Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (45 page)

“So other than force feeding and
guards, what else do I get to look forward to?”

“We’ll have to wait and
see. Get dressed and let’s go talk to Dain,” he said, and helped
her up. She disappeared into the bathroom with a simple, dark green
dress and then came out and looked over at Chevalier.

“You better be nice to
him.”

He smiled and looked down at how the
dress showed off some of her curves, “I will be… first though, you
weigh.”

“No!” she yelled, and took
a step back.

“You’re too thin and we
need to keep an eye on it.”

“Don’t touch me,” she
hissed, and stopped when her back hit the wall.

Chevalier blurred into the
bathroom. It was fast enough she didn’t see him leave and it
appeared to her as if the scales suddenly popped into his
hand.

“I’m not standing on that
thing,” she yelled.

Chevalier stepped on it and looked
down at the numbers.

“Fine, you weigh yourself all you
want.”

“I couldn’t care less how
much I weigh,” he said, and walked towards her.

Her eyes grew wide, “Don’t touch
me!”

He picked her up and slung her over
his shoulder, “Stop fighting.”

“Stop it!” she screamed,
and hit his back.

She struggled to get off of him when
he stepped back up on the scales.

“Chevalier, I’ll ash you!”
she yelled.

“No you won’t,” he told
her and let her down. “Em, you’re down 15 pounds.”

She glared at him, “I hate
you.”

“No you don’t. Now let’s
go see Dain.”

Chevalier tried to take
her hand, but she tore it out of his and stormed out of the room
when he chuckled. She ignored Kralen and the three other guards
when they fell in behind her as she ran down the stairs to the game
room.

“Let him go!” she
screamed, and pushed Kyle away from the massive
7-year-old.

“Did he hurt you?” Dain
growled, and turned on his Dad. His hands were balled into tight
fists and it was obvious he was ready to attack.

“Watch it, Boy,” Chevalier
hissed, and crouched slightly.

Dain crouched to match his
Dad, “When she screams at you to leave her alone, you do just that,
or you’ll have to face me.”

“You are no longer her
protector, and the faster you learn that, the easier your stay here
will be,” Chevalier hissed.

“Stop it!” Emily yelled,
and got between them with her back to Dain and her hands out to
Chevalier. “He’s just a little boy.”

“Em, let the Elder handle
this,” Kyle said, and pulled her gently by her arm.

“Don’t touch her!” Dain
yelled, and blurred into Kyle. They immediately began fighting and
Kralen quickly grabbed Emily out of the way.

“Don’t hurt him!” she
screamed, and pulled at Kralen’s hand.

The fight lasted only a
few seconds before Kyle pinned Dain to the floor with a hand around
his neck, “Never attack me, Boy.”

Kyle stood and pulled Dain up,
restraining him, facing his Dad.

“Let’s just get this out
in the open,” Chevalier told him, his hands clamped into tight
fists. “I’m first and foremost your Mom’s protector, you, Son, are
just… a Boy.”

Dain hissed at him.

“Stop!” Chevalier yelled,
and Dain’s eyes widened. “You never stand between me and your Mom.
You never get in the way of any of the Council, or the Cavalry as
far as she is concerned. Do you understand?”

“Chevalier…” Emily
whispered, and took a step forward.

Dain glared at Chevalier and nodded
slightly.

“I have a new personal
mission, and that’s to take care of your Mom like she’s never let
me before… if you interfere, I’ll have you locked up,” Chevalier
told him.

“No!” Emily
yelled.

“I understand,” Dain said,
scowling at his Dad. “But you listen to me… if you ever hurt her,
I’ll tear that ugly head from your body before you know what’s
happening.”

“Dain!” Emily gasped. She
hadn’t heard him threaten anyone before.

Chevalier grinned, “That’s my
boy.”

She frowned, “Let him go.”

Kyle let Dain go and she ran to him
and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m ok, Mom,” Dain told her, still
watching his Dad.

Emily turned suddenly and
tried to slap Chevalier, but he caught her hand, “If you hit me,
you’ll hurt yourself.”

Dain stood up straight and
pulled down his shirt, “Why were you screaming? What did he
do?”

Chevalier started to
argue, but Emily spoke, “He weighed me.”

“You screamed because he weighed
you?”

Emily glared at him,
“Yes.”

Dain frowned, “That’s it?”

“Yes”

“Did it hurt?”

“Well… no.”

Chevalier chuckled and Kyle grinned
before leaving the room.

“He’s probably just concerned because
you are too thin,” Dain told her.

“Shut up, Dain,” she
growled, and walked out of the game room. Kralen and the guards
again fell in behind her and she went down the stairs to see the
stables. She stopped at the front doors when one of the door guards
looked at her with wide eyes.

“Lady Emily!” he gasped.

“What?”

“Surprised to see you
back.”

Kralen grinned, “Your
return was kept quiet until we knew if you were
staying.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t even
know if I’m staying,” Emily told him, and walked toward the
stables.

“One thing, Em,” Kralen said as they
neared the stable door.

She turned towards him,
“What?”

“We… meaning the Cavalry…
spent the last year looking for you.”

“Ok”

“Just saying…”

Emily frowned slightly and
walked into the stables. She looked around with wide eyes at the
unkempt stalls, the burnt out lights, and dust covered surfaces.
She noticed that the horses all had fresh food and water, but it
smelled like the straw hadn’t been cleaned out in a
while.

“Who’re you?” a mean
looking heku said from the back of the stables. He glared at her
and walked forward.

“Watch it,” Kralen growled
at him, and the heku froze.

“Sorry, Sir,” he said, and
looked at Emily. “I’m in charge of these stables, and you aren’t
authorized to be in them.”

She nodded slightly and whispered,
“Ok, I’m… sorry to intrude.”

He huffed and she turned
around and left quickly. After the guards left the stables, she
jumped slightly when the door was slammed shut.

Emily heard soft whispers
from behind her, and knew that Kralen was telling someone about the
short incident in the stables. She looked over when she heard the
familiar engine and saw Mark arriving with her old Chevy pickup,
towing the purple Aero.

He stopped in front of the
palace and got out and walked over, “That pickup needs some serious
work.”

“It’s fine, thank you,”
she said, and walked over to unhook the Aero.

“Let me get that,” one of
the Cavalry said, and quickly ducked under to start removing the
tow line.

“He did what?” Mark
growled. Emily turned around and saw he and Kralen off to the side,
whispering.

She ignored them and
crawled into the pickup to pull it into the garage, then parked
next to a new black McLaren and looked around the garage.
Chevalier’s Humvee was newer and she assumed it was his new
McLaren, too. Her Ram 3500 and Rubicon were missing, and their
parking spaces were empty. One of the Cavalry pulled the Aero into
the garage and parked beside her truck.

“Em… about your Jeep…”
Mark started, but she cut him off.

“It’s ok,” she said, and
then walked back into the palace.

“No, it’s not like…”

“Mark, I really, just… don’t want to
know.”

He sighed, “The stables then, we were
all…”

“Kralen explained it,” she
told him, and started up the stairs. Dain met her on the third
floor and looked suspiciously at the guards behind her.

“Are you ok, Mom?” he
asked, and snarled slightly at Mark

Mark started for him, but
Emily took Dain’s hand and led him up the stairs, “Come on. Let’s
get ready for bed.”

The General fell quiet,
and decided to just talk to the Elder later. Emily started into
Chevalier’s room, but saw Kyle’s door was open. She peeked inside
and then walked in when she saw it had been abandoned. A bare bed
was set off to the side and the dressers were all gone.

“He moved over with the
rest of the Council,” Kralen explained. “This room was meant for
Elder Guards, but isn’t really used anymore.”

Emily nodded at him and
checked in the bathroom, where it was dark and dusty,
“Dain?”

“Yeah, Mom?” he asked, stepping into
the dark bathroom.

“Get my bags. I’ll stay in
here.”

He nodded and blurred out of the
room.

“Em, why are you staying in here? It
hasn’t been cleaned,” Mark asked.

“It has a bed and a functional
bathroom.”

“So does the Elder’s
room.”

She turned to look at
Mark, “Am I not allowed to stay here? I can go find another
room.”

“Sure you can. Let me get
a cleaning crew really quick though.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“It’s dusty and full of
cobwebs.”

“It’s fine, no use putting
anyone out,” she told him, and took her bag from Dain.

“I’ll start a fire,” Dain
said, and began to work at the long-dead fireplace.

Emily turned on the
lights, but most were burned out. Only one small bulb put out light
and she used it to dig through her bag, while the guards took up a
post outside of the door and shut it behind her.

Once Dain had a fire going, it was
easier to see and the room started to warm up, “Want me to get you
some dinner?”

“No, Baby, I’m fine. I’m
just going to go to bed.”

Emily dressed quickly in
the dark bathroom. None of the lights were working, but she still
figured it was better than one of the servant’s quarters with no
bathroom. Dain was waiting for her on the bed with the Border
collie. She smiled and sat down, looked one more time around the
room, and then laid down.

“I’ll go find you some
blankets,” Dain said, and stood up.

“No, don’t, I’m ok.”

“It’s freezing in here.”

“The fire will warm it up.
I don’t want to bother anyone.”

“I’ve heard them talking,
Mom. The servants are happy you’re back and will do anything for
you.” Dain studied her face, “Are you hurting?”

“Some, it’ll go away.”

He reached down and pulled her pills
from the bag, “Take one.”

“No, really, I’m ok,” she
told him, and shut her eyes. Dain leaned back on the headboard and
watched the fire while Emily and the Border collie fell
asleep.

***

Chevalier looked over at
Emily’s guards. They were still standing in front of the empty
bedroom, “Is she in there?”

“Yes, Elder,” Kralen
said.

He sighed, “Why?”

“I don’t know, Sir. She
just said it was better than one of the servant quarters because
Kyle had a bathroom installed.”

“It’s dirty though, and
dark.”

“She wouldn’t let me have
it cleaned.”

“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier
sighed. “I should take her another blanket I guess.”

“She doesn’t even have
one. She wouldn’t allow Dain to go find one.”

“Because…”

“Because she didn’t want to bother
anyone,” Kralen explained.

Mark appeared beside them, “Did you
tell him about the stables?”

“What’s up with the stables?”
Chevalier asked.

“Mortimer was pretty harsh
with her,” Kralen said. “I also had no idea how bad they’d gotten.
He’s not been mucking the stalls out, he’s not maintaining the
building, there are cobwebs, dust, and burnt out light
bulbs.”

“Fire him,” Chevalier
said, and opened the door to where Emily was sleeping. The guards
blurred inside when they heard a hiss, and found Dain crouched,
facing the Elder.

“Don’t do this,” Mark
whispered.

“She’s sleeping,” Dain hissed
softly.

“Back off,” Chevalier
ordered.

“No, leave her alone.
She’s had a rough day and she’s in pain.”

Chevalier stood up and frowned
slightly, “Pain from what?”

“Just go away,” Dain said.
The Border collie lifted his head and suddenly jumped from the bed
to face the heku. His hackles bristled and he growled
deeply.