Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series (36 page)

The loud bang of the door opening made Emily jump, then she cringed when she heard the heku at the table.

“Elder!” she heard one shout as they pushed their chairs away from the table.

Emily buried herself deeper in the cushion.

“Where is she?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“Who, Elder?” one of the heku asked.

One of the guards at the poker table spoke up, “I told you I smelled a mortal in here! Didn’t I tell you that?”

“The smell wasn’t like a mortal, though! It’s different, so I thought you were imagining things,” another guard said.

She heard footsteps near her and she watched the TV, afraid to look away. The movie was just ending, so she watched the names scroll by quickly. Emily gasped when she felt Chevalier’s hand on her arm as he pulled her roughly to her feet.

The guards began to look nervous, “We didn’t know, Sir! Honestly, we didn’t know she was there.”

Chevalier pulled her from the room without acknowledging the guards. Her arm ached under his fingers and he was pulling her so fast she had a hard time keeping up. She was afraid to talk to him, his face was furious and his body language let her know exactly how mad he was.

A few times, he stepped forward too fast and she stumbled, but he held her up by her arm, never stopping. When he got to his office, he slammed open the door and threw her inside. She landed on the floor on her knees and quickly spun to look up at him.

His eyes were seething as he slammed the door and locked it.

“What do you think you were doing, Emily?” he growled.

She knew she was in trouble. He rarely called her Emily anymore.

“I was bored,” she said, getting to her feet. She rubbed her arm where his fingers had dug into her flesh.

“This isn’t the island. You are to have Kyle with you at all times, do you understand?” he asked, slamming his fist against the desk.

She could feel her temper surfacing, “No, I can take care of myself and I’m not going to be followed around like a helpless child.”

“Because of your need to go out alone, I now get to punish five guards for not being observant, is that what you want?” he asked her.

“No!” She glared at him, “That wasn’t their fault, I hid from them.”

“Kyle has been frantically looking for you all over this palace.”

“He didn’t need to come after me, I can look out for myself,” she said, squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw.

“You can’t undermine my authority or that of Kyle in this place,” he said to her coldly.

“Then don’t put those kinds of restrictions on me.”

“Those restrictions were put on you for your protection.”

“I don’t need protected. You have these heku so afraid of me, they can’t even function if I’m around. It’s embarrassing and unnecessary.”

“It is necessary, and life would be easier for us all if you would get that through your thick head,” Chevalier said, watching her.

“Oh I get it! Why don’t I just lie naked in bed and you can come get some when you want. While you’re not there, I’ll just sit patiently and wait for you to come back,” she scowled at him.

Chevalier tried to calm himself, “I’m not saying you have to stay in the room. I’m saying when you are out, you are to have a guard with you.”

“No”

“No?” he growled.

“No… I’m not going to walk around with a babysitter. Did you know I ran into a guard today? Knocked myself straight onto my ass and you know what? He politely helped me to my feet and Kyle was ready to behead him for it. I’m not going to stand for that.”

Chevalier hissed, “He touched you?”

Emily stepped to him quickly and slapped him hard across his cheek, “Get over it.”

He grabbed her wrist roughly, “Don’t do that.”

She glared at him.

“This isn’t the island. I’m an Elder, my word here is law. If you undermine my authority, I’ll send you back to the island for good, do you understand me?”

“Loud and clear, but I’m not going back to the island… you might as well open the doors and let me walk out because then I can go wherever it is you’re not.” She pulled her wrist out from his grasp.

“This is exactly what the Elders were worried about when I chose to bring you here with me,” he said, turning away from her to look out the window.

“What exactly would that be?” she asked, glaring at his back.

“That a mortal would come in, break the rules, not follow the procedures, and lessen the authority the Elders have. One weak link can break down the entire faction.”

“Is that what I am then? The wink leak? The poor little weak human came and destroyed everything? Fine then… you don’t have to worry about that anymore,” she said, trying to open his office door. She unlocked it and pulled, but it wouldn’t open.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, spinning to look at her.

“I’ll abide by your rules. I promised you two months and I don’t break promises. After that, I’m not guaranteeing anything.” She pulled at the door again, “And who in the hell made all of these doors so damn heavy?”

“You’re going to abide by all of my rules?” he asked, watching her suspiciously.

“Yes… you have two months, and I have my bank account to buy my own ranch,” she said, pulling again on the door, using her body as leverage, but it still wouldn’t budge.

“That means keeping Kyle with you at all times, if he’s busy, then it’ll be another guard. That means staying where we put you and not sneaking off,” he said sternly.

She nodded but glared.

He reached out and easily opened the door, “Take her to her room,” he ordered a heku guard that was standing outside of his door.

“Yes, but don’t touch me or he’ll have you beheaded,” she told him, walking off.

The guard looked nervously at Chevalier and then followed behind Emily as she walked out of Chevalier’s office. She stepped into her room and slammed the door. Kyle appeared from the nursery and she could tell that he was livid.

“Don’t start with me, Kyle,” she said, sitting down hard in the chair.

He walked past her and out the front door, slamming it behind him.

She sat and sulked until she heard Allen wake up. She picked him up out of his crib, and sat with him on the floor to play. She tried to keep a smile up for him.

“’
S Daddy?” he asked her.

“He’s at work,” she said, pulling out a fire truck and turning on the lights and sirens.

“’
S Ky?”

“He’s probably standing outside Mommy’s door, sulking,” she said, trying to distract him with a large toy robot.

She heard a knock on the nursery door and Kyle spoke, “Your dinner is on the table.”

She didn’t answer and didn’t move until she heard the outer door shut.

“Hungry?” she asked Allen, standing up.

He nodded and walked out into the large bedroom. He ran to the table and crawled into the chair. Emily sat next to him and cut his sandwich in half before handing it to him. He began to eat as she looked at her plate. She wrinkled her nose at the harsh smell. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like a caviar quiche. She pushed it away and stole a chip from Allen’s plate, then sat and watched him eat.

After he ate, she got the bathtub ready for Allen and knelt by the side of it while he played. He giggled when she made a shampoo Mohawk out of his hair and then screamed when she rinsed him off. Wrapping him in a towel, she carried him out into the bedroom and stopped when she saw Chevalier sitting in a chair by the fire. She ignored him and took Allen into his room for some clean clothes.

“Go say goodnight to Daddy,” she said when he was ready for bed. Allen ran out into the bedroom and jumped into Chevalier’s lap. Emily stayed in the nursery and rocked in the chair. Chevalier brought Allen in and tucked him into bed, not saying a word to Emily. When he left, Emily kissed Allen goodnight and shut the door behind her when she left.

She stepped into the bathroom to change for bed and looked, irritated, at the night clothes waiting for her. They were pink and frilly, so she tore them in two and tossed them into the trash, opting instead for just a short tank top and panties. It had to be better than those annoyingly feminine nightgowns the heku tailors seemed to think she needed.

She left the bathroom and crawled into bed, ignoring Chevalier’s eyes on her.

Chevalier sighed when she crawled into bed without a word. She kicked the covers off, so he shut down one of the fireplaces to cool the room off. He walked over and sat down on the bed. He wanted to reach out and run his fingers along her soft smooth hips and the curve of her waist, but knew she would probably not appreciate that.

“Em?” he asked softly.

She ignored him and after a few minutes, he sighed and walked out of the room.

“She wouldn’t talk to me,” Kyle said to the Elder.

“Me either,” Chevalier said.

“What happened? I saw her arm,” Kyle said, holding back his anger.

“She agreed to follow the rules for two months, but then said she’s leaving. She wants to go start her own ranch,” he told Kyle and then sat on a chair in the hallway.

Kyle frowned, “Maybe it won’t come to that.”

“I hope not, I don’t know if I can live without her,” Chevalier said, looking at the door.

Kyle agreed, but couldn’t tell the Elder his feelings for Emily.

“How was your first day as Elder?” Kyle asked, smiling.

Chevalier grinned, “It’s going to be great. I get to perform the duties of the Chief Enforcer, but more. I think it’s going to fit me nicely.”

Both Chevalier and Kyle turned toward the door when it opened. Emily appeared and walked slowly past them, her eyes far away.

“Emily?” Kyle asked, standing up just as Chevalier moved to her side.

“Em? Where are you going?” Chevalier asked her. He took her hand and stopped her forward movement just before she stepped out into the fifth-floor foyer. She was still wearing the short tank top and high-cut panties, and he knew that was way more skin than she would want to walk through the palace showing.

Emily didn’t move or look at him when he took her hand.

“Don’t wake her,” Kyle reminded Chevalier.

“I’m not sure I can,” Chevalier told him, looking at her expressionless face.

“Where do you suppose she’s going?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure she knows how to get anywhere yet. Maybe she’s just going to wander?”

“Maybe”

Chevalier picked her up and carried her back to bed where she curled onto her side, never waking up.

Chevalier had to take her back to bed three more times that night. He went into the bedroom just after dawn when he heard her get up again.

“Emily, go to bed,” he said sternly.

She turned and frowned at him, “Is that an order?”

He smiled, “Never mind, I see you’re awake.”

She shook her head and walked into the bathroom, then came out in a light blue summer dress, “Is it within my abilities to get some jeans and t-shirts in here?”

Chevalier sighed, disappointed. He loved how she looked in flowing dresses, “I can have some made.”

She nodded and headed into the nursery, shutting the door. Chevalier stepped out of the room.

“How is she this morning?” Kyle asked.

“Still mad,” he said. “I’m going down to the office. You shouldn’t have any problems today.”

Kyle nodded and then watched the Elder walk away. Once Chevalier was out of sight, he headed into the bedroom. When he saw she wasn’t in there, he knocked on the nursery door.

“Em?”

“Come in,” she said softly.

Kyle came into the room and smiled at Allen, “You hungry?”

“Hungry!” he said, crawling off of Emily’s lap and running toward Kyle.

“You two go eat, I’m fine,” she said, watching out the window.

“Em, you haven’t eaten since yesterday morning, come with us,” he said.

“Is that an order?” She glared at him.

He sighed, “I’m not going to order you to eat.”

“Then I’m not going.” She didn’t move.

“Can I bring you something?” he asked, taking Allen into his arms. “Coffee? Eggs and bacon?”

“No,” she said bluntly.

“Fine, stay in the room, ok?” he asked and started toward the bedroom door.

“Anything you say,” she said, and then mumbled, barely loud enough for Kyle to hear. “Master.”

A few minutes after they left, Emily realized she was still extremely tired. She laid down on the top of her bed and curled up with a pillow.

Kyle came back from getting Allen some breakfast and saw Emily asleep. He took Allen back out into the hallway and played games with him, letting her sleep. At noon, he took Allen down for lunch and when he returned, he heard Emily walking around the room, so he knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she said, turning to him when he entered.

“Sleep well?” he asked, setting Allen down.

“I need to go to the library,” Emily told him, and took Allen’s hand and headed for the door.

Kyle sighed and followed her out. He led her to the library and then ordered all of the heku to leave. This put a scowl on Emily’s face. The library was more than large enough for her to share with the residents of the palace.

She started going through the endless expanse of books, one at a time, reading the back to see if it interested her. While she went through the books, Kyle held Allen as he slept. He watched uncomfortably as she climbed high up on the ladder to see the books that were more than fifteen feet from the ground.

Emily finally found a book and headed back down the ladder. She sat down in an overstuffed chair and began to read with her knees pulled tightly against her chest. Kyle was glad he had patience as he sat for hours while she read and Allen napped. Emily looked up only when Allen stretched and yawned. He crawled off of Kyle’s lap and ran over to Emily.

“Keem” he said, pulling on her hand.

“He wants ice cream, can you take him?” she asked Kyle.

“I can’t leave you here alone.” He sighed when she slammed her book shut.

“Fine… let’s go get ice cream, Allen,” she said, and then tucked the book under her arm before taking Allen’s hand.

Kyle led them silently to the kitchen and held the door open for them. Emily took her place beside Allen at the table and waited while Kyle found the chef and got him some ice cream.