Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series (38 page)

Kyle and Emily watched as they headed back to the stalls with their horses. She jumped toward one of the horses when it lowered its ears, she’d seen that too many times before. There was a heku guard standing directly behind his mare, and she didn’t like it. Kyle reached out for Emily, but his hand barely touched her shoulder when she pushed the heku out of the way just as the horse kicked backwards. Her hoof caught Emily in the back, and sent her flying into the wall of the barn. Emily slumped down onto the floor and bent over, trying to catch her breath.

Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by eight frantic heku.

“We should call an ambulance,” one said.

“No, I can run her to the hospital in the city,” another said.

“Stop,” she gasped, and they all looked at her.

“How badly are you hurt?” Kyle asked, running his hands along her back.

“Ouch! Stop touching my back,” she said, trying to get to her feet. She sat back down hard, when someone’s hands pushed against her.

“Go put your horses away and don’t stand behind them,” she said to them. They looked at Kyle and he nodded. The heku guards walked over to their horses, glancing back at Emily, each wondering how much trouble they would get into for this, and on their first day.

As they rounded the corner back to Emily, they gasped. She had her shirt hiked up in back, and Kyle was looking at a hoof shaped bruise to the left of her spine.

“See, it’s not bad,” she said, pulling her shirt down.

Kyle helped her to her feet and he spun to the guard angrily, “Never, ever, stand behind a horse.”

Emily frowned and turned to Kyle, “Did you hear me tell them that?”

“Well, no,” he said angrily.

“Then if you want to be mad at someone… be mad at me,” she said to him, and put her hands on her hips.

The heku guards watched, shocked. They couldn’t believe that the little mortal woman was standing up for them with their Captain.

“Still, Emily, why would you push a heku out of the way for that? He would already be healed,” he asked, a little softer.

“Because he didn’t know, there’s no reason he should get hurt because I forgot to mention it.” She turned back to the guards, “Good job today, now let’s get them fresh food and water.”

“Lady Emily?” one guard asked.

“Yes?” she said, turning to him.

“You really should have let me get kicked, Ma’am,” he said softly.

She smiled, “I’m ok, seriously. This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time I get kicked by a horse.”

Emily went over to the oats and tried pulling up the lid. When it didn’t come off, she put her fingers under the edge and leaned her body back when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Let me get it, Ma’am,” a member of the new Cavalry said, and he easily pulled the lid off.

Kyle watched their interaction in shock. In their short amount of time with Emily, she had managed to gain the respect and admiration that normally would have taken years. He shook his head as he saw them intermingle with her easily. She walked them through feeding the horses and getting them fresh water. They helped her reach the buckets, helped her turn the water crank, anything they could to make it easier for her.

“Thank you and I will see you tomorrow,” she said, shaking each of their hands as they bowed slightly to her and walked away.

Kyle walked Emily back into the palace and smiled at the change in her. She was walking proudly, and smiled sweetly at heku she walked by, and was talking to him again about horses and how well it went that day. When they reached the bedroom, she turned to him.

“Thank you. I know that was hard for you,” she said.

He nodded, “I’ll get used to it. Want me to tell Chevalier about the bruise?”

“Think he’ll notice?” she asked.

Kyle nodded, “Most definitely.”

“What will I notice?” Chevalier asked, walking up to them.

“Don’t panic, ok?” she asked, and put her hands against his chest. She felt his body tense, “Calm down, Chev, I just got kicked by a horse.”

“Yes… after she pushed one of the guards out of the way,” Kyle added.

She glared at him, “I wasn’t going to mention that.”

Chevalier sighed, “You pushed a heku out of the way so he wouldn’t get kicked by a horse, and then you took the kick?”

She nodded, “Well… when you say it like that it doesn’t sound very smart.”

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“Just a bruise.” She smiled and headed into the bedroom, “You coming in?”

“I’ll be in in a second,” Chevalier said, and watched as she shut the door.

“How did it go, other than the kick?” he asked Kyle.

Kyle shook his head, “She amazes me, you know? Those guards did not want to be there. They wouldn’t even look at her.”

Chevalier growled.

“But by the time they left,” Kyle said quickly. “They were eating out of the palm of her hand, helping her lift, helping her feed and water. I can’t figure out how she charmed them so quickly.”

Chevalier smiled, “She did it because she’s Emily.”

Kyle nodded, “I’m off, apparently I need to go order a few dozen pairs of black cowboy boots.”

Chevalier laughed and walked into the room. He sat down by Allen and Emily as they started to eat. He was glad to see she was eating again, it was better after he’d talked to the chef about her favorite foods. Emily was talking to Allen and Chevalier about her day, and he listened intently. His plan was working better than expected, and he was able to relax, she now had a reason to stay.

Emily took Allen to the entertainment corner and held him while they watched a movie together. Chevalier sat beside them and held her hand, things were finally back to normal.

After they put Allen down to bed, Emily crawled into bed and curled up next to Chevalier.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked her.

“Sure,” she said, pulling closer to him.

“Do you remember your dreams lately?”

She frowned, “Not really. Why?”

“You’re still walking at night.”

“Oh”

“Tonight, would you let me hold you? When I touch you, I can see your dreams. I’d like to know what’s causing it.”

She thought a moment and then nodded, “Sure.”

He kissed her softly and then ran his hands around her, but she flinched when his hand brushed the bruise.

“Let me see,” he said, sitting up.

“It’s just a bruise,” she told him, not moving.

“We can argue, or you can just relent now and let me see it,” he said, grinning.

She sighed and sat up before pulling her nightgown up in back. She heard him inhale sharply.

“That looks pretty bad,” he said, pulling her nightgown back down.

“I’ve had worse,” she reminded him as she laid down.

He smiled, “Good night, Em.”

She started to wish him good night too, but his lips pressed against hers and cut her off.

Chevalier held her all night and let his mind wander into her dreams. Her dreams were odd and cryptic, first a horse and then a pond, nothing abnormal. He began to think she wouldn’t walk tonight when he heard someone calling.

“Come to me, Child,” the voice said.

Chevalier opened his eyes and stood up, looking around the room. Just as he ascertained that no one was in there, Emily stood up and began to walk out of the room. He carried her back to bed and laid down next to her, taking her hand.

Her dreams hadn’t stopped. Images flashed through her mind, images of places she’d been and people she knew. Then the voice sounded again.

“Hurry, Child, come now,” he heard the soft voice say just before Emily pulled her hand away from him as she stood up. He blocked her way and she laid back in bed. As soon as she settled in, he walked out into the hallway and called for Kyle.

“Yes, Elder?” Kyle asked, stepping out of his room.

“Someone is calling her,” he said.

“Calling her?”

“Yes, I can hear it in her dreams… someone calls her, and then she gets out of bed,” Chevalier explained.

Kyle frowned.

“Go down into the prison. I wonder if one of the prisoners knows there’s a mortal, maybe they can smell her. See if anyone there would be able to call her in her sleep.”

Kyle nodded and blurred down the stairs. Chevalier walked into the room just in time to put Emily back to bed. This time he wrapped his arms around her and held her in bed so she couldn’t get up.

Emily stretched and got out of bed just after the sun came up. Chevalier watched her as she walked toward the bathroom and then he jumped out of bed when she gasped as a strange heku stepped out of the shadows and took a step toward her.

Chevalier was between them immediately, “Who do you think you are?”

“I… I’m just bringing food for the mortals,” the little heku said weakly.

“Report immediately to the Captain for punishment. You’re lucky I don’t kill you right now,” he said angrily.

The strange heku looked at Emily and then nodded and walked out of the room, followed by Chevalier. Emily took a deep breath, and walked into the bathroom. She hated that he was about to get punished, but she also didn’t like the thought that he was in their room without permission. She showered quickly and threw on jeans and a t-shirt. When she got out, Kyle was waiting for her at the table while Allen ate.

“Chevalier’s gone to work already,” Kyle told her.

“There was a heku in the room this morning,” she said as she sat down and picked up a slice of bacon.

“Yes, I know, unacceptable,” he said, obviously mad.

She nodded and drank some orange juice. Once she was done eating, she kissed Allen good-bye and then walked out toward the stables with Kyle.

The seven guards were already in the stables brushing their horses.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” one of them said, and smiled at her when she arrived.

“Good morning all, did you have a nice night?” She went over and slipped a bridle on Patra and let her out to the front of the stables as they all answered her about their evenings.

“Ok, put the bridles on and bring them out here. I want to see you put the saddles on them… just be gentle, please,” she said, and stood back to watch them.

Emily watched carefully as the seven led their horses out and put on their saddles. She helped each one to make sure they didn’t injure the horse and then climbed up on Patra when they were all saddled.

“Ok, mount up,” she said, and watched as they easily slid onto their horses.

“Good job.” She smiled.

“Ma’am?” one of them asked.

“Yes?”

“How is your back?” he asked softly, unsure if he had the right to ask.

She smiled, “I’m fine, really. It’s not the first time I’ve been kicked.”

He nodded and smiled at her.

“Ok, now, we’re going to start out in a walk… easy enough. You click your tongue like this,” she said, clicking. “Then lightly… very lightly… kick your horse.”

She demonstrated, and Patra started off in a slow walk.

Before long, everyone joined her and she turned around to make sure they were all with her. She thought for sure they would have balance issues, but then remembered who she was working with and smiled at their stable forms on the horses. They all caught up to her and formed a line to each side of her.

“Ready for some fun?” she asked them, and they looked at her confused.

“Ok, Patra, let’s show the heku who’s faster,” she said, kicking her horse hard and Patra broke into a gallop.

She laughed as she looked behind her and saw a few running along with her, some falling behind in more of a trot, and one heku even had his horse going backwards, not an easy feat. She urged Patra on, and soon all seven of the guards were racing her across the city as heku jumped to get out of their way.

She turned Patra onto a side street and shut her eyes as she felt the wind through her hair. The fast sound of hoof beats behind her was comforting and she led the guards back toward the stables. She hit the stables first and pulled Patra back to stop her, then turned around and watched the guards come, one at a time, into the stable yards and stop their horses. She was glad to see most of them were laughing.

“That… is a gallop,” she told them when they had all joined her.

“That… was cheating,” one said, laughing.

Emily looked around and didn’t see Kyle, so she turned to the guards, “No, my dear, I don’t cheat, I just… well… yeah, ok, so I cheated.”

She smiled and ordered them all off of their horses, then slid off Patra and gasped as one of the horses began to shy and buck. She ran forward and took the reins, but was pushed back by the horse’s strong hoof. One of the guards moved between her and the horse and took the reins just as the heku on his back was bucked off and landed hard against a thick tree.

She crawled quickly over to him and put her hands on his chest when he started to get up, “Are you hurt?”

He coughed some, “Ok,” he managed to say, but she didn’t believe him.

She put her hands on his neck and felt down his spine. His eyes were wide as she touched him gently. She gasped, “I think he broke your back.”

“It’ll be fine in a second, I promise,” he said, watching her concerned expression.

“Just lay still,” she told him, and grabbed a horse blanket from the stack nearby and covered him.

“Honestly, Ma’am, I’m ok.” He started to get up, but she held him down. She realized he wasn’t trying very hard to get up. There was no way she could have held him down if he’d really wanted to get up.

Another guard knelt down by her, “You got kicked, how are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said, ignoring the stinging in her chest. She could only imagine how mad Chevalier was going to be over this one.

“What happened, did anyone see?” she asked them all, still holding the one heku down.

“Bee,” one of them said.

Emily nodded, “That’ll do it every time. Did anyone get stung?”

“No, I killed it,” a heku guard said, and she raised her eyebrows impressed.

“Can I get up now?” the heku that was lying down asked.

“Not yet,” she said, and again ran her fingers down his back. The bones seemed to have healed.

“Ok, you can get up,” she told him, and pulled her hands off of his chest.