Chapter 2 - Round Two

“Holy geesh,” Emily said, watching the new group of guards report for cavalry training. They were enormous. The seven came toward her, and she couldn’t help but take a step back some. They looked like tall bodybuilders hulking forward.

The seven current cavalry members were with her. They were to watch her and help train the new guards. They formed a V, with Emily at the front and they watched the new recruits carefully.

Emily heard a familiar sound as they drew closer, the chink-chink of spurs. She looked down and saw that the largest of the new recruits was wearing spurs on his black cowboy boots. She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, this new group made her uneasy.

“Thank you for coming, my name is Emily and I’ll be helping you with the horses,” she said, not stepping forward as usual. She watched them carefully. Six of them watched her as she spoke, but the largest, the one with spurs, wouldn’t look at her. She frowned slightly and continued.

“First off, will you remove your spurs please?” she asked, looking at the one she nicknamed Tank in her head.

“No,” he said, watching above her head.

She frowned and then walked up to him. As she looked up to meet his eyes, she realized exactly how tall he was. Emily normally didn’t let her height hinder her, but as she looked into the eyes a good two feet above her, she felt her resolve fading. She knew better than to show any kind of weakness around the heku, so she squared her shoulders and put her hands on her hips.

“Excuse me?” she snapped at him.

“I said, no.” He looked down at her and his broad shoulders shook slightly as he laughed.

“Take them off, now,” she ordered.

Too fast for her to even react, the large heku put a finger against her forehead and pushed hard, sending her to the ground as he muttered another, “No.”

In less than a second, the heku, Tank, was pinned to the ground by four of the Cavalry. His neck was wrenched roughly to the side, one fraction of an inch more and his neck would break.

“Touch me again and I’ll have your hands removed,” she said, standing up and brushing herself off. She reached down and untied his spurs, then slipped them off of his boots. She tossed them into the trash.

“Are we going to have more trouble with you, Boy?” one of her guards asked him.

“No, Sir,” Tank snapped.

The guards let the large heku up and he stood up slowly and glared at Emily. She ignored him as her guards returned to her back.

“Fine, does anyone else have a problem with me?” she asked, irritated.

When no one spoke, she pointed to the first recruit, “Let’s go find you a horse.”

Emily took each of the recruits through the stables, picking out a good horse for them. She didn’t have many choices. The heku were so large, that she had to pick the tallest she could find. Each was handed a brush and told to brush down their horse. She was nervous when it was time to take Tank around, and he walked behind her, obviously not wanting to be with her at all.

Once they were out of sight of the others, Emily turned to him, “What’s your problem?”

“You are,” he said, looking down at her.

“Well get over it or get out of my stables,” she hissed, crossing her arms.

“I can’t get out, this was an order,” he snarled at her.

“Then get over it,” she said, turning around.

“You know you have no right being here… a mortal in the palace, it’s embarrassing,” he said, following her.

Emily ignored his remark and took him to the stall of the largest horse she had. She opened the stall and turned, “This one’s yours.”

He stepped inside and took the horse roughly by the mane, “Stupid animal.”

The horse pulled against his strong hands and Emily jumped at him, stepping between him and the horse, “Let go.”

Tank let go of the horse and stood inches from Emily, looking down at her. He was so close she could feel the anger radiating from him.

“You telling me what to do, Tiny?”

“Yes I am, and if I ever see you touch another horse with anything but soft respect, you’ll have to deal with me,” she said, seething.

Emily felt her feet leave the ground as the heku picked her up by her arms and lifted her above his head.

“I don’t take orders from a mortal,” he told her, and roughly shook her.

“Let go of me,” she said, gritting her teeth.

He dropped Emily and was immediately thrown to the back of the barn by her guards. She felt the crack in her ankle as she landed hard on the ground. She rolled onto her side and grabbed her leg, screaming slightly at the pain. The sound of the heku being torn apart by her guards could be heard throughout the stables, and the other new guards came to see what happened.

They were immediately able to see the large heku being taken apart and Emily lying on the ground in pain, her foot at an abnormal angle to her leg. One of them knelt down by her, being careful not to touch her.

“Lady Emily, are you injured, other than your ankle?” he asked, watching her.

Emily shook her head and groaned. The pain in her leg was intense.

“What’s going on here?” she heard Kyle snap. The seven cavalry members stood up, covered in blood. Body parts of a heku were tossed into a pile in the corner.

He didn’t see Emily when he first walked up. The six new recruits were crouched around her. As they parted, he gasped and knelt beside her. She was gripping her leg and he saw the break in her ankle.

Kyle picked her up quickly and cringed when she moaned in pain.

He turned to the Cavalry, “Mark, Bill, Pat… come with me… you other three get the horses put away and get this cleaned up.”

Kyle blurred into the palace, followed by the three cavalry members. He set her down on the bed and looked at her ankle. He could see a bone protruding against the skin and her foot was swelling and bruising a dark blue.

“Mark, get Chevalier. Pat, get the doctor,” he ordered.

The doctor appeared in the room and his eyes grew wide when he saw her ankle. He sat down quickly and pulled a syringe from his bag, filling it with a clear liquid.

“What’s that?” Kyle asked.

“Pain meds, we need to get her to a hospital,” he said, quickly giving her the shot.

“Why can’t we do this here?” Kyle asked, surprised Emily didn’t complain about the shot. He realized she was in too much pain to argue with the doctor.

“I don’t have an x-ray machine, and she may need surgery to re-set the bones. Then she’ll need a cast and crutches.” He was feeling her foot for a pulse.

“Pat, go get the helicopter ready,” Kyle growled, and the heku ran off, almost running into Chevalier, who was just coming through the door.

“What’s going on?” Chevalier hissed as he saw the doctor and Kyle sitting on the bed. He couldn’t see Emily behind them, but knew she was injured.

“We’re taking her to the city. She’s going to need surgery to fix that,” the doctor said, standing up.

Chevalier grew furious when he saw her ankle. He growled and blurred to her side. Kyle stood up and allowed the Elder to take his spot.

“Emily?” he asked, taking her hand. He wiped the sweat from her forehead and cringed when she didn’t respond.

“She’s medicated, I had to stop the pain,” the doctor said, looking at Chevalier nervously.

“What happened?” Chevalier asked Kyle.

Kyle turned to Bill, “Tell us.”

The heku stepped forward, “It was one of the recruits, Sir. We could tell from the start that he didn’t like Lady Emily, and first thing, they got into a fight over his spurs. He knocked her to the ground, and we were ready to kill him, but she let him off with a warning.”

“He touched her, first thing?” Kyle asked, angrily.

Bill nodded, “Then, as she was showing him to his horse, we heard her tell him to let her down. When I rounded the corner, he had her lifted above him by her arms, shaking her, and then he dropped her. That’s when her ankle broke.”

“Where is he?” Chevalier hissed.

“Dead, we took care of him,” Bill said, proudly.

Pat came back in, “The helicopter is ready.”

Chevalier picked Emily up. He hated the way she was limp in his arms.

“Kyle, come with me. You three, go talk to the recruits, this won’t happen again,” he growled at them. The three cavalry members bowed and headed out the door.

As Kyle and Chevalier got into the helicopter, the pilot spoke, “We have an ambulance waiting at the helipad.”

Chevalier nodded and fastened the seat belt. He took Emily’s head and held it against his shoulder. Her foot had grown larger and the bruise was traveling up her leg.

“How long until we get there?” Kyle asked the pilot, as he saw the city beneath them.

“Only a few more minutes,” the pilot told him, and he was soon bringing the helicopter down onto the helipad. As promised, an ambulance was standing by.

The paramedics took Emily from Chevalier after Kyle reminded him that he had to let her go. Kyle crawled into the front of the ambulance with the driver, and Chevalier got into the back with Emily. He watched as the paramedics braced her foot. Even with the medication, she groaned with the pain and Chevalier hissed as his eyes narrowed. They worked on her the entire way to the hospital, and by the time the ambulance pulled into the garage, Emily had an I.V. and several ice bags on her swollen ankle.

As the EMT’s wheeled the gurney into the hospital, a nurse came and started asking questions, filling out a small form.

“Name?”

“Emily Russo,” Kyle said when Chevalier didn’t.

“Age?”

Kyle did the math in his head, “She’s 27.”

“What happened?” the nurse asked, still writing.

“She got bucked off of a horse,” Kyle said, noticing Chevalier glanced at him.

The nurse quit writing when the doctor came in and shook Chevalier’s hand.

“Let’s see, what have we here?” he asked, before picking the ice packs off of her ankle and frowning.

“She got bucked off of a horse,” Chevalier told him, following Kyle’s story.

“Ok, let’s get an x-ray and then I’ll know more. Erm… why is she unconscious?” He raised an eyebrow.

“There’s a doctor on my staff. He gave her pain medication,” Chevalier said, not noticing the way the doctor cocked his head to the side, curiously, when he mentioned that he had a doctor on staff.

“Both of you, out,” another man said. He came in and placed a heavy lead apron over Emily. Kyle and Chevalier stepped out as he took x-rays of her foot. Kyle had to hold Chevalier back when they heard Emily groan as the tech moved her foot slightly for a different angle.

When the x-rays were done, the two heku returned to Emily’s side as a nurse put medicine into her I.V.

“What is that?” Kyle asked her.

“Antibiotics, we’re prepping her for surgery,” she said, smiling at Kyle.

“Surgery?” Chevalier asked, as the doctor walked in.

“Yes, her ankle’s pretty bad,” he said, as he brought her x-ray up on a computer screen. He pointed out the multiple breaks.

“We’re going to have to pin those to get them to set correctly. The surgery shouldn’t take more than a few hours. Ahh, Dr. Phillips…” the E.R. doctor said, shaking the hand of a man that walked in.

Dr. Phillips bent down and studied the x-ray as the other doctor spoke, “Dr. Phillips is an Osteopathic Surgeon. He’ll be doing the surgery.”

Chevalier watched as Dr. Phillips turned to Emily and moved her foot around. She moaned slightly and Kyle again had to restrain Chevalier.

“Ok, let’s get her in there. If it swells any more, it’ll be harder to set,” he said. Dr. Phillips wasn’t friendly, but the nurse assured them that he was the best. Chevalier kissed Emily’s forehead as they wheeled her toward the operating room.

An orderly came and took Chevalier and Kyle to an empty waiting room, and offered them both some coffee. Kyle smiled up at her and told her they were fine.

“How are the new recruits picked?” Chevalier asked Kyle, after a few minutes of silence.

“They apply for the position, and then Commander Castel picks them based on years of service and ability,” Kyle explained.

“Do they know the training involves Emily?”

“Yes, they do, it’s one of the first things they are told.”

“So this one… he planned on confronting her,” Chevalier said, watching Kyle.

Kyle shrugged, “That’s all I can think of. It hadn’t even been two minutes into the training when he first got into an argument with her over the spurs.”

“From now on, you interview them first. Have Emily in the room with you and see how they react to her.”

Kyle nodded. The rest of the wait was in silence, and when Dr. Phillips came into the room, the heku stood up.

“Everything went well. The ankle is set and as soon as she comes out of anesthesia, she can go home,” he explained.

Chevalier nodded and shook the doctor’s hand before he left.

A short squat nurse came in a few minutes later and smiled at them, “You can come in now if you want.”

Both Kyle and Chevalier followed the nurse into post-op and took the chairs by the bed. Emily’s lower leg and foot were in a pink cast and propped up on a pillow. She was still asleep, deeply asleep Chevalier figured, because her I.V. and oxygen were still intact.

As Emily began to come out of the anesthesia, Chevalier took one of her hands and Kyle took the other, wrapping his other hand around her I.V. She blinked a few times and looked around the room.

“Where am I?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“You’re in the hospital because they had to do surgery on your ankle,” Chevalier said, touching her cheek lightly.

“It hurts,” she told him, and shut her eyes again.

Chevalier reached over and pushed the call button and waited for a nurse to come. When she did, he asked for more pain medication, but the nurse explained that they couldn’t give her any yet and then left. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt uncomfortable in that room.

It was only a few minutes before Emily opened her eyes again. Kyle released her hand and she reached over and rubbed her upper arm. The hospital gown pulled up and showed the dark bruise in the shape of a hand. She heard Chevalier growl deeply and covered her arm again.

“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked, looking down at the cast on her leg.

“You get to come home today, as soon as the doctor comes in and releases you,” Chevalier said, still holding one of her hands.

Emily quickly removed her oxygen cannula with her free hand and was reaching for her I.V. when Kyle took her hand again.

“Can I still work with the guards?” she asked Chevalier.

He sighed, “We’ll talk about that later.”

“He hated me,” she said to Kyle.

Kyle nodded.

“Do the others?”

He smiled, “No, and if they do, they wouldn’t show it now.”

Emily sighed, “My guards killed him didn’t they?”

Kyle nodded and was shocked when she didn’t complain.

Dr. Phillips came in, “How are you feeling?”

Emily shrugged, “Like my leg got run over by a truck.”

He smiled, “I’m sure it does.”

The doctor turned to Chevalier, “Keep her in bed today and then she can get up and around on crutches. I’ll send some pain pills home with her. If it starts throbbing, prop it up above her heart.”

Chevalier nodded and took a stack of papers from the doctor.

“Can I still ride?” Emily asked, and the doctor smiled.

“Yes you can. It’ll keep you off of your ankle, so I’m good with that. The nurse will be in in a second to bring some forms for you to fill out, and then you can go home. She’ll get you some crutches too.” The doctor walked out, still writing in her chart.

“That’ll be fun, lots of stairs in the palace,” she said, and sat up on the edge of her bed before pulling out the I.V.

The fat nurse came back in and smiled warmly, “Oh good, I see the doctor took out your I.V.”

Emily blushed and nodded.

She handed a form to Chevalier, “Just sign here that the doctor gave you instructions. If she gets worse, or the pain gets too bad, there’s a number to call at the bottom.”

While Chevalier filled out the forms, Kyle went to get a taxi to take them back to the helicopter. The nurse insisted that Emily be wheeled out in a wheelchair, even though Chevalier offered to just carry her. He finally relented and grabbed her crutches, then followed them out to the cab. Chevalier picked her up and sat her in the backseat, then crawled in next to her. Kyle took the front seat with the cab driver.

Once they were situated in the helicopter, Chevalier pulled out the bottle of Vicodin the doctor had given him and held one out for Emily. She hesitated, and then decided her ankle was hurting, so she took it and sat back to wait out the ride.

Chevalier carried Emily into the palace and soon found himself surrounded by the Cavalry.

“How is she?” one of them asked.

“She’ll be ok, just on crutches for a while,” he said. Chevalier was torn, he was glad to see that her guards immediately took care of her attacker, but that also meant that he, himself, didn’t get to torture him.

All but two cavalry members turned away as Chevalier took Emily into her room and laid her down. The Vicodin had kicked in, and she was dazed. He watched over her until she fell asleep and then returned to the council chambers.

Emily woke up alone and her leg was propped up on a pillow. Her mind was still foggy from the narcotic, but she felt it starting to clear. She glanced at the clock, it said 7am. Slowly, she sat up and swung the casted leg out of bed and stood up shakily. Her crutches here right by her bed, so she grabbed them and went into the bathroom.

Someone had laid some clothes out for her, a t-shirt and a pair of pants that were modified with a zipper up one leg to accommodate the cast. Emily dressed quickly and hobbled back out into the bedroom. She saw a tray on the small table, and lifted the dome to grab a piece of toast before heading out of her room. It was time to go to work.

“Good morning, Lady Emily,” the guards said to her.

“Good morning.” She hobbled past them. The crutches were going to take some getting used to.

“Where are we headed this morning?” one of them asked.

“Training, it’s almost 8am,” she said, looking toward stairs.

“I’ll call them together. We didn’t know if there would be any today,” one of them said, disappearing quickly down the stairs.

Emily set her crutches down one step, and awkwardly stepped down. She accidentally put too much pressure on her injured ankle and cringed.

“Ma’am?” the guard with her asked.

“Yes?” she whispered, as she tried to catch her breath.

“May I have permission to assist you?” he asked, cringing as he watched her try to get down to the next step.

Emily thought for a moment, “Will Chevalier get mad?”

“No, Ma’am. He said if we got permission, we can help.”

“Then by all means.” She just finished her sentence when the guard lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. She held onto the crutches and felt herself being blurred down the stairs. He set her down gently when he reached the ground floor.

“Thank you, that would have taken all day,” she said, and hobbled out the door toward the stables.

Emily finally made it to the stables and watched as the six remaining recruits brought their bridled horses out to stand in line with them. Emily smiled when one of her guards brought out Patra.

Emily moved to her mare’s left side and looked at the stirrup. She thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to mount the horse, when she felt hands on her waist lift her up. Once in the saddle, she turned and smiled at Kyle.

“Thanks”

He nodded at her and then turned to the new guards. “There are a few new rules. None of you six are to be alone with Lady Emily at any time.”

Emily cringed, but the guards nodded.

“I’m also reinforcing the no touch policy. Any infraction will be dealt with directly by the Chief Enforcer, Damon. That doesn’t apply to the seven cavalry members. They have their own rules, and they may assist Lady Emily if she gives permission.”

Again they nodded, and she couldn’t help but blush.

“I’m watching you carefully,” he growled, staring them down. “Listen to her, do what she says, and don’t give her any lip.”

He turned and winked at her, and then fell back behind her.

The training followed the same pattern as the previous one, as it seemed to have worked out well. The only difference was that this time, Emily remembered to tell them not to stand behind a horse and she was confined to horseback.

After the training with the paint ball guns, Emily headed back into the castle. She was more adept at her crutches now and didn’t need carried up and down the stairs. As she stepped into the palace, she felt tension in the air and an eerie silence.

“What’s going on?” she asked her guard.

“Valle and Encala Elders are here,” he told her, looking around the silent entryway.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Ma’am,” he said.

Emily headed for the council chambers instead of up to her room.

“I don’t know if you’re supposed to be in there,” a guard said to her.

“I’m going anyway,” she said, matter-of-factly, and her guards followed her nervously.

When the door to the council chambers opened, all eyes fell on her. The Valle and Encala Elders and their escorts hissed and moved as far from her as they could. Emily made her way to the stand with the Equites Council, and shuffled up the stairs. The heku sitting to Chevalier’s left stood and offered her his chair. She sat down and blushed when she noticed they were all still staring at her.

“What are you doing here?” Chevalier whispered to her.

“Keeping the peace,” she said, and smiled.

“Is this a threat?” one of the Valle Elders said.

Chevalier just smiled at the Valle, “She’s not here to threaten you. She’s here to make sure we all remain civil.”

“This is unacceptable! With her in the room, you have an advantage,” one of the Encala snapped.

“So it was ok when you outnumbered us two to one, but now that we have a slight advantage, it’s unacceptable?” Damon hissed.

The Valle and Encala Elders looked at one another nervously and then turned back to the Equites, “Proceed.”

“It’s good that Lady Emily has joined us anyway, as this concerns her,” Maleth said, smiling at her.

Emily frowned and looked at Chevalier, but he didn’t turn toward her.

“The proposition stands. Either you share the Winchester blood or we attack the Equites and wipe the faction off this planet,” the Encala Elder said, looking at Emily.

“Excuse me? What do you mean share the Winchester blood?” she asked.

Chevalier leaned toward her and whispered, “They each want a baby girl from you.”

Her eyes grew wide, “No.”

Chevalier turned back to the opposing elders and smiled, “You heard her.”

“I don’t see as though we should be giving her a choice,” the Valle Elder said.

Emily stood up and put her fists on the table, “You do realize I can ash all of you at once, right?”

The Elders and their faction members all shrank back some. Normally, Chevalier would calm Emily down, but he was enjoying the look on their faces.

“Just calm, Child. We can discuss this,” the tallest Encala Elder said.

“Start discussing,” she snapped.

“We can pay you, anything you would like, for a female infant,” he said, smiling.

Emily laughed some, “No.”

“Consider it, Child. It would bring peace back to the factions.”

“Call me child again and you won’t get another breath.”

He stepped back behind his guard, “No offense.”

“If it’s peace you want, then why would I give you a weapon?” she asked him.

“To even things up.”

“It’s out of the question. As it stands, the Equites have me and I am in control of my abilities, which makes me the peace keeper.”

“Still unfair,” the Valle Elder said.

“I’m pregnant now… which of you gets the baby?” she asked, and sat back in the large chair.

Chevalier looked at her oddly and secretly smelled her. Her smell was not off, it was normal, and he turned back to them and grinned.

“Is that true?” the Encala asked Chevalier.

He nodded, “Yes.”

Emily watched as the Encala and Valle Elders began to bicker. Soon, their arguments turned into pushing and then a fight erupted with the Equites Council watching.

“Enough!” Maleth yelled, and the fighting heku looked at him. “Lady Emily is not with child, but she has proven to us that you do not have the ability to control one of the Winchesters, as you can’t even control yourselves.”

“It is only fair that we have equal powers to you!” the Valle yelled.

“We will get a Winchester… even if it causes another war,” the Encala said, sternly.

“Over my dead body,” Emily yelled, watching them.

“That is all we will say about it. You haven’t proven to us that you can handle a Winchester in your faction,” Leonid said. He then stood and exited out the back door, followed by Maleth and most of the Council.

Chevalier and Emily sat and watched as the opposing factions scowled and left the room, bumping shoulders angrily with Emily’s guards.

“They are going to try to get me aren’t they?” Emily asked, looking over at Chevalier. She saw her guards move in closer to them.

“Yes,” he scowled.

Emily looked over at her guards, “You ready for this?”

One of them smiled, broadly, “They won’t get past us… Wow, we really are guarding a Winchester!”

Chevalier stood up, “I need to talk to the Council alone.”

Emily nodded and stood up with help, “That’s fine. I’m going to take Allen down to the kitchen for some dinner.”

Chevalier appeared in the Council’s conference room and saw all were present before he shut the door, “Interesting.”

“Yes, very. Each faction having a Winchester would cause an immediate war. Each thinking they could obliterate the other,” Maleth said, as his fingertips pressed together.

“Emily was right. She is more of a peace keeper to us… their fear of her keeps them at bay,” Leonid said. “If they had the same ability, it would most surely cause conflict.”

“Not to mention, Lady Emily made it very clear she wasn’t going to give each of them a baby,” Damon reminded them.

“It’s different with mortals. They are extremely attached to their offspring. There’s no way she would willingly give up a baby,” the Chief of Finances explained.

Chevalier nodded, “Now, though, we need to be ready for attacks. If the Valle and Encala team up and attack, it is not going to be a pretty fight.”

“How many can Emily take care of at a time?” Damon asked.

“I wasn’t there, but Kyle said she took out 13 in quick succession, and over a two-hour period, turned 83 to ash.”

“That’s not enough to protect us against a combined attack,” Leonid said, looking around the Council.

“It also begins to wear on her. At first, as you saw previously, she could turn them to ash in less than a second. The more she does, the longer it takes,” Chevalier said, leaning against the table.

“We cannot let them get a Winchester,” Damon said, icily.

“So what do we do? Take her out of the palace to an undisclosed location?” Maleth asked.

“That’s risky,” Damon said. “Here she is well guarded. If we send her out, she’ll have what? The Elder and maybe 30 guards? If her location was discovered, it would be easy for them to take her.”

“I could take her back to the Island. The pier is the only way in and there are a thousand heku living there,” Chevalier said, deep in thought.

“That’s one of the first places they would look for her,” Damon said.

“Is it a practiced skill?” Leonid asked. “I mean, if she practiced would she get better at it? Maybe able to do a hundred at a time?”

Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure. She won’t do it though. The only way to practice would be to turn a heku into ash.”

“So we agree she’s safer here?” Maleth asked them all.

When no one disagreed, he turned to Chevalier, “Will she abide by strict rules?”

“That would depend on the rule. She’s not unreasonable, but sometimes the seriousness of the danger eludes her,” Chevalier explained.

“We have to consider that they may try to take Allen as a means to lure her to them,” Damon said.

Chevalier was surprised he hadn’t thought of that, and was glad that Damon was made the Chief Enforcer. He was sharp and missed nothing.

“What rules shall we enforce then? She has 2 guards on her at all times, and so far hasn’t skipped out on them,” Maleth said.

“She promised not to, for that, she saw the need,” Chevalier said.

“I say we up it to four and two on Allen,” Damon suggested, and the rest of the Council agreed.

“No more horseback riding through the city,” Maleth suggested.

“Can we keep her confined to her room then?” Leonid asked.

Chevalier grinned, “No… we cannot. She’s mortal, they aren’t known for their patience, and when Emily gets bored, she gets into trouble.”

“Can we confine her to the palace?”

He shook his head, “She’ll fight against that.”

“So she is unable to sit in one location for long?” one of the council members asked.

“That’s common for most mortals,” Chevalier said, smiling. He knew Emily was actually worse than most.

“So is there nothing we can do more than four guards for her and two for Allen?” Maleth asked, frowning.

“What about the Cavalry training? She’s not going to want to give that up,” Chevalier said.

“I say she keeps training. During that time, she is with no less than thirteen guards at once,” Leonid said, and smiled slightly.

“Alert her guards, I don’t care what it is, if anything suspicious happens around Emily, they are to dispose of the culprit,” Damon said, sternly.

“Just please, don’t let Emily know that,” Chevalier said.

“Will you please ask her to be more careful about where she goes? Maybe stress the importance of not slipping her guard, though it shocks me that a mortal can elude two heku,” Damon said, baffled.

“You just don’t know Emily,” Chevalier replied.

“There’s one more thing…” It seemed like Maleth was hesitating.

“Yes?” Chevalier asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Allen is almost 3, is he not?”

“Yes”

“Were there plans for another?”

“No, Emily doesn’t want more,” Chevalier told them.

Maleth gasped, “So the Winchesters will die off with her?”

Chevalier nodded, “It’s not my place to insist on another baby. She’s the one that has to carry it, and go through labor, and she doesn’t want to.”

“Those powers though, we can’t let them disappear,” Leonid added.

“I don’t think she cares about the powers. She’s been attacked her entire life, including when guarded, and she may not wish to pass that on.”

“Ask her, please. See if she will consider having a girl,” Maleth asked.

“You realize we don’t get to choose the gender.” Chevalier gave half-grin.

Maleth nodded, “Still, please try.”

“I will ask, but I know already what the answer will be.”

“How is it being prevented?” Leonid questioned.

“Pills… mortals have made a pill to prevent pregnancy,” Chevalier said, and then grinned. He still thought that was funny.

“Replace them with something… something that looks the same,” Maleth thought out loud.

Chevalier frowned, “I will not. I’m not going to trick her into a baby.”

“No, no, I didn’t really mean that. All we can ask is for you to try.”

Once the preparations were made, the Council adjourned for the night. Chevalier met Emily and Allen back up in their room. There were already four guards posted by the door.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, watching as Emily and Allen cuddled by the T.V.

Emily shushed him with her finger, and he noticed that Allen was asleep in her arms.

Chevalier picked Allen up and laid him down in his bed, kissing his forehead lightly. He came back out and shut the door.

“I see I got more guards,” Emily said, sitting down on the bed.

“Yes, the Council is worried about the coming attacks,” he said, joining her.

“Are you?”

“Yes,” he said, seriously.

“Is that it? Four guards?”

“Four for you and two for Allen.”

“And?”

“That’s it for now, though they asked that you not horseback through the city anymore. The Council would feel better if you would stay in the palace, but I’ve told them that won’t happen.” He took her hand in his.

“Do I get to keep training the Cavalry?” She was worried about that.

“Yes, it’s the safest place for you, actually. You’ll be with at least thirteen heku.”

“I see, and I’m guessing they will be touchy.”

He nodded, “We have to have them watching carefully.”

“I know what you’re going to ask and yes… I will be good,” she said, smiling.

“We understand it’s hard for you to be under so much protection, but we can’t risk them getting to you,” he said, and kissed her softly.

“I’ll behave, I promise.”

“There’s one other thing,” Chevalier said, hesitating.

Emily looked at him suspiciously, “What is that?”

Chevalier rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, “It’s something… rather personal. I told them no, but I had to promise I’d ask.”

She frowned, “Just spill it.”

“The Council wants us to consider having another baby,” he said, grinning sheepishly.

Emily laughed, “They didn’t.”

He nodded.

“Why do they care?”

“The Winchester powers only go through the female blood line.”

“Oh I see, and when I die, the ability to ash leaves with me,” she said, understanding.

Chevalier nodded, surprised she was finding this amusing.

“So that’s what the Council wants… what do you want?” she asked, crawling onto his lap and facing him.

“I want what you want,” he said, and pressed his lips against hers.

She pulled back, “That’s a cop out. What do you want?”

He sighed and brushed the hair off of her shoulder, “I wouldn’t mind another.”

“Wouldn’t mind?”

“What do you want me to say? Yes… I’d like to have another baby.” He grinned, knowing she’d won that.

Emily smiled, “I’ve been thinking about it anyway, Allen is 3 and he needs a sibling.”

Chevalier looked at her shocked, “So that’s a yes?”

She nodded, “They do realize, though, it could be a boy.”

“I told them that. I can’t believe you said yes.”

“Why’s that?”

“You were so adamant about not having another.”

She shrugged, “Yeah well, things change. Understand, though, that I wasn’t even supposed to have one baby. It may not matter what we do, there may not be any more Winchesters.”