be met.”

“
What terms?” Kyle asked
skeptically.

Quinn chuckled, “She stays
with us, but agreed never to help us in battle.”

“
Damnit, we’ve been trying
to get her to do that for ten years,” Kyle said, and shook his
head.

“
They agreed to stop trying
to kidnap her, and she agreed to leave them be and let them
rebuild. If anyone breaks the agreement, she takes Alexis and
disappears… forever.” Quinn frowned slightly.

“
What? We can’t let her
disappear if the Valle or Encala do something stupid,” the Chief
Interrogator said.

“
You don’t know Emily yet.
If she decides to disappear, then there’s nothing we can do,” Kyle
told him.

“
She is coming back here
now. If she stays, remains to be seen,” Quinn said, and glanced at
Chevalier. He hadn’t said a word, but was glaring at the far
wall.