Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “You belong with your family. We won’t lie to you as the Equites have. It’s a shame that even your husband lied to you about such things. Of course, bonds are easily broken.” He smiled warmly.

  “Chevalier knows?” she asked, mostly to herself.

  The Encala nodded.

  “Come with me,” she said, turning Patra back toward the city.

  The Encala hesitated, “They will kill me the second they see me.”

  “No, they won’t, not if I tell them not to. If they try, I’ll ash them,” she said, angrily.

  The Encala smiled. He knew he’d gotten through to her, “As you wish then.”

  As they passed into the city, there were shouts and gasps from the houses and stores when they saw Emily on horseback and the Encala walking calmly at her side. By the time they reached the palace, the city had been shut up tightly. Emily was glad no alarm was sounded. She wanted to be able to walk through the palace without being surrounded by guards.

  She slipped off of Patra and took Allen by the hand and held her other hand out for the Encala. He looked at her hand, then to her eyes.

  “It’ll be easier for me to control,” she said. He nodded and took her soft hand in his.

  Emily approached the front door guards as they crouched low and hissed.

  “Stand back, he’s with me,” she said, and they looked at each other, shocked.

  It was easier than she thought to get through the palace. All she had to do was threaten any Equites she came to, and they backed down. It was obvious to her, that Chevalier had given them orders to obey her at all costs. When she got to her bedroom, she stepped inside and all eyes fell to her.

  “Welcome back,” Chevalier said. He froze and crouched when an Encala walked in casually behind her.

  “He’s with me,” she said angrily at the Equites who were crouched and ready to attack.

  “Sam, take Allen,” she said, and Allen walked over to him. Sam picked him up and hurried from the room.

  “If you attack him, I’ll ash you before you touch him,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

  “Emily…” Kyle said, still crouched, his voice turning into a hiss.

  “Stop it,” she yelled, glaring at them.

  Chevalier was the first to stand back straight, but his eyes didn’t leave the enemy standing in his room.

  “Are you going to explain about your… friend?” Chevalier asked, motioning for the others to stand down.

  Emily stood in front of the Encala protectively, and faced Chevalier, “Who is my father?”

  “Emily, I can explain,” Chevalier said, but she held up her hand.

  “Who is my father?” she asked again.

  His shoulders fell, “I don’t know who he was.”

  “I do, he was an Encala Elder,” she said, growing angrier.

  “Allen was your Dad. He raised you and loved you,” Chevalier whispered.

  “How did my mother die?” she asked, taking a step toward him.

  “She was killed by the heku,” Chevalier sighed. He knew this would only drive a wedge further between them.

  “And my… my brother?”

  “Same.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, balling her hands into fists.

  “It wasn’t important. You know who your family is.”

  “You lied to me.” Her eyes were hurt.

  “That was in Colorado. I had forgotten about it.” He tried to convince her. His heart ached at the pain in her eyes, the betrayal, and he noticed the Encala standing behind her looking calm and relaxed.

  “What else are you keeping from me?”

  “Nothing, I honestly had forgotten about that. Colorado was hectic, and we were just getting to know each other.”

  “Let’s go, Emily,” the Encala said, touching her arm.

  Chevalier tensed and Mark took a step in her direction.

  “Get back,” she said to Mark, and he froze.

  Emily suddenly dropped to her knees with a scream and grabbed the sides of her head with her hands. The Encala took a shocked step backwards as the Equites heku descended on her. Chevalier scooped her up and laid her in bed as she writhed in pain. Mark took the Encala by the arm and held him in place. The Encala watched Emily carefully.

  “Stop them,” Emily screamed.

  “Who?” Chevalier asked, and then yelled for the doctor.

  Emily fell silent, and her hands dropped to the bed as her body relaxed into sleep.

  “What did you do?” Mark scowled at the Encala.

  “I just touched her arm, I swear,” he said, nervously.

  “Why were you even with her?”

  “Just to talk to her… nothing more,” he said, looking around at the angry Equites.

  “Put him in prison for now. Stop by the interrogation chamber, see what you can find out,” Chevalier ordered.

  Mark pulled the Encala out of the bedroom. Chevalier put his arm under Emily’s shoulders and sat her up.

  “Emily,” he said, touching her face lightly.

  Her eyes fluttered open slowly, “My head.”

  “I know, you need to drink.” He put the glass to her lips, but she pushed it away.

  “Drink,” he said, a little sterner, and she took a sip.

  “Stop them,” she said again, shutting her eyes. She leaned her head against the crook of his neck.

  “Stop who?” he asked, and pulled her into his lap. He looked down at her face and she was asleep.

  Emily didn’t wake up until late that night. Chevalier was still holding her, and the doctor and Kyle were in the room sitting quietly.

  She opened her eyes and reached out for the glass. He handed it to her and she took a long drink.

  “How’s the headache?” the doctor asked her.

  “Peachy,” she snapped, and sat the glass back down.

  Emily crawled out of Chevalier’s lap and stumbled to the bathroom. They watched her and sat back down when they heard the shower turn on.

  “Who is, ‘them’?” Chevalier looked at Kyle.

  “Maybe the Valle, the ones that had her before?” Kyle asked, shrugging.

  Servants delivered a steaming pile of pancakes just before Emily came back out. She was dressed again and her hair hung down loosely. She grabbed a pancake and took a bite, then headed for the door.

  “Em?” Kyle asked her.

  She turned to him.

  “Where are you going?”

  “None of your business,” she said, and turned around.

  “You should stay here,” the doctor told her.

  “Yeah? Well make me,” she snapped, and disappeared out the door.

  Emily went immediately down into the prison. The guards bowed to her and stepped back out of the way when she entered.

  “Where’s the Encala they just brought down?”

  “Third row, middle of the cell’s on the left,” one of them said politely.

  Emily followed his directions and came face-to-face with the Encala again. He stood up and smiled at her.

  “I’m glad to see you’re ok,” he said.

  “I’m fine,” Emily said, and then watched as he turned to ash.

  She walked out of the cell area, calling over her shoulder, “Clean-up on aisle three.”

  She entered the bedroom and grabbed her suitcase.

  “Can you give us just a few weeks?” Chevalier asked, putting his hand gently on her arm.

  “No”

  “Are you leaving with the Encala then?” He fought to keep his voice calm.

  “No, I ashed him,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom.

  “You… you ashed him?”

  Emily started throwing things into her suitcase, “Just now.”

  Kyle’s eyes were wide, “You just walked down to the prison and ashed him?”

  “Yes”

  Chevalier grinned and shrugged at Kyle.

  “Em?” Chevalier said. He stopped her, mid-packing, and made her look at him.
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  “When you say ‘stop them’, who do you mean?” Chevalier asked her.

  She frowned, “What do you mean?”

  “During the headaches… you say ‘stop them’.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She pulled away from him and went into the closet.

  Chevalier frowned, “Emily, the headaches.”

  “What about them?” she asked, coming out with an armful of t-shirts.

  “You scream to ‘stop them’. Is it the headache you want stopped?”

  Emily sighed and turned to him, “I’ve had a headache since you threw me up against the wall, and not once have I ever asked you to stop them.”

  He winced and looked angrily at the floor.

  “Not those headaches. The really bad ones, the ones that you scream during,” Kyle said to break the silence.

  Emily shook her head, “I need to get out of here. You are all delusional.”

  “He’s not kidding. You scream and grab your head, and beg for someone to ‘stop them’,” Chevalier said, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving.

  “Emily, please, just stay until the headaches go away,” Kyle asked, pleading.

  “I don’t think it’s going away. I’ve had headaches for weeks.” She looked up at Chevalier. Her deep green eyes filling with tears, “I have to go… now.”

  “Why?”

  Emily looked at the heku in the room, “Go away.”

  “We can’t leave,” Kyle said.

  “Get out, now,” she said to them again.

  “They can’t go. I won’t risk hurting you again,” he said, touching the tear that fell down her cheek.

  Emily turned to Kyle and the doctor, “Ashing in three… two…”

  They looked nervously at Chevalier and when he nodded, they blurred out of the room.

  “One…” She turned to Chevalier and softened her voice. “If I don’t go now, I won’t be able to leave.”

  “If it’s so hard then don’t.” He pulled her close to him.

  She buried her face in his chest, “I don’t have a choice.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  Emily put her hands on the side of Chevalier’s face and kissed him passionately. He picked her up and laid her gently in bed, then turned his head to the side and yelled, “Scram.”

  A previously unnoticed heku guard blurred from the room.

  ***

  “Stay, please, just until we figure out the headaches,” Chevalier asked, as he looked deep into her eyes.

  “They aren’t that bad,” she said, kissing his shoulder lightly.

  “You aren’t remembering the worst of them. You scream and then sleep when it’s over.” He pulled her close to him under the covers.

  “If I don’t go now, I’ll never be able to,” she said, tracing the contours of his chest with her finger.

  “I love you.”

  “I know, but there are so many lies, so much deceit and control.”

  “No more, I promise.” He began to kiss her again.

  “Is it true? Am I an Encala?” she asked, seriously.

  “No, it’s not true. Factioning isn’t born in you, it’s a choice.”

  “But everything else he said is true?”

  Chevalier nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

  “I couldn’t stand to see the pain in your eyes when I told you. You love Allen. Nothing will take that away, and I saw no reason to even shadow that.”

  She nodded.

  “So tell me why you didn’t tell me about the baby.”

  Emily gave a crooked smile, “That’s obvious isn’t it?”

  “What can I do to get you to stay?”

  “Nothing”

  “You’re driving me insane, you know that? I can’t handle being away from you, not knowing if you’re safe.” He kissed her lightly.

  “I can’t stay.” She sat up, but his strong hands pulled her back into bed.

  “Something’s going on. The headaches aren’t from the concussion… you need to believe me and stay until we figure them out.”

  “I told you, if I don’t leave now, then I won’t be able to leave.”

  “Why?” he asked, brushing her hair away from her shoulder.

  “Because I love you, and I’m afraid to be away from you. It scares me to face the mortal world again, to raise Allen by myself. It scares me to not know where you are or if you’re safe,” she whispered.

  Chevalier smiled, softly, “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “It does because it’s better for Allen, and it’s better for the Equites, if I go.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Allen doesn’t know anything but the heku way of life. He needs kindergarten and trips to the park. He will have no chance at a normal life if we stay.”

  “Why can’t the heku way of life be his normal life?” Chevalier asked.

  “He’s mortal.”

  “So? He’s mine, he can stay with me.”

  “And find a heku wife? Have heku friends that are hundreds of years older than he is?” She couldn’t make him understand. She could tell by the look in his eyes.

  “Why not? Is that so bad? I don’t see why normal can’t be my world.”

  “Because he’s mortal.”

  “So are you.”

  “No, I’m somewhere trapped in the middle.”

  “So Allen aside, why is it better for the Equites if you leave?” This was his most pressing question. He hated when she tried to protect the heku.

  “You know why. The Valle and the Encala aren’t going to stop. How long before they form an alliance and come wipe out the Equites, all because of me?”

  “Stop it,” he said, sternly.

  “What?”

  “Stop trying to protect us. If they didn’t invade over you, it would be something else. We’ve been at war for thousands of years. You leaving won’t change anything.”

  “It will. It will change the fact that I won’t be to blame, and maybe that invasion will be later rather than sooner.”

  “You leaving will cause it to be sooner. They will keep looking for you, and when they find you, I will come and get you. Me and the entire Equites faction,” he said, and kissed her forehead.

  “Which is why I need to go now… so you can get over me before that happens.”

  He chuckled, “I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”

  “I don’t want to go,” she said, slipping out of the bed and wrapping a blanket around herself.

  “Damnit, Emily, then don’t,” he said, frustrated. He watched her disappear into the bathroom.

  Emily came out a few minutes later, dressed. She looked over at Chevalier sitting on the edge of the bed, and then the heku in the corner.

  “I can make you stay,” he whispered.

  Emily smiled, “But you won’t.”

  Emily groaned, put her hand over her stomach, and ran back into the bathroom, slamming the door.

  “Should I get the doctor?” the strange heku said from the corner.

  “Nope, just more Sprite and crackers,” Chevalier told him, taking what was left of the crackers to the bathroom door. He knocked quietly.

  He waited a few minutes and then opened the door without permission. Emily was sitting on the floor by the toilet, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

  He sat down beside her and took her hand.

  “Do you think marching naked into a Valle City would get me killed? That’d stop the morning sickness,” Emily asked with a slight smile.

  “Hell, Em, that’d get you killed here,” he chuckled.

  “Two weeks… then you’ll stop asking me to stay,” she said, her eyes still closed.

  “Just give me two weeks,” he promised.

  “And you’ll buy me my own car?”