Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Yeah, it may have gone something like that.” Damon laughed.

  Emily groaned and bent over, grabbing her stomach. Damon jumped to his feet and looked at her nervously.

  “Sit,” she moaned, and he sat back down, but watched her closely. She relaxed finally and looked over at him.

  “Going to pop that kid out now or what?” Damon asked, his voice was still joking, but Emily could see the panic in his eyes.

  “You know what I like about you, Damon?” Emily asked, and smiled.

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing,” she said, and grabbed her book from the nightstand.

  “Don’t you even wonder what the Valle and Encala are here for?” Damon asked after a few awkward minutes of silence.

  “Is it about me?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Then no, I don’t,” she said, turning the page in her book.

  “Want to play Vampire Attack IV?” he asked, looking over at the Wii.

  “No,” she said, still reading.

  “Hungry? I could get you something.”

  “No”

  Damon sat and watched her read, tapping his foot against the floor.

  “Damon!” Emily yelled.

  Damon looked up, “What?”

  “Why are you here?”

  “I told you why.”

  “If it’s not about me, then why would Maleth send you up here to irritate me?”

  “Is that what I’m doing?” Damon asked.

  “Yes”

  “Hmm,” he said, and sat back against the chair.

  “Why don’t you sit outside the door?”

  “I can’t irritate you from out there.”

  Emily’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the bed. Damon stood up and shook her softly, “Emily?”

  When she didn’t respond, he blurred from the room.

  She sat up and grinned, “Amateur.”

  Emily was sitting up cross-legged on the bed reading when Dr. Alona, Chevalier, Kyle, and Damon blurred into the room.

  She looked up as they stopped by her bed, “Can I help you?”

  “She… she…” Damon said, shocked.

  “Got you,” Kyle said, laughing, and walked out of the room. Damon yelled in frustration and followed him out.

  Dr. Alona looked at her carefully, and Emily sighed when she realized she was getting checked over.

  “What?” she asked, looking up from her book.

  “Just one blood pressure?” he asked, rocking nervously on his feet.

  “Whatever,” Emily said, and stuck out her arm, still reading.

  Dr. Alona moved quickly, afraid she would change her mind. He took the blood pressure and smiled, “Thank you.”

  “Sure… go away,” she said, irritated.

  “It’s still too high,” he said to her.

  “I figured… go away.”

  Dr. Alona left the room and Chevalier sat on the bed beside her, “You really scared Damon.”

  “Yes, well he’s an idiot,” Emily said, and sat the book on her lap.

  “He was doing Maleth a favor,” Chevalier said, in a tone very close to patronizing.

  “I want to go back to the island,” Emily told him.

  Chevalier nodded, “Sure, after the baby…”

  Emily cut him off, “Today.”

  Chevalier frowned, “We can’t go today.”

  “Why not? I don’t want to be here,” she said, watching him.

  “The heku in this building have grown accustomed to your scent over time. It doesn’t affect them because the scent grew gradually. The servants at the castle aren’t used to you. It’d be too dangerous,” he explained.

  “I’ll stay in the bedroom. They don’t have to come near me,” Emily said.

  “There will be too much blood when you have the baby, they won’t be able to resist it,” Chevalier told her, and touched her cheek softly.

  “I don’t want to have the baby here.”

  “I’m hoping you’ll be at the hospital, far away from any heku.”

  “I don’t want to have the baby at a hospital either.”

  “Where exactly were you hoping to have it then?”

  Emily shrugged, “I told you, alone somewhere.”

  “It’s too dangerous. Your family has a history of dying during childbirth. I’d rather have you around,” Chevalier said softly.

  Emily looked down at her hands, “I’m afraid of killing everyone in this building.”

  “I don’t think that will happen. If you’ll feel better, we can send Damon away, just in case,” Chevalier said matter-of-factly.

  “They already think I’m the spoiled Elder’s wife. See how badly they hate me after I’ve ashed the lot of them,” Emily said, fighting back more tears.

  “They don’t hate you. If they did, they wouldn’t be in the palace,” Chevalier told her.

  “They will if I ash them all.”

  “That didn’t happen with Allen, so I’m sure it’ll be ok.”

  “Why were the Valle and Encala here?” Emily asked after a brief silence.

  “They want Exavior and Sotomar back,” Chevalier told her, and leaned back against the headboard on the bed.

  “Did you let them go?”

  “We were discussing it when we were rudely interrupted by a frantic Damon,” Chevalier chuckled.

  “So you’re still supposed to be down there?”

  Chevalier nodded.

  “So go. I’m ok, I just want to read.”

  Chevalier kissed her on the forehead and left quickly.

  ***

  Emily sat up in bed and looked at the clock, it was 3am. She looked around the room and saw she was alone. The two fireplaces were roaring enough she could see all around the room. She stepped out of bed and pulled on a robe, then headed out into the hallway. She saw the guard chairs were also empty.

  Yawning, Emily headed down toward the kitchen, still mostly asleep. The halls seemed extremely quiet, and if she didn’t know better, she would think she was alone in the palace. The kitchen was dark and quiet, so she turned on the light and started making herself a sandwich. She grabbed a bag of chips in one hand, and her sandwich in the other, and headed back up the stairs. When she got to the fourth floor, she heard loud shouting.

  “The domination of the Equites is ending,” an angry voice yelled.

  “No one said the Equites are trying to dominate anything,” Maleth said sternly.

  “By laying claim to more than one Winchester, you are obviously trying to build an army that no other faction is capable of defeating,” another angry voice yelled.

  “No one is saying we have more than one Winchester. You know as well as I do that her son, Allen, is mortal and has no abilities at all,” Maleth replied.

  “She is with child, is she not?”

  “Yes, she is,” Maleth said.

  “Then if it is a female, will the infant be given to another faction?”

  “No, she would not be,” Quinn said.

  Emily sighed. She was tired of the factions fighting over her and her baby. She would rather die than go to the Valle or the Encala. The Equites seemed to spend a lot of their time trying to keep her safe and under their protection, and it was getting old. She was tired of hearing the Equites argue with the others about any claims to her. She did what she pleased, and that never included the Encala or the Valle. They acted like the Equites were holding her against her will.

  Emily walked around to the hallway behind the council chambers and opened the door as she took a bite of her sandwich. The Council turned around, shocked to see her at this hour.

  “Em? What’s wrong?” Chevalier whispered, as he stood up and moved to her.

  “Nothing,” she said, and handed him the bag of chips to open.

  “Then what are you doing?” he asked, opening them and handing the bag back to her.

  Emily peeked around him as the shouting started again. They didn’t know she was in the room because the f
ans were keeping her scent away from them.

  “Just looking,” she said, and took another bite of her sandwich.

  Chevalier shook his head and grinned, then returned to his seat. Emily listened for a bit while the enemy heku couldn’t see her.

  “This discussion is tiring. We demand the factions become equal again, and the only way to do that, is to share the Winchester blood,” an angry voice said.

  “Yes, this discussion is tiring, you’re not getting any of my children,” Chevalier said coldly. Emily was sure he was holding back his anger because she was in the room.

  “That they are your children is irrelevant. All we care about is the mother.”

  “Ha! Like you care at all about Emily,” Damon said angrily.

  “And you claim to? That’s a joke. You’re using her to reproduce and to extend the Winchester line, don’t kid yourselves,” the strange heku said.

  “She’s nothing more than a breeder, and you know it,” another voice yelled.

  “Oh you’ve done it now,” Emily heard Damon say with amusement. She could feel her temper rising at the stranger’s comment.

  “What do you…” the voice was cut off when Emily appeared with the Council.

  “What did you call me?” Emily asked angrily.

  A murmur ran through the twelve gathered enemy heku at the appearance of the Winchester.

  “I apologize. That came out wrong,” the heku said to her.

  “Nothing more than a breeder? What, like a purebred bitch? Oooh she’s in heat again, best get some more puppies,” Emily said, glaring at him.

  “No, Child, we do not think of you like that,” he said quickly.

  “Yeah right. Here’s the deal… now that I’m here, you’ll keep a civil tongue in your mouths, and address this Council with the respect they are due. You won’t talk about me like a piece of property, or a baby factory, either. Get out of hand and I’ll ash you, simple enough,” Emily said, and got some joy at the way they stepped back from her as she spoke.

  Emily glanced quickly at Damon when he turned his chair, and she could tell he was laughing.

  Emily sat down on Chevalier’s lap. Something she never did around others, but she was through caring at the moment. She leaned back against his chest and took another bite of her sandwich. She felt Chevalier chuckle, and he wrapped his arms around her.

  “It’s… it’s hard to discuss this while she’s here,” one of the Valle said.

  Emily ignored his comment and finished her sandwich.

  “She stays,” Damon said. He was enjoying the discomfort of the enemy.

  “It’s just that… she’s watching us,” he said to Maleth.

  “Do go on,” Maleth said. “We have a busy night ahead of us.”

  “We feel it only fair that each of the factions be given some of the blood from the Winchester,” the Valle said nervously.

  “Come get it,” Emily said, and held her wrist out.

  Chevalier grabbed her hand and put it into her lap, laughing “That’s not what they mean.”

  “Oh… they want a baby,” Emily said, nodding.

  “Yes, that’s what we want,” one of the Encala members said.

  “Sure, why not,” Emily said, and dug for a chip.

  “You… you agree?” the Valle asked.

  “Sure… why not just pop out a kid every year, and then you can each have a few. Is it ok if the baby is Chevalier’s, or were you planning on doing that yourself?” Emily asked, eating another chip.

  Emily felt Chevalier chuckle, and then his lips as he kissed the back of her head.

  “We… we aren’t picky about the father,” the Valle said.

  “Are you having fun?” Chevalier whispered softly into Emily’s ear.

  Emily nodded.

  “You would allow us to father our own Winchester?” the Encala asked.

  “Of course… I’m already getting it on with the entire Equites Council, why not throw you in too,” Emily said, looking over at Damon. He was still facing away from the enemy.

  The Valle and Encala looked at one another, and then turned around, whispering.

  “Hey, Quinn,” Emily said to the Elder. “Tonight’s your night, Big Boy.”

  Quinn looked at Chevalier with wide eyes.

  Emily stood up, “I wonder if we have any strawberry ice cream.”

  “Yes, I believe we do,” Chevalier said, chuckling.

  “Hmm,” she sighed, and left the council chambers.

  The Valle and Encala turned around and faced the Council, and then looked around, “Where did she go?”

  “I think she heard some ice cream calling,” Chevalier said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Will she be back?” one of the Encala asked.

  Chevalier shrugged, “Honestly, I have no idea what she’ll do next.”

  Damon finally composed himself and turned around, “These talks are getting us nowhere. We’ve offered to return Sotomar and Exavior back to you, but you aren’t getting any of Emily’s children.”

  Emily walked back into the council chambers with a bowl of ice cream. They watched her closely as she sat back on Chevalier’s lap and leaned against him.

  “Did I miss anything?” Emily asked.

  “We… we have discussed it, and want to take you up on your offer,” the Valle leader said to Emily.

  “Which offer? I forget,” Emily said, taking a bite of ice cream.

  “To father our own Winchester,” he said softly.

  Emily looked at Damon, “Did I offer that?”

  Damon nodded with a grin.

  “Dang, I shouldn’t talk when I’m hungry. Who wants a piece of me first?” Emily asked, looking out over the enemy factions.

  One of the larger Encala stepped forward, “That’d be me.”

  Emily stood up and handed her bowl of ice cream to Maleth. He took it and watched her carefully.

  “You think you can handle me?” she asked, leaning forward slightly toward him with her hands on the desk.

  “I do,” he said, and ran his eyes down what he could see of her.

  Damon started to laugh again as the large heku fell into a pile of ash.

  “Listen to me,” Emily said, her voice was soft, but angry. “Get this through your sick, twisted minds. I’m no one’s property, and I am not a baby factory. You ever try to lay a hand on one of my children, you’ll be ash before you can yell for help. I’ll die before I’ll see any of my blood in the hands of scum like you.”

  The heku from all three factions looked at her, shocked. Her tiny form was fierce and commanding, and they hadn’t heard her speak with such conviction before. Emily turned and took her ice cream from Maleth, and then sat back down on Chevalier’s lap. His arms wrapped tightly around her.

  “I think she’s spoken,” Damon said, standing up. “As she’s not Equites property, and has every right to speak for herself, I think the matter is solved.”

  “It’s disgusting the way you let the mortal run things. She needs to learn that heku are superior to humans, and should be taught respect and obedience,” the Valle said angrily.

  “She obeys, watch… Emily, ash him,” Damon said, and watched the Valle turn into a pile of ash at the feet of his faction members.

  “Yes, Sir,” she said, and took another bite of ice cream. She could feel Chevalier chuckle again.

  “Stop it!” one of the Valle said. “We came as a peaceful representation of our factions and are outraged at the violence we have encountered.”

  Emily slowly put the bowl down on the table when she felt a pain start in her back and shoot toward the front. The familiar tightening started, and she the panic begin. She waited until the pain fully stopped and she was sure her legs would be strong enough to hold her before moving.

  “Done toying with them?” Chevalier asked when she stood up.

  “Yes,” Emily whispered, and felt a hand on her arm.

  “What’s wrong?” Chevalier asked her, his eyes watching her closely.


  “Nothing, I’m just tired,” she said, and bent over when she was hit with another hard contraction. This one was much worse than the last, and it couldn’t have been more than three minutes.

  “Emily?” Chevalier said, kneeling in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

  Emily moaned as the contraction peaked. She felt a warm rush of water run down her legs as the pain began to back off.

  “Get them out of here,” Chevalier whispered, and saw the confused look on the Council’s faces. He picked her up and blurred her up to the room.

  Chevalier was just laying Emily down when Kyle, Mark, Damon, Quinn, and Maleth appeared.

  Emily grabbed Chevalier’s shirt, “You have to get me out of here.”

  “You’re not in danger. That’s why we’re here,” Damon said from the doorway.

  “She’s not worried about herself. She’s afraid she’ll hurt us,” Chevalier explained.

  Emily felt another contraction start, and she fell back on the bed and groaned. The heku watched her helplessly as the labor progressed.

  “Get the doctors,” Chevalier said to Damon.

  “Elder, they went to feed. The doctor at the hospital assured them the baby was a good month away,” Damon said, watching Emily with wide eyes.

  “They both went?” Chevalier growled.

  Maleth nodded.

  “Get an ambulance,” Kyle said.

  “No,” Emily said sternly.

  “Em, we can’t do this. We don’t know what to do,” Chevalier said, brushing her hair away from her face.

  “No hospitals,” Emily said again.

  “Get Sam,” Chevalier said, and Kyle disappeared.

  Emily screamed when the pain started again. She wasn’t getting time to rest between contractions, and they were getting harder, faster.

  “Do something,” Damon said as he watched her.

  “There’s nothing to do but wait,” Chevalier told him.

  “How far apart are the contractions?” Sam asked, stepping past the heku at the door.

  “A minute, maybe a little longer,” Chevalier said to him.

  “You should have called me sooner,” Sam said angrily.

  “It’s only been about 30 minutes,” Chevalier said, irritated at the familiar.

  Emily fell back onto the bed, panting, “Not Sam, please. Not Sam.”

  “He’s all we have, Em,” Chevalier said softly.