Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Anyone else want to tangle with the little Elder’s wife?” she hissed, and looked along the ranks. No one looked at her or even moved a muscle. They stood in perfect formation and perfectly still.

  Emily glanced at her watch, and when only 90 seconds passed, the guard returned in full uniform and fell in with the others.

  “Fine then… let’s get this over with. This is your Captain.” Emily pointed at Mark. “He’s not Mark, he’s not a Council City crony… he’s Captain or Sir, got it?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” the guards all said in unison.

  “I’m the Commander, not Emily, not the Elder’s wife, not even the delicate mortal… you can refer to me as Ma’am or Commander, understood?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” they again said in unison.

  Mark and Silas watched, shocked, as she took charge and had the heku guards behaving perfectly as they feared she would turn them to ash. Mark and Silas also knew that when she was in this bad of a mood, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to be ashed.

  “You,” Emily yelled, pointing at a guard.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he called out, looking straight ahead.

  “You have 30 seconds to get me a copy of the policy manual.”

  Emily held out her hand, and it was only seconds later when the book appeared in her hand, and the guard returned to his spot.

  “Count off…,” Emily said, pointing to the end heku. “You are number 1… count down so each of you has a number.”

  Mark memorized which heku had which number as they counted off, until the last heku yelled out, “389.”

  “Number 81, who is authorized to sound the city alarm?” Emily yelled.

  For four hours, Emily called on different heku to answer questions about the policy manual. No one deviated from their position, or did anything more than answer her questions, and then return to their silent stance.

  Emily dropped the book onto the grass and slid onto her horse, “I want 8 count bodybuilders until I get back. If you so much as twitch, then you’ll have to deal with me when I get back.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” they called, and immediately fell into the starting squat.

  Emily watched them for a moment and then turned to Silas, “Wow, I wondered what those were… those’ll be a bitch.”

  Silas chuckled and caught up as she kicked her horse into a canter toward the castle, while Mark began to count off so the troops were all in sync.

  Emily tied her horse up outside the castle and went inside. She removed her glove and hat, and tossed them by the front door as she ordered lunch for her and Alexis.

  “Em?” Silas asked, grinning nervously.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you going to have them doing 8 counts the entire time you’re eating?”

  “Yes, sounds to me like they need to be kept busy,” she explained as they headed into the castle.

  Alexis wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist, “Did you have fun Mommy?”

  “Nope,” Emily said, and kissed Alexis’ forehead.

  “Can Anna take me swimming?” Alexis asked, and grabbed a sandwich and a scarlet red glass.

  “Yes, I’ll be busy all afternoon,” Emily replied, and sat down with her sandwich. She ate and talked to Alexis about her day so far.

  She made Alexis clear off the table and headed out to her horse, then stifled a yawn and crawled back into the saddle. She and Silas headed to the north lawn. The 8 count bodybuilders were still going on in perfect unison.

  Emily stopped her horse behind Mark, “How’s it going?”

  “Nothing’s changed,” Mark said, wondering what she had in store for the heku now. He almost pitied them for taking the anger that Emily had for the Elder.

  “Attention,” Emily called out.

  The heku guards all stood still and straight, and looked directly ahead.

  “Alright now, that was a lot nicer, no arguing, no fighting, nothing… head out to the barracks. Let’s see what we have in there,” Emily said, and turned her horse toward the barracks. She heard some mumbling behind her, but one glance and they quieted down immediately.

  Emily dismounted at the barracks and handed the reins to Silas. He watched nervously as Emily disappeared into the barracks followed by hundreds of heku who were not only taller and stronger than her, but were also mad at what she made them do.

  Mark was the last to step into the barracks, and saw that the guards were each standing by their small personal section of the long stone building. Emily was walking down and looking at each as she passed. He began to wonder if he should call the rest of the Cavalry to help protect her. If this amount of heku revolted, the three from Council City wouldn’t have a chance.

  Emily turned at the end of the aisle, “Will there be any fighting tonight?”

  “No, Ma’am,” they said in unison.

  She heard Mark growl from behind her and she turned and saw him crouch, with his hands balled into fists, and Silas appeared from outside and crouched beside him.

  Emily turned and looked at the guards, who hadn’t moved, “What happened?”

  “We’ll take care of it,” Mark said, and Emily noticed two of the guards glance nervously at each other.

  “No, tell me,” Emily said, and walked over to the two. “What did you say?”

  One guard looked at Mark, and then back to Emily, “I said… if you don’t learn your place on this island, you’re going to risk getting drained.”

  Mark growled again and started forward, but Emily held up a hand, “I see, and what, exactly… is my place?”

  The guard grinned, “On your back, I’m sure.”

  Emily nodded and smiled, “Are you going to be the one to drain me then?”

  “Don’t tempt me,” the guard said, and glanced nervously at Mark.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Emily said, and unbuttoned the top button on her shirt as the guards watched her. “You’ve heard how delicious the Winchester blood is?”

  “Emily!” Mark hissed.

  “Have you?” Emily asked, and undid the button on the cuff at her wrist.

  “Yes,” the guard said.

  Emily put out her wrist to him, “Take a whiff… come on. I give you permission.”

  The guard grabbed her hand roughly, and ran his nose along her inner wrist and hissed softly.

  Emily smiled and noticed Silas was holding Mark back.

  “Like what you smell?” Emily asked, and buttoned her cuff.

  He answered her with another hiss. His feral eyes watched the exposed vein in her neck.

  “If you can get your teeth into my neck, I’ll let you feed,” Emily said, and took two steps back from him.

  “What?” the guard asked, frowning, but still watching the throbbing vein.

  “You heard me… if you can get your teeth in me, you get to feed.”

  The guard crouched into an attack posture and fell to ash as Emily smiled at the guard next to him. The guards all shifted nervously and glanced at Mark.

  Emily stepped to the second guard and held her collar away from her neck, “Want to give it a try?”

  The guard stepped back, wide eyed, “No, Ma’am.”

  “Anyone? Get your teeth into my neck and you get a freebie feeding,” Emily said. She heard a soft hiss from behind her, and the guard turned to ash without her even turning around. She walked over to Mark as Silas let go of him, the look on his face was furious.

  “No one is to touch those ashes, and I’m calling general quarters,” Emily said, and walked out of the barracks.

  “What the hell was that?” Mark growled as he followed her out.

  “I’m not going to have them thinking they can push me around,” Emily said, and got onto her horse.

  “You can’t just offer to let them feed, or hand your wrist over for savoring,” he said angrily.

  “Yes I can… and I did. I think I proved my point, and I’d like to see one of them threaten to drain me again,” Emily said, irritated.

  “You ca
n’t expect them to control themselves if you offer.”

  “They didn’t control themselves at first, but they learned quickly that I can’t be easily fed off of.”

  “Emily…”

  “Mark, I don’t want to be here any more than they want me to be, and if they are going to act like a bunch of 16-year-olds, then that’s what I’ll treat them like.”

  “Do not offer your blood again,” Mark growled.

  “I shouldn’t have to,” Emily said, and headed for the castle when Storm called her on the walkie-talkie.

  Silas watched her go, “We need to tell the Elder, he’s not going to want to keep her here.”

  “I’ll call him later,” Mark said. “I have to go talk to the Officers. I think the guards are pacified for now.”

  Silas nodded and mounted his mare, kicking her to catch up with Emily.

  ***

  Emily rolled over and checked the clock on the second day as Commander on the island. She turned the alarm off a few minutes early, and stumbled into the shower, then dressed in the bathroom and flexed her hand. She decided to return to the hand brace and went back out into the bedroom to finish getting ready. Hot coffee and chocolate muffins were waiting for her. She sat down in front of the fire to enjoy her coffee and took a few moments to relax.

  Emily grabbed her cell phone from the table when it rang, “Yes?”

  “Emily, stop offering to feed the guards,” Chevalier said angrily.

  “Oh, that’s right. I should save my blood for you.”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  “Don’t give me an impossible task and then question my motives,” Emily said, irritated.

  “I’m not questioning your motives. I just don’t know if you realize how dangerous it is to offer to feed anyone who can get their teeth into you.” He was obviously frustrated.

  “Oh, two took me up on it.”

  “What?” he growled.

  “And I ashed them, so leave me the hell alone,” Emily said, and hung up the phone.

  She opened the bedroom door, slamming it against the wall and stormed out. Silas cringed, suddenly afraid for anyone who crossed her today.

  Emily got onto her horse and grabbed her walkie-talkie, “Where do you need me?”

  Silas wondered if Mark caught the fierceness in her voice, and he realized that part of her anger was toward Mark.

  “Pier, someone’s waiting for you,” Mark said hesitantly.

  Emily clipped the radio onto her belt and kicked the horse into a gallop, heading for the pier. She got off of her horse and tied him up to a post before stepping out onto the pier. The guards were lined up along the edge of the pier with their dogs, and Emily walked between them and stopped at the ferry.

  “What do you want, Exavior?” Emily asked, crossing her arms.

  “Wow… you look… incredible in that uniform,” Exavior said, grinning.

  “What do you want?”

  “Stand down, Killer,” Exavior chuckled. “I’m not here to invade.”

  “I’m not in the mood to play your stupid Valle games. What do you want?”

  “I merely came to check on your welfare.”

  “I thought Sotomar banned you from contacting me,” Emily reminded him.

  Exavior smiled, “He did.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “As I said, a welfare check only, and rest assured, I had Council approval to come,” he said, and the amusement in his voice irritated her.

  “I don’t see why I need a welfare check.”

  “There’s been… talk… of an uprising in the V.E.S., and we are afraid they will be searching for the elusive Madison and Cody,” Exavior explained.

  “They’ve been here and I handled it,” Emily told him. “Chevalier wouldn’t have left me alone here if he didn’t know it was safe.”

  Exavior grinned, “Does that mean you’re talking to him again?”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Get the hell off this island or I’ll consider it harassment.”

  “Emily…” Exavior said, but she was already walking away.

  “If he steps foot on the pier… kill him,” Emily said to the guards.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” the end guard said, excited.

  Emily climbed back onto her horse.

  “Em, you can’t have a Valle council member killed,” Silas told her.

  Emily glared at him, and he stopped talking as he followed her away from the pier.

  “He knows things again,” Emily told Silas.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean he knows that Chev and I are fighting.”

  Silas frowned, “How?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s really getting irritating,” she said, and started for the castle.

  “We’ll find out.”

  Emily grabbed the radio, “Now what?”

  “We’re running drills on the south lawn,” Mark told her. “Nothing’s happening.”

  Silas grinned. He had heard some of the guards talking, and they were so afraid of Emily, they weren’t even going to think about stepping out of line.

  Emily shrugged and headed the horse to the south lawn where she stopped by Mark and watched the guards running drills. Each saw her as they rounded the second corner, and suddenly fought harder to do well in the rankings.

  ***

  Emily jumped out of bed when the all too familiar alarm sounded. She glanced at the clock and it was only 2am. She quickly threw on her uniform and was just fastening her gun belt when Anna came into the room.

  “Get Alexis into the cave room,” Emily said, and ran out the door, still fastening her cape.

  “Em, get to the cave room,” Silas said, and ran after her.

  “No, I’m supposed to help take care of this island, not hide from attackers,” Emily said, and untied the reins from the bush.

  “I don’t think the Elder meant for you to go to war,” Silas told her.

  She jumped bareback onto her stallion and kicked him into a run toward the pier. Silas skipped getting his horse and blurred after her. Emily jumped off the horse before it even stopped all the way when she saw a standoff outside of the main barracks. She pushed to the front and stopped, face-to-face, with the lead heku.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Emily asked angrily. She saw Mark off to her side and the guard officers beside him, they all watched her.

  The heku smiled, “Well, well, look what we found. They have a pet.”

  “You didn’t answer me. What are you doing on my island?” she asked.

  “Your island? It’s the Elder’s island, and we are here to claim it.”

  “Which faction are you?”

  “They are factionless,” Mark hissed.

  “Factionless or not, there are over fifteen hundred of us, and by our last count, there are only twelve hundred of you… so back off, Tiny, and let us by,” he said, grinning.

  “You’ll have to get by me,” Emily said, crossing her arms.

  The leader leaned his head back and laughed, “Did you hear that? The little hottie here thinks she’s tough. Don’t kill her, she’s mine.”

  Silas and Mark moved to stand beside her.

  “Last warning… turn around now and get off this island,” Emily told them.

  “Don’t do it, Em, we can fight them,” Silas whispered.

  “I won’t kill them all. This guard staff needs nothing more than to kill something,” Emily said, and heard the excitement behind her.

  “You won’t kill us all?” The leader laughed, “I hope you’re as feisty in the bedroom.”

  Emily smiled, “You’re not man enough to handle me in bed.”

  “You’ll love it, Sweetheart,” he said, and stepped toward her, running his tongue along his sharp teeth.

  “Love this…” Emily said, and he fell to ash before the eyes of his army.

  The factionless heku shifted nervously and glanced at one another, unsure what was going on.

  “Where is he?
” Another factionless heku stepped forward, “Where is the Chief Enforcer?”

  Emily raised her hand, “I did that.”

  He scanned the island guards, “Where is the Chief Enforcer? Tell him to stop hiding and come out.”

  “In three…” Emily said, holding her hand up to hold back the guards.

  “Coward!” the heku yelled.

  “Two…” Emily said, and smiled.

  “Move aside, Baby Girl, let me find that Enforcer,” he said, and started toward her.

  “And… one…” Emily whispered, and suddenly, 400 of the factionless heku fell to ash and Emily felt Mark’s hand on her back as she stumbled slightly.

  Silas caught her as she fell to her knees, and blurred Emily back to the castle when the battle started around her. The castle door guards let him in and immediately bolted the castle door shut behind him. He ran into her room and laid her down on the bed.

  “Damnit,” Emily mumbled, wiping the blood that trickled out of her nose.

  Silas sat down on the bed beside her, “Where are you?”

  “On the island,” Emily said, and touched the blood in her ear.

  “Who am I?” Silas asked.

  “My head hurts,” Emily told him, and pressed her palms into her eyes.

  Silas got a washcloth from the bathroom and ran it through the cold water. He returned to the bed and placed it across her forehead.

  “Who am I?” he asked again.

  “I’m ok, Silas.”

  Silas watched her until she fell asleep. Her breathing was deep and rhythmic. He knew she would be asleep for a while, so he quickly blurred to the battle. Only a few of the factionless attackers were left, and they were knelt in front of the island’s Generals. Silas joined Mark beside them.

  “Put the island on lockdown and stop the ferry,” Mark said, and a guard blurred away to make it happen.

  “Sir, what do you want done with them?” the General asked.

  “Take them to the prison. We’ll see what the Elder wants to do with them,” Mark said, and turned to the guards. They were all talking excitedly and exhilaration filled the air as bodies of the attackers were scattered across the streets of Island Coven.

  “Clean this mess up and take the night off from drills,” Mark said, and turned to Silas. “So how bad is she?”