Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  He turned to the game and joined his son in playing the mostly insulting video game.

  “Daddy?” Allen asked, looking over at him.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you a vampire?”

  Chevalier grinned, “No, I’m not.”

  “Dennis said vampires are bad.”

  “There’s no such thing as a vampire.”

  “Do you drink blood?”

  Chevalier sighed. He and Emily hadn’t decided what to tell Allen, “Have you ever seen me?”

  “Well… no.”

  “Then… there you have it.”

  “Is it bad to drink blood?” Allen asked, looking intently at his Dad.

  “No, it’s not.”

  When the game ended, Chevalier tucked Allen into bed and kissed his forehead.

  “Do you promise me you aren’t a vampire?” Allen asked him.

  “I promise, now go to sleep.”

  Chevalier walked out of Allen’s room and opened the bathroom door slowly. Emily was asleep in the jetted tub. He leaned against the counter and watched her sleeping. He smiled when he noticed the top edge of her tummy sticking out of the water.

  Chevalier knelt down beside the tub, “Em?”

  She jerked awake, sloshing water over the side of the tub.

  “Don’t do that!” Emily yelled at him.

  Chevalier chuckled, “Sorry, I just had an image of you drowning in your sleep.”

  “Have fun in the prison tonight?” Emily said with a smirk.

  “I wasn’t in the prison. I was in a meeting,” he said, watching her closely.

  “No you weren’t, you have that look again.”

  “What look?”

  “That look… like you’ve done something exhilarating. Something that your mortal wife wouldn’t understand,” she said, and crawled out of the tub, wrapped in a towel, and then she bent down to put on the walking cast.

  “It was a meeting.”

  “It was in the prison, and I’m going to find out what it is down there,” she said, walking out of the bathroom.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chevalier told her, walking out just as she pulled on a nightgown.

  “Of course you don’t,” she said, and sat down to brush her hair in front of the fire.

  “Just forget about that night, Em. It’s no big deal.”

  “If it was no big deal, you’d tell me what it was you were doing.”

  “Tonight, I was at a meeting, ask Maleth,” Chevalier told her.

  “No, he can’t be trusted now either.”

  “What’d he do?”

  “He evaded my questions. Obviously in cahoots with the three of you.”

  “Damnit,” Chevalier said, irritated. “Stay out of it.”

  Emily stood up slowly and walked over to the bed. She slipped off her boot and then laid down, fighting a wince as her back screamed at the movement.

  Chevalier sighed, “Did the horse hurt your back?”

  “Good night, Chev,” she said, and shut her eyes.

  “At least take some ibuprofen,” he told her, holding his hand out with some of pills.

  Emily took them with some water and shut her eyes again.

  Chevalier watched her for a few minutes and then turned out the lights and sat by the fire in a chair.

  “Chev?” she whispered softly from the bed.

  He walked over to her and knelt down, “I’m here.”

  “I’m afraid,” her voice was soft and timid.

  “Of what?”

  “Promise you won’t leave.”

  Chevalier crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around her, “I promise.”

  He almost immediately saw the swirls of grays fill his mind as she fell into a deep sleep.

  Sam brought Allen out for school and Chevalier kissed his forehead and sent them out quietly. He wrapped his arms back around Emily and watched the swirls of emotion as they flowed around them. He opened his eyes just as she was about to wake up.

  “Good morning,” Chevalier said, and kissed on the forehead.

  Emily yawned into her hand and nodded.

  “You slept late. I need to get to the trials,” he said, climbing out of bed.

  Emily nodded and curled up on her side.

  “Want breakfast?” he asked as he headed out of the room. He turned back to her, but she was already asleep.

  Emily woke up a few hours later and looked around the empty room. There was a steaming pot of coffee on the table. She went to the table and sipped the coffee as she formulated a plan in her mind. She knew whatever they were hiding was in the prison. She also knew that Chevalier would have taken precautions against her finding it.

  Her first course of action was to go through every one of the prisoners, in case it was a prisoner they were hiding from her. Dressing quickly, she slid on the hated boot and pulled the straps tight and then tied her hair up into a pony.

  “You can have the day off,” Emily told the members of the Cavalry assigned to her. She watched as they blurred out of sight, and then made her way down the stairs. She was allowed in the prison now, so she didn’t have to worry about the guards there causing any problems.

  “Ma’am,” they both said, bowing to her when she walked in.

  Emily started a systematic pattern through the prison cells, making sure to check each one. She studied each prisoner as they flew at her and landed hard against the bars. Some foamed at the mouth, while others just inhaled and touched the air with their tongues.

  Exavior sighed, “What are you up to?”

  “Just looking,” Emily said, walking past his cell to the one next to him.

  “Good morning, Winchester,” Sotomar said, looking through the bars. He inhaled and smiled as she walked by.

  Emily started to think she was not on the right track, as prisoner after prisoner turned out to be nothing they would hide from her. She stopped at Greg’s cell and looked in, he was curled up into a ball and shaking.

  “Greg?” she asked toward him.

  He looked up at her and ducked his head back into his hands.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, frowning. The bold leader of the V.E.S. that she spent so much time with, now looked like a weak shell.

  “T… t… tor… torture,” he stammered out, as his entire body shook.

  “Who tortured you?” she asked softly.

  “Emily, I need to talk to you,” Exavior shouted.

  “Who, Greg?” Emily asked, ignoring Exavior.

  “Thh… they did,” he said, looking around nervously.

  Emily walked around to Exavior, “Is that it? They were hiding a torture?”

  “He’s a raving lunatic. Don’t listen to him,” Exavior said, leaning against the bars.

  Emily turned around and finished her search of the cells, “What’s through this door?”

  One of the guards appeared, “That’s off limits.”

  “What’s through there?” she asked again.

  “More cells, the more dangerous criminals are kept back there,” he told her.

  Emily tried the door, but it was too heavy for her to open, “Open it.”

  “No, Ma’am. We were told to allow you to visit Exavior, and that’s it,” the guard said.

  “We can do this easy or hard, your choice,” Emily said, putting her hands on her hips.

  The guard glanced at the other guard by the door, who shrugged.

  Emily tapped her foot as the guard sighed and opened the heavy door for her.

  “Knock when you’re ready to leave,” he told her.

  Emily stepped into the dimly lit corridor and had the sudden feeling of déjà vu. The corridor looked like the one from the mortal trap. Instead of bars, the walls were stone with small peep holes up higher than she could see. She jumped to try to look inside, but couldn’t. All she could hear was the buzzing of electricity and the groaning of pain.

  Emily saw a box at the end of the hallway and pulled it up to one of the op
enings. She peeked inside and gasped. There was a large heku in the small 4x4ft cell. He was shackled and chained to the wall. The muscles on his neck stood out as he strained with the pain. He suddenly looked up and into her eyes.

  “Who are you?” she whispered through the small opening.

  He growled deeply and grinned at her, the look on his face sent chills up her spine. Emily froze in terror, her eyes locked on his. She couldn’t move away from the window, but began to shake with the terror. His eyes seemed to dig deep into her soul and it was cold and alone. The air around her turned frigid and she found it hard to breathe. His eyes were malicious and full of loathing for her.

  Emily screamed when she felt the hands on her waist, pulling her away from the window. Warm arms wrap around her and she buried her face in his chest, still trembling with fear.

  “Shhh, it’s ok,” Damon said softly, pressing a hand against her head.

  She didn’t care that it was Damon. She was out of the grip of the heku in the cell.

  “He… he…” she tried to explain, but couldn’t get the words to come out.

  “I know, you’re ok now,” he said to her.

  Her body was tense against his and she began to tremble.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Damon suggested, and when she nodded, he picked her up as she shook and carried her back up the stairs.

  Damon met Kyle and Chevalier in the hallway leading to the foyer.

  “What happened?” Chevalier asked, taking Emily from Damon. He could feel her entire body shaking.

  “She met Adam,” Damon said, watching her, concerned.

  “She what!?” Chevalier roared.

  “He… he…” she stammered, still unable to talk.

  “I was told by the guards that she went into the maximum security cells,” Damon said. “She got a box to stand on and… well… she found Adam.”

  Even with the bright daylight flooding into the palace, Emily felt cold and afraid. Normally in the grips of Chevalier’s strong arms, nothing frightened her, but the terrified moments she looked into Adam’s eyes still made her shiver, and the coldness from his gaze still surrounded her.

  “So… cold…” Emily mumbled.

  “It’s ok, as soon as you get warm you’ll feel better,” Chevalier told her, and headed upstairs.

  Emily had a tight grip on Chevalier as he ran the bathwater.

  “Come on, let’s get you in the water,” he said as he shut off the water. He had to pry Emily’s fingers off of his neck.

  “No, don’t let go,” she said, tightening her grip.

  “You won’t feel better until you warm up, trust me,” he said, and pulled her arms from around him. He felt her body shaking as he removed her clothes and sat her in the water. He turned the hot water on for a few more minutes to heat it up.

  Slowly, Emily stopped shaking and began to feel the warmth from the water. She buried her face in her hands and broke down crying. Chevalier touched her hair softly.

  “It’s ok, he can’t get out,” Chevalier said softly.

  As the warmth permeated into her body, Emily began to feel better. The shaking stopped and the terror that gripped her began to fade.

  “Who is he?” she asked finally, looking up at Chevalier.

  Chevalier sighed, “His name is Adam. He’s one of the most dangerous heku I’ve ever seen.”

  “Those cells past the door?”

  “Maximum security. Did you notice the cells didn’t have a door?” he asked.

  Emily nodded.

  “That’s because there are no doors… those prisoners were sealed in there with no chance of ever getting out. The wall was built around them,” Chevalier tried to assure her.

  Emily shut her eyes and let the warmth from the water wash away the image of Adam in her mind.

  “What were you doing in there?” Chevalier asked softly.

  “I wanted to see,” she whispered.

  “I wish you could see that there are reasons we try to keep you out of places,” he said, reaching over to massage her shoulders.

  “Why isn’t he dead?”

  “He’s too dangerous to kill,” Chevalier sighed.

  “I… I don’t understand,” Emily said, looking up at him.

  “There was an ancient, he’s been gone for almost 1200 years. He used to be able to reassemble a heku that died. He could reattach a heku’s head and bring him back to life, even years later. The risk of those heku down in maximum security coming back to life is too great, so we keep them,” Chevalier explained. “He can’t get out.”

  Emily nodded.

  “What were you afraid of last night?” Chevalier asked.

  “I don’t remember,” Emily said, watching the water.

  “I’ll get you some lunch, ok? Come out when you are ready. I’ll be right outside the door,” he said, and left, shutting the door behind him.

  Emily sat for a while and let the warm water do its work. Finally, she climbed out of the tub and dressed quickly. She found Chevalier sitting by the table with a silver tray on it. She sat down and pulled off the dome. She was hungry from missing breakfast, and dug into the spaghetti.

  “I need to go back to the trials. Will you be ok alone?” Chevalier asked, and brushed the hair away from her shoulder.

  “Can I go with you?” she asked, frowning.

  “What if I send Mark up?”

  “Do you really have to go?”

  “I really need to, yes,” Chevalier said. “What about Damon? I can send him up. Today’s trials are Elder only.”

  Emily shook her head, “I bet he thinks this is really funny.”

  “No, I don’t think he does,” Chevalier told her.

  “Send Mark,” she said, and sat down the fork, no longer hungry.

  Chevalier kissed her forehead and left just as Mark was arriving.

  Mark was disappointed that Emily wasn’t in the mood for the game, but began to get worried when she lay in bed watching out the window for hours. He heard Chevalier coming up the stairs and met him out in the hallway.

  “She hasn’t moved all afternoon. She’s just staying in bed, watching out the window,” Mark said, concerned.

  Chevalier sighed, “She met Adam.”

  Mark gasped, “How?”

  “She got nosey down in the prison,” Chevalier said a bit coldly.

  “Well at least that explains her mood. Damn, I hope she feels better,” Mark said, and left for the barracks.

  ***

  “Doesn’t it seem like we’ve had a lot of trials lately?” Quinn asked as the Council settled in for another day.

  “Seems like it,” Damon nodded.

  “How is Emily?” Maleth asked, when Chevalier sat down.

  “Better, seems like every day Adam wears off a little more,” he explained. Emily spent the first two days in bed, but over the next week, started to come out more and more, though she avoided the prison now.

  “I hate to say this, though I wish it hadn’t been Adam, maybe that’s what we needed to keep her away from the interrogation chamber,” Damon said.

  Chevalier just nodded.

  The Court Reporter shuffled some papers, “First up is Ed. He’s an Equites, 248 years old. He’s accused of intent to harm a member of the Council.”

  Quinn raised an eyebrow, “Which member?”

  “I didn’t! I swear, it was a misunderstanding,” Ed yelled, his terror filled eyes on Chevalier.

  “He snuck up behind Emily while she was working with that demon horse. He scared the horse, who ended up throwing Emily into a fence. On interrogation, he admitted he was going to make her an offer,” Damon told him.

  “I just… I just wanted out of that room. I didn’t do anything,” Ed pleaded.

  “Offer?” Quinn asked, ignoring Ed.

  “An offer to feed,” Damon said, and scowled at Ed.

  “No, no that’s not what I wanted, I swear!”

  “What then, did you want with her?” Quinn asked him.

 
“I wanted to talk to her, that’s all.”

  “About?”

  “Just visit, nothing more,” Ed said, still watching Chevalier.

  “Hmm, interesting. Aren’t there outstanding orders about talking to the Elder’s wife?” Quinn asked Damon.

  Damon nodded, “There are.”

  “I say guilty then,” Quinn said bluntly.

  Each of the council members voted guilty, and then Damon stood up, “Using you as an example, you are sentenced to 16 years in prison for disobeying a direct order and causing harm to a member of the Council.”

  “No... please... no,” Ed said, and fell to his knees. Two guards came in and hauled him away.

  “Next?” Maleth asked the Court Reporter.

  “Next up is Lady Emily,” he said.

  “Excuse me?” Chevalier said.

  “She submitted the correct paperwork for a trial. She is on the docket.”

  “This should be interesting,” Damon said, and turned to the door when Emily entered.

  “Good morning, Emily,” Maleth said, smiling.

  Emily smiled at the Council and limped over to the trial area.

  “What exactly brings you here today?” Quinn asked with a smile.

  “I’ve been doing some research on the heku laws, specifically as it applies to Equites prisoners,” she said, and blushed briefly as she felt the Council watching her. “I am here on behalf of Exavior… to ask for his release.”

  “Can she do that?” asked Zohn. He had been appointed the Equites Chief Interrogator, and this was his first trial day.

  Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I do believe she can.”

  “On what grounds do you appeal for his release?” Quinn asked.

  “On the grounds that I’m the one he was accused of assaulting, and I want him released,” Emily said nervously.

  “Bring Exavior here,” Damon said under his breath.

  Emily turned suddenly when she heard the door behind her open, and then looked back to the Council when Exavior stepped in with his hands restrained at his back. He moved forward and stood beside Emily.

  “What am I accused of now?” Exavior asked.

  “The Lady is here to try to get you released,” Quinn told him.

  Exavior raised an eyebrow, “Oh, she is?”

  “Was that at your request?” Damon asked angrily.

  “No, it was not. I wasn’t aware she was even trying,” Exavior said, and looked at Emily. It was obvious to the Council that she was avoiding looking at him.