Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (72 page)

“Yes you do!” he yelled.
“You cannot decide for the entire species to eliminate a
faction.”

“We can and we have.”

“Are they all dead then?”

“No, not yet,” Quinn told
him. “I would suspect as soon as Emily is better and Chevalier
returns, he will deal with them though.”

“No!” Sotomar shouted.
“You cannot kill off the last Encala.”

“Again… we can,” Zohn said.

Quinn began to yell, but
stopped and frowned when the smell of death filled the palace,
“What in the hell is that?”

The Chief Investigator wrinkled his
nose, “Someone in the palace died?”

The door to the council
chambers violently tore from the hinges as Chevalier walked in,
Emily still cradled in his arms.

“No!” Quinn yelled, and stood
up.

Zohn was too shocked to speak and
could do nothing but look at Sotomar when the enemy Elder stepped
toward Chevalier.

“What… no,” Sotomar gasped.

Dustin quietly whispered to clear out
the city and the palace immediately.

Chevalier looked up at the
Council with hatred in his eyes and they knew immediately that he
was beyond reason. Sotomar suddenly stepped back to avoid becoming
Chevalier’s target, and he slowly slunk back into the
shadows.

Chevalier turned and
walked out of the council chambers, then headed up the stairs. He
gently laid Emily in bed and covered her with a blanket, and then
ordered the fires stoked. When he turned, the Council was standing
in the room behind him.

Zohn sat down beside Emily in bed and
took her cold hand, “Child…”

Quinn could feel his temper raging out
of control and stepped back, unsure of where to go to get the
revenge he needed.

“No one touches her until
she wakes up,” Chevalier growled, and then disappeared from the
room. The Council heard him call for the Cavalry, and preparations
were made to find Frederick.

“Call Storm and Anna,” the Chief of
Defense whispered.

“No!” Alexis screamed,
running into the room. She stood between the Council and Emily’s
bed and looked at them. No one would meet her eyes, “No one touches
her until she wakes up.”

“I don’t think she’s going
to wake up,” Dr. Edwards whispered.

Alexis glared at him, “You all told
Mom that Dain was dead when he wasn’t! You aren’t touching
her.”

“Dain is a
heku…”

“No!” Alexis said again,
and Dain appeared beside her. He crouched slightly and his hands
balled into fists.

Dr. Edwards took a step
back, afraid the young heku’s temper might flare out of
control.

“No one touches her,” Dain
repeated.

The Council backed out of
Emily’s room and met in the conference room. They shut the door and
Derrick stood guard as they secretly met.

“Can she still survive?” the Chief of
Staff whispered.

“I don’t know… this isn’t an illness…”
Quinn said, his eyes full of pain.

“She knew,” Zohn said, and
looked around the room. “She told us and we didn’t believe her or
prepare for the aftermath.”

“As soon as word gets out,
things are going to get nasty,” the Faction Liaison Officer said.
“We need to bring in more guards and prepare for a
pilgrimage.”

“How long do we wait before we make
funeral arrangements?” the Court Reporter asked.

Quinn shook his head, “She can’t be
gone.”

“We need to decide what to
do with the Elder and Chief Enforcer,” Dustin said softly. “They
are no longer in their right minds and are a danger to both
themselves and all heku.”

“She warned us that would happen,” the
Records Keeper said, and then leaned his head into his
hands.

“Do we imprison Chevalier and Kyle
then?” the Chief of Staff asked.

“I’d rather not try that, myself,”
Dustin said.

“No, we don’t,” Zohn told
them. “It is their right to seek revenge if that’s what they want
to do.”

“How do we protect the
city?”

“By letting them be,”
Quinn said. “We let them get their aggressions out and plan the
funeral ourselves.”

The Court Reporter sighed,
“Storm and Anna were summoned. They should be here within the next
few hours to ready… her.”

Quinn frowned and then
disappeared from the room. As the door slammed shut, Zohn turned to
the others, “Stay out of the way of anyone involved with Emily…
that not only means Chevalier and Kyle, but possibly the entire
Cavalry and most of the palace staff.”

“And the children?” Dustin
asked.

“Dain will be our biggest
threat. Don’t catch Alexis’ eye and hope that Allen has some
control over them.”

Dustin nodded, “I’ll call in Powan…
though I suspect Thukil won’t be much help.”

Zohn sighed, “No, they
won’t be. You may call them though, they can assist Chevalier in
whatever capacity he sees fit.”

“We did tell Emily that
Dain was dead when he was not,” the Chief of Defense said, mostly
to himself. “Maybe we should give her time to heal.”

“Dain is full heku,”
Dustin said. “Emily was only 51%.”

“Enough that she heals and doesn’t
age,” the Chief of Finances reminded them.

“Let’s wait three days
then,” Zohn said. “After that time we will need to bury
her.”

The Council agreed and
adjourned. Most of them wanted to get out of the city and into the
safety of their individual covens.

***

“Where is she?” Chevalier growled, and
took an ominous step toward the other Elders.

“Chevalier… we have to bury her,” Zohn
told him.

Quinn sighed and looked at
the Elder, “We’ve let her heal for three days… she’s
gone.”

“I said no one touches her!” Chevalier
yelled.

“You have to listen to
us,” Zohn said. “She’s gone. Anna and Storm have prepared her to be
buried. We’ve tripled the guards in the city, thousands of heku
from around the world have come to see her laid to
rest.”

“She can’t be gone,” he
whispered.

Quinn put a hand on his
shoulder, “She is. Now we need to prepare for the aftermath and it
would help if you were there.”

Chevalier sat down in a
chair in the conference room and looked down at his blood caked
hands. He hadn’t sat down since he laid Emily in her bed, and had
been killing suspected Encala since then. His shirt was torn and
crusted in blood, but Frederick hadn’t yet been caught.

“The burial is tonight,”
Quinn told him. “We’ve chosen to bury her near Maleth and
Jaron.”

Chevalier couldn’t speak.
Up until that moment, he truly believed she would recover. As the
seconds ticked past, his rage grew and an emptiness unfamiliar to
him filled his heart.

“You need to be there,” Zohn
whispered.

Chevalier nodded slowly.

“We’ve taken care of
everything, but the kids are going to need you. Especially
Alexis.”

“Where is she?” he asked, and finally
looked up at his fellow Elders.

“She’s in her room with
Dain. No one can get near her.”

Quinn sighed, “We’re
heading out to begin choosing who will be allowed to attend the
burial. We can’t accommodate everyone, but there are some she would
want to be… some she would want to be there.”

Quinn found it hard to
talk through his rage. He knew he had to keep it controlled until
Chevalier was more in control of his. Things had to be done and it
wouldn’t wait for anyone.

Chevalier nodded, got up slowly, and
walked out of the conference room.

Zohn and Quinn started out
for the stables, where the Council City and Thukil Cavalries were
waiting for instructions.

Zohn stepped up beside Mark and
swallowed before speaking, “We… we will allow only 100 into the
cemetery.”

Everyone was silent as
they watched him. Most were still in shock at the death of their
precious charge and Commander. Each was personally anxious to get
out and find Frederick, to make him pay for what he’d taken from
them.

“There are a few that will
be allowed in immediately,” Quinn said when Zohn could no longer
speak. “Obviously Lord and Lady Thukil will be let in, along with
General Skinner.”

There was a pause while
Quinn composed himself, “Lord Dexter, Lord and Lady Bradford from
Hall Coven, Lord Taylor from Michael’s Coven, and we believe Lord
Clark should be able to attend.”

Zohn simply nodded and followed
Derrick out of the stables when he called for him.

Quinn thought for a
moment, “The Cavalries have their assignments. Powan and Banks have
agreed to patrol the city and make sure no one will get in that’s
not preapproved. For now, keep your eyes out and I’ll go select the
others we’re going to let in.”

When the Cavalries left
solemnly, Quinn turned to Zohn when he returned.

“The Valle Council has arrived and are
asking for permission to attend.”

Quinn sighed, “What did you tell
them?”

“I told them Sotomar and Ryan would be
let in, but that’s all.”

Quinn smiled slightly, “She did always
consider them friends.”

“They also want to help find
Frederick.”

“No, that is something we need to
do.”

“I told them that and they agreed to
return to their city after the funeral.”

One of the prison guards called to
Zohn from the doors to the stables, “Elder?”

Zohn turned to him, “Yes?”

“Encala Elder William is asking to
speak to you immediately.”

“Is he going to tell us where
Frederick is?”

“No, Elder. He wants to go
to the ceremony.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed,
“No.”

“He said that we can’t deny that he
and… Lady Emily… were friends and he wants to be there.”

“If he shows up,” Zohn
said. “I have no doubt that he will be dead before he steps foot
near the casket.”

The prison guard nodded
and walked back to the palace. Over the next few hours, Quinn and
Zohn fielded requests from Coven Dignitaries to attend the funeral.
They made decisions based on encounters the dignitaries had with
Emily and soon had filled each seat in the cemetery.

Dustin came into the stables with
their green robes, “Elders, it’s time to gather.”

They both pulled on the
ceremonial robes and followed the Council out to the cemetery. Lord
and Lady Thukil were already seated as Lady Thukil sobbed
tearlessly into a tissue while Lord Thukil scanned the area
carefully.

Five chairs sat in front
of the others, and the Council took up the spots immediately behind
them. When Chevalier, Kyle, Allen, Alexis, and Dain appeared, the
gathered heku stood slowly and lowered their eyes out of respect.
Alexis was clinging tightly to Chevalier’s arm and her eyes were
red and swollen from crying.

The five of them sat down
in front of the prepared grave without saying a word. Zohn stood
and motioned for Emily to be brought out. He noticed Sotomar and
Ryan standing off to the side, watching the proceedings, each with
a look of disbelief and anguish on their faces.

A lone trumpet sounded
from a distance, playing Chopin’s funeral march as the Thukil and
Council City Cavalries formed a mounted line from the palace doors
to the cemetery.

Mark was the first to step
out of the palace in full dress-uniform. Behind him, Silas and
Kralen carried the maroon, gold encrusted casket. The pain in their
eyes was evident as they slowly walked past the line of Cavalry.
Each member of the Cavalry, in turn, bowed slightly to their
Commander as she past.

Alexis started to cry
harder when the casket was gently placed over the burial sight and
Kyle wrapped an arm around her. Mark, Silas, and Kralen all turned
and bowed to Chevalier, and then took their places off to the left
of the crowd.

Quinn took a deep breath
and stood up slowly. He walked over to stand beside the casket and
spoke as soon as he could control his voice, “Thank you all for
coming.”

He took a second, again
regaining control, “What does one say when a friend passes? What
does one do when someone you care so deeply about is
lost?”

“This mortal came to our
lives 23 years ago and gently worked her way into our hearts. She
saved the faction, she saved the species, and she changed how we
all view the mortals that share our existence.”

“Emily leaves behind a
legacy that will forever be in our minds and in our hearts. Never
before has anyone united the three factions in a friendship that
had never before been imagined. Even when that ended, she still
felt friendship with them, showing her kind spirit and loving
heart.”

“She embodied undying loyalty to the
Equites and will be laid to rest among our most prestigious dead…
never to be forgotten.”