"Emily, we're going to be late," Kyle said from her bedroom.

"The Elders don't like waiting," Chevalier called to her.

Emily stood, horrified, in front of the mirror. She had given Margaret strict orders that the formal dress she was making was to be modest, and now she wondered if Margaret needed to re-learn the word.

She liked the material, and the way the long layers of soft fabric flowed when she moved. The top wasn't too bad. A circle of pearls wrapped around her neck, and the upside-down 'V' of fabric draped from it did cover her, mostly. One problem was that it left her shoulders bare, and the sleeves, if that's what you could call them, were split open all the way down and hung from her arms by small beads of pearls. The color was alright also. The top was dark blue, and it faded as it went to the floor, ending in white with what seemed to be runes stitched in contrasting blue thread.

She turned to the side though and gasped.

"I'm coming to get you in 30 seconds," Chevalier called out to her.

She stepped out into her room and blushed. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she liked her hair piled elegantly on her head with draped ringlets. She figured her hair would have hidden her body nicely. She felt uncomfortable when both Chevalier and Kyle looked at her and smiled.

"See, that's not so bad," Chevalier said, motioning for the door.

Emily sighed and stepped toward the door, spinning when the two heku started to laugh.

"I'm warning you." She eyed them.

"I'm sorry. It just took us by surprise," Chevalier said.

He couldn't tell from the front, but the top of the dress in its flattering inverted 'V' shape left her back and sides completely uncovered. The back dropped dangerously low and accentuated her small waist, exposing down to just above her hips.

He fought the desire to reach out and run his fingers along her delicate spine. He had to stay away from her tonight though. He couldn't let the Elders be suspicious.

Kyle glanced away nervously when he noticed that the revealing top also left the smallest portion of the outside of her breasts uncovered. He walked up beside her and held out his arm, which she took timidly and smiled at him. Chevalier repressed the desire to remove Kyle's arm.

They descended the steps and met the Elders at the bottom. The two male Elders were shocked at the sight of Emily. They hadn't imagined she would be so beautiful. They stepped aside, so Emily and Kyle could lead the way to the conference room. Kyle grinned when Emily blushed. She knew how revealing the back of the dress was, and she could feel their eyes on her.

Kyle opened the door for her and barely touched the soft skin on her back as she walked past him. He could feel Chevalier tense, but he had his orders. He had to act like they were together. Touching was a vital part of that, and one which he was enjoying too much.

He kept his hand on her back as she walked to her seat. Her seat was obvious, because there was a glass and a pitcher of water in front of it. The other seats faced an empty portion of the table. Kyle pulled out her chair and scooted her in once she sat. He reached down and kissed her lightly on the shoulder before sitting down beside her.

Emily watched Chevalier, and his face was unnaturally still. She felt Kyle's lips against her skin, and she stiffened, ready for Chevalier's rage, but it didn't come. She sat back in the chair and waited for everyone to be seated.

The female Elder, Selest, spoke first, "Thank you for allowing us this meeting, Chief Enforcer, and you, Lady Emily, for gracing us with your presence."

Emily just smiled politely, feeling uncomfortable as all eyes turned back to her. Kyle squeezed her hand gently.

"You know you are welcome here any time," Chevalier said. Emily was proud of him. He was acting perfectly normal, though she knew his jealousy had to be raging.

A young servant entered and placed a glass of red wine in front of Emily, then bowed and walked out. Again, all eyes turned to her, and she could feel her face flush.

"We have spent the last week in the company of the Valle and Encala Elders," Selest began. "I can't say as though any progress was made, but we did ascertain that, for now, there will be no further attacks." She emphasized, "For now."

The Elder to her right began, "We do believe we have found that the attacks on the Encala's coven were from the government of Greenland, not from one of the other factions. The Encala do send their apologies for the unwarranted attack on this island."

Chevalier growled.

"We understand the frustrations, but things are explosive. We had to come to a mutual peace understanding, or we fear these attacks would continue and grow."

"So what happens now?" Chevalier asked. "My way of life was attacked. The people I protect were put in danger, and that's unacceptable."

"We all understand this. The Encala Elders were most upset by the attacks and have punished those involved. We have received..." He glanced at Emily. "Proof of their punishment and have accepted it."

Chevalier scowled.

The Elder to the female's left then spoke, "We will leave the proof with you to do with as you wish."

This seemed to calm Chevalier some, but Emily wasn't sure what they were talking about.

The female Elder smiled. "Now on to more joyous things, Emily?"

Emily jumped at her name and stammered out, "Yes?"

"You were of some contention in the meeting, child."

Emily frowned, but Kyle spoke, "What kind of conflict could my wife bring?"

"The Valle are trying to seek a claim to her."

Emily gasped, and she saw a twitch in Chevalier's face. Kyle wrapped an arm around her waist. "They have no such claim."

The Elder smiled. "It is true, more so now with the bonding, and we will tell them about that when we return."

Emily's body was tense, and she found little comfort in Kyle's arm.

"We didn't realize though, how very young Emily is. How old are you, child?" the female Elder asked her.

She looked at Kyle and he nodded and smiled.

"I'm 24."

"Ahhh, so young. We had no idea."

Emily couldn't help it. "I'm not a child. Twenty four is an adult."

The oldest Elder laughed. "Still a child, dear."

Emily scowled and felt Kyle rub her back.

"And beautiful, the Valle failed to mention how stunning you are."

Emily blushed.

"We look forward to seeing the children this union produces. To think, a Winchester heir could be in our ranks." He smiled reassuringly, but Emily froze.

"I... I... I can't have children," she finally managed to say.

"Why is that, dear?" the Elder asked, sounding honestly concerned.

Emily shook her head. "I just can't. The doctors told me that a long time ago."

The Elder turned to Kyle. "And you knew of this?"

Kyle didn't miss a beat. "Of course I did. I didn't marry Emily for the sole purpose of reproducing. I love her."

"Kind, very kind of you, dear. It's just so rare that we as the immortal get a chance to procreate, that we thought it might be part of your plan," he said, not sounding at all like he meant to pry.

Emily looked at Kyle questioningly.

"Immortal women cannot bear children," he whispered in her ear. Her head suddenly filled with questions.

Emily grabbed the goblet and took a sip of the wine. It gave her a moment to think, and the alcohol cleared her head. She set it down and noticed everyone watching her again.

She looked nervously at Chevalier. "Why don't we let Emily go then? We have more to discuss that doesn't involve her," he said to the Elders.

The Elders stood when Emily did, and one reached out for her hand. She hesitated and placed her hand in his and tried not to grimace when he kissed it softly, then held it as he addressed her. "It was good to meet you, child." His eyes glanced down to her exposed waist. "Very nice indeed."

She pulled her hand away from him and left the room, ignoring the feel of eyes on her bare back. Once she heard the door shut behind her, she slipped off her heels and ran to the kitchen, then flung open the door and began to go through a nearby cupboard.

"Can we help you, child?" one of the young chefs asked from behind her. She dropped her hands. She could only imagine how much skin was exposed with her hands extended.

"First, stop calling me child. Second, I want more of that wine I just had." She was looking around the kitchen when the chef appeared ahead of her with the bottle.

"Thanks," she said, heading back out to her room.

She couldn't get out of her dress fast enough, and she piled it onto the floor. She then pulled on one of Keith's old t-shirts and sat in a chair with the bottle of wine between her knees. She pulled and tugged on the cork, but it wouldn't come loose.

Frustrated, she stepped into the hallway, held the wine bottle out, and said, "It's stuck."

Within less than a second, a strange heku appeared and pulled the cork out, and then vanished.

"Thank you!" she called after him.

She had the bottle to her lips before she got to the chair, and she drank deeply. The alcohol burned her throat, and she sat down, gasping for breath. She noticed a glass sitting on the table but ignored it as she put the bottle to her mouth and drank. Emily smiled when she felt the effects from the wine start to warm and relax her. She slumped down in the chair and drank more.

As the world began to spin, she slid down to the floor, holding the bottle in front of her. She couldn't seem to drink enough to take the memory away.

"Keith?" She walked up to him while he was shoeing a horse.

"What? I'm busy," he snapped at her.

She paused, took a deep breath, and then continued, "I just got back from seeing Dr. Meacham."

"Yeah? So?" He didn't look up at her.

"He said I'm pregnant." She took a step back when he stood up and walked toward her.

"Oh yeah? Who's the father? Huh, Emi?" His fierce eyes raged.

She took another step back. "Don't act like that, Keith. You're the only one..." Before she could finish, he punched her hard, and she fell to the floor of the barn. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

"I am, eh? Not the entire male population of Cascade? I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money taking care of you and some asshole's little brat." He finished by kicking her in the side.

The doctor looked down at her from the table. "I'm so sorry, Emily. The baby's gone."

Emily was numb, and she just nodded her head.

"I'm afraid there's more." The doctor put a warm hand on her arm. "The horse did more damage than we first thought."

She looked up at him.

"You can't have any more children. I'm so sorry." The doctor had tears in his eyes that Emily didn't. She felt relief at not bringing a baby to become part of Keith's fury.

Emily took another long drink of wine. The warmth spread through her faster, and her mind finally began to block it all out.

She laid back onto the floor and looked up at the ceiling tiles as they danced and moved above her. She smiled while she watched them. Suddenly, a face blocked her view of the swirling tiles, and she frowned.

"She's drunk," Chevalier said from above her.

"Yeah, I see that," Kyle said from somewhere in the room.

The dancing ceiling stopped when Chevalier picked her up off of the floor. She could still feel the bottle in her hand, and she brought it to her lips just as Kyle pulled it away.

"I think you've had enough," he said softly.

"Give it back." Her demand was slurred.

She reached out and tried to hit him, but she missed. She fumed when Kyle left the room with her bottle.

"Go get it back," she told Chevalier unevenly as he laid her on the bed.

"And risk you getting too drunk to talk? I don't think so." He covered her with a blanket.

"I don't wanna talk." Her words were slow and hard to understand.

Chevalier sat down beside her on the bed and watched her for a moment while she marveled at the ceiling again.

"Emily?"

She didn't look away from the tiles. "Huh?"

"Do you want to talk about this?" he asked, partially amused.

"Talk about what?" She reached out to touch the ceiling.