Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series (34 page)

She couldn’t help but notice the reaction of the heku as she passed. Some quickly turned their heads away from her, while others inhaled deeply and shut their eyes. She realized her blood was affecting them already.

At the foot of the stairs leading up to the platform with the Elders, the guard stopped and Emily looked up at him.

Elder Leonid stood and smiled at Emily. She watched him as he spoke to those gathered in a language she didn’t understand. The heku in the room all responded with an unfamiliar word. Maleth then stood and addressed them, and again, Emily wasn’t able to understand what was being said.

Finally, Chevalier stood and held his hand out for Emily. She picked her dress up a bit and walked up the stairs to take his hand. He squeezed her hand tightly and smiled at her. She tried to avoid turning around to face the heku, but once he sat in his chair, he motioned for her to stand by his side.

Kyle put Allen on the ground, and he ran up the stairs and into Chevalier’s lap. He hugged Allen tightly and then took Emily’s hand again. Emily stood, horrified, as everyone watched her. Some seemed mad, others confused, while still others smiled broadly. She could feel herself blushing more and she glared at Kyle as he bowed and walked out of the room. She wanted to go with him. She would do anything to get away from the eyes.

It seemed like an eternity to Emily before Maleth excused the heku and they began to file out of the room. Chevalier stood when the coronation hall was empty and sat Allen down in his chair. He took Emily in his arms and held her tightly.

“Welcome home, Em,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“We are so glad to have you here, Emily,” Maleth said, smiling.

“At least someone is,” she said, pulling away from Chevalier.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Nothing.” Her mind ran through the different emotions from the crowd of heku, from angry, to happy, to disappointed.

Leonid knew what she had seen, “It’s ok, Child, they are just not used to a mortal in the palace.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “They better watch themselves.”

Leonid broke the tension, “Why don’t you show Emily to your new room. I’m sure she’d like to get settled. I will have some dinner brought up.”

“Good idea,” Chevalier said, and then took Emily’s hand and picked Allen up with one arm.

Emily followed silently through the enormous palace. She watched the servants bow to Chevalier and eye her suspiciously. It seemed like they walked forever when he turned into a silent hallway and opened the door at the end. She stepped into a massive bedroom made up in deep purples and reds. The bed was larger than hers on the island, and the room had two fireplaces.

She let go of Chevalier’s hand and looked around. There were candles burning instead of lamps, which threw most of the room into dark shadows. She opened the first door to reveal a large bathroom, it only contained a shower. She sighed, there was no sink, no tub, or toilet. This was going to be worse than she had thought.

“I’ll have something put in that. They aren’t used to needing bathrooms,” he said, watching her.

She nodded and opened the next door and walked inside. She entered into a light blue nursery full of toys and stuffed pillows. The crib was cherry wood and matched the small wardrobe and changing table. She wondered who made this and how they thought her sixteen-month-old still slept in a crib and wore diapers.

The next door by the nursery, to her shock, was another nursery. It was decorated in light pinks and had a beautiful white bassinet and rocking chair. She quickly stepped out and looked at Chevalier.

“I didn’t tell them to put in another nursery, I swear,” he said, knowing she’d be mad at that. She always made it abundantly clear that one baby was enough.

Emily walked over to the next door. This one was a walk-in closet larger than her room on the ranch and full of clothing. She looked through them and noticed most were dresses, she sighed and closed the door as she left.

“What do you think?” Chevalier asked.

She shrugged.

He sat Allen on the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“That was humiliating,” she said, laying her head against his chest. She became irritated when he laughed.

“How was that humiliating?”

“Everyone but me was in green robes, and you didn’t tell me I had to be paraded through them. They hate me,” she said, looking up at him.

“No they don’t, they hate me. It’ll take a while before they forgive me for killing Selest,” he said, and touched her cheek softly.

“You didn’t see their eyes. Some of them seriously hate me. I could see it.” Emily pulled away from him and sat down by Allen on the bed.

“They better hope I don’t see it.” He sat down by her and took her hand.

“You can’t kill everyone who doesn’t like me, Chev.”

He grinned, “I don’t have to, just a few before they will learn.”

She frowned, “Two months?”

He nodded, “Just give me two months.”

“They don’t like mortals then I take it?”

“Some,” he admitted.

“What about the heku who live in the palace?” she hated to ask, maybe she didn’t want to know if she was in danger.

“They are devoted to the Elders. When the Elders said you were to be part of the palace, they accepted that also,” he explained.

“So no thirsty attacks?” she asked, wincing.

He laughed, “No, Em, not from the ones that work here.”

“Right,” she said, and stood up to look around again. She opened up her suitcase and took out a nightgown as Chevalier watched her.

“It’s going to be ok, Emily.”

“It’s cold in here,” she said softly to herself. When she turned to the bathroom to get dressed, she jumped as a heku appeared by the fireplace next to her.

“Out,” Chevalier hissed at him.

The heku looked up at Emily, terrified, and blurred from the room. She turned questioningly to Chevalier.

“They are anxious to make a good impression on you. They will calm down, I promise,” he explained.

“Why are they trying to impress me?” she asked curiously.

Chevalier smiled, “They are under the impression that if you don’t like them, they may be out of a job.”

She put her hands on her hips, “How is it they came to be under this impression?”

“I think Maleth may have let it slip. They are just trying to make you feel at home. They know if you are comfortable, I am comfortable, and right now, I am their worst nightmare.”

“I don’t like this,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom.

Emily slipped off the dress in the cold bathroom and felt tears well up in her eyes. The empty bathroom was scary, and the mirrors showed the vast darkness behind her. She put on the nightgown quickly and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm up. Her bathroom on the island was always warm and pleasant.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she noticed that both fireplaces were roaring and there were plates on the table. Allen was already at the table eating when she sat down. She looked at the food and suddenly wasn’t hungry. Emily pushed the duck ala o’range away and sat back to cut up Allen’s sandwich.

“What’s wrong? Not hungry?” Chevalier asked.

She shook her head.

“Where is Kyle?” she asked, looking around the room. It was too large, she couldn’t see into the dark corners when the only light came from candles.

“His room is across the hall from us. He’ll be close to you at all times,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“Tell me he’s not a babysitter.”

“He’s not a babysitter. He’s just going to help you. The palace is a lot bigger than the castle, and he can help show you around,” Chevalier said, but Emily could tell he was leaving something out.

“And to make sure no one bites me,” she said blatantly.

He growled, “They know better.”

“Do I have free run of the palace?”

He thought and nodded, “I can’t see why not.”

“Anywhere?”

“Anywhere”

“Where is your office?”

“On the third floor. Kyle can show you tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to do this,” she mumbled to herself.

“I know, Em,” he said, touching her arm. “Trust me… it’s going to be ok.”

Emily rolled onto her side and curled up next to Allen, who was already asleep.

Chevalier watched them sleep. He knew how hard this was on her and knew it was going to get harder. He wondered if he’d been rash to move a mortal into the city, a city that prided itself for millennia on being full heku. If they would get to know her, she would be ok. The other Elders already considered her more than a mortal, but the rest of the city didn’t know of her heritage, or her abilities.

Chevalier’s mind was brought back when he saw Emily sit up in bed.

“Em? What’s wrong?” he whispered into the darkness.

She didn’t respond, but stood up slowly. Her eyes were unfocussed and empty. She began to walk toward the door.

“Emily?” he asked, touching her arm. She didn’t deviate from her slow path.

He followed her as she continued out the door and into the hallway. Kyle met them there and frowned slightly, then looked at Chevalier, who shrugged.

“Em?” Kyle asked her, but she didn’t respond to him either.

Emily walked slowly toward the stairs. Her body was relaxed, and her face was emotionless as she began to descend. Emily was almost at the bottom when Chevalier took her arm and she stopped walking.

“Emily?” he asked again, but she didn’t respond. He gently lifted her up and carried her back to bed.

Kyle opened the door for Chevalier and watched as he put Emily back into bed. Not once did she say anything or respond to anyone. He covered her up and then went out to meet Kyle.

“What was that?” Kyle asked Chevalier.

“Sleep walking? Don’t mortals do that?” Chevalier wondered.

“Seems like I’ve heard that before.”

“Yeah, well, not a good thing to do here. I don’t trust these heku as much as in my own coven, and I can’t have her running around. One strong whiff of her blood and she may get attacked,” he growled slightly.

“I know, that’s what I’m here for though… don’t worry about it when she’s with me.”

“You are going to be sworn in in about an hour, which will help,” Chevalier reminded him.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Kyle said, and looked back at the bedroom door.

“Do me a favor, see what you can find on mortal sleep walking when you get the chance. There’s a library here with computers, the Internet is bound to have something useful for once,” he said. Most heku didn’t much care for the Internet, with it’s over abundance of lies and places for odd mortal fixations.

Kyle nodded, “I’ll do that now.”

Chevalier watched as Kyle blurred down the stairs and then he returned to the bedroom. Emily and Allen were both deep asleep.

A couple of hours later, Emily sat up in bed and began to walk toward the door. Chevalier stopped her before she left the room this time and sat her back in bed. Like before, she laid down and curled up without ever saying a word.

Chevalier heard Kyle approaching and blurred out to meet him. Kyle was now wearing a dark green cape which he had thrown over one shoulder. A golden crest pin held the cloak together, the signature sign of the top commanding officers of the Equites.

Chevaliers grinned, “Looks good, Captain.”

Kyle smiled, “Seems odd, but you are right, this will help when it comes to Emily.”

“Speaking of Em, she got up again.”

Kyle frowned, “From what I could gather, mortals do walk in their sleep. It’s usually a sign of stress.”

Chevalier nodded, “Ok, that makes sense then. She hates it here so far.”

“Can you blame her?” Kyle asked. “She’s too observant and she’s got to be picking up the feeling that she’s an unwelcome outsider.”

Chevalier growled, “That will change soon.”

“I know that, and you know that, but for her, it’s not going to be soon enough.”

“Just keep her safe until they get to know her.”

Kyle nodded.

“Oh and I’m having some work done on the room today, they tried to prepare for a mortal, but forgot some key points… see if you can keep her out of the bedroom for a few hours. It’s going to be full of working heku,” Chevalier told him.

“Will do, I’ll show her around the palace,” Kyle said. “There’s one other thing that’s been bothering me about her sleep walking though.”

“What’s that?”

“According to the article I read, you should never speak to or wake up a sleep walker, it’ll scare them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Chevalier said.

“No, that’s the thing… we both spoke to her, touched her on the arm, and you picked her up. None of that woke her up.”

Chevalier frowned, “You’re right, that should have woken her.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her when she sleeps.”

Chevalier nodded, “For now, I need to get to the office. Keep an extra close eye on her today. She wants to explore the castle and I don’t trust a soul.”

Kyle nodded and walked into the bedroom. He sat in a chair where he could watch Emily sleep. He knew the feelings he had for her would get him killed if the Elder found out, but when Chevalier asked him to take her away, his mind began to run through the possibility that he could be with her for the rest of her life. The idea was amazingly attractive to him, and when it didn’t happen, his mind still hoped that some day it might come true.

Just after dawn, Emily began to stir and eventually sat up and stretched. She looked over at Kyle and pulled the covers over her. The nightgown she was wearing wasn’t the most modest one with its sheer pink chiffon.

“Good morning,” Kyle said, smiling at her.

She nodded and then pulled the covers over Allen, “Good morning. Where’s Chevalier?”

“He’s down in his office, I can show you if you’d like. He said you wanted the grand tour.”

“Ok, let me get dressed. I don’t suppose I can find a bathroom?” she asked, slipping the blanket off the bed to wrap around her before standing up.

“Sorry, no, Chevalier’s having one put in today though while we’re out.”

“They better hurry,” she grumbled.