Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “There may be more then?” William asked.

  “Yes, if any were not in the prison, then they were also turned to ash.”

  “From what I saw,” Quinn said, “The only ones that were up above the prison were ones that were giving information or agreed to join.”

  “The Ferus were out guarding the city,” Chevalier said. “They are growing too quickly.”

  “The Ferus were there?” the Imperial Guard asked, shocked. “We didn’t know that.”

  Chevalier nodded, “They joined forces.”

  The Imperial Guard holding Emily turned away from her, breathing the air coming in from the front of the helicopter, “She’s bleeding again.”

  Chevalier unbuckled and took her from the guard.

  “Two minutes til we land,” the pilot called back. “They have personnel waiting for us, a Dr. Hayden.”

  The helicopter landed and the pilot killed the engines. Dr. Hayden and four nurses wheeled a gurney up to the Blackhawk. Chevalier jumped out and laid Emily down on the gurney. She didn’t move as they threw a blanket on her and rushed her into the hospital.

  “What happened?” Dr. Hayden asked, walking with them into the Emergency Room.

  “We aren’t sure exactly, found her like this,” Chevalier said as worry crept into his voice.

  “Stay out here,” the doctor said, and headed in to the room with the nurses. The heku all stood silently and waited for the doctor. They moved aside only when equipment was moved into the room.

  Hours passed with no word. Chevalier, Sotomar, and William waited while the others returned to help in the Valle’s city. Different doctors were called into the room. They came and went, nodding at the waiting heku, but not giving any word.

  Dr. Hayden and an older doctor came out finally, looking worn out and exhausted.

  “Come, we’ll talk to you in my office,” the older doctor said, and motioned for Chevalier to follow them. They walked to a small, crowded office full of degrees on the wall, and books and medical journals lying around in piles.

  “This is Dr. Greenfield. He’s Head of Neurology here at the hospital,” Dr. Hayden said. “We’ve been running scans to try to see what happened to Emily.”

  “What did you find?” Chevalier asked, not liking the soft tone of their voices.

  “We’re still trying to find out what happened, exactly,” Dr. Greenfield said. “All we can tell you right now is that her brain function is only about 13% of what it should be, her heart rate and breathing are shallow and slowing.”

  “Meaning…”

  “Meaning, she’s dying,” Dr. Hayden said, visibly upset. “We can’t find a cause. There’s a small bleed in her brain, but that wouldn’t cause her body functions to be slowing.”

  Chevalier’s heart dropped, “She’s dying? Fix it.”

  “We’re trying, but first we have to find what’s causing it. Right now she’s in a coma, and her brain function is on a steady decline.”

  “She cannot die,” Chevalier growled.

  “We’re doing all we can… you need to make a decision though… if she goes, do we keep her on life support until the baby is ready to be born?” Dr. Hayden asked, respectfully lowering his eyes.

  Chevalier felt numb as he nodded slightly, agreeing with whatever the doctors said.

  “Why don’t we let you see her,” Dr. Hayden said. “Right now we’re just watching to see if things stabilize.”

  He nodded and followed the doctors out. The other heku already heard the report, and he didn’t say a word to them as he stepped into the room. The doctors checked a few things and then left him alone. Emily was on the bed, covered in wires with multiple I.V.’s in her arms, and a tube helping her breathe.

  Chevalier sat down in a chair by the bed and took her cold hand in his, “Em?”

  She didn’t respond. To him, it looked like she was simply sleeping. She looked peaceful and at rest. He glanced up at one of the monitors and saw her pulse drop another few beats per minute. Hours passed and he sat with her hand in his as he watched the monitors, willing her to keep breathing.

  Chapter 25 - Coma

  “Where does this go?” Kyle asked, wheeling a large machine into Chevalier and Emily’s room.

  “It needs to go by the head of the bed,” the Dr. Cook said, pointing to where he wanted it.

  “Tell me again why she’s not in the hospital?” Zohn asked, watching as equipment was moved into the bedroom.

  Kyle stopped and looked at the Elder, “She’s breathing on her own, and her heart is beating, there’s nothing more they can do for her.”

  “I thought they said her breathing and pulse were too slow though, isn’t it dangerous to bring her here?”

  The faction doctor sighed, “We’re just making her comfortable… until she goes.”

  Zohn frowned and whispered, “So she just lays there until she dies?”

  “She’s been in a coma for 6 weeks. It’s not likely at this point that she’s going to wake up,” the doctor explained, checking Emily’s I.V. “Right now we just make sure she has what she needs.”

  “She’s gotten bigger though, so the baby is ok?”

  “Yes, the baby is fine. The only thing injured on Emily is her brain. Her body is working properly.”

  Zohn glanced at her, “Does she hear us?”

  The doctor shook his head, “No, there’s not enough of her brain functioning to hear or understand.”

  Kyle touched her arm softly before leaving the room. He wanted to meet up with Chevalier and Quinn in the interrogation chamber. The screams started in the stairwell to the prison, and stopped just before he opened the chamber door. He stepped in and saw three heku in various stages of torture. One was dead, his body pushed to the side by the fire.

  “Any information?” Kyle asked, walking up to the rack.

  Quinn shook his head, “No, we have everything we need from them.”

  Kyle glanced at Chevalier, but he didn’t speak. He was busy jabbing iron pins into the heku on the rack. His eyes were glazed over and his movements were slow and precise.

  “The room’s all set up. The doctor’s just attaching some things and then will be in his room,” Kyle said to him.

  Chevalier nodded.

  Quinn cocked his head slightly to the side, “Duty calls.”

  Kyle nodded and opened the door. He glanced back and saw that Chevalier hadn’t moved. Quinn motioned for Kyle to leave Chevalier, and the two walked up to the council chambers and took their seats.

  Derrick stepped forward, “Valle Elder Sotomar and Encala Elder William wish to speak to the Council.”

  Zohn nodded, “Let them in.”

  The two Elders came in and bowed respectfully.

  “We heard that Emily was able to return to the palace,” Sotomar said, smiling.

  “Not a joyous occasion,” Quinn said. “We’ve brought her here to die.”

  William frowned, “She’s no better?”

  “No, she can’t recover from this… we will try to keep her alive until the baby comes.”

  Sotomar was visibly upset, “Is there nothing anyone can do?”

  “No”

  “Turn her,” William said. “Before it’s too late.”

  “She once told us she would rather die,” Kyle said. “However, with the limited brain function, it probably wouldn’t work anyway.”

  “She… she saved the entire species from chaos,” Sotomar said softly. “We have to help her, we owe her that.”

  “Don’t you think if we could help her that we would be?” Kyle yelled. Quinn put his hand out for the Chief Enforcer to calm down.

  “We’ve done all we can,” Quinn said. “Now, we wait.”

  “May we see her? Just for a moment?” William asked, his voice cracking slightly.

  Quinn nodded and stood up, “I will take them.”

  Kyle followed them up the stairs. He felt that if Chevalier weren’t with her that he should be. He kept feeling like at any moment she w
ould wake up, scared and angry. He smiled slightly at how fast she would pull the I.V. out and could imagine her tossing the oxygen onto the floor.

  He moved to the side of her bed and sat down, taking her hand, then pulled the blankets up slightly and called for servants to stoke the fire when he felt how cold her hand was. Sotomar and William stood back a ways and watched her.

  “It looks like she’s simply sleeping,” Sotomar said.

  William nodded.

  Sotomar pulled a black pen from his robes and began writing on the headboard. Kyle briefly debated stopping him, but then Quinn and William did the same and soon her headboard was full of ancient runes, runes used only to represent the most respected heku. He’d only seen such runes once in his life. They were written on the coverings of the most honored and revered, and then required the agreement of all three factions. Only Elders knew how to do it correctly, and it took an Elder from all three factions to perform it, part of the reason why it was so rare.

  Each Elder, to finish the ritual, kissed her hand softly, and then returned to the council chambers. Kyle elected to stay with her. He didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone, even though she wasn’t aware of anything around her.

  ***

  “I don’t really care what the reason. Any contact with a Ferus or a suspected Ferus warrants immediate punishment,” Zohn said, glaring at the heku on the floor.

  “Please, I didn’t know who it was,” he begged, dropping to his knees.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Quinn said. “It’s your responsibility to find out who you are doing business with. Chevalier?”

  Chevalier glanced up from the desk, “Kill him.”

  “No!” the heku screamed as he was pulled away from the Council.

  “Daddy?” Alexis asked from behind them. Chevalier turned around and she ran into his arms. He sat her down in his lap as she cried against his shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered, kissing her forehead.

  “Allen said Mommy’s not going to wake up.”

  The Council all turned away from them.

  “We’ve told you that. She’s been sleeping for two months… too long for her to wake up.”

  Alexis looked up at Chevalier with tear filled eyes, “Can’t you wake her up?”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Allen said she fell asleep trying to save us.”

  Chevalier took a deep breath before answering, “No, she fell asleep saving us, not trying, Alex.”

  Alexis leaned her head on Chevalier’s shoulder and wrapped her small arms around him.

  “Next?” Chevalier said angrily.

  Derrick stepped in, “That’s it for the roster today.”

  “Adjourn then,” Quinn said. “I need to feed.”

  “I’ll go,” Kyle said. “Elder? Allen needs to go, come with us.”

  “No,” he said, and stood up, still carrying Alexis. He walked out of the room and the door shut softly behind him.

  “When’s the last time he fed?” Zohn asked.

  “The night before he led the attack on the Valle city,” Kyle said, gathering some things from his desk.

  “Damn,” Quinn hissed, looking at the door.

  “Emily’s scent is getting stronger every day. It’s dangerous to have him around her with as thirsty as he is,” Zohn said.

  “I’ll go talk to him,” Kyle suggested. “Maybe he’ll agree to go if I stay with her.”

  “Try,” Quinn said, nodding.

  Kyle walked out of the council chambers and found Chevalier in his usual spot on the side of Emily’s bed.

  “Elder?” he said softly.

  “I’m not leaving her to go feed,” Chevalier said, taking her hand.

  “It’s not safe,” Kyle said, taking a few steps forward. “Her scent is growing stronger every day, you have to feed.”

  “Then bring back some.”

  “You know that’s not the same… why don’t you go with the Elders and I’ll stay with her.”

  Chevalier glanced at her and gently brushed the hair off of her shoulder, “You won’t leave?”

  “No, I swear,” Kyle said, relieved that Chevalier was finally going to go feed.

  “Her scent is getting stronger.”

  “I know. It’s hard even for those of us that haven’t been fasting for two months.”

  “Anna is coming to change her bedding and bathe her,” Chevalier said, standing up. “She should be here in an hour.”

  Kyle nodded, “I know, it’s ok… go.”

  Chevalier hesitated and then left, shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later, Allen came in and sat down on the bed opposite Kyle.

  “I thought you were going to go feed,” Kyle said, looking at him.

  “I told Dad I’d stay. I’ll go out later.”

  Kyle nodded and looked over at one of the monitors.

  “He pulled me off the Cavalry,” Allen told him.

  “I know,” Kyle said.

  “I liked it, it kept me busy.”

  “He just doesn’t want to risk any more of his family getting hurt,” Kyle explained. “He also never told Emily and didn’t want to go behind her back.”

  “Do you think he’ll let me go back?”

  “Someday… maybe.”

  “She’s getting big,” Allen said, and gently laid a hand on her belly.

  “Yeah, well, you all were big.”

  Allen smiled, “Baby’s kicking.”

  Kyle glanced at his hand, “You can feel it?”

  “Sure, try it.”

  Kyle hesitated and then put his hand beside Allen’s. Within just a few seconds, he felt the soft thump, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

  “Mom used to let me feel when Alexis was kicking.”

  Both Kyle and Allen looked up at Emily suddenly, when it sounded like she sighed. Kyle looked up at the monitors, but nothing changed, her heart rate was slow and steady and her breathing was shallow and weak.

  “I’m hearing things,” Allen said, and stood up.

  “I think we all are, just hoping she wakes up.”

  “I better go find Alexis. She was hiding from her guards,” Allen said with a slight grin.

  When Allen left the room, Kyle glanced once at the door and turned back to her.

  “Emily?” he asked. He felt stupid. The doctors assured them she couldn’t hear them nor understand them, but he heard what Allen did, a brief change in her breathing.

  “Em, can you hear me?” he whispered, and watched her closely. He sighed and reached over to grab the book she had been reading. He opened it to the bookmark and began to read. It kept the silence from the room away and gave him something productive to do.

  The Elders returned three hours later and came in immediately to check on Emily. Kyle was in the middle of a sentence and looked up at them when they came in.

  “Feeling better?” Kyle asked, noticing some color was back in Chevalier’s face.

  “Some,” he said. “Did Anna come?”

  “No, she decided to wait until you returned.”

  The heku all turned when they heard a crash from below them. They blurred down the stairs when guards moved to Emily’s door. They appeared at the front entrance and saw members of the Cavalry at a standoff with heku in purple capes.

  “What’s going on here?” Zohn growled.

  “They came to take Emily,” Silas hissed. “Over my dead body.”

  “We can arrange that,” one of the Ferus said.

  “What, exactly, were you planning on doing with her?” Quinn asked.

  “She’s to be buried in Ferus soil, as our Elder.”

  Chevalier growled.

  “Had it not been for the Ferus, she wouldn’t need a burial spot,” Mark said, and advanced on the Ferus, followed by Silas and Kralen. The heku blurred into a fight as the Elders stood back and watched, letting the guards do their job to protect those in the palace. It was only a few minutes later when the Ferus were restrained by members of the Cavalry. />
  “Bring them into the council chambers,” Zohn said, walking to the back entrance, followed by the other two Elders.

  They took their seats among the empty council chairs and waited while the Cavalry shoved the Ferus down onto their knees before them.

  ***

  “Everything looks good with the baby,” Dr. Hayden said, smiling at Chevalier. “She’s right on track at 7 months along.”

  “I appreciate you coming out here. It’s hard to move her,” Chevalier told him, glancing around the farmhouse.

  “No problem,” he said, gathering his things. “For her next appointment, we’ll go over signs of labor, because she won’t be able to tell you when the pain hits.”

  He nodded, “Ok.”

  Dr. Hayden began writing in a chart, “Let’s see… 3 months in a coma.”

  Chevalier just watched him write. He still felt numb after all this time, and everyone started to believe it might be better for all involved if she were to pass peacefully in her sleep after the baby came.

  “We’ll see you in one month, after that, it’ll be every week,” Dr. Hayden said, and shook Chevalier’s hand before leaving. Chevalier picked Emily up gently and carried her through the tunnels to the palace and laid her back in bed. He pulled the covers up over her and kissed her lightly before going down to the council chambers.

  Chevalier frowned and opened the doors when he heard screaming. Things quieted a bit when he came in and sat down. The terrified looks of the heku in the trial area made him suspicious.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, turning to Zohn.

  “These fine heku were planning on killing Emily in her sleep,” Zohn said, turning back to the heku with a grin.

  Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Why… would you do that?”

  “Oh, that’s the best part,” Kyle said scathingly.

  Mark turned and yelled to clear the palace of all personnel and lock it down. Chevalier waited while the palace cleared out, and he heard the loud bang as the metal bars slammed down to cover the doors and windows.

  “Do tell,” Chevalier hissed, leaning forward slightly.

  The heku closest to Chevalier looked up at him with wide eyes. He was breathing rapidly, starting to panic.