Encala

by T. M. Nielsen

  “It was Allen, very faint, but as I said… now it’s gone.”

  “Bring the others here. I want this area searched. Make sure every rock is turned and every tree is checked. She has to be here somewhere,” Kyle snapped.

  “Yes, Sir. Will you tell him or shall I?”

  Emily frowned and looked up.

  “I’ll tell him, he’ll want to try to call for her,” Kyle responded, and both of the heku took off.

  Emily wondered who they were going to tell. She tried not to think that it might be Chevalier. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that it might all be over soon.

  She lifted her hand off of Allen’s mouth and warned him not to talk. He whispered softly to her that he needed to go to the bathroom. Emily cringed, she’d been able to cover their bathroom visits with the flowers, but the heku were too close, she couldn’t risk them catching Allen’s scent.

  “Can you hold it?” she whispered into his ear.

  He shook his head.

  “Please, try Baby,” she whispered to him, and he nodded. She knew he couldn’t hold it for long, and she could still hear far away voices and the crack of twigs as someone walked over them.

  Emily gasped when she felt the wetness on Allen’s shorts. She immediately heard the voices in the distance stop, and the footsteps came closer. She grabbed Allen tightly and began to run away from them. She knew she couldn’t outrun a heku, but had to try. They were getting closer to her. She knew that now they could hear her as she ran through the brush. The sharp twigs cut into her legs and the smell of blood made tracking her even easier.

  “Emily stop,” she heard Kyle say from right behind her. She put Allen on the ground and turned around, blocking him from view.

  “Get away from me,” she said sharply.

  Kyle didn’t move any further, “I’m sorry, there’s no excuse for what I did, but we’re rescued. We can get off this island.”

  “Nice try,” she said, watching him closely.

  “Just wait a few minutes… Chevalier is on his way.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said, before picking Allen up and walking backwards.

  “Please, I’m asking for two minutes,” Kyle glanced behind him.

  “No,” she said, as she continuing to back away.

  “I can hear him, he’s close now. You don’t have to worry about me, as soon as he finds out, he’ll have me killed,” Kyle said to her sadly.

  “He doesn’t know?” she asked, and frowned.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Then he’s not here,” Emily said, and finally turned her back to him and ran through the trees, clutching Allen against her chest.

  She felt an arm against her shoulder and spun quickly to face Mark, “Don’t touch me.”

  He pulled his hand back, “Just wait Emily, the Elder is coming.”

  “You too? Are you all in on it now? I can’t feed all of you,” she said, angrily.

  Mark frowned, “We know what Kyle did, but the rest of us aren’t going to hurt you.”

  She studied his eyes, “If Chevalier is really here, then how does he not know?”

  “We’re a unit, a team, and we stick together. None of us are proud of what the Captain did, but we don’t want him dead,” Mark explained.

  “I’m leaving now. If you follow me, I won’t have a choice but to turn you to ash,” she said, and turned around, quickly breaking into a run. Her arms ached from carrying Allen, but she couldn’t stop, they were on her trail and it was going to take a miracle to elude them again.

  “Emily,” she heard it and froze, it was Chevalier’s voice. She was afraid to turn around, afraid this was just another dream.

  “It’s ok,” she heard him say softly. She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want this dream to end.

  “Daddy!” Allen yelled, and squirmed to get free of Emily’s grasp. She couldn’t let go of him yet, couldn’t believe this was almost over.

  Emily took a deep breath and slowly turned around. Her knees gave out when she saw him, standing in the trees looking at her. She let go of Allen, and he ran to Chevalier as her knees hit the soft moss. Chevalier took Allen in his arms and hugged him, wincing slightly at the smell of nectar that covered him.

  “You’re really here,” she whispered, watching him from the ground.

  Chevalier put Allen down and took a step toward her, “Let’s go, Em.”

  He put his hand out to her, but she didn’t move. She just looked at him and frowned, “Is this a dream?”

  He smiled, “No, this isn’t a dream.”

  Chevalier watched her as she knelt on the moss and he quickly checked her over. She had dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping, and he could smell the fresh blood from the cuts on her legs. She wore one of the Cavalry issued shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Her hair and skin were caked in the awful smelling nectar, which also turned her skin a yellowish hue. He couldn’t help but notice she’d gotten thinner. The bones in her wrists and her collar bone stuck out from tight skin.

  “I need you to calm down, ok? You need to trust me,” he said, taking a step towards her. He’d seen her this afraid before, and it turned out badly, she’d ashed a heku.

  Mark appeared in the clearing behind Chevalier, followed shortly by Kralen. Kralen took Allen in his arms and hugged him tightly. Mark moved up by the Elder.

  “What did you do to her?” Chevalier hissed at him.

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said, and looked at Emily. She was glaring at him.

  Emily finally found the strength to get to her feet, and she quickly ran to Chevalier. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she buried her face in his chest.

  “You smell awful,” he said, amused.

  “I know.”

  “It was good thinking, if you were hiding from someone,” he said, and turned to Mark.

  “Can we just go?” she asked, pulling away from him and taking his hand.

  “Sure, we can talk on the way.” He led her south through the trees.

  Here with Chevalier, things didn’t seem as bleak as they had for the last few days. What Kyle did seemed less important, and she wondered if it warranted a death. She hadn’t been able to kill him for it, but she knew Chevalier wouldn’t hesitate.

  “Tell me what happened,” he said, watching Kralen carry Allen.

  Emily looked up at Mark and then back to Chevalier, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  He sighed, “Someone is going to tell me, that’s a promise.”

  Emily held tightly to Chevalier’s arm as they walked. The heku joined them along the way and by nightfall, everyone was with them except Kyle.

  “If I carry you, this will be faster,” he said, looking at her. He normally didn’t ask to pick her up, but he got the sense from her that she didn’t want to be touched.

  She nodded and he cradled her in his arms, then blurred toward the south beach where the boat was waiting.

  Chevalier carried her onto the boat where Kyle was waiting, “Any reason we can’t leave right away?”

  “None at all,” Kyle said, eyeing Emily carefully.

  He set her down and motioned for the captain to set off.

  “I need a shower,” she said, looking around.

  “Yes you do,” Chevalier chuckled, and led her down the stairs to a room with a bathroom.

  Emily stepped into the bathroom and got the water as hot as she could. She stripped off the dirty and torn white shirt and stepped into the shower. She spent extra time making sure none of the nectar was on her, and then stepped out and wrapped in a towel. She peeked out into the bedroom and saw Chevalier.

  “I don’t have any clothes,” she said, embarrassed.

  “Oh right,” he replied, then took off his shirt and threw it to her.

  Emily came out a short time later. Her hair had taken a while to brush the knots out of, but it was finally smoothed into a long braid. Chevalier’s shirt fit down to her knees and she rolled the sleeves up to her wrists.r />
  “Feel better?” he asked.

  Emily nodded, “Allen’s turn.”

  “He’s clean already. The smell was stinking up the ship, so Kralen bathed him.” He watched her carefully.

  Emily sat down on the bed and pulled the covers up. She was still cold.

  “What happened?” Chevalier asked, and moved closer to her.

  “I can’t… I can’t talk about it.” She was avoiding his eyes.

  “I will find out,” he said, and she nodded. “Who tore your shirt?”

  Emily shrugged, she wasn’t sure how he found out about that. Chevalier pulled her bikini top from his pocket and held it out to her. She took it and put it on the bedside table.

  “It would help if you told me,” he said, touching her cheek softly.

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “I’m starting to form a picture in my head,” he told her, and lightly ran his thumb along the healing wounds on her neck.

  She jerked away from him, and pulled the collar of her shirt up to cover her neck.

  “Who was it?” he asked, softly.

  “I can’t,” she repeated in a whisper.

  Mark knocked on the door and then stepped in with a plate, “I tried my hand at peanut butter and jelly.”

  “Give it to Allen,” she told him.

  “He already has one… this is yours.”

  Emily took the plate from him and began to eat quickly. The simple sandwich was perfect and she finished it.

  Mark took the plate, “Do you want another one?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Mark went to leave, but Chevalier shut the door before he could.

  “Have a seat, Mark,” Chevalier said, pointing to a chair.

  Mark sat down nervously, “Yes, Sir?”

  “Spill it,” Chevalier said, sitting in a chair across from Mark.

  “What is it you want to know?”

  “What happened to Emily. Why her clothes were torn. Why there are bite marks on her neck.”

  “I don’t know for sure, Sir,” Mark said, and looked at Emily.

  “Then tell me what you do know.”

  Mark sighed, “Sir, it’s not my place…”

  Chevalier hissed at him, “I’m ordering you to tell me what you do know.”

  Mark looked at Emily nervously.

  “Don’t, Chev,” she said, hoping he would let Mark off the hook.

  He hissed, “Tell me.”

  “I don’t want him to tell you,” she said, slipping out of bed to stand by Mark.

  “Then you tell me.” He looked up at her.

  She shook her head, “Please don’t, not now.”

  “If the Lady doesn’t want me to say anything, then I won’t. You can kill me if you wish,” Mark said, softly.

  “Get out,” Chevalier ordered, angrily.

  Mark blurred out of the room, and the door slammed behind him.

  Emily climbed back into bed. The food and the hot shower made it hard to stay awake. She curled up on her side, ignoring the way Chevalier was sulking in the chair. Soon, she was fast asleep.

  The heku were after her. She held onto Allen tightly and ran through the forest. She could hear them getting closer. Allen kept sliding further and further out of her arms until he was gone. She stopped running and searched through the tall grass for him.

  She stopped when she saw Kyle waiting for her. He was sitting on a blanket, motioning for her to come to him.

  “No, Kyle,” she said, and turned, still looking for Allen. She finally found him in the hands of Kralen. The heku’s teeth were sunk into Allen’s soft flesh.

  She ran as Kyle tried to grab her. She knew he didn’t just want to quench his thirst, and her legs felt like molasses as she ran toward the beach.

  “Emily,” she heard the soft voice and jerked awake. She sat up quickly and looked around the strange room.

  “You were having a nightmare,” Chevalier said, holding her against him.

  She laid her head against his chest and held onto his arms. Her body tensed when someone knocked softly on the door.

  “Who is it?” Chevalier asked.

  “It’s Kyle.”

  Emily wanted to ask Chevalier not to let him into the room. She wanted him far away from her.

  “Come in,” he said, and watched Kyle enter.

  Kyle looked at Emily and then back to his Elder, “I came to confess. You don’t have to threaten the guards.”

  “You came to confess?” Chevalier asked, curiously.

  “Yes,” Kyle stood in the corner of the room with his hands grasped in front of him.

  “I’m not going to let you cover up for someone else’s mistakes,” Chevalier told him.

  Emily looked at the bedspread, “He’s not.”

  Chevalier stood up and stepped toward Kyle, his voice now furious, “What did you do?”

  “I love her,” Kyle finally admitted.

  “I already knew that, but it doesn’t tell me what you did,” Chevalier said, now only a foot from Kyle.

  “She was so sick for a while, a fever and the sun burns. I took care of her,” he said, watching Emily.

  “And?”

  “She was lonely and frail on the island. She just had on that shirt and when she slept… she’s so beautiful,” he continued. Emily blushed and looked away from him.

  “Who tore her shirt?”

  “I did.”

  “Off of her?”

  He flinched at the anger in Chevalier’s voice, “Yes.”

  “Keep going.”

  Emily sat still while Kyle told Chevalier everything that happened. He explained how his troops stood up to him for her, and she suddenly felt guilty for having run off with Allen. She risked a glance up at Chevalier and saw his body in a crouch, his hands balled into tight fists.

  “Mark,” Chevalier called.

  “Yes, Sir,” Mark said, looking at Kyle.

  “Take him… I’ll deal with him when we get back to the palace’s interrogation chamber,” he said, seething.

  Mark took Kyle’s arm, but Chevalier stopped him.

  “What did you see?” he asked.

  Mark looked at Kyle, who nodded, “We saw Lady Emily come back from a walk. She didn’t have a shirt on, she was just holding it against herself. There were… bite marks on her neck that were still bleeding. She wouldn’t talk to us. She just put on a shirt and took Allen, threatening to turn us to ash if we followed.”

  “Nothing else?” Chevalier hissed.

  “No, Sir,” Mark said, and when Chevalier moved out of the way, Mark took Kyle out roughly and shut the door behind them.

  Emily felt his eyes on her, and though she knew it hadn’t been her fault, she felt ashamed.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Do not apologize for his actions,” Chevalier growled, making Emily flinch.

  “He’s kissed me before,” she said, still watching the covers.

  “When? How many times?” Chevalier was suddenly standing beside her.

  “I told him to stop, and he did… until…”

  “Until he had you alone on a deserted island.”

  Emily nodded, she was too ashamed to even look up at him.

  Chevalier growled deeply and blurred from the room, slamming the door hard behind him. Emily buried her face in her hands and took some time to calm her nerves. She heard a loud crash coming from the bow of the ship and she flinched. She stood up slowly and walked up the stairs onto the deck.

  The deck chairs were strewn about, some of them shattered into small pieces. The heku guards were standing along the railings, unmoving. Emily turned to see what they were watching, and she gasped. Chevalier was tearing the boat apart, ripping doors from the hinges and smashing things against the walls.

  Emily ran to stop him, but a hand reached out and grabbed her around the waist.

  “It’s not safe,” Mark said to her.

  “Let me go, I caused this,” she said, pulling against his hand
.

  “Stay with us, trust me.”

  “You didn’t cause this,” Kralen whispered.

  “Where is Kyle?” she asked, afraid he was already dead.

  “He’s in the cargo hold. The Elder wants him tried before the Council,” Kralen answered.

  Emily looked around the boat and into the empty helm’s room, “Where’s the Captain?”

  Mark shook his head, “It was fast.”

  She gasped, “Chevalier killed him?”

  “Yes”

  “Why?”

  “He tried to calm the Elder down. Right now we all need to just stay away from him,” Mark said, watching the destruction.

  Emily pulled at Mark’s fingers, “Let me go.”

  “Don’t do it,” he warned her, and let go.

  Emily walked slowly up the stairs to the top deck where Chevalier was. He had just torn a door from the hinges and thrown it overboard when she touched him lightly on the shoulder. He spun towards her, his face furious.

  “Chev?” she asked, looking into his eyes.

  His posture changed, it softened slightly, “Get back downstairs.”

  “Please, come with me,” she said, taking his hands. She smoothed his fingers out of the tight fist.

  “He’s going to pay for this,” Chevalier hissed.

  “I know,” she said, pulling him toward the stairs.

  His entire body was shaking furiously.

  “You’re scaring me,” she told him, watching him carefully.

  “I trusted him with you, implicitly.”

  Emily took his other hand and walked down the stairs past the terrified guards. She sat down on the bed and watched him lean the door against the door frame.

  “Did he hurt you?” Chevalier asked, sitting beside her as his eyes scanned her body again.

  “No, when he bit me I... you know.”

  “No I don’t know, what?” he asked.

  “I ashed him, but I didn’t want to kill him. I just knocked him unconscious so I could get away,” she said, rubbing his arm lightly.

  “That’s a lot of control. Why didn’t you do it when he… tried to… when he…” He shut his eyes against the image.

  “I didn’t think he would do that,” she whispered. “I trusted him, too.”

  “Even though he’s kissed you before?”

  “Yes, because when I told him to stop, he always did.” She stifled a yawn and looked over at the clock, it was 4am.