“She won’t wake up at all for two weeks?”
“No,” the doctor said, and when Chevalier nodded, he inserted the I.V. catheter and started the slow drip.
“Get the word out. Find out how to remove an ink signum qualitas off of a mortal,” Chevalier said.
“I’m on it,” Kyle said, blurring from the room.
“The Valle are requesting an audience with us,” Maleth said, watching Emily sleeping peacefully.
“Now?” Chevalier growled.
“They will be here in a few days.”
“In the meantime,” Leonid said. “We would like to know what happened in the palace.”
“Everyone was killed. Emily is the only one left that would know,” he said, watching her sleep.
“I do hope she remembers that we are Equites when she wakes up.” Maleth said softly.
Chevalier nodded and smiled, “It wasn’t just you two. We were all traitors, and she made sure and let us know that she’s an Equites.”
“I never really thought she considered herself one of us,” Leonid said.
“Neither did I,” Chevalier told him, and kissed her forehead softly.
Chapter 10 - Peace
The Council was seated in the council chambers as they waited for the Valle to arrive. Emily was four days into her two week sleep, and everyone was anxious for her to wake up and fill in a lot of blanks from the Encala attack.
As the door opened, the Council looked toward the arriving Valle. All three of the Valle Elders walked in quietly with their entourage, and stood before the Equites.
Maleth stood, “We’ll skip the pleasantries and ask right out, why have you summoned us?”
The tallest Valle Elder stepped forward, “Thank you for honoring us with your presence.”
Damon looked at Chevalier, and he shrugged.
“We have come to your beautiful home to ask for a treaty of peace,” the Valle said.
“Don’t we need to be at war to require a peace treaty?” Maleth asked.
“No, no, we don’t. We just want to ensure that what happened to the Encala… won’t be in the plans for the Valle,” he said, smiling.
“We did not attack first,” Maleth said, his eyes narrowing.
“Oh of course not. We know you would never do that,” the Valle said quickly.
“Unless you are planning an attack, then there’s no reason for you to fear us,” Damon said, not standing.
“We cannot help but fear you. The rumors from the Encala are terrifying… to any heku.”
“Rumors?” Maleth asked.
“Yes… we have heard what your army did to the Encala palace. We don’t know the reasoning, but would like to see that kind of destruction avoided,” another Valle Elder said.
“Our army?” Leonid asked, smiling.
“Their path of annihilation was horrific, and the Encala are in ruins. We are not here to judge your actions, but to try to negotiate a treaty that will ensure that we are not next,” he said, nervously.
“We have no plans on attacking the Valle… at this time,” Damon said, watching them carefully.
“Will you not sign a treaty then? Promise us that, in the future, we will handle things civilly, and not with wanton destruction?”
“We are a civilized faction,” Leonid said, irritated.
“I am so sorry. I was not implying that you are not,” the Valle Elder said, fidgeting nervously.
“I’m getting the impression that you are in a panic over something you’ve done, though I can’t quite figure out what,” Chevalier leaned forward.
“N... Nothing… we assure you.”
“Have you been to the Encala palace?” Damon asked.
The Valle Elders glanced at each other uneasily.
“What... did you… do?” he asked them, and stood up.
“We... we just wanted to help,” the tallest Valle Elder said.
“Explain yourself,” Leonid growled.
“With that kind of mass death, it left them without any leadership, without even one heku among them that could revive any of those that were killed.”
“Let me guess, so you decided to do it for them,” Damon scowled.
“We had no choice!” he said, taking a step back. “We cannot have only two factions. It’s never been done.”
“How many did you return?” Chevalier asked, angrily.
“We were only able to revive one of the leaders, the rest were… well… not complete enough to do.”
Chevalier smiled as he thought of Emily’s little leather pouch.
When the Equites did not respond, he continued, “We… we were… worried. The Encala were left with no leadership, no laws, or anyone to enforce them. The only reason we helped was to keep the Encala from turning feral.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure that’s the only reason you did it,” Damon growled.
“Who did you revive?” Maleth asked them, frowning.
“It was their Chief Enforcer, that’s all,” the Valle answered.
“Oh, so the one heku that could revive more,” Damon snapped.
“We didn’t know who it was… we just saw one untouched… shall we say… set of remains, and revived him.”
“What other assistance have you given them?” Damon asked.
“That is all, we swear! They are still an opposing faction, after all.”
“I find it unacceptable that you went behind our backs, after our attack, and revived one of their leaders,” Chevalier said angrily.
“We don’t see it as going behind your backs. What were we supposed to do? Allow the Encala faction to fall into ruins and leave all of their heku without any kind of direction?” the Valle Elder pulled at his collar nervously.
“Yes, that is exactly what you should have done,” Damon said, leaning toward them.
“You act as if the attack was unprovoked and out of line,” Chevalier hissed.
“I stress that we do not think that… we know you would never attack without reason. However…” the Valle said, glancing at the other Elders quickly.
“Yes?” Damon said.
“It seemed a bit... harsh, shall we say. The Encala are claiming over 1,800 deaths in their city. We do not judge, but that is the largest attack of our kind, ever.”
“Again, warranted,” Chevalier said to them.
“Then to… take…” the Valle Elder shuddered, “parts of them, so they could not be revived. We do not feel that was the proper thing to do.”
“Proper?” Damon asked, sitting back down.
“Yes, that also has never been done. Your punishment had been dealt. Something like that could take hundreds of years to recover from, but by taking what you did, it could be thousands before the Encala are stable again.”
“I see,” Maleth said, glaring. “We do see your point, but as you do not know the reasoning behind the attack, we feel you should not say that to us.”
“You are right, we apologize,” the Valle Elder said.
There was an awkward silence in the council chambers as the Valle looked at one another and nervously stood before their enemies.
“Was there something else you wanted?” Damon asked, after a few minutes of silence.
“We…” the smallest Valle Elder stepped forward after glancing at the others, “We feel it would only be fair, you know, in keeping with the peace… if you would share your new ability with us.”
Leonid looked at Maleth curiously.
“We don’t know what you mean by ability, please elaborate,” Maleth said to them.
“It is obvious to us… that the… Winchester ability has been passed to the Equites. That puts you with an unfair advantage, and we feel to keep peace in the factions, it should be given to each of us,” he said, smiling.
“I see,” Maleth said, sitting back in his chair.
“It would purely be used to keep equality among the factions.”
“How would the ability to kill one another quickly, and in great amounts, be of a peace
ful nature?” Damon asked, truly curious.
“It would be similar to when the mortals discovered nuclear weapons… because each country had the same power, it was never used,” the Valle explained.
“Oh, well of course… let’s call Emily down and have her share,” Damon said, grinning.
The Valle turned and looked at the others and then back to the Equites, “So you understand and comply?”
“No,” Damon said. “I just figured a dim-witted idea, warranted a dim-witted response.”
The Valle wrung his hands nervously, “We don’t feel that this is an unintelligent request, it is fairness, for peace.”
“Yes, I heard your excuse.”
“Shall we vote then?” Maleth asked, looking down the row of Equites.
The Valle watched them anxiously.
“All in favor of sharing our new found ability, raise your hand,” Maleth said, watching the Valle instead of taking count of the Equites votes.
“Please, think of the peace… we could all cooperate, and the ancient wars would end. Won’t more of you vote yes?” the Valle asked.
The entire Equites Council looked over at Damon, whose hand was raised. Chevalier rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry, the majority vote is no,” Maleth said, ignoring Damon.
“Please, talk to them, reason with them to see your side,” the Valle asked Damon frantically.
“Wait… weren’t we voting to turn these heku to ash?” Damon asked, frowning.
The Valle all nervously took steps toward the door.
“No, you misunderstood,” Maleth said, laughing. “We were voting to share that trick with our new friends here.”
“Oh, sorry,” Damon said, lowering his hand.
“We see now, there is no chance of peace,” the Valle said nervously.
“We are at peace now. We will not consider us at war until you have done something to provoke it,” Leonid said.
“May we ask the Lady then? If she will bestow the gift on us?” the tallest Valle Elder asked.
“No, you may not,” Leonid said, coldly.
“You speak for her now? Does she not have the ability to answer for herself?”
“Yes, she does… but no, you may not ask her.”
“Very well, we will take this as an act of aggression.” He tried to threaten the Council.
“Oh?” Chevalier asked, suddenly interested.
“We won’t attack, but you can see how we will need to protect ourselves.”
“By all means,” he said, grinning.
After a few minutes of silence, the Valle filed out of the council chambers nervously.
“That was interesting,” Damon said, leaning back in his chair.
“1,800,” Leonid whispered, looking at Chevalier.
“She’s paying for it, though,” he reminded them.
“You said the original Winchester died by killing a few hundred?”
“Yes, Sam was there.”
Leonid frowned, “Does Emily know that?”
“Yes”
The realization hit for the rest of the Council. Emily went into the Encala palace, fully expecting to die.
“How is she?” Maleth asked. The heku were all anxious to hear about her, but her room had been sealed, and Kyle wasn’t letting anyone in or answering any questions.
“We don’t know. We won’t until she wakes up,” Chevalier said.
“And the mark?” Leonid asked.
“Still there, it doesn’t seem to be fading,” Chevalier answered with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Are the bands still on her arms then?
“Yes, which means whoever they were for is alive.”
“Great”
“It’s not my place, I understand that, but Chevalier… you need to feed. You are looking pale, and you have to be very thirsty,” Maleth suggested.
“I am not leaving her.”
“Then let us bring a donor in.”
“To the palace?” he asked. Mortals weren’t allowed to enter the palace.
“We will take precautions.”
“No, I will go soon.”
Maleth nodded and pushed his chair back. The Council slowly left the chambers, and Chevalier went back up to his room. Kyle was standing outside of the door.
“The doctor is in there now,” he said to Chevalier.
Chevalier nodded and opened the door. Both he and Kyle looked as the doctor bent Emily’s left knee, and pushed her leg toward her chest. They blurred to Emily’s bed and Chevalier threw the doctor toward the wall. He crashed against the stone walls, and Kyle pinned him to the floor.
“What do you think you are doing?” he hissed.
“Stop please! If we don’t exercise her muscles, they will atrophy,” the doctor said, his eyes wide.
“Do what?” Chevalier frowned down at him.
“Her muscles can’t go unmoved for two weeks. I was simply exercising them,” he explained quickly.
“Get up,” Chevalier said angrily.
“You can read about it if you wish. I can bring in medical journals. Mortals can’t lie still for too long, or their muscles weaken and can become useless,” the doctor explained, standing up slowly.
“Show me,” Chevalier said, taking the doctor’s arm roughly and pushing him toward the bed.
The doctor walked through how to exercise the major muscles in Emily’s arms and legs, and then changed out her I.V. and left quickly.
***
“I’ve turned it off. She should wake up in a few minutes,” the doctor said, stepping back to watch her.
“Be ready to sedate her again,” Chevalier said.
“I can’t do that for much longer. It’s not good for her body.”
“I don’t care. If she is still dying, we need to buy more time,” he hissed.
The doctor nodded, “Her eyes are clear, and she’s slept for two weeks. I think that should be enough.”
Chevalier and the doctor watched Emily in the quiet room. Kyle was outside of her door still, and they could hear him pacing nervously.
After a few minutes, Emily began to stir. She blinked a few times and then opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a while, and then turned her head to look at Chevalier.
“Good morning,” he said to her softly, afraid to even touch her.
She turned to the doctor and looked at him.
“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked her.
Emily flexed her hands stiffly.
“You will be a little sore for a few days, it will pass, I promise,” he told her.
Without any warning, she reached over and ripped out her I.V.
“Emily, no!” the doctor yelled, and quickly turned it off so it wouldn’t drip all over the floor.
Chevalier chuckled. He was relieved to see a sign that she was still his Emily.
Emily watched Chevalier expressionlessly.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her, touching her cheek softly.
“I’m at the palace?” she whispered.
Chevalier nodded, “Yes, you’re home safe.”
“Are you mad?”
He smiled, “No, I’m not mad.”
“I killed some Encala,” she said, hoarsely.
“Some? Yes you did,” he said, grinning.
“I had a bag,” she whispered, her voice not quite working yet.
“It’s right by you. We didn’t take it.”
“I’m thirsty,” she whispered, and the doctor smiled.
“That’s a good sign.”
“What would you like? Anything,” Chevalier asked her.
“Just orange juice,” she managed to whisper finally.
“Your voice will clear soon,” the doctor assured her.
Emily looked at him, and then turned back to Chevalier. He already had a glass of juice in his hand. Chevalier slid an arm under her shoulders and helped her sit up. She wrapped her stiff fingers around the glass and drank most of it at once.
He laid
her back down, and she reached up and ran her fingers along the bands on her upper arm.
“Take these off,” she whispered, frowning.
“I can’t yet. We’ll get them off soon, I promise,” Chevalier told her.
“Why can’t you take them off?” she asked, pulling at them weakly.
“I’ll explain later, ok? Are you hungry?”
Emily nodded.
“Nothing heavy,” the doctor said. “Toast is good.”
“Ok,” Emily whispered, and reached her hand down to scratch at the runes on her leg.
Chevalier kept his face even and pulled the covers back up.
“How mad are the Encala?” she asked softly, as her voice slowly started to come back.
Chevalier chuckled, “I’m not sure mad is quite the word for it.”
She frowned, “I shouldn’t have done it. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“No one here is mad at you. We all know what you did, and no one’s sorry about it,” he said, taking her hand.
When her toast was delivered, she tried to sit up to swing her legs out of bed, but she wasn’t able to move them.
“Why can’t I move?” she asked, scared.
“It’s ok, you will just be stiff for a few days,” the doctor said.
Chevalier put his arm around her again, and lifted her up, then slid her up so she was sitting beside him. She took the toast and ate one before speaking.
“How did I get back here?” she asked, picking up a second piece.
“We went to the palace and brought you back,” Chevalier said. He promised himself that he would tell her anything she wanted to know.
“I don’t remember that.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
Emily absentmindedly scratched at the runes on her thigh again, and ate another piece of toast. Her juice had been refilled, and she reached for it and took another drink.
“Where’s Allen?” she looked around the room.
“He’s with Sam. We’ve been trying to keep him away. Seeing you asleep upset him,” Chevalier said.
“How long?”
“Two weeks.”
She frowned, “I slept for two weeks?”
“We kept you sedated. I’ll explain everything when you feel better, ok?”
She nodded and scratched at the runes again. She pulled up her nightgown and looked at her thigh.
Encala Page 24