Encala (53 page)

“
I’m debating getting a
rope and climbing down,” Emily said, finally.

“
That can’t be a good idea.
Mortal’s can’t fall like a heku,” he said, and she thought she
heard a hint of a laugh.

“
Do you think this is
funny?” she asked, angrily.

“
I wouldn’t say funny, but
I don’t see why the panic.”

“
I miss him,” Emily said,
softly.

“
I knew you would,” Exavior
told her.

“
He really hurt me this
time.”

“
Yes he did, and you ashed
him.”

“
You think I need to tell
him don’t you?” she asked.

“
Does it matter what I
think?”

“
Yes or I wouldn’t have
told you,” she said.

“
Yes you do, then. He needs
to know if for nothing else than to protect you.”

“
Ugh! That word,” she
screamed, and then looked at Allen.

“
Seems you have no sense of
self preservation, you shouldn’t have even told me,” he said to
her, bluntly.

“
You’re my
friend.”

“
I’m a Valle, an enemy,” he
reminded her.

“
Not of mine.”

“
I know, but you really
need to be careful who you tell.”

“
You too now, eh?” she
asked, getting angry.

“
What?”

“
Telling me what to do… if
I want to call the Encala and announce the impending birth then I
can if I want to,” she snapped.

Exavior laughed, “Yes you can, if you want
to.”

“
I’m afraid to tell him,”
she said, her voice lowering to a whisper.

“
I know, but the Equites
need to know,” he said.

“
So you’re saying to tell
for tactics and not for pure ‘father’ knowledge?” she asked,
confused.

He laughed again, “No, I do think the father
should know, but they also need to be aware that there could be
problems in the near future.”

“
They know that. I’m one
huge problem,” she reminded him.

“
Oh I don’t doubt that,” he
said.

“
Are you still coming to
get the runes off of me?” She asked him every day toward the end of
their conversation.

“
Not now, Em. I can come if
you want, but the runes are going to have to wait,” he told
her.

“
Why?”

“
It’d be a risk to the
baby,” he said.

“
I’m tougher than you
think,” she said, frustrated.

“
I have no doubt,” he said,
and then paused. “Do you still want me to come?”

“
You come and tell him,”
she suggested.

“
Oh no, not me,” he
laughed. “You have 10 days,” he said, more serious.

“
I know,” she
whispered.

“
I will come as promised,
and I’ll call it a welfare check,” he said.

“
Ok,” she said, and hung
up. She reached over and turned the TV off.

“
So?” Sam asked.

“
He said to tell… but he
was thinking strategy, and not personal reasons. Do they all think
like that?” she asked, irritated.

“
Yes they do,” Sam said,
fitting another piece into the puzzle.

“
I’m guessing you agree,”
she asked.

“
Yes I do.” He grinned and
took a piece from Allen, sliding it into place, “They are in the
council chambers right now with no agenda.”

“
No one’s being questioned
or anything?” she frowned.

“
No, they are discussing an
offer from the Encala,” Sam said.

“
How do you
know?”

Sam smiled, “I can hear, too.”

“
Great… here goes,” Emily
said, storming out of the room. Her bare feet sounded loudly on the
marble floors as she ran down toward the council chambers. She
stepped in without knocking and shut the door behind
her.

“
Well, hello, Emily,”
Maleth said, smiling. The other council members looked over to the
door.

“
Can we help you, Dear?”
Leonid asked.

Emily walked forward and stood, watching
them, with her arms crossed.

“
Emily?” Damon
asked.

“
Wait for it,” she said,
and watched as they all looked at one another, confused. Emily
avoided looking at Chevalier. She didn’t want to see his
reaction.

“
Emily, is there some…”
Damon started, and his voice stopped suddenly. He spun in his chair
away from her, and fought the internal desire building within
him.

The rest of the Council gasped and turned at
the same time, all of them fighting the urge to kill her. Chevalier
didn’t turn his chair, he just watched her with wide eyes.

“
Don’t worry, it’s yours,”
she growled at him, and then left the council chambers and went
back up to her room, slamming the door and locking it.

“
Very smooth, Emily,” Sam
said.

“
Go get me some crackers,”
she snapped, and he bowed and left.

“
Did not see that coming,”
Damon said, when the room cleared of the appetizing
scent.

Maleth looked at Chevalier, “Did you
know?”

He shook his head.

“
Well this complicates
things,” Damon said, and hit the table, trying to clear the scent
from his mind.

“
Talk to her,” Leonid
suggested.

“
She won’t let me in,”
Chevalier said.

“
She may now. I can see why
she’s been avoiding any heku contact,” Maleth said,
nodding.

“
I’ll get the masks,” Damon
said, irritated.

Chevalier turned to him, “Do you have a
problem?”

“
Yes I do. In three days,
when her Valle boyfriend gets here, I see big problems,” Damon
snapped, and Chevalier flinched at the term.

“
Shut up, Damon, and get
the masks to the guards,” Leonid said to him, sternly.

Emily heard the knock on the door but
couldn’t move. She was leaning against a cold wall in the bathroom.
She cringed when she heard Allen walk toward the door.

“
Who is it?” he asked, just
like she normally did.

“
It’s Daddy,” Chevalier
said, and Emily heard Allen open the door.

Emily was able to reach up and lock the
bathroom door. She heard Ford run out of the nursery where his bed
was, and jump on Chevalier.

His voice came from beside the bathroom
door, “Can we talk, please?”

“
Not right now,” she told
him, and turned back to the toilet.

“
Let me help,” he said,
tearing the door off of the hinge and stepping into the bathroom
just as she laid down on the cold floor.

“
Think you’ve done enough,”
she said, shutting her eyes.

“
My part ends at
conception, is that our new rule?” He sat down by her on the floor
after he propped the door back up.

“
Didn’t know we had a
rule,” she whispered, not moving.

“
I bet you’re mad at the
timing, so feel free blame me,” he said, watching her.

“
Go away.”

“
No”

Chevalier handed her a cold washcloth, “I’m
actually surprised you told me and didn’t just disappear.”

“
You can thank Exavior for
that. I was trying to find a rope to climb out the window.” She put
the cold rag against the back of her neck.

“
Oh? So you told Exavior?”
he asked, trying to sound casual.

“
Don’t worry, he yelled at
me already.”

“
For what?” Chevalier
frowned.

“
For telling an enemy
faction member,” she said, and leaned back over the
toilet.

“
Smart guy.” He watched
her.

Emily halfway collapsed down onto the cold
floor and pressed her cheek against the tiles.

“
It’ll be different this
time, Em,” Chevalier said.

“
How’s that? Because I’m
single this time?” she asked, irritated that he was still there
watching her.

Chevalier took the glass of Sprite and
crackers from Sam when he came back into the room.

“
Here’s a
cracker.”

She shook her head, “No food.”

“
Single or no, I’m not
going to let you go through this alone,” he said, swapping the
cracker for the Sprite.

She looked at it and leaned back over the
toilet.

“
Is this worse than
before?” Chevalier asked Sam, worried.

“
No, it’s just the first
time you’ve been around at the beginning,” Sam told him, a little
snappy.

“
True,” he
sighed.

Sam handed in a blanket and Chevalier took
it, laying it on Emily when he noticed she was asleep.

“
Should I move her?” he
asked Sam.

“
Nope,” Sam said, and went
back to the puzzle with Allen.

Chevalier stood up and walked out of the
bathroom, “I’ll get the door fixed.”

“
Mhmm.”

Chevalier went back to the council chambers
and took his chair.

“
How did that go?” Leonid
asked, concerned.

“
She can’t even talk, she’s
too sick,” he said, picking up a list of upcoming trials and
thumbing through them.

“
Get the doctor,” Maleth
suggested.

“
Nothing he can
do.”

“
Why not?” Maleth
frowned.

“
Mortal women become sick
when they are first pregnant,” their Chief Interrogator said, and
Chevalier looked at him, curiously, “Or so I’ve heard… at
least.”

“
There is still time,”
Leonid said.

“
Are you sure about your
decision, Leonid?” Maleth asked him.

“
Yes, I’ve been thinking
about it for almost a hundred years,” he said, smiling.

“
Have you set a date?”
Chevalier asked.

“
Yes, one week from
today.”

“
So soon?” Damon asked,
frowning.

“
No reason to prolong it,”
Leonid said. “Shall we adjourn until the Valle visit in three
days?”

The Council all nodded and Leonid stepped
out.

Chevalier returned to Kyle’s room, where he
had been staying since his banishment from his own room. Kyle
looked up when he entered.

“
How’d it go?” Kyle
asked.

“
Did you know about Em?” he
asked, sitting down.

“
What about
her?”

Chevalier fell into a chair, “She’s
pregnant.”

“
Oh wow… bet that pisses
her off,” Kyle said.

“
Yeah, she’s thrilled,”
Chevalier said. “At least I think so, I can’t seem to talk to
her.”

“
Sick already?”

“
Yes. Now we have to deal
with the Valle in three days.” He rubbed the back of his
neck.

“
Crackers and Sprite,” Kyle
reminded him.

“
She won’t take
them.”

“
Of course not,” Kyle
laughed. “Anything to help.”

Chevalier just nodded.

“
There she is now,” Kyle
said, looking up at his door.

“
Sounds like she’s going to
try to nap, though,” Chevalier said, his head cocked toward the
door.

Chevalier turned back to Kyle, “She told
Exavior.”

“
Might as well get a
head-start on the faction tension,” Kyle said, bluntly.

“
He yelled at her for
telling him,” Chevalier smiled, slightly.

Kyle raised his eyebrow, “What’s his
angle?”

“
I haven’t figured that out
yet. Befriend her and then strike at the last minute
maybe.”

***

The tension in the council chambers was
intense as the Equites Council watched the ten Valle enter, Exavior
in the lead.

“
Was there such a strong
need for more?” Damon asked him.

“
Perhaps,” Exavior said,
swinging the side of his cape over his shoulder.

“
We have called for
Emily.”

“
We cannot do the removal,
not with the situation as it is,” he said.

Maleth frowned and looked at Chevalier, “He
knows.”

Maleth looked at Exavior with wide eyes.

“
I’m not here to take her,
unless I see signs of abuse,” Exavior said.

Emily opened the door and stepped in. She
was pale and shaky.

The Valle shifted nervously and turned away
from her, all except for Exavior. He shut his eyes and opened them
slowly, completely in control.

Exavior eyed her cautiously and turned back
to the Council, “One moment, please.”

He turned away from them and went to Emily,
“Are you injured?”

She shook her head, “No.”

“
What’s wrong?” he asked,
angrily.

“
Morning sickness,” she
said, and gave him a half-smile.

He relaxed and smiled, “Oh, right.”

Exavior took Emily’s arm and helped her
toward the Council. Chevalier’s fingers dug marks into the wood as
they tensed into fists.