Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Emily was thinking about the next four weeks when she fell asleep, and her dreams were mostly about wandering lost in the Valle Palace.

  ***

  The guards looked over when the Elders came through the hallway. They were talking and laughing, having just fed.

  “Any problems?” Sotomar asked.

  “No, Sir,” the guard said. “She fell asleep about twenty minutes after she laid down.”

  “After she took my shirt,” one of the guards said, looking at the floor.

  “Your shirt?” Kyle asked, frowning.

  “Yes, sir, she wanted my t-shirt.”

  Sotomar nodded, “Exavior had the nightgowns made.”

  “Did she eat well?” Chevalier asked, changing the subject.

  “Damnit,” the guard said, cringing. “I knew we forgot something.”

  Chevalier shook his head and went to open the door, but a hand blocked him.

  “Sorry, she specifically requested that all heku stay out,” the guard said, and stood back up.

  Sotomar raised an eyebrow, “Interesting.”

  Kyle sighed, “That means she’s not in there.”

  “What?” William growled. “She promised.”

  “Yeah, not her strong suit,” Chevalier said, and burst through the door. The room was swelteringly hot and the fires were roaring. Emily was lying on top of the covers on her back. The t-shirt was hiked up slightly, exposing her soft thighs.

  Chevalier spun in the door and pushed the others out. They had already seen her and quickly advanced into the hallway.

  “Ok, so I was wrong,” Kyle chuckled. “Sorry, usually she’s skipped out.”

  “So now she’s just being private,” Sotomar said, embarrassed.

  Chevalier grinned and backed into the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

  “Lucky bastard… let’s go down stairs,” William said, and headed toward the main floor.

  Chevalier stood by the door, watching her sleep. He wondered how she slept in such hot conditions, but she seemed to prefer it. He shut his eyes and inhaled her scent, enhanced by the heat from the fires, then sat down in one of the plush chairs by the front door and watched her for a few hours before meeting up with the others down the stairs.

  “I’m heading back,” Quinn said. “There’s been a fight between our infamous newly married couple.”

  “Can’t the Cavalry handle them… again?” Kyle asked.

  Quinn shrugged, “Fourth time this week. I think we need to intervene.”

  “I am leaving too, for obvious reasons,” Zohn said angrily.

  Kyle grinned, “Do you need me?”

  “No, stay here. If she gets mad at Chevalier, she’ll need you,” Quinn said, and grinned slightly.

  Chevalier walked the Equites Elders up the stairs and sent Ashtin with them. Equites 1 took off, followed by the Encala helicopter carrying their three Elders.

  “Guess it’s just us,” Chevalier said to Kyle. “Never thought I’d be welcome in the Valle Palace.”

  “It makes me nervous,” Kyle whispered.

  “Just keep your guard up,” Chevalier said, and walked back inside.

  “Did you know she wanted a motorcycle?”

  “No, didn’t know she wanted a tattoo either.”

  “Odd, isn’t it? She leaves the heku forever, but gets the Equites Crest tattooed across her lower back?”

  Chevalier grinned, “I like it.”

  Kyle chuckled, “Of course you do.”

  “Think she’ll stick with leather for a while?”

  “I wouldn’t hold my breath… I still wish I knew what she was doing out at 3am though. I don’t buy her story.”

  “Me either, but I hate to push the issue.”

  “The Council is in session. Elder Sotomar wanted you to know,” one of Emily’s guards said.

  Chevalier nodded, “Fine… where is an empty room?”

  A servant appeared and showed Chevalier and Kyle into a private conference room with a small table and three wooden chairs. They sat silently, each in their own thoughts as the night began and slipped slowly into morning with no word from Emily.

  Mid-morning, they heard her get up and walk around. Her footsteps were distinctive because heku rarely went without shoes, and she hardly ever wore them. Her steps were also lighter and slightly irregular. They heard her door guards order breakfast and then the shower ran in the bathroom.

  “We heading back today?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah, might as well,” Chevalier said, standing up.

  “We going to let her drive?”

  Chevalier chuckled, “I’m not going to start that fight.”

  “Yeah, but she’s obeying us this week, remember?”

  “It’ll be an adventure,” Chevalier said, grinning. “Let’s go.”

  Chevalier and Kyle made their way up the stairs to her door, where the door guard handed Chevalier jeans and a t-shirt the tailor made for her, and then knocked.

  “Come in,” Emily called out.

  Chevalier and Kyle came in and shut the door behind them.

  “I know… heku Barbie,” Emily said, cringing at the flowing pink dress she was wearing.

  “We come bearing gifts,” Chevalier told her, grinning, and tossed the jeans and t-shirt to her.

  “Oh… thank you!” Emily yelled, and disappeared into the bathroom.

  “Is she trying to cook the place?” Kyle asked, stepping away from the fires.

  “She likes it warm.”

  Emily came back out in low-rider jeans and a gray t-shirt with an intricately designed “V” in the center, “Ha-ha, very funny.”

  Chevalier smirked, “We expected no less.”

  “Are we leaving?”

  “Yes, after breakfast,” Chevalier said as Kyle went to the door and came back carrying a tray. He sat it down on a small table and Emily pulled off the top and smelled.

  “Nice, smells good,” she said, and picked up a piece of bacon.

  “I’d like to give the Jeep a try, may I drive?” Kyle asked.

  Emily shook her head, “Nice try… no.”

  Kyle shrugged and smiled at Chevalier.

  Emily sighed and turned to them, “I need to talk to Alec.”

  “I figured,” Chevalier said, and called for Sotomar.

  “Glad you’re feeling better,” the Valle Elder said, walking up to them.

  “Where is Alec?” Emily asked him.

  He sighed, “He’s on house arrest, down in the city. He keeps trying to run to Exavior.”

  “Can she see him?” Kyle asked.

  “Yes, I’ll take you there,” Sotomar said, and led them out of the Valle Palace. They walked down into the city and stopped in front of a small house that had guards posted at the doors.

  “I need to go in alone,” Emily said, and walked up to the door and knocked softly. She walked in when she heard Alec tell her to enter.

  Alec was sitting in a rocking chair, watching the fire. He looked over at her and his eyes were sad, “Hello, Emi.”

  Emily walked over at sat down in the chair beside him, “I’m not sure what to say.”

  “Sotomar told me that Exavior has been imprisoned for eternity.”

  Emily nodded and watched the fire.

  “I pledged my life to him.”

  “I wish you would trust me, he’s evil. He’s right where he belongs.”

  Alec looked at her angrily, “He’s my maker and my friend.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So I go from being in this new life with my friend, excited for my future and to try out my new abilities… to sitting here, alone, unsure where to go or what to do.”

  “Come live with me,” Emily suggested and took his hand.

  He roughly pulled his hand out of hers, “When I leave, I’ll go back to the city Exavior created. He still has followers there.”

  “They aren’t going to let you go if you keep saying that.”

  “I’m not going to the Equites, w
here my maker is trapped.”

  “Alec…”

  “Stop, Emi, you don’t know as much as you think you do about the heku. You won’t even become one.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I know exactly what’s going on. I’ve lived with them for 14 years.”

  “And are still blind to them. You can’t understand them like I do, until you become one.”

  Emily sighed, “I don’t want to leave you here, alone.”

  “You already did.”

  “Please, Alec, come with me.”

  “You obviously don’t need me around. You don’t do this to family that you care about. I hope you enjoy the next few hundred years with your Equites.”

  “Don’t say that, Alec, and you know I won’t be around for another hundred years… I won’t turn,” Emily reminded him.

  Alec looked at her and shook his head, “You don’t even know, do you?”

  “Know what?”

  “You aren’t aging, Emi. How can you not notice that?”

  Emily looked over at him, “What do you mean? I’m almost 40.”

  “You look 20, you had to have noticed… Exavior did.”

  “Come back with me.”

  Alec shook his head, “No, I’m not going to come and watch you with your heku while I know in my heart that the one you belong with is suffering below you.”

  “I love Chevalier. You aren’t around to see it, but the Equites are very good to me. They are like my family.”

  “I’m glad you have a replacement for us, then,” Alec said, his voice full of pain.

  Emily’s eyes filled with tears, “I didn’t replace you with them. I want you to come and join me, be with your family.”

  “Go, Emi, go back to the Equites and leave me alone.”

  Emily stood up, numb, and walked over to the door. She glanced back at her uncle before opening the door and stepping out. The heku looked at her and knew she didn’t want to talk. They walked back to the palace and Emily crawled into the back of the Jeep, and lay down in the backseat.

  She felt an empty hole in her heart where her mortal family belonged. Maybe Alec was right, and she’d abandoned her own family for the heku. She knew, deep down, that she hadn’t had a choice when she moved to Island Coven. She also felt pangs of guilt as she realized that Alec abandoning her for Exavior wasn’t only his fault.

  “I guess we’re going,” Chevalier said, and sat in the driver’s seat.

  “If we can do anything…” Sotomar started.

  Kyle nodded at him and got into the passenger’s seat, “We’ll let you know.”

  Chevalier backed the Jeep out of the Valle’s garage and was soon on the Interstate headed back to Council City. Kyle kept an eye on Emily. She cried for a while, and then lie motionless, staring at the back of the seat. She refused food and they drove through the night, arriving at Council City just after dawn.

  “Em, we’re here,” Chevalier said, and pulled the Jeep into the garage. He stopped the engine and looked back at her.

  “I know,” she whispered.

  Kyle glanced at her and then went into the palace.

  Chevalier watched as she stayed in the backseat, unmoving. She watched the pattern on the seat, her mind and body numb. Alec was the last of her family. The only reminder she had of her family before the heku, and he hated her, hated that she’d been a part of putting Exavior away. She didn’t move as Chevalier picked her up and cradled her as he walked into the palace.

  “What’s wrong?” Allen asked when they walked into the palace.

  “We’re not really sure,” Chevalier said, heading up the stairs. “She talked to Alec alone and hasn’t said much since.”

  “Is he coming to live with us?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Did you say he couldn’t?”

  “No, I did not. I would be fine with Alec joining us in Council City.”

  “Maybe I should go talk to him,” Allen said, and followed them into the bedroom. Chevalier laid Emily down on the bed and walked back out to the hallway, shutting the door behind Allen.

  “If I thought, for one moment, that you could change his mind, then I would let you. Sotomar told me that Alec is still pledging his allegiance to Exavior and won’t change his opinions,” Chevalier explained.

  “How can Alec do that? After what Exavior did to Mom?”

  Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure. There’s a strong attachment to your maker, though. He may still be too new to pull himself away from those loyalties.”

  “You were loyal to your maker?” Allen asked curiously.

  “No, I wasn’t,” Chevalier said, and sat down in a chair by Emily’s door. “Mine was different, I didn’t choose to turn, so I didn’t feel I owed him anything.”

  “Reporting for duty, Sir,” one of the Cavalry said when four came up to her door.

  Chevalier nodded and stood up, “Leave her alone for now, deal or no deal, she needs to be alone.”

  “Do we disregard all of Elder Zohn’s orders then?” he asked.

  “No, just leave her alone in her room for now, the rest stands,” Chevalier said, and went down into the council chambers.

  Chapter 20 - Four Weeks

  “Em?” Chevalier asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. He could tell she’d been crying again, and he put his hand on her arm softly.

  Emily looked over at him.

  “It’s been three days… you need to eat.”

  She shut her eyes and took a deep breath and then opened them slowly and nodded, “Ok, I agreed to obey.”

  “I’m not enforcing that right now. I’d just like you to eat,” Chevalier said, and ordered her some fried potatoes and sausage for breakfast.

  Emily shrugged, “I agreed and I’ll follow through.”

  Chevalier pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head against his chest and shut her eyes, focusing on the sound of the beating of his heart. She looked over when her breakfast was delivered and crawled out of his lap.

  “I have meetings all day today,” Chevalier told her.

  Emily nodded and sat down to eat.

  He watched her take a few bites and then headed down to the council chambers. He sat down and turned to the others, “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

  “How is she?” Quinn asked.

  “She’s eating, that’s a start… she’s also said she plans on holding to the two week agreement.”

  “Derrick?” Zohn called out, and when the door guard entered, he continued. “Bring in our first appointment.”

  “Yes, Sir, the first appointment is…” Derrick hesitated and checked a note in his hand again, “Elder Vaughn.”

  “Who?” Quinn asked, frowning.

  “I’m not sure I like where this is going,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.

  “Bring him in,” Zohn sighed.

  Derrick nodded and left the council chambers. The door opened and the former Encala Elder, Vaughn, walked in wearing a dark purple cape. He had four guards with him and stood proudly before the Equites Council.

  “Well… this is interesting,” Zohn said. “What exactly are you an Elder of?”

  “Just because you imprisoned our founder, Elder Exavior, doesn’t mean that his faction has fallen into rubble,” Vaughn said. “I’m here to ask for the return of Damon and Samuel.”

  “Not Exavior?”

  “Not yet. We understand that will take more time and preparations.”

  “All in favor of releasing Damon and Samuel, please raise your hands,” Quinn said, and watched Vaughn, already knowing the answer.

  Vaughn’s eyes flared, “I’ll not be taken lightly. This is a valid request and I insist you let them go.”

  “Call for Emily,” Quinn said to Derrick.

  “Why? I’m not petitioning for her yet, either,” Vaughn said.

  “Yet? Were you going to?” Zohn asked, confused.

  “Yes, she’s an Elder also, and soon we’ll come for her
too.”

  “Emily’s an Elder?” Chevalier asked, somewhat amused.

  “Yes”

  “Does she know that?” Quinn asked.

  “She should, it’s how it should be… the wife of an Elder is an Elder also.”

  Chevalier sighed, “Not going to drop that are you?”

  Emily peeked into the trial area and then walked in when Derrick pushed her softly. The door shut behind her, and she looked up at the Council. The heku on the trial floor didn’t even turn to look at her. She walked up slowly, unsure what she’d done to get in trouble this time.

  “Elder…” Vaughn said when she walked up beside him.

  Emily’s eyes grew wide, and she walked around Vaughn, keeping an eye on him, and ran up the stairs to the Council.

  Vaughn smiled at her.

  “You called?” Emily asked, her eyes on the former Encala Elder.

  “Yes, Dear, we need a peacekeeper, tempers were flaring,” Quinn said, and motioned for the council member beside Chevalier to stand so she could sit. Emily sat down, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do.

  “Did you call me Elder?” Emily asked him.

  “Yes, you are an Elder, along with myself, and Exavior,” Vaughn explained.

  “Of what, exactly?”

  “The Ferus.”

  “What’s a Ferus?”

  Chevalier grinned, “It means Fierce.”

  “We’ve come to retrieve Damon and Samuel,” Vaughn told her. “I assume you will help us, as it’s your faction, too.”

  Emily grinned and looked at Zohn, “You’re messing with me.”

  Zohn looked over at her, his eyebrows raised, “I most certainly am not.”

  “I think he’s serious,” Chevalier told her.

  Emily glanced over at Vaughn, “So I’m an Elder of the Ferus Faction, and you want my help to return Damon and Samuel?”

  “Yes,” Vaughn said.

  Emily nodded, “Sure, I’ll help Damon and Samuel.”

  “Good girl,” Vaughn said, smiling.

  The Council turned to her and she pulled a tissue from under the desk, and wiped the small trickle of blood from her nose.