Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (6 page)

Quinn sighed, “Why is Emily under
arrest?”

Kyle looked over at Chevalier, but he
was too angry to speak.

“I have Frederick… and I’m not giving
him back,” Emily told him.

Quinn gasped, “You do?”

“Yes”

“You are refusing a direct order by
the Council to return him?” Dustin asked.

“Yes”

Kyle sighed, “Why, Em?”

“He killed members of my
Cavalry, and I’m going to make him pay.”

“By causing a war?”

“I don’t think this will cause a
war.”

“Of course it will!” Kyle
yelled.

“Then turn me over to the Encala in
exchange.”

“We can’t do that,” Zohn
told her. “Put her in a holding cell until we decide what to
do.”

Silas and Kralen helped
her up again and took her out to the one of the holding cells. They
uncuffed her and she lay back on the bed and looked up at the
ceiling.

“What are we going to do?” Quinn
asked, turning to the other two Elders.

Zohn shook his head, “My
first suggestion would be to find him. Get the Cavalry looking. Go
anywhere Emily hangs out and find him.”

“Mark!” Quinn called out.
When the General came in, he ordered the Cavalry out to search for
the ash of the Encala Elder.

Kyle looked over at Chevalier, “Are
you ok?”

He nodded, “I’m starting
to calm down. First she’s attacked by a room, and now she’s in a
holding cell… not my best day.”

“Wait, how was she
attacked by a room?” Quinn asked.

Zohn chuckled, “She tried to destroy
the ceremonial room with a sledgehammer and… well… it fought
back.”

The entire Council gasped and started
talking among themselves.

Kyle’s eyes were wide, “What did it
do?”

“Knocked her unconscious.
We found her lying on the floor,” Zohn explained. “She woke up the
second she got out of the room, and when she tried to get back in…
a bright blue flash sent her flying against the wall.”

“Wow,” Dustin said,
shocked.

“We need to log that,” the
Records Keeper said. “I don’t believe that’s ever been
tried.”

“I don’t think the Valle
will be very upset when they find out that Emily has had Frederick
this entire time,” Zohn told them. “However, the Encala are not
going to be happy.”

“We should expect an
attack over this,” Chevalier said. “Alert the covens to go into
level 2 lock down.”

Kyle nodded and blurred from the
room.

“Things might go smoother
if she’ll hand him over,” Quinn sighed, frowning.

“We should send a delegation then to
tell them,” Zohn suggested.

“One that won’t make it back
here.”

“True… maybe we should call them and
have Emily tell them.”

Chevalier nodded, “That
might be our best bet. They’re too afraid of her to do
much.”

“What do we do with her then?” Dustin
asked.

“She told us that she’s an
Equites and will take the punishment,” Zohn said. “However, we all
know we can’t banish her, nor can we put her in the prison for
long.”

“Why not?” Dustin growled.

Chevalier looked over at
him, “She’s not going to prison.”

Dustin sat back in his
chair.

“House arrest then,” Quinn
said. “Complete house arrest, no stables, no cars,
nothing.”

“We can’t keep her on
house arrest. She gets out,” Zohn told him.

“She’s accepted
responsibility for this. I think she’ll stay,” Chevalier
said.

“So house arrest until further notice,
and she has to tell the Encala?”

“Sounds good to me,” Quinn
said, and called for Emily to be brought back in. When she came in,
she was no longer cuffed, but walked in with Kralen and Silas. She
stood before them and avoided looking at Chevalier.

“There are several parts
to this punishment, any of which can be lessened if you just tell
us where his ashes are,” Zohn told her, and stood up.

“No, get on with it.”

“You are hereby put on
house arrest until further notice. That means you won’t step foot
off of the fifth-floor for any reason, except when you will be
required to tell the Encala that you possess the remains of their
Elder and refuse to return them.”

Emily nodded, “Very well.”

Quinn watched her, “We
have the Cavalry out looking for his ashes. If we find them, we may
be able to renegotiate your punishment.”

She smiled, “They won’t find
him.”

“Punishment starts
immediately. The Cavalry will change rolls from personal guards to
wardens. There must be one guard higher than Lieutenant with her at
all times.”

Both Silas and Kralen nodded, “Yes,
Sir.”

Emily woke up and sat up
in bed to stretch, and then looked around the all too familiar
room. She’d been on house arrest for nine days, and was starting to
get bored with the small amount of entertainment left for her. The
guards could bring her books, food, and drink, but nothing else,
and she spent most of her days playing with Dain, helping Alexis
with homework, or training the dogs. She knew today was the day the
Encala arrived, and she had to tell them about
Frederick.

“You can come in,” she
called out when someone knocked at her door.

Kralen came in with a
tray, “Breakfast is on, and the Council wants you in an
hour.”

She nodded and watched as
he walked out. After eating breakfast quickly, she took a shower
and got dressed, then finished just as she heard another
knock.

“We’re here to escort you
down,” Mark told her. The guards were treating her differently.
They no longer joked and teased her, but were curt and proper. She
knew they were irritated that the Cavalry spent countless hours
searching for the Elder’s remains, because she wouldn’t tell anyone
where they were.

“I’m ready,” she said, and
put her hands out. Silas slipped the handcuffs on her and she
walked down, surrounded by members of the Cavalry.

Derrick opened the door
immediately, and Emily walked in with the guards, surprised to see
Sotomar and Valle Imperial Guards standing beside the
Encala.

“What is this!?” William
yelled when he saw her. He turned angrily to the Council, “Let her
go at once!”

“Hear her out first,” Zohn
said. “We have our reasons.”

“There is no reason to
keep the Winchester in restraints!” Sotomar yelled.

“Hear her out,” Chevalier told
him.

William’s eyes narrowed and Emily
walked up to him.

He put a hand on her arm
and whispered, “Do we need to get you out of here?”

“No, I’m fine. I deserve
this,” she told him.

“How?”

“I have Frederick.”

William’s eyes narrowed, “You
do?”

“You mean the Equites have Frederick,”
Sotomar corrected.

“No, they don’t. I have
him, and I’m not giving him back yet,” she told them.

“Is this a joke?” William asked the
Equites Council.

“No, it is not,” Dustin assured
them.

“She’s on house arrest,
and we’re searching everywhere she’s been in the last month to try
to find him,” Kyle said.

“You cannot tell?” William asked their
Chief Interrogator.

“No, actually… thanks to your
Interrogator.”

William grinned slightly, “Oh, that’s
right.”

“I’ll be back in my room
then,” Emily said, and turned to leave.

“We aren’t done,” Sotomar
told her. She sighed and turned around.

“I’m not telling you where he
is.”

“Why is that, exactly?”

“His forces killed my
Cavalry. It’s only fair that I get to punish him, and after talking
to the heku around here, he won’t even feel pain for a year after I
ashed him. For now, I’m just waiting.”

Sotomar’s eyes narrowed, “Tell me
where he is.”

“No”

“I demand you hand her over to us for
interrogation then,” William growled.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “In an
interrogation room?”

“If you won’t tell us then,
yes.”

“No!” Chevalier yelled.
“She is in custody of the Equites for crimes against this faction.
You cannot have her.”

“Her crimes against the
Encala are greater, and you must turn her over to us.”

“No,” Quinn said calmly.
“We will not allow her to be interrogated either.”

William’s eyes narrowed, “We demand
our Elder back.”

Chevalier motioned to her, “Give it a
go.”

Emily looked over at him
and he turned to her.

“Tell me where Frederick
is.”

“No”

He concentrated.

“Won’t work,” Emily said, watching
him.

William growled, “Tell me!”

“Not until I’ve gotten my
revenge.”

William moved to backhand
her, but Sotomar caught his hand, “Do not hit her.”

Chevalier and Kyle appeared beside
her.

“Lay a hand on her and you’ll have to
deal with me,” Chevalier said, glaring at him.

“Tell me, now!” William
roared.

Emily took a step back, “Calm down or
I’ll ash you.”

“You’re not helping,” Kyle
hissed, and stood in front of her.

William lunged at Emily,
but Sotomar held him back, “You will return the Elder or face my
interrogation room.”

“Enough!” Quinn yelled.
The booming fierceness of his voice immediately calmed the entire
room.

William looked up at him,
“If you cannot get Frederick from her, then I insist you let us
try.”

“No one is putting Emily into an
interrogation chamber.”

“Let me talk to her, alone,” Sotomar
suggested calmly.

“I’m not telling you either,” she
whispered.

“Just for a moment.”

Quinn glanced at Chevalier and then
nodded, “Derrick, escort Emily and Sotomar to the conference
room.”

Derrick opened the door
and Emily and Sotomar followed him out.

“You have 5 minutes to
calm down, or we’ll have you removed,” Kyle yelled at
William.

The Encala Elder stood up,
still furious, “Get a handle on her immediately, or I
will.”

Emily sat down next to
Sotomar, and he reached out and broke the handcuffs from her
wrists.

“There, you don’t need
those,” he said, and sat back.

Emily rubbed her wrists, “Thank
you.”

“I’m not going to ask where Frederick
is.”

“Then why am I here?”

“I want to know if you need
assistance.”

“With what?”

“A place to go to get away
from being on house arrest. A place where the Encala cannot
get.”

“You mean come stay with the
Valle?”

“Yes”

Emily sighed, “I brought
this house arrest on myself. It’s worth it to get the revenge that
my Cavalry is due.”

“I understand that,”
Sotomar said, and touched her hand softly. “However, with the
Valle, you won’t need to be on house arrest, and we don’t care if
Frederick is ever returned.”

“Oh, I don’t want him
forever.”

“You don’t?”

“No, once the year is up and he begins
to feel pain, then I’ll decide how much pain he needs to feel
before they are avenged.”

“We can make it easier for
you, though.”

“I don’t think the Equites
are going to keep me locked up forever,” she said, and smiled
slightly. “Course, they think they will find him.”

“The Encala are going to take this as
an act of war.”

“I thought about that, and I wish I
knew how to keep the Equites out of it.”

“By coming to the Valle,” Sotomar
suggested.

“Then that just brings the Valle into
it.”

“Form an alliance with the
Valle, and we will stand by the Equites against the
Encala.”

“I haven’t forgotten that it was the
Valle that enlisted the Encala’s help in the first
place.”

“That had nothing to do
with you, though.”

“It doesn’t matter. You
attacked my friends and family. That automatically involves me,”
Emily explained.

“Think about it. If the
Valle stands by the Equites, then the Encala will have no choice
but to lay low and leave us all in peace.”

“I can’t trust you either.”