Emily stirred slightly and then looked over at him, “Why did you wake me up?”
“Do you remember your dream?”
“No”
“It was bad…”
“Like you care,” she said, and turned away from him to look out the window.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re just not the man I thought you were.”
He stood up and frowned, “Explain yourself.”
She sighed, “I may be wrong, I’ll know tomorrow.”
“What happens tomorrow?”
She looked over at him, “Tomorrow I’m told the truth.”
Furious, Chevalier decided to leave before his violent urges lashed out at her. Once seated, he glared toward the trial room door.
“Did you catch her dream?” Zohn asked when Chevalier didn’t speak.
“Yes”
“What was it?” Kyle asked.
“Darkness, restraint, panic, torture…”
“Is she ok?”
He looked at Kyle, “She doesn’t remember it.”
“So why are you mad?” Quinn asked.
“She said I’m not the man she thought I was.”
“Meaning?”
“She won’t tell me!” he yelled, and slammed his fists on the desk. “She’s infuriating.”
To help Chevalier relieve some frustrations, Zohn called for six prisoners that were to be tried together. After a long interrogation session that lasted through the night, Chevalier and the Chief Interrogator returned to the council chambers and sat down.
“Before we bring in the accused,” Zohn said. “The Encala have representatives here.”
“Why?” Chevalier asked.
“We’ll have to ask them.”
The Council turned when William, Lt. Andrew, and another heku stepped into the room. Chevalier stood angrily, and appeared in front of the heku.
“Why are you here, Tiberius?” Chevalier’s hands balled into fists.
“I go by Ovidius now,” he said calmly.
“I don’t care what you go by!” Chevalier yelled. “You have no business here and if you don’t leave, I’ll be forced to repay you for Londinium.”
“That? That was thousands of years ago.”
“You don’t deserve forgiveness.”
He smiled, “I’m here by request though.”
“Who requested you?”
“Your wife did.”
Chevalier growled, and was instantly restrained by Zohn and Kyle.
“Hold off, Elder,” Kyle said. “We’ll get him… let’s find out what’s going on.”
Ovidius snarled, “If it’s an Old One fight you want, bring it on Equitis.”
The Chief Interrogator joined Zohn and Kyle as they pulled Chevalier away from the Encala.
William finally spoke, “If we can just see Emily, then we’ll be on our way. She did request we bring him.”
“How does she even know you?” Chevalier yelled.
Lt. Andrew looked over at the enraged Elder, “She doesn’t know him. She asked to see the eldest Encala Old One.”
“Bring Emily,” Quinn called out to Derrick. “Also get 12 of the Cavalry in here.”
Lt. Andrew and William each grabbed onto Ovidius when he lunged at Chevalier, hissing.
Emily stepped in and gasped at the standoff. She moved to stand between them, though their glares were far above her head.
“Chevalier, stop it!” she yelled.
He looked down at her with enraged eyes, “Why did you summon him?”
“None of your business,” she said, and then turned to Ovidius. “You’re the Encala Old One?”
He answered her by struggling against William and Lt. Andrew to get to Chevalier.
William smiled, though strain showed on his face, “Yes, he is.”
She nodded, “Let’s go out on horses for a bit.”
“No!” Chevalier roared. “You are not going out with them.”
Emily glared at him, “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Quinn sighed, “You may talk to them, but you have to take guards.”
“No I don’t,” she said to him. His eyes grew wide and then he calmed quickly.
“You have to be protected.”
“I’m sure the three Encala can keep me safe,” she said, heading for the door.
“I meant safe from them.”
She ignored Quinn and left the council chambers, followed by the three Encala while the Equites held Chevalier back.
Emily was quiet while she led them out to the stables, watched closely by the curious Cavalry. William couldn’t help but watch them closely, as they were the ones that destroyed his faction.
Once everyone had a horse, Emily and Ovidius mounted the horses quickly, and watched as William and Lt. Andrew struggled a bit before settling down in the saddles.
When they started out for the gates, Emily turned to William, “For someone as old as you are, I’d think you would have been on a horse or two in your day.”
William smiled, “Carriages.”
“Wimp”
“Wimp?”
Lt. Andrew chuckled, “Only the poor rode horses. The wealthy had carriages.”
“Even to go to war?”
“I didn’t go to war,” William said.
Emily frowned, “Why not?”
“I was the Coven Lord.”
“Not following.”
“I stayed to make decisions while those below me fought.”
She thought on that until they reached the green hills to the east of the city.
“Now do you want to tell us why we’re here?” William asked.
Emily looked over at Ovidius, “You’re an Old One?”
“Yes”
“Older than Chevalier?”
“No, I’m a few centuries younger.”
She sighed, “Is no one older than him?”
“Only the Ancients and a few that are retired.”
“Fine then… I want to know everything you know about Chevalier’s early days as a heku.”
Ovidius’s eyebrows rose, “You do?”
“Yes”
“What’s up?” Lt. Andrew asked.
She looked over at her cherished friend, “I spent some time with an Ancient…”
“Recently?”
“Yes”
His eyes narrowed, “The Equites have revived an Ancient?”
“No, he’s in the vault.”
William gasped, “How did you get into the vault?”
“I fell.”
“You can’t fall into a vault.”
“I did.”
Ovidius shrugged, “So what did the Ancient say about me?”
“He didn’t talk about you… he spoke about Equitis.”
“Right, what did he say exactly?”
Emily checked the hills for any sign of an Equites, and then turned back to Ovidius, “He said that Chevalier hated mortals… like really hated them.”
Ovidius nodded, “He did.”
“How bad?”
“Pretty bad, why?”
“As Chief Enforcer, he punished mortals for messing with the heku.”
“Right”
“When did that change?”
William shrugged, “That had to have been around 400AD.”
“The Ancient said that Chevalier hated mortal women more than the men.”
Lt. Andrew moved his horse closer to Emily, “Did Chevalier do something to you?”
“Did you know your Elder was an Ancient?”
“Yes”
“And my Dad?”
“I didn’t know that until you came to the palace,” Lt. Andrew said.
“What are the chances that Chevalier knew for a long time?”
“I don’t think he did,” William said. “We kept the Ancient from the factions and we didn’t even know he was your father.”
“Tell us what’s going on,” Lt. Andrew said.
Emily sighed, “The An
cient showed me a rule that if an Ancient knocked up a mortal, both the baby and the mother were to be killed immediately.”
Ovidius nodded, “I remember that rule.”
“When was it repealed?”
“I don’t think it was.”
William smiled, “Are you afraid that because you’re the daughter of an Ancient, that we’re going to kill you?”
“No, I can defend myself.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The Ancient said that for Chevalier to be with me, he had to have known I’m different… because the great Equitis didn’t even like mortals, despised them, especially the women.”
“I’ve never seen any heku, other than the Ancients, that hated mortals as badly as Equitis did,” Ovidius said.
“He slaughtered innocent humans,” she whispered, and looked out over Council City.”
Ovidius nodded, “Yes.”
“When did he change his views?”
Ovidius looked over at William, who cleared his throat before speaking, “I don’t know when he changed exactly. Once Chief Enforcers were set to punish the heku instead of mortals, he kept his hatred, but enjoyed the kind of torture a heku could take.”
She looked him in the eyes, “Why is he with me?”
“That’s hard for us to say.”
“Would he be if I were 100% mortal?”
“I don’t know,” Ovidius said. “He turned down many offers from what I’ve heard. Rumors were that he was a fierce warrior and a demanding leader, and that no woman was fit to carry his children.”
“We were all pretty shocked when we heard that he’d bonded with a mortal,” William explained. “Then when your heritage came out, it made more sense.”
“I don’t even know him,” she whispered softly. “He’s caring, and kind…”
“No, Em, he’s not,” Lt. Andrew said. “He’s famous for his brutal nature and harsh ways. He’s one of the most vicious heku known to our kind.”
She looked at him and frowned, “Because of what he did to the Encala?”
“No, because of how he tortures for fun.”
“He does?”
“Yes, I think all of the Equites do. He’s just better at it.”
“How do I not know all of this?”
“We keep things from you,” William said. “You’re… well soft and frail… our ways would hurt you too badly.”
She ignored the insult and continued to watch the city.
Lt. Andrew finally broke the silence, “If you’re afraid of Chevalier, you can stay with us.”
“Chevalier has always been rock steady. He’s logical, and his actions are well thought out. He protects mortals, doesn’t hate them, and he cares a lot about his family,” Emily said, mostly to convince herself.
William watched her, “Things change, Emily. I’m sure even if he once loathed the mortals, that’s all changed.”
“Has it?” she asked, looking at him. “Or am I just not mortal enough to feel that wrath?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Maybe I’ll turn him back into a mortal.”
William chuckled, “That’s not possible.”
Emily looked over at Ovidius and caught the surprise in his eyes.
She looked him in the eye and saw the anger building, so she decided not to push that, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Lt. Andrew gently took her hand, “Come back to our palace and give yourself time to think about it.”
“He’s not going to hurt me. I just need to find out if he knew I was half Ancient, and if he’s still a mortal hater.”
“You sure he’s not going to hurt you?”
“Yes. I do have another question though.”
“Ok”
“When an Ancient performed rituals, did the ground shake?”
William frowned, “Excuse me?”
“You know… like an earthquake almost.”
“Sometimes… it depends on how big the ritual was.”
“Like what?”
“Well, when he put the rune on your thigh, the ground didn’t shake. That was a small ritual and no one even noticed.”
“What if an Ancient attempted to revive an entire cemetery full of retired heku?”
“Yes, that would cause the earth to shake,” William said, amused.
“Why would an Ancient even do that though?” Ovidius asked, watching her closely.
She shrugged, “Just asking. So little things they could do in private, but big things let everyone around them know?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t to let everyone know,” William explained. “When an Ancient did something big, it went against nature and caused things to become disturbed. They didn’t do rituals like that often.”
“Were there things Old Ones could do that other heku couldn’t?”
Lt. Andrew spoke after a few moments of silence, “You’re starting to tread on information that’s restricted.”
She smiled, “You’re Encala… who cares if it’s restricted?”
“True,” he chuckled.
“So?”
“Yes,” William said. “There were things that the Old Ones could do that we can’t. They usually kept the information to themselves though, so even I don’t know most of them.”
“But you do?” she asked Ovidius.
He nodded.
“What are the chances that I could do them too?”
“Why would you be able to?”
“My father was an Ancient.”
Ovidius shrugged, “I still doubt you could. It’s no secret that you, aside from percentage, you are mostly mortal.”
“It’s getting cold,” she said as a cold breeze came from the north.
William nodded, “Let’s go back then. I can hear them calling the Cavalry to come check on us.”
She nodded and silently followed the Encala back into town. As they passed through the city, residents shut up their houses and peered out at them from behind locked doors.
Chevalier and Kyle were waiting in the stables when they rode up. Chevalier carefully watched Ovidius and the tension was strong.
“You ok?” he asked, helping Emily down off of her horse.
“I’m fine.”
“What’s up then?” Kyle asked before handing Emily’s stallion off to a member of the Cavalry to take care of.
When she didn’t answer, William smiled, “She just had some questions is all.”
“Like what?”
“Like private questions.”
Kyle glanced at Chevalier and then held his hand out, “Come on, Em, I’ll take you in for dinner.”
She looked back at William and smiled, and then took Kyle’s hand and left for the palace.
Chevalier glared at Ovidius, “What did you tell her?”
He smiled, “Just what she wanted to know.”
“Lies?”
“No, I told the truth.”
“About what?” Chevalier asked, moving to stand directly in front of the smaller heku.
“If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you,” Ovidius snapped.
Chevalier shoved the other Old One against the stable door and they immediately blurred into a fight that even the other heku couldn’t see. Mark saw the initial push and immediately called for the entire Cavalry.
The Cavalry fell back to the walls of the stable and watched the Encala to make sure they didn’t interfere with the fight. Zohn and Quinn joined when they heard what was going on.
“Saw this coming,” Zohn said, watching the blur of the fight.
“Wish I could see what was going on,” Quinn said.
“Just keep Emily out of here.”
Mark nodded, “She’s with Kralen and he knows to keep her out of the stables.”
“I should go back and talk to the Valle,” Zohn said, smiling. “This is much more interesting though.”
“Need Cavalry in there?”
“No, the Council can handle them.”
“What the hell!?” Sotomar growled as he stepped into the stables. His eyes were the only ones that could catch every aspect of the brutal fight.
Mark looked at him, “Stay out of it.”
Sotomar looked over at Zohn, “They’re going to kill each other. If you want to keep your Elder, I suggest you stop this.”
“He’s losing?” Quinn gasped.
“Well… no… but they are pretty evenly matched.”
“I don’t want to stop them.”
“Me either,” Quinn agreed.
“Well I sure as hell can,” Sotomar said, stepping forward. Mark appeared in front of him.
“No,” Mark said.
Suddenly, Cavalry was surrounding the Valle.
“Would you two at least act like Old Ones!” Sotomar yelled. “It’s disgusting how juvenile this fight is. Get over it!”
“You know what this is about?” Zohn asked him.
“Yes, and it’s childish to still be mad over it.”
“What was it?”
“I’d rather not say.”
The heku all turned back to the fight when it stopped suddenly and Chevalier had Ovidius pinned to the straw floor with a hand around his neck. Both were beaten and bloody, with torn clothes and vicious wounds across their bodies.
“Kyle,” Chevalier hissed, still out of breath from the fight.
Kyle appeared in the stables and his eyes grew wide at the bloody mass, “Yes, Elder?”
“No!” William yelled. “You cannot banish him.”
“Do it,” Chevalier growled.
Kyle stepped forward with the dagger and Lt. Andrew moved to block him, “No.”
“He’s already been punished for that,” Sotomar told Chevalier. “You can’t do it again.”
Chevalier tightened his grip, cutting off Ovidius’ airway until he fell unconscious. Once the Encala’s body lay motionless, Chevalier fell back against the straw, gripping his side as he fought to catch his breath.
“Grow up,” Sotomar hissed.
“Damn,” Chevalier groaned as the bites across his body healed slowly.
When Ovidius regained consciousness, he moaned in pain and rolled way from where Chevalier was recovering, “I hate you.”
“Likewise,” Chevalier hissed.
“Pathetic,” Sotomar mumbled, and then turned back for the palace.
Mark smiled and walked over to Chevalier, “Feel better?”
He chuckled, though still in pain, “Yes.”
“Get him,” William said, starting for the door. “Let’s go before they decide to go at it again.”
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 17