Encala

by T. M. Nielsen

  “What did you order?” Chevalier asked, grinning.

  “All of it… I have no idea what she wants,” he said, and walked into Emily’s room. He sat on the edge of her bed and touched her shoulder, “Em?”

  “Emily,” he said a little louder, and touched her face. When she didn’t respond, he looked at Chevalier.

  Chevalier frowned and sat down by her other side, “Emily.”

  He reached an arm under her and pulled her up to sitting. Her head rolled back against his arm, so he laid her back down gently, “That didn’t work.”

  “She has to eat,” Kyle said, worried.

  “Well, we can’t force it down her.”

  The room phone rang and Kyle answered it, “Yes?”

  “Yes they are with us. They may land,” he said, and hung up.

  Chevalier looked at him.

  Kyle moved to look out the window, “A helicopter was asking to land… it’s our backup.”

  Chevalier nodded and tried again, in vain, to wake Emily up.

  “Go meet them. They can’t just walk in here while she’s sleeping… it’s stronger when she’s asleep,” Chevalier said to Kyle, and he bowed and blurred out.

  Chevalier shut the bedroom door and sat down beside Emily. He curled up next to her and pulled her against him, “Emily, I love you,” he whispered, and kissed her forehead.

  He heard Kyle come in with the heku and he walked out of the room to greet them. He froze and looked around at them, his eyes narrowed. Maleth had come and was at an open window. Mark was bent over with his hands against his knees. Four other cavalry members were scattered around the room in various positions trying to smell anything but the scent in the room.

  “I know it’s hard,” Chevalier said to them.

  Mark nodded and breathed shallowly, “It’s… my God.”

  Chevalier clapped him on the back, “It gets easier.”

  “I had forgotten…” Maleth said softly from the window, “How compelling she is.”

  “It’s stronger when she’s asleep, and Chevalier is right, it gets easier,” Kyle said, checking on Emily.

  “Why don’t we take Emily back now and they can follow us in the Humvee?” Chevalier suggested.

  “It’s going to take tonight to get the palace ready for… for her,” Maleth said, turning finally, though his voice was strained.

  “Masks and menthol as we discussed?”

  “Yes, it sounded like as good a plan as any.”

  “And the Ancient?” Chevalier asked, and turned to watch Maleth.

  “No answer yet on the exchange.”

  “We can’t take her back to the palace then,” Kyle said, frowning.

  “We have nowhere else to go,” Maleth told him.

  “What if we attack her?” Chevalier asked.

  “From what we can tell, only one of us at a time can… well… be controlled. We’ll just never be alone with her,” Maleth explained.

  Chevalier nodded, “She’s going to make some changes though… she doesn’t know she’s going back to the palace.”

  Mark frowned, “Where does she think she’s going?”

  When Chevalier disappeared into Emily’s room, Kyle answered, “She hasn’t been awake since the Encala attack.”

  “Is that normal?” Maleth asked, concerned.

  “We don’t know,” Kyle glanced toward the door. “She killed dozens of them in a matter of minutes.”

  “Kralen!” Allen yelled, before running from the elevator. He was scooped up by the heku. Allen wrapped his arms around his former guard.

  “I can’t wake her up,” Chevalier said, leaning against the door jam.

  Kyle sighed, “Maybe it’s time we take her to the hospital.”

  “What do we tell them? She killed vampires with her mind and now she’s unconscious?” Sam asked.

  Maleth walked past Chevalier into Emily’s room, and watched her for a moment before sitting down beside her, “Child?”

  He touched her forehead lightly and ran his hand along the side of her face, “Emily?”

  “Mommy!” Allen said, climbing up on the bed. “Mommy wake up,” he said, and landed right on her stomach.

  Maleth pulled him off gently, “No, Baby.”

  It didn’t pass his notice that even Allen hadn’t made her stir.

  Kralen took Allen’s hand and led him out of the bedroom. Maleth joined them in the living area and sighed, “I don’t know what we can do, other than get her back to the palace and have the doctor look at her there.”

  Chevalier nodded, “First thing in the morning, we’ll take the helicopter back.”

  The night was long. Emily continued to sleep and Allen took a long time to go to sleep. The heku patrolled the windows, watching everything that was happening down on the ground around the hotel. No one spoke as they used all senses to keep an eye out for attacks.

  Just as the sun was rising, Chevalier carried Emily to the helicopter on the roof of the hotel. Kyle, Maleth, Sam, Mark, and Allen went with them, while the other guards drove the Humvee.

  “Why can’t I read her anymore?” Chevalier asked Sam finally.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. I think… you broke part of the bond,” Sam said, hoping not to infuriate the Elder.

  “Explain that,” Chevalier hissed.

  “The three methods of breaking a marriage bond… infidelity, betrayal, and death.”

  “Yes, so?”

  “Don’t you see how beating her was a betrayal?” Sam asked.

  Chevalier growled, “That wasn’t me.”

  “Yes, well, she doesn’t fully believe that, does she?”

  “She still thinks I hit her?” Maleth asked, horrified.

  Sam nodded, not looking over at him.

  Mark’s face was expressionless as he watched out the window. He couldn’t get the images out of his mind. Images of Chevalier slamming her repeatedly into the bedroom wall, and then Maleth backhanding her across the room. He exhaled slowly.

  “We didn’t do it,” Maleth said to him, angrily.

  Mark turned to them, “I stood there and let it happen.”

  Chevalier looked at him, “You had to. We are your superiors.”

  “Yes, but she was my charge,” Mark said, looking back out the window. His self-loathing was strong.

  “We all just need to get over what happened,” Maleth said, softly.

  “I can’t get it out of my head. It constantly replays in slow motion,” Mark whispered. “I kept waiting for her to turn you to ash, but she didn’t. She was in much pain, and was so afraid. Her screams echo through my head.”

  “Coming up on Council City,” the pilot said, pulling the helicopter around the palace and landing gently on the helipad. Guards ran out from the doors and made a path into the palace for them.

  Mark and Maleth were out of the helicopter first, and checked to make sure the guards had masks. When each was checked, Chevalier brought Emily out and carried her close to him. Mark walked closely in front of them, and listened for even the slightest hint of danger. Sam and Allen brought up the rear, and Allen was pointing excitedly at the familiar surroundings.

  “The doctor is waiting in their bedroom,” a guard said, and handed a clipboard to Kyle, who signed something and handed it back to him.

  Chevalier carried Emily into their room and laid her down on the bed. The doctor was there wearing the required mask and menthol.

  “What’s the problem?” he asked, pulling a stethoscope from his bag.

  “She killed a few dozen Encala and hasn’t woken up since,” Chevalier whispered.

  “How long ago was that?”

  Chevalier looked at Kyle, “About 32 hours.”

  The doctor frowned and listened to her heart, and then looked up, “I’m sorry, Elder Chevalier, Elder Maleth, and Kyle, you will need to leave.”

  Chevalier growled, “Why?”

  “Does she fully trust you three now?” the doctor asked.

  Kyle sighed and fo
llowed Mark, Maleth, and Chevalier out of the room. Four of the Cavalry moved into the room, as she was no longer to be alone with a heku.

  The Cavalry members watched the doctor suspiciously as he listened to Emily’s heart and lungs, then shined a bright light into her eyes and ears. He pulled out an I.V. bag and swiftly put in the needle.

  “Why are you doing that?” one of them asked, angrily.

  “She needs fluid, she’s dehydrated,” the doctor said, adjusting the rate of fluid.

  He turned to look at Emily when she mumbled something.

  “Emily?” he asked, leaning over her. The menthol masked her smell nicely, and he was comfortable being closer to her.

  Emily’s eyes flew open and she sat up quickly, looking at the masked figures. She screamed and quickly turned the five heku in the room to ash. Before she could swing her legs out of bed, Chevalier, Kyle, Mark, and Maleth appeared in her room, ready to fight. She turned on them and stopped when she saw who it was.

  “Emily,” Chevalier said, standing up out of a crouch and moving to her, “It’s us.”

  She pointed at the ash piles on the floor, “The Valle.”

  Chevalier looked at them and cringed, “Well… no… damnit. We should have thought of that.”

  Kyle shrugged, “I didn’t think of it either.”

  “Think of what?” Emily asked, wiping a trail of blood from her nose.

  “Those are Equites. The masks were to help with your… well… scent,” Chevalier explained.

  She looked horrified, “I ashed friends?”

  “It’s ok!” Maleth said, trying to smile. “Damon!”

  “Yes, Elder?” he asked, looking around, his mask securely in place.

  “Revive those,” he told him, pointing to the ash on the floor.

  Damon frowned, “Was she attacked?”

  “I killed them,” Emily whispered, and struggled to get out of bed, but Chevalier held her down.

  “He can get them back, Em,” Kyle said, and nodded to Damon.

  Emily reached down and pulled the I.V. out of her arm.

  “Damnit, Em,” Chevalier said, grabbing her hands. “How is it you keep doing that?”

  Chevalier glanced quickly at Damon, and pulled Emily’s face toward him, “Look at me.”

  She tried to turn her head when she heard screams from behind her, but he held her, “What’s going on?”

  “Damon is bringing them back, it’s ok.”

  “I’m back, aren’t I?”

  He nodded, “We had to. I’ll explain it later.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes, “You promised to let me go.”

  He nodded, “I know… and you can as soon as you believe me.”

  Chevalier heard a hiss from behind Emily, and he glared.

  “Get them out of here,” he ordered, when he realized that the newly revived heku were without masks. The doctor crouched to attack just as Mark tackled him and pulled him out of the room. Kyle and Maleth were able to struggle the others out also and shut the door behind them.

  “I can’t stay here,” she whispered, looking into his eyes.

  “Emily, tell me one thing… do you love me?” he asked. “I need you to be honest with me.”

  A tear fell down her cheek, “I don’t want to.”

  “Do you?”

  She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips to his. His hands wrapped around her and pulled her closer. Emily moved away from him, crying.

  “What?” he asked her, softly.

  “I don’t want to. It’ll be easier when I leave if I don’t love you,” she said painfully.

  “Then don’t leave.”

  “I have to.”

  “No you don’t. Give us another chance. We’ll make things better,” he promised.

  Emily laid her head down on his shoulder, “My head hurts so badly, I can’t think.”

  “Let the doctor come in and give you something.”

  “I can’t be knocked out.”

  “Yes you can. We’ll be here with you.”

  Emily turned when the doctor walked back in with his mask on, “I’m so sorry, Emily.”

  She shrugged and watched the needle in his hand.

  “What is that?” she asked, wide eyed.

  “Pain medicine. You have a concussion from the car wreck, and I still don’t know what all the other did,” he said, coming closer.

  Emily tensed, “Go away.”

  The doctor stopped. He’d felt the burning pain of her abilities, and didn’t plan on having a repeat.

  “It’s up to you, Emily. I won’t force you, but we know you’re hurting.”

  “No medicine,” she said, and the doctor bowed and left. She was surprised. Normally, Chevalier told them to just do it quickly. This time, he followed her wishes.

  “I just want to sleep,” she said, lying down.

  “Eat first, I’ll get you something.” Chevalier stood up and gave an order to one of the guards, and when he returned, she was fast asleep.

  Chapter 7 - The New Palace

  Emily sat up in bed and looked around the room. Chevalier was sitting on one of the chairs, looking into the fireplace. She saw a domed tray by him and her stomach turned. She was suddenly feeling exceptionally hungry. She slid out of bed and took a few steps before the world moved out from under her. She saw blackness creeping into her vision and felt herself falling. Strong arms wrapped around her and put her in bed.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, “Don’t go.”

  He smiled and sat down, pulling her onto his lap as he cradled her, “You shouldn’t get up. The doctor says you have a concussion.”

  “Just don’t let go,” she said, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, kissing the top of her head.

  “My head hurts,” she whispered, and tightened her grip on him.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Em.”

  “Are the heku I ashed going to be ok?” she whispered.

  She felt him chuckle, “Yes, they have a new respect for you now though.”

  “I feel bad about that.”

  “Don’t, it was our fault. I didn’t think what that would look like when you woke up.” He sounded partly amused.

  “Where’s Allen?”

  “He’s down with Sam eating breakfast… which reminds me, you need to eat.” He tried to let go, but she tightened her grip.

  “I can eat later,” she told him, and tightened her grip.

  “I can hold you later, too. You need to eat,” he said, grinning.

  “I’m still leaving,” she whispered, and his face grew serious.

  “Will you stay if you set the rules?” he asked, looking down at her.

  “That won’t change things.” She sat up and looked into his eyes. He studied the intensity of the green in hers.

  “What will change things?”

  “Nothing can change it. It’s been this way for too long.” She laid her forehead against his chest.

  “Give us a shot, Em, please.”

  “There will always be someone out to feed off of me, and what if this baby is a girl? What if she ashes half the staff and gets fed off of herself?” Emily leaned her head up to look at him again.

  “It’s going to be that way anywhere. At least here, we can try to protect you.”

  “By putting us under lock and key?”

  “No, I won’t do that again. I see now, that all we did was drive you stronger to get away.” He smiled and kissed her.

  “The Ancient is still out there?” she asked.

  Chevalier nodded, “We’ve taken precautions.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like that,” he said, nodding to the shadows in the corner.

  Emily looked over and gasped, “There’s someone over there?”

  “No one, not even I, can be alone with you. The Ancient can only control one of us at a time, and Elder or not, he has permission to stop me if I try to hurt you.”


  Emily looked toward the shadows, “Come here.”

  Chevalier nodded and a heku stepped out, wearing a mask. Emily frowned, “I don’t like the masks.”

  “We didn’t know what else to do,” he said.

  “Who are you?” she asked the masked heku.

  “It’s Mark, Ma’am,” he said, bowing slightly.

  She nodded, and he moved back into the shadows. She pulled her nightgown down to cover her thighs. She hadn’t worried about it when it was just Chevalier, she thought they were alone.

  Chevalier tried to kiss her, but she dodged him, “We’re not alone,” she whispered.

  He chuckled, “Mark will be discreet, Em.”

  “I don’t care,” she said, and crawled off of his lap.

  He growled and grabbed for her, but she slipped out from under his fingers and ran for the bathroom. Chevalier and Mark sat waiting for her for a while before Chevalier got up and went to the bathroom.

  “Em?” he said, knocking.

  “Go away,” she told him, strained.

  He sighed, “Sprite and crackers?”

  “Please,” she whispered.

  Chevalier ordered to the air, and within seconds, cold Sprite and a box of crackers were on the table. He took the glass and some crackers, and knocked on the door.

  “Go away.”

  He grinned and opened the door. Emily was lying beside the toilet with her eyes closed. Chevalier sat down beside her and leaned against the wall.

  “I said, go away.”

  “I heard you… try a cracker,” he said, holding it out. She snatched it from his hand and put it on the floor beside her.

  She clutched her stomach, “Leave.”

  “Emily, this doesn’t bother me,” he said, and held her hair for her as she leaned over the toilet. When she was done, she laid on the floor, pressing her cheek against the cold tiles.

  “How long did this last before?” he asked, handing her the glass of Sprite.

  “I don’t know. I never knew what day it was,” she said, taking the glass and setting it down beside her.

  “Those work better if you eat them,” he chuckled.

  “You first.” She handed the glass to him.

  He raised an eyebrow, “If I drink some, will you?”

  She looked over at him and smiled, “Sure.”

  Chevalier winced and smelled the contents of the glass, and then braced himself. He heard Emily giggle as he took a long drink. He immediately spit it out over the bathroom floor, and wiped his tongue with a towel, sputtering. The door flew open and Mark looked in, frowning.