Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series (24 page)

“So you’re perfectly ok with that? Oooooh sure, kill me off because someone thinks I’m a wimp? What if it’s tomorrow? What if they use me as an excuse like they already tried to?”

She pulled the sheets off the bed, wrapped them around herself, and disappeared into the bathroom, still cradling her injured hand.

“It’s not going to happen. You have to trust me on that.” He watched her go, and then dressed quickly.

A short while later, Emily came out dressed, “Why do you suppose we fight so much?” she asked, sitting down to slip on some shoes.

“I’m guessing for the making-up.”

“I’m serious, one of these days one of us is going to end up dead.”

Chevalier sighed, “I know.”

Emily got up and sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace, “What do we do about it?”

“I wish I knew.” He sat down next to her.

“Do you still love me?” she asked, watching for a reaction.

Chevalier frowned, “Of course I do.”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes, what’s all this? Are you still in love with me?” he asked, unsure what caused all of this.

Emily smiled softly, “Very much so.”

“Then why the questions?”

She shrugged, “I guess just making sure. We don’t do anything but fight anymore it seems.”

“We’ll work on it, ok? Maybe we should take the yacht out for a while.” He ran through his schedule in his mind, looking for a free week.

Emily stood up, excited, and sat in his lap, “Really? Just us?”

He looked into her green eyes and smiled, “Yes, really. As soon as we get your hand fixed.”

She kissed him and threw her arms around his neck, “Thank you.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

“Enter,” Chevalier said, and wondered who was knocking on his office door at 3am.

Anna entered with Allen in her arms, and he was crying, “Sorry to bother you, Sir. I can’t calm him down.”

Chevalier took Allen in his arms and he immediately settled down.

“What’s wrong?” he asked the toddler.

“Bu bye,” he said, waving to the hallway.

Chevalier pulled Allen close to him, and Allen rested his head on his Dad’s shoulder.

“Where’s Em?” he asked Anna.

“I don’t know. I found Allen scooting down the stairs by himself, and she isn’t in her room,” Anna said, worry sounding in her voice.

“She left Allen alone?” Chevalier frowned, that wasn’t like her.

Anna shrugged, “She must have.”

“Take Allen back upstairs. Kyle and I will see if we can find her,” he said, and handed the half asleep toddler back to Anna.

Anna left quickly before Allen could realize he wasn’t with his Dad anymore.

“Kyle?” Chevalier called, stepping out of his office.

“Yes, Sir?” Kyle asked, blurring by his side.

“Em’s gone, we need to find her,” he said to Kyle.

Kyle grinned, “Fight again and she took off?”

Chevalier frowned, “Anna found Allen coming down the stairs alone, and she’s not in her room.”

“Wait… she left Allen alone?” Kyle was beginning to become concerned.

Both of the heku headed out to the barn.

“Sam?” Chevalier called out, and the familiar quickly appeared.

“A bit late for a ride isn’t it?” he asked, yawning.

Chevalier looked around the barn and saw Patra in her stall, “Have you seen Emily tonight?”

“No, I haven’t. I take it you two fought again and she took off?” Sam asked, stifling another yawn.

“Would you both stop saying that? We don’t fight all the time,” he growled at Sam and turned, but Kyle was gone.

“Hey, Chevalier?” he heard Kyle call from outside and the heku appeared at his side.

Chevalier didn’t need to ask what Kyle called him for. He could smell the sweet blood strongly outside of the barn, “What in the hell is she doing out here?”

Kyle shrugged, “Odd that she didn’t get Patra,” he said, following the scent.

They walked through the dark pastures, following her trail for almost thirty minutes before Chevalier stopped suddenly, “Is that her?”

Kyle looked where Chevalier pointed and saw a still figure standing along the trees, unmoving.

As he blurred closer to the form, he could tell it was Emily. She was standing perfectly still and looking into the trees. Although it was a cold, rainy night, she was wearing only her nightgown and her hair fell down her back.

“Emily, what are you doing out here?” Chevalier asked.

“Em?” Kyle said, appearing by her side.

They both waited for her to respond and followed her gaze into the trees, but didn’t see anything.

“Emily?” Chevalier said, stepping in front of her and looking at her face. She didn’t move, and her eyes didn’t pull away from wherever it was she was staring.

“Em?” Kyle said again, and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“Emily,” Chevalier said louder as he put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. Her eyes were dull and unfocused.

He slipped off his shirt and put it around her shoulders. His hand brushed her shoulder and her skin was freezing.

“What’s wrong with her?” Kyle asked, watching her.

“I don’t know, but she’s freezing, let’s get her inside.” Chevalier picked her up easily and headed quickly back inside.

Kyle followed beside them. He looked over at her and she was staring blankly into the night.

“Is she sick?” he finally asked when they stepped into the warmth of the castle.

“I don’t know, I mean… she wasn’t sick earlier,” Chevalier explained and headed up the stairs.

Anna watched as Chevalier carried Emily into the bedroom and she took Allen into Chevalier’s room to sleep.

Chevalier laid Emily down on the bed and was shocked when she rolled onto her side and fell asleep. He frowned at Kyle and shrugged before pulling the covers up over her. Kyle was already stoking the fire.

Kyle motioned for Chevalier to follow him out of the room.

“Ok... what was that?” Chevalier asked, shutting the door behind him.

“That’s the weirdest thing,” Kyle said, watching the door.

“I guess I’ll just watch her carefully tomorrow. Oh damn, I can’t… I have to be in council meetings all day,” Chevalier said, thinking.

“I’ll do it. It’s been so calm around here lately it’d be a nice break,”

“Her scent is off too, close, but something’s changed,” Chevalier said, and glanced back at the door.

“I’ll watch her.”

Chevalier nodded and headed back into Emily’s room. He shut the doors and crawled into bed with her, then wrapped his arms around her and watched her sleep.

***

Kyle heard Emily get out of bed and walk around the room a bit. He and Chevalier decided not to bring up the following night unless she brought it up first. Chevalier had left a few hours before, and wouldn’t be home until well after midnight.

“Good morni…” Kyle began, but froze. Emily came out and he looked at her oddly.

She smiled sweetly at him, “Good morning.”

“You ok?” he asked her.

“Of course,” Emily said, and walked past him and out into the hallway. Her hair was hanging loosely down to her waist, and she wore a light pink sun dress. Kyle took a second look, and was sure she had on make-up, too.

He followed Emily down the stairs silently, and each heku they passed turned to take a second look at her.

“What are your plans for today?” Kyle asked, knowing she would fight him over the question, but he decided he’d take a fight over the uncharacteristic way she walked in the sun dress and ran her fingers along her necklace.

“Once I get breakfast, I thought I might take Allen to do something fun,” she said pleasantly.

Kyle couldn’t even answer. He simply followed her into the kitchen where Gordon was waiting for her.

“Good morning, Emily,” he said, and looked at her dress oddly. “I have your favorite this morning, bacon and eggs.”

“Oh no, that’s way too fattening. I’ll take half a grapefruit and some cottage cheese, please.” She sat at the table and pulled the napkin into her lap.

Gordon stopped with the plate in his hand, looked questioningly at Kyle, and then disappeared into the kitchen to make her another breakfast.

Kyle watched as Emily ate slowly, and then thanked Gordon before leaving the dining room. She ran up the stairs, and Kyle couldn’t help but watch suspiciously. Everything from the way she flipped her hair, to the way she held her hand out to her side was unlike Emily.

“Hello, my sweet boy,” Emily crooned when she saw Allen playing on the floor with Anna.

Allen walked quickly to Emily and she picked him up and kissed all over his face, “What do you want to do today?

“TV,” Allen said, and looked into Emily’s eyes. Kyle wasn’t sure, but he thought Allen had taken an extra hard look at his Mom.

“TV?” She thought, “Ok, we can do those. See if you can remember how to get there, lead me.”

Kyle frowned at the wording. He was positive something wasn’t right with Emily.

“You will both come along, right? It’d be safer if there were two guards with us,” Emily said, and headed out the door.

Anna stopped in her tracks and looked at Kyle, “She wants us?”

Kyle shrugged, “I guess.”

“I’m not technically a guard.”

“I know, just come.”

The two heku followed Emily and Allen up to the TV room and stood outside of the door until Emily asked them to step inside, just to be safe. They watched, glancing at each other often, as Emily cuddled and baby talked Allen. Allen tried to wrestle with Emily like they always did on the soft pillows, but she insisted he sit properly and watch the educational program.

“Anna, will you take Allen up for a nap? He seems tired,” Emily said, and handed the toddler over to her. Kyle thought that this was the first time Allen had ever willingly left his mother.

“I’m going to get some flowers to see if I can brighten this castle up,” Emily said, and took Kyle’s hand before heading down the stairs.

Kyle pulled his hand out from Emily’s. He didn’t need rumors to start on top of everything else.

“Why don’t we take the horses out to the north pasture? There are tons of wild flowers out there,” Kyle suggested. He was ready to get Emily out on a horse and get some of her normal self back.

Emily smiled, “It’s too smelly in the barn and I’d ruin my dress on a horse, let’s just walk, it’s such a beautiful day.”

Kyle nodded, eyes wide, and followed her out the door. She went to the closest wild flowers she could find and began picking random flowers, smelling them and smiling as she went. She talked to Kyle the entire time about how the different flowers would look in the castle and what type of furniture and color schemes they would improve.

Kyle had plenty of time to consider the changes in Emily as she spent hours rounding up vases and placing flowers throughout the castle. She talked animatedly to the heku servants, and they politely answered, but then scurried away at the first chance they got.

“I should really go get changed for the evening, when will my honey be back?” she asked Kyle as they headed up the stairs.

“Your honey?” he asked, the concern filling his voice.

“I miss him so much. I can’t wait until he gets home.” She looked up at the clock dreamily.

Emily changed quickly into a little black dress with black stiletto pumps and brushed her hair up into an intricate bun. She dabbed on some fresh lipstick and smiled at Kyle, spinning.

“How do I look?” she asked, and then giggled coyly.

“You look fine. Let’s go eat.” His eyes shied away from her. She looked more than fine, and he felt guilty at the way his eyes trailed from the hint of cleavage down to her perfectly toned legs. He knew though, that Emily wouldn’t be caught dead in that dress.

Emily sat down at the end of the dining table and ordered one of the heku servants to light the candles. Gordon came in with steak and potatoes and sat it in front of Emily.

“There you go, Emily,” he said, smiling.

“This won’t do. Please keep fat to a minimum, I’ll take a salad,” she said before handing the plate back to Gordon. “All greens, no cheese or meat, and the salad dressing on the side.”

Gordon frowned at Kyle as he walked back into the kitchen.

“If he can’t follow instructions, he’ll need to be fired,” Emily said pleasantly to Kyle.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kyle told her.

Gordon returned a few minutes later with Emily’s salad and set it down in front of her. She didn’t even thank him before starting to eat.

“What’s up?” Gordon whispered to Kyle, low enough that Emily couldn’t hear.

“I don’t know, she’s been acting strange all day,” Kyle replied.

“We sure that’s not an evil twin?” Gordon asked. He was smiling, but his eyes were worried.

“I honestly am starting to wonder if I should lock her up until we find out who she is.” Kyle was partially joking.

“If I were you, I’d think twice about that… the Chief Enforcer’s not going to be happy if you lock her up,” Gordon said, concerned. “Though, her scent is off a bit.”

“I know… but I’m not sure that’s her. You know,” he paused and then decided to continue. “We found her outside this morning around 3am. She was staring into the trees and wouldn’t respond.”

Gordon frowned, “You think there could be a doppelganger?”

Kyle smiled when Emily turned to look at him, and then turned back to Gordon when she returned to eating.

“I honestly don’t know. There haven’t been doppelgangers around since the early 12
^th
century.” Kyle hadn’t considered the possible return of the fabled body double.

“What are you going to do?” Gordon asked after watching her for a few minutes.

“I’m not sure yet, just watch her I guess.” Kyle stopped when Emily raised her hand and snapped.

“You need something, Em?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for almost ten seconds for Gordon to take my plate, that’s unacceptable,” she scoffed.

Gordon quickly gathered up her dishes and disappeared into the kitchen.