Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Oh... erm... come back down here,” Kralen said, and she joined him on the trial room floor.

  “Ever heard of Rasmussen?” Chevalier asked, turning his seat.

  “The Ancient?” Kyle asked, looking at Emily.

  “Yes”

  “He takes away free will,” Quinn said. “I take it somehow she met him?”

  “Exavior and Alec paid a visit. They had the Ancient disguised as an Imperial Guard,” Chevalier said, sighing.

  “So she’s completely obedient?” Zohn asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “It’s more than that,” Chevalier said. “She can’t do anything on her own. We could all leave for weeks, and she would stay right where she is.”

  “So order her to stop being obedient,” Quinn suggested.

  “She takes the last order given, that might work until someone told her to do something.”

  “Emily, go slap Richard,” Zohn said, and watched Emily walk back up to the Council seats.

  “Stop,” Richard said, and glared at her.

  “She’s not a toy,” Chevalier growled.

  “Mark?” Kyle called out.

  “Yes, Chief Enforcer?” Mark said when he entered the trial area.

  “Take Emily. Kralen knows how to handle her,” Kyle said.

  “Handle her?”

  Kralen smiled slightly, “Follow me, Em.”

  Emily and Mark followed Kralen out of the council chambers.

  “Ok, so how do we get rid of that?” Quinn asked.

  “Why get rid of it?” Zohn chuckled. “It’s handy.”

  Chevalier glared at him.

  “I was kidding!”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to hit the record books and see what we can find,” Chevalier said. “Until then, she can’t be alone.”

  “It would be too easy to get her to leave,” Kyle said. “One small command and she’d be gone.”

  “The Valle tried that. She tried to follow them off of the island.”

  ***

  “She’ll do anything?” Mark asked, watching Emily.

  “Anything,” Kralen said, “But she won’t do anything on her own, either.”

  Mark thought about it while he watched Emily stand in front of the stables, doing nothing, “Jaron?”

  A member of the Cavalry blurred to them, “Yes, Captain?”

  “Take your mare and put her in the corral with one of the stallions.”

  Jaron’s eyes grew wide, “Sir, she’s in heat.”

  “I know,” Mark said, still watching Emily.

  Jaron glanced at Kralen before doing as he was told. Emily didn’t react or say anything. The Cavalry slowly gathered and watched her, waiting for her to start yelling.

  “Hm, that is odd,” Mark said. “Emily, look at me.”

  Emily turned and looked at him.

  “Go join the Encala.”

  “Ok,” Emily said, and headed for the gates.

  “Emily, stop,” Kralen told her, and she stopped moving.

  Mark sighed, “Ok, let’s see… when did she eat last?”

  “Damn, that was yesterday,” Kralen said.

  “Ok, first things first then, Emily, go eat,” Mark said.

  Emily headed inside.

  “It’s not that easy,” Kralen said, and followed her inside. Mark thought for a moment and then went after them. He met up with them in the dining room.

  ***

  Emily rolled over in the comfortable bed and sighed. She smiled when she smelled bacon and eggs. Opening her eyes, she sat up suddenly and looked around the room.

  “Damnit, Sotomar,” Emily growled, and hopped out of bed. She looked around the room until she found a robe and threw it on.

  Emily slammed open the door and stormed out of the room, followed by four Imperial Guards.

  “Can we help you, Lady Emily?” one of the Valle guards asked.

  “Yes, go jump off a cliff,” she yelled, and ran down to the Valle’s council chambers.

  “They are in session,” the door guard said, but she glared at him and opened the door anyway.

  “What the hell’s up with this?” Emily yelled, walking into the trial area. There were three heku on trial, and the entire Valle Council was in their seats.

  “Good morning,” Sotomar said, smiling.

  “Don’t good morning me. Take me back.”

  “Dear, we’re in a trial,” Exavior chuckled.

  Emily turned the three heku on trial into ash without even looking at them, “There, now you’re done. Take me back.”

  “No, we feel it’s better for the heku if you are no longer with the Equites. The Encala agree with us,” Sotomar explained.

  “What makes you think I’m not going to ash the entire city and just walk out of here?”

  “Because we have Dain.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Where is he?”

  “We’re going to keep him for now, to protect ourselves.”

  “So what now? How the hell did you even get me here? I don’t remember being drugged or kidnapped.”

  Exavior smiled, “We have our ways, now run along. We have more trials this morning.”

  “I hate you,” Emily said, looking at Exavior.

  “I’m sure you do… guards, escort her out.”

  The four Imperial Guards appeared and Emily followed them out, still scowling. They walked her back up to her room and she started going through it, looking for anything but the overly feminine dresses that Exavior ordered when she was there before.

  ***

  Kyle walked into the council chambers, returning after a week-long mission. He briefly wondered why the sounds of Dain’s screams filled the palace. No one was in the trial area, but the Council was deep in conversation when he sat down, “What’s going on?”

  Chevalier sighed, “Emily’s gone.”

  “Gone? How?” Kyle asked, frowning.

  “We had four guards on her during the Weicks trial… one of them was apparently a spy, and he told her to ash the three others…”

  Kyle sighed, “Which she did.”

  “Right, and then disappeared. We’re pretty sure the Valle have her, but as of yet, they aren’t talking to us.”

  Quinn turned to Kyle, “It’s more than just them having Emily. They can completely control her. We need to prepare ourselves to be massively wiped out by her.”

  “Damn, do you want me to go?” Kyle asked.

  “We’re debating. Whomever we send could be turned to ash immediately to prove a point,” Zohn told him.

  “The Encala are ok with the Valle having her then?”

  “We haven’t asked them. We’re not sure they know.”

  Kyle nodded, “If the Valle think that the Encala are going to sit back and let them take control of the only Winchester, they’re mistaken.”

  “She’s not under their control right now,” Chevalier explained. “When she’s under the Ancient’s control, I get nothing from her. As far as I can tell… right now she’s furious.”

  ***

  Emily screamed when she felt herself falling. Once her feet were on the ground, she glared at the Imperial Guard and turned to Sotomar, “Let me go.”

  “No, and stop trying to scale down the side of the palace, you’re going to get hurt.”

  “Then give me my baby.”

  “Again, no. We need to protect ourselves.”

  Emily glared at Sotomar, and he gasped and clutched his chest as a short burst of burning filled him. He looked up at her with furious eyes, “Do not do that.”

  “Give me my baby! I can’t take out the city but I can ash the Council.”

  “No you can’t, or you’ll never see him again,” Sotomar said, and turned to walk into the palace.

  “Or I could just ash you,” Emily said, following him.

  Sotomar ignored her comment and returned to the council chambers.

  “The Equites are calling again, demanding a meeting,” Exavior said. “Pushy bunch.”

  “I
would imagine they would like to speak to us. Send a delegation. We can’t have them here,” Sotomar said, and sat down. He was still feeling the lingering effects of Emily’s burn.

  “Are you ok?” Elder Ryan asked him.

  Sotomar grinned slightly, “Just a little burn, more of a warning.”

  Exavior chuckled, “It does sting for a bit.”

  “When do you want to do it?” Ryan asked the other Elders.

  “Soon… maybe tonight. We could just get it over with,” Sotomar suggested.

  “I understand we need to show our power, but it seems risky for her to do that amount. She was in a coma, on the brink of death the last time she turned a large amount.”

  “I know, but this isn’t nearly the 3400 she did here. This is a lot smaller. I suspect she’ll just sleep for a bit,” Sotomar said, and turned to the Chief Enforcer. “Do it, now.”

  The Valle’s Chief Enforcer nodded and disappeared from the council chambers.

  ***

  “All of them?” Quinn asked, shocked.

  Kyle nodded, “Every one of them. General Skinner didn’t have time to call for an alert. From what I can gather, they let Emily walk right in.”

  “Damnit, of course they did,” Chevalier growled. “Alert the covens not to let her in.”

  “We’ll have a problem doing that with Thukil,” Zohn said. “They revere her.”

  “Explain what’s happening, put out an order, no one’s to let her in.”

  Kyle sighed and stood up, “This could take a while. I’ll be back once I’ve revived them.”

  Once Kyle was gone, Zohn turned to the other Elders, “It’s happened then… they are going to try to wipe out the Equites.”

  “It’s irritating how easily Emily can be controlled by an ancient,” Dustin growled, still angry over her mass ashing of his home coven.

  “She’s going to be upset,” Chevalier said. “If she remembers turning Powan to ash, they are going to have an entirely new set of problems on their hands.”

  “Why do you suppose she’s not just turned the Valle to ash and gotten away?” Zohn asked, frowning.

  “I’m not sure. I told her to stop ashing, but I doubt she’s listening to me.”

  ***

  “Emily?” Sotomar said softly. He sat down on the edge of her bed and touched her hand softly, “Child, wake up.”

  “What do the Equites do with her?” Ryan asked, watching her sleep.

  “I think they just let her sleep it off.”

  “Her eyes are blood red though, that can’t be normal.”

  “I don’t know… I’m usually on the other end of this,” Sotomar explained, and stood up. “Let her sleep.”

  Exavior sat down on the bed and took her hand, “You do realize she’s going to be pretty mad when she wakes up.”

  “Yes, I do,” Sotomar said, watching him closely.

  “I’ll stay here with her.”

  Ryan sighed, “You know we can’t leave you alone with her. That was part of the deal.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” Exavior said, irritated. “She shouldn’t be alone.”

  “Then I’ll stay. You two go deal with the backlash from the Equites,” Sotomar said, and moved to stand by her bed.

  Exavior’s eyes narrowed, and he blurred from the room angrily. Ryan glanced at Sotomar before leaving.

  The following evening, Emily finally started to stir. Sotomar sat on the edge of her bed and touched her shoulder, “Emily?”

  She rolled over and looked at him, “You were my friend.”

  “I still am, Child.”

  “No… no you aren’t,” she said, and sat up slowly. Her head was pounding, and suddenly, the attack on Powan came back to her.

  Sotomar frowned, “Emily?”

  “Noooo,” she whispered, and she turned furious eyes to the Valle Elder. “You made me do that.”

  Sotomar stood up, “Yes, we did.”

  Emily scrambled out of bed and faced him in a crouch. Sotomar watched her, confused. He hadn’t seen her display any traits of a heku before, but realized that after almost 15 years, she managed to pick up some of them.

  “Calm down,” he said sternly.

  “Give me my baby and let me go.”

  “No”

  Emily flew at him and rammed her shoulder into his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her, spun her away from him, and held her tightly, “Stop it before you hurt yourself.”

  She lowered her head and slammed it back into his nose. The sound of shattering bones filled the bedroom. He growled and gripped her tighter as he healed.

  “I said stop it,” he hissed.

  “They are my friends,” Emily growled, and jabbed an elbow into his stomach.

  Sotomar groaned and tightened his grip, “Calm down, immediately.”

  “Or what? You’ll make me attack my friends again?” she yelled, and kicked backwards, displacing his knee. Sotomar let go of her and fell back against the wall, growling. The room suddenly filled with Imperial Guards, and two of them tackled Emily and pinned her against the floor.

  Emily screamed angrily and fought against them. The Council came into the room and watched her with wide eyes.

  “Are you ok, Elder?” the Chief of Defense asked.

  “I’m fine. She has quite the temper,” Sotomar said, and straightened his shirt.

  Elder Ryan knelt down beside her, “Calm down.”

  Emily tried to kick him, but another Imperial Guard caught her leg before it connected with his jaw.

  Exavior blurred to her side and knelt down, his voice was angry, “Stop it right now or you’ll be punished.”

  She froze, her eyes wide as she looked at him. The Imperial Guards were still holding her firmly to the floor. As she watched him, it became hard to breathe and she started to panic.

  “Exavior, get out,” Sotomar growled.

  Exavior reached over and took her face painfully in his hand, “Did you hear me?”

  She nodded slightly, and Sotomar pushed Exavior from the room. The guards let go of her and she stayed on the floor while they left and shut the door, leaving her alone in the foreign bedroom.

  “Exavior, she’s not to be harmed,” Sotomar yelled when they got to the council chambers.

  “She’s young and needs to learn obedience,” Exavior said, and sat down.

  “Not through discipline or punishment.”

  “It’s the only way. She’s stubborn and defiant.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want her hurt.”

  “Give it time. You’ll see what I do,” Exavior explained, and turned to the trial area.

  Emily stayed on the wooden floor and looked up at the ceiling. She calmed the terror that grew when Exavior threatened her, and finally was able to breathe normally. The image filled her mind of the Powan guards smiling at her and letting her into the coven. She shut her eyes tightly as she remembered turning them all to ash almost instantly, unable to stop herself.

  She stayed in her room for three days, refusing to talk to anyone, the trays of food left untouched. She never moved from the floor and only turned away from the ceiling when someone entered the room to talk to her.

  On the evening of the third day, Sotomar came into the room and sat down on the floor beside her, “You have us worried.”

  Emily watched him, unmoving.

  “I know what you’re doing, and we can’t allow you to wither away.”

  She turned back to the ceiling to count the holes in the tile again.

  Sotomar sighed, “So here’s the deal. We’re going to only feed Dain when you eat, so if you decide to starve yourself, you are also starving your son.”

  Emily looked over at him and glared.

  “I want you to know, also, that we will not allow Exavior to punish you. That’s a promise.”

  Sotomar waited for Emily to respond, and when she didn’t, he stood up and looked around the room, “I’ll have another tray brought up. Dain should be hungry soon, so I suggest
you eat.”

  Emily watched him leave and then turned back to the ceiling. When a tray of food was brought up, she waited until the servant left before crawling up from the floor to eat. Her mind was busy with thoughts of how to escape, but any option she had would leave the baby alone with the Valle, alone with Exavior.

  “She ate some,” the Imperial Guard told the Valle Council.

  “Some?” Sotomar asked.

  “Yes, some.”

  Ryan sighed, “Very well, let her be at that for now. We need to decide on an Encala target.”

  “It’ll be harder. They aren’t going to let her walk in,” Exavior said, studying a book of known Encala covens.

  “How close does she need to be?” the Chief Enforcer asked.

  “Not very. She was able to ash our entire city from inside of this room,” Sotomar explained.

  “Call Rasmussen, we will do it tonight. I suggest the Encala’s District Coven. It’s not far away, but has over 400 heku,” Exavior said, still studying the book.

  “Maybe we should wait a week or so, make sure she’s feeling ok,” Sotomar said.

  “Don’t coddle her,” Exavior growled. “She’s to do as we ask and without question.”

  Sotomar nodded, “I guess you’re right.”

  ***

  Emily squeezed her eyes shut. Her headache was much worse and the light from outside was shining into her eyes. Someone moved in the room and shut the heavy curtains, dropping them back into darkness.

  “How are you?” Sotomar asked.

  Emily finally opened her eyes, “Stop making me do that, please.”

  “You didn’t answer me. How are you?”

  “Like you care.”

  “I do though. We don’t want to put you through unnecessary pain, and it seems to me as if your head hurts.”

  “Go away,” she said, and rolled onto her side away from him.

  Emily heard Sotomar leave her room. She glanced around quickly to make sure she was alone, and then crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. She ran a hot shower and got in, fighting to get the image of the screaming Encala out of her mind.

  Sotomar returned to the Council, “She is not well.”

  “She’ll survive. Do we hit the Equites Thukil Coven next?” Exavior asked.