The six guards watched Andrew carefully.
“It’s Derrick. Andrew from the Encala is here to see you.”
They were surprised when she went into the bathroom, shut the door, and then called for Andrew to come in.
Andrew stepped in and shut the door behind him. Once shut, Emily came out and looked over at him. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. One cheek was bruised and her eye was swollen shut above it.
He studied her and noticed the deep black bruises on her wrist and the strong smell of dried blood, “What did they do?”
She shook her head, “No one’s done anything.”
He continued to look over her to ascertain her injuries.
She turned to the mirror, “I don’t know what’s going on. No one’s doing this.”
He moved to her and hugged her tightly, “Someone is… you don’t have to protect them.”
It felt good to be held. She was too afraid to let Chevalier see the injuries, but she needed to feel the protection of a strong embrace.
“Elder William is here,” he told her. “We’ll take you back to the Encala. No one will hurt you there.”
“No one’s hurting me here. I don’t understand.”
“Can I see?”
She nodded and turned around. Andrew lowered the back of her nightgown slightly and hissed.
“How bad?” she asked. Even with mirrors it was awkward to see.
“Your back and neck are covered in welts.”
She nodded.
He turned her around and took her shoulders gently, “Tell me what’s going on.”
She looked into his eyes, “I don’t know.”
He looked toward the door, “Let’s get you out of here.”
“I can’t let them see.”
“Why not? It’s obvious an Equites is doing this.”
She shook her head, “No one’s doing this! I would ash them if they tried.”
He smiled softly, “You know as well as I do that you wouldn’t.”
“No one is lashing me.”
“You can’t stay here,” he said, moving to the door.
Emily looked down at her bruised wrist, “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Get dressed and pack a bag. I’ll go talk to the Council and we’ll get you to safety.”
She finally nodded and then turned to the closet when Andrew left. He stormed down to the council chambers and threw open the door.
“She’s packing,” Andrew growled at them.
“Why?” Kyle asked as Chevalier stood up.
“Don’t act stupid with me! You can fool her, but I’m not going to let this happen.”
“Let what happen?”
“Again… I wasn’t turned yesterday! I’m taking her to the safety of the Encala palace.”
William watched him and then turned to the Equites, “It’s pathetic how you abuse a pregnant mortal woman.”
“Em’s not abused!” Chevalier hissed.
“She saved this entire Council at great risk to herself!” William yelled. “She’s shown never before seen loyalty to this faction and what does she get? Flogged?”
“Calm down,” Quinn said sternly. “No one’s flogging Emily.”
“What the hell!?” Derrick yelled from the other side of the door.
The Council looked up as Emily opened the door and stepped in with a bag grasped tightly in her hand.
“Em…” Chevalier gasped when he saw the dark bruise on her cheek and her swollen eye. The smell of dried blood hit the Council, and bruised marks were prominent against her neck.
She looked up at the Council, and then turned to leave, but William blurred and took her arm gently, “We’ll protect you.”
He led her over to the Council, followed by her six heku guards that all looked confused and afraid they might get blamed for this.
Chevalier appeared beside her, “Who did this?”
“You have no right talking to her!” Andrew said, pushing Chevalier back slightly.
William and Zohn dove into the fight that ensued and pulled the two heku apart.
“You disgust me!” Andrew growled at Chevalier.
“Did you do that?” Chevalier yelled back.
“Calm down!” Quinn roared. Both heku looked at him, “The Equites are not abusing Emily.”
“Who did this to you?” Chevalier asked her softly, fighting back the rage.
She looked up at him, “I don’t know.”
“How can you not know?” Kyle yelled.
She flinched and then looked over at him, “No one’s doing this!”
The Chief of Defense and Chief Interrogator grabbed a hold of Kyle when he started forward.
“I want to see your back,” Chevalier told her.
She looked at the heku, all staring at her and shook her head, “No.”
“You cannot tell an Elder no,” the new Chief of Staff said.
Emily glared at him, but her lip quivered, “I can too.”
“Shut up,” Kyle yelled at the Chief of Staff.
Dr. Edwards and Lori both came into the council chambers when summoned. Dr. Edwards hissed and moved up to Emily immediately. She sighed and let him study her face.
“This cheek bone might be broken,” he said as he shined a bright light into her eyes.
Chevalier pulled out of the restraining grasp and then took her arm gently and pulled her aside, “Who did this?”
“I told you, no one hit me,” she told him.
“Em…”
“Don’t Em me! No one is hitting me.”
“You have marks on your neck,” he said softly.
Emily left him and walked up to Richard, the Chief Interrogator, “Have at it.”
He glanced at Quinn, “I need permission.”
“Wait!” William yelled.
“Granted,” Quinn said to him.
Richard watched Chevalier closely while he left the room with Emily following.
“He cannot interrogate her,” William said. “Or is that what’s going on here already?”
“He won’t do anything more than ask her questions,” Zohn assured him. “He’s only taking her to the Elder’s conference room for privacy.”
Emily shut her eyes against the pounding in her head as she sat down in the private conference room. She looked up when Richard dimmed the lights.
“Thanks,” she said softly.
He smiled, “Don’t be so nervous.”
“I’m not.”
“Then stop wringing your hands.”
She looked down, “Oh.”
“You know me, and trust me, right?”
Emily nodded.
“Then don’t mask… I can recognize that.”
Again she simply nodded.
Richard reached out and gently took her hands, “You’ll tell me the truth?”
“Yes”
He smiled softly, “Let’s start simple. Who is lashing you?”
“No one.”
“No one or you don’t know who it is?”
“I don’t think anyone is.”
He studied her face and then nodded, “Ok, when did it start?”
“When I woke up 5 nights ago.”
“Is it getting worse?”
“Yes”
“Your back and neck only?”
“Yes”
He squeezed her hands softly, “Try that again.”
She frowned and looked down at the table.
“Look at me, please.” She was surprised by how much he seemed to care and how calmly he asked about the injuries.
Emily looked up at him and it was obvious she was thinking about lying.
“You’re too easy to read. Tell me the truth. Where are your injuries?”
“Back and neck…”
“…and…”
“… arms and the back of my legs.”
“Same, lash marks?”
She nodded.
“Yet you don’t know who is doing it?”
“Not just that… I don’t know if it’s even being done.”
“Ok, who hit your face?”
“No one.”
“The bruise just appeared?”
“Yes”
“No one hit you?”
“No, I know no one believes me,” she said, her voice cracked.
He smiled, “I do.”
“Then help me. The Encala are blaming the Equites, the Equites don’t know who to blame… If everyone will leave me alone I can figure it out.”
“We can’t just let it go. You’re pregnant and vulnerable.”
She frowned, “I’m what?”
Richard looked into her eyes again, “There’s something else you’re not telling me. Is it another injury?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Is it a bruise?”
“No, I’m not hiding anything.”
“Pain?”
“No”
“Where is it?”
Her eyes began to swim and she tried to pull her hands away from the Chief Interrogator, “That’s enough.”
Richard held tightly to her hands, “Just tell me where the pain is.”
“Don’t,” she whispered, starting to panic.
He concentrated on her eyes and she turned away from him and tensed.
“Stop”
“I’m sorry,” Richard said softly. “Now please, tell me.”
“I can handle it.”
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
“No one’s doing this to me, Richard.”
“May I ask a few more questions?”
She nodded and looked into his eyes.
“Do you have an idea about how this is happening?”
“No”
“Did you do it to yourself?”
“No!” she gasped.
Richard smiled, “I had to ask.”
“I didn’t do it.”
Finally, he let go of her hands and stood up, “Do you want to go back in there?”
She looked at the door, “They’ll fight if I don’t.”
“Not what I asked.”
“No,” she sighed, and looked up at him.
“I’ll tell him you have a headache and are going to retire for a bit.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled and swept out of the room. As he sat down, he saw that Quinn and William were ending a heated argument, and both of them were glaring at each other while Andrew watched Richard.
“What did you do with her?” Andrew asked.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” Richard explained. “She has a headache and has gone to lie down.”
“Or she’s dead and you’re covering.”
Richard ignored him and turned to the Elders, “She honestly doesn’t know what’s going on. She can’t even say she doesn’t know who did it because it’s not being done. She does have a pain she won’t talk about, then the lashing marks are across her neck, back, legs, and arms.”
Zohn nodded, “You got nothing?”
“She only tried to hide the mysterious pain.”
“Was it in her forearms?” Andrew asked.
Chevalier turned to the Encala, “You know about that?”
“Yes”
“What is it?”
“She doesn’t want you to know… is the pain there?”
Richard shrugged, “She didn’t want to say, and I didn’t push the issue. She was starting to panic.”
“We have this under control now that we know,” Quinn told the Encala. “You may go.”
“No,” William said, crossing his arms. “I’m not convinced you aren’t abusing someone you should be treating like royalty for saving your asses.”
“We’re not abusing her,” Chevalier said again.
“That remains to be seen. I want to bring our Chief Interrogator here.”
“We’ve already questioned her.”
William just watched him.
Kyle sighed, “She has really bad luck with Interrogators. I’m surprised she even agreed to speak to ours.”
“Ours has never hurt her.”
“He threatened her once,” Mark reminded them from the back of the room.
“The former one… this one has never said anything to her,” Andrew told him.
“I don’t feel comfortable having my wife interrogated by an Encala,” Chevalier said angrily.
“Yet you allow her to be flogged?” William snapped.
“See them out,” Zohn said to Mark as he helped hold Chevalier back.
Mark called for the closest Cavalry and soon had the Encala escorted out of the city.
“How do we handle this?” Quinn asked Chevalier when she sat down again.
“Nothing at all?” Chevalier asked Richard.
“Nothing. She honestly doesn’t know.”
“How can she not know? It looks like she’s been repeatedly flogged over the last few days,” Kyle said.
“So for now, we don’t leave her alone at all,” Richard suggested. “If she’s not alone, she can’t be harmed.”
Chevalier stood up, “Starting now. Until we figure this out I don’t want her alone. If I can’t be with her, it should be Kyle or Mark.”
Kyle nodded, “Understood. When Mark gets back I’ll talk to him.”
“One thing though,” Zohn said, and then called for the doctor.
Dr. Edwards came in and bowed, “You called for me, Elder?”
“Yes, I want you to find out any torture used in our history that can cause forearm pain.”
He frowned, “Ok… do I have more to go on?”
“No, you don’t.”
Dr. Edwards nodded and disappeared.
Chevalier called for food and then headed up the stairs. He eyed the six members of the Cavalry closely as he walked into the room. Emily looked over from her seat by the bay window. It was obvious that she had been crying.
He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, “I wish you would have told me.”
“Told you what? How I’m being abused by nothing?”
“About the lash marks.”
“I didn’t know how, and I didn’t want everyone to freak out.”
“So you told Andrew?”
She shrugged and took his hand when he put it out.
“I’m not mad. I just wish you had told me.”
“There’s so much going on right now with the Old Ones and the baby coming, then the Valle and Alec, and Andrew left…”
He turned and watched the Bulldog puppy stretch out in front of the fire, “Where’s the other one?”
“Outside, I think. Garrett took him out earlier.”
Chevalier took her wrists gently in his hands and held her arms out, soft side up, “Where’s the pain?”
“I can handle it.”
He lightly kissed her forearms, “Where?”
“My…”
“Please,” he whispered, looking into her eyes.
“My arms and… behind my knees.”
He studied her arms and saw no sign of injury, “Can I see your knees.”
“There’s nothing there.”
Chevalier turned and told the servant to enter when he heard a knock. The servant seemed tense with the slight smell of blood in the room, and set the tray down quickly, then blurred away.
“Pleasant fellow,” Emily said, wrinkling her nose.
“You smell like dried blood.”
“Oh, I can go shower.”
He smiled, “Why don’t I go with you?”
***
Chevalier watched her sleep. He was amazed at how still she slept and how she never cried out with nightmares. He was afraid to touch her tonight though, but just watched her sleep and marveled at her beauty and strength.
As the light of dawn trickled into the room, Emily stirred slightly and lifted her hand from under the cover. Chevalier frowned and studied it, as it now had a deep purple bruise forming along her fingers. That hadn’t been there the night before, any trace of it and his
keen vision would have seen it forming.
Moving slowly, so not to wake her, Chevalier pulled the covers off of her and as he went to look at her other hand, he noticed a dark bruise showing on her side through the light nightgown. That bruise was new also.
“Em,” he whispered, and touched her shoulder gently.
A loud, angry voice yelled in his mind, “Get out!”
Chevalier let go of her and stood suddenly, watching her. She hadn’t moved or made any indication that she heard the loud voice. He caught his breath and then reached out to touch her again. This time, Emily jerked away from him and almost fell out of bed.
“Don’t do that!” she yelled, clutching her chest.
He watched her with wide eyes, “What were you dreaming?”
“What?”
“Just now… what were you dreaming?”
“I don’t know,” she said, half yawning. She gasped when she saw her hand, and then held both up. There were dark bruises across her knuckles and her fingers were beginning to swell.
“Your side too,” he told her.
Emily peeked into her nightgown and saw the bruise forming. She looked up at Chevalier and frowned, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” he told her. “I was here all night.”
“It’s ok,” she said, hiding the pain in her hands.
Chevalier called out for ice and then walked closer to her, “I heard a voice.”
“In the room?” she asked, looking around at the dark shadows.
“No, in your dream.”
“Well if you were seeing my dream why did you ask what I was dreaming about?”
“I didn’t get that far. The voice caught me off guard and I let go. It yelled at me to get out.”
Emily sat down and pulled the hem of her nightgown out of the St. Bernard puppy’s teeth.
Chevalier took an ice pack from a servant and then sat down beside Emily and held it against her hand, “I don’t understand how this happened.”
Emily looked up when Chevalier told someone to enter, and then Dr. Edwards came in.
“Chev,” she said, frowning.
“He has to look,” Chevalier told her. “Something’s wrong.”
Dr. Edwards knelt down beside Emily and took her hand, “What happened?”
“Nothing happened… again,” she explained.
Dr. Edwards looked up at Chevalier and then sighed, “May I talk to her alone?”
“No,” he hissed.
“Please, just for a moment.”
“No!”
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 25