Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (24 page)

“
Why would they do that?”
Emily asked, frowning.

“
We’ll find out,” Chevalier
hissed.

“
Is it the same ones that
poisoned me… again.”

“
We’ll know soon, I
promise.”

Emily walked into Kyle’s room. The fire was
dead, and the room was cold and dark. She turned to the bed and
hesitated. Chevalier let go of her arm and went up to the bed. He
reached out and pulled the covers back, exposing only clean
sheets.

“
It’s ok, no snakes,” he
said, and stepped aside.

Emily turned when Quinn started up the
fireplace and then moved to the bed. She hesitated again, and then
sat down, but pushed the covers to the foot of the bed. She didn’t
want any part of the bed that she couldn’t see.

Emily sat cross-legged on the bed and
watched the fire as the heku whispered in the corner. She screamed
when someone touched her arm and jerked away from him, then calmed
down when she saw a familiar heku servant with a cup of coffee in
his hand, and finally took the coffee from him.

“
Sir,” Kralen said, coming
into the room. “We’ve cleared the room.”

Emily glanced out the door as four pillow
cases full of squirming snakes were taken out of her room. She saw
Silas sitting beside her bed, grasping his arm, and she could tell
from the look on his face that he was in pain.

“
Any idea who?” Chevalier
asked angrily.

“
Not yet, Sir. Some of
those snakes aren’t even native to this continent, but they’ve all
been removed,” Kralen reported.

“
I find it hard to believe
that her being poisoned, finding heku in her bathroom, and the
snake incident aren’t related,” Chevalier growled. “Find
out.”

Kralen nodded and left the room. He met up
with Silas in the hallway, and they disappeared.

“
I’m not safe here
anymore,” Emily whispered, still watching the fire.

Chevalier turned away from her. He didn’t
want her to see how furious he was. Quinn walked over and sat on
the edge of the bed and took her hand.

“
We’ll figure this out,”
Quinn said.

“
When? After I’m dead?
Maybe I should go back to New Mexico,” Emily said, turning toward
him.

“
I don’t think living as a
mortal is going to be your best bet right now. I know it doesn’t
seem safe here, but this is the safest place for you, I
promise.”

“
We can take her to Thukil
for now,” Darren suggested. “At least throw them off of her
track.”

“
Em, do you want to try
Thukil for two weeks?” Chevalier asked her.

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“
Bring her back in two
weeks for her doctor’s appointment, and then, if we haven’t found
the culprit, we’ll either send her back to Thukil or maybe try
Powan,” Quinn said.

“
I don’t want to go to
Powan,” Emily frowned.

“
I’ll make the
arrangements. We should be able to leave in thirty minutes,” Darren
said, and left to call Lord Thukil.

“
We’ll send Alexis, Silas,
and Kralen,” Chevalier said.

Emily frowned, “Not Kralen, send Mark.

Chevalier sighed, “He has training.”

“
How long will it take?
We’ll just wait for him,” Emily asked.

“
It’ll be a
while.”

“
Fine, I’ll take Kralen,”
Emily said, and crawled out of bed. She walked into her bedroom,
skirting the bed, and grabbed a bag, then disappeared into the
closet and came back out to throw an armful into the
suitcase.

“
We’re ready,” Kralen said
as he and Silas came into the room.

Emily walked up to Silas and took his hand
in hers, and then inspected his arm, running her fingers lightly
over where the snakes had bitten.

“
Are you ok?” Emily asked
him.

Silas looked over at the Elder nervously,
“Yes, I’m fine.”

Emily put his hand down and looked at
Kralen, “Are you?”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” Kralen told
her.

Darren came in after talking to Thukil,
“Lord Thukil has put the Ranch on lockdown, and posted the Cavalry
inside the mansion. Not one servant will even be in the palace,
Lord and Lady Thukil and the Cavalry will be the only ones
inside.”

“
Is that really necessary?”
Emily asked as she shut her suitcase.

“
Yes, I think it is,
Commander,” Darren said.

“
Give me a moment, please,”
Emily asked, and the heku all left her room. “Chev?”

Chevalier shut the door and walked over and
kissed her softly, “Yes?”

“
Come with me.”

“
I can’t, I need to find
out who did this.”

Emily nodded, clearly not wanting to be away
from him.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed
the top of her head, “I wouldn’t send you to Thukil if I didn’t
know you would be safe.”

“
I’m not worried about
attacks. I just don’t want to be away from you.”

“
Do me a favor, be good,
ok? Stay in bed and take the pills.”

Emily nodded as she started to tear up, and
she kissed Chevalier, putting her hands on his face. He lifted her
slightly and wrapped his arms around her again.

Chevalier pulled away from her and looked
into her eyes, “Do those for me.”

“
I promise,” Emily said,
and he put her back on the ground and picked up her suitcase, then
took her hand and walked her up to the waiting helicopter. He
lifted her up into the helicopter after kissing her softly, and
then backed away and watched the helicopter lift off and head for
the jet that would take them into Texas.

Chevalier turned to Mark when he walked out,
“I’m sorry, Sir.”

Chevalier grinned, “I know… it’s good.”

Mark grinned, “Extraordinarily so.”

“
Thank you,
again.”

“
Just doing my job… what
now?” Mark asked.

“
I want everyone that was
in the palace tonight to report immediately to the council
chambers, and then put the palace on lockdown. No one is to be in
here unless they are in the chambers. Call Zohn, get him back
immediately, and bring in the entire Cavalry,” Chevalier said, and
headed back into the palace as Mark blurred down the
stairs.

Before Chevalier had gotten to the council
chambers, the alarm sounded and heavy steel bars were dropped down
to cover all of the doors as the windows were sealed with sheets of
metal. He stepped into the council chambers and sat in his chair
beside the others. Zohn and Kyle were still missing, but he was
told Zohn would be back within the hour.

“
No one is to leave until
we finish with this,” Chevalier said as the servants and guards
filed into the trial area, filling it quickly.

***

“
Commander?” Darren said,
touching her arm lightly.

Emily screamed and pushed at his hand,
jumping up quickly.

“
Sorry, sorry, it’s just
me,” he told her.

Emily grabbed her chest, “It’s ok… damn
snakes.”

“
We’re here. Lord Thukil
wants your arrival to be a secret, so we’re not taking the
helicopter. The limo will take us into the mansion quietly,” he
explained, and opened the door to the jet for her. Silas carried
sleeping Alexis into the limousine while Kralen got all of the
bags. Emily slid into the car and sat back for the ride into
Thukil.

When the limousine pulled into the
underground garage of the mansion, Emily saw over twenty of the
Cavalry standing around the garage, scanning the area and watching
defensively.

Darren helped Emily out of the car, and she
was immediately greeted by Lord Thukil, “Commander, it’s so good of
you to come.”

“
Good of me to come? I’m
sorry I’m being a pain in the neck,” Emily said.

“
No, no! We owe you. This
is minor compared to what you have done for us, come. I’ll show you
to your room,” Lord Thukil said, and held his hand out for
her.

Emily took his hand and he led her into the
mansion. There were Cavalry members everywhere she looked. They all
seemed to be on guard and highly aware of their surroundings. She
felt pangs of guilt at what they were going through for her
stay.

Emily disappeared into her room. The fire
was lit, and the room was warm and cozy. Alexis ran off to her room
with Silas, and Emily could hear Kralen talking to Darren outside
of her door.

***

Zohn sat down in his chair and turned to
Quinn after looking at the full trial area, “What’s up?”

Quinn filled Zohn in while Chevalier watched
the Cavalry block both doors, several heku deep in case of runners.
When the Council was all filled in, Quinn stood up to address the
guards and servants.

“
We pride ourselves on the
safety of the palace, and how our rules are followed without
question. Lately, things have gotten lax, and it’s unacceptable.
Things are going to change, and we’re starting with punishments for
whoever is orchestrating attacks on the Winchester,” Quinn said
angrily. A murmur ran through those gathered.

“
We all know the importance
of keeping Emily as part of this faction,” Quinn continued. “If she
was to go to another faction, we could find ourselves wiped out as
she’s done in the past to both the Encala and the Valle, in the
name of the Equites. She brings children to this palace that are
unique and powerful, another reason we strive to give her a safe
environment.”

“
Over the last 24 hours,
Emily has been attacked twice. First, by three heku hiding in her
bathroom, and the second, when her bed was filled with thirty two
deadly snakes, one of which actually bit her. I’m not going to
stress how dangerous this is and how it puts the faction at risk.
When we find out who did it, they will be severely
punished.”

Quinn sat down while Zohn was given time to
scan the crowd. The Chief Interrogator, Richard, stood up to
address those gathered, “No one is leaving until we get to the
bottom of this, so this is how the trial is going to go. Each of
you is going to step forward, one at a time, and will tell us your
exact whereabouts and jobs for the last 24 hours.”

“
When you are called
forward, state your name, your age, and how long you have worked in
the palace,” Richard said, and sat back down.

Chevalier pulled out the list of employees
gathered and passed a copy down to each member of the Council.

***

Emily took her spot back on the bed, sitting
cross-legged, and grabbed her book. She was already bored with this
room and was only on day 2. The Thukil Cavalry had been making her
food, and so far, she’d had boxed macaroni and cheese and some
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

She decided that in two days, she was going
down to make a decent meal for Alexis, whether she was supposed to
or not. Until then, she kept her promise to Chevalier and stayed in
bed and took her pills when they were due.

Just after dark on the second day, Darren
came in with a box that made Emily grin, “Pizza!”

“
Yeah, we figured you could
use something other than sandwiches,” Darren said, and sat the
pizza down.

“
Alexis, come eat,” Emily
called out as she took a slice of pizza.

Alexis sat down on the bed and looked at the
pizza, “I don’t want pizza.”

“
She didn’t eat breakfast
either,” Silas said, frowning.

Emily felt Alexis’ forehead, “You’re not
hot. What do you want?”

Alexis shrugged.

Emily’s shoulders fell, and she looked over
at Silas, “Do you think… she… wants…”

Silas sighed and shrugged, “I don’t
know.”

“
What?” Darren asked,
concerned.

“
Do you have any blood in
the house?” Emily asked Darren. “Like in a bottle?”

Darren nodded, “Yeah, we have some for
emergencies.”

Emily fought back the tears, “Bring it to me
please.”

Darren called for some, and a member of the
Cavalry brought it in and left. Emily took it from him, drank the
milk in Alexis’ glass, and poured the blood into it, then handed it
to her daughter.

Alexis smelled the contents and looked up at
Emily. Emily had to turn away. She desperately needed her daughter
to be fully human. Emily’s body tensed when she heard Alexis
drinking and then the soft hiss escape her small body. Emily got up
and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sat
down on the cold floor and curled up into a ball as someone
refilled the toddler’s glass.

***

A red-haired heku stepped forward. He stood
a little shorter than most, and his uniform was dirty and worn,
“I’m Pavel, I’m 478 years old, and have been in Equites the entire
time. I started in the palace 52 years ago. Twenty four hours ago,
I was in my small home in Council City. I live alone. I came in to
work at 7am, and have been doing laundry since. I wash clothes, I
don’t gather or deliver, I just wash.”

“
Did you know about the
heku in the Elder’s bathroom?” Zohn asked him.

“
No, I did not,” Pavel
said.

“
Did you know about the
snakes in the bed or the poisons?”

“
No, Sir, I did
not.”

Chevalier nodded and wrote something down.
He checked his phone when it rang, “I need to get this.”