Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (87 page)

“
Can’t the Cavalry handle
them… again?” Kyle asked.

Quinn shrugged, “Fourth time this week. I
think we need to intervene.”

“
I am leaving too, for
obvious reasons,” Zohn said angrily.

Kyle grinned, “Do you need me?”

“
No, stay here. If she gets
mad at Chevalier, she’ll need you,” Quinn said, and grinned
slightly.

Chevalier walked the Equites Elders up the
stairs and sent Ashtin with them. Equites 1 took off, followed by
the Encala helicopter carrying their three Elders.

“
Guess it’s just us,”
Chevalier said to Kyle. “Never thought I’d be welcome in the Valle
Palace.”

“
It makes me nervous,” Kyle
whispered.

“
Just keep your guard up,”
Chevalier said, and walked back inside.

“
Did you know she wanted a
motorcycle?”

“
No, didn’t know she wanted
a tattoo either.”

“
Odd, isn’t it? She leaves
the heku forever, but gets the Equites Crest tattooed across her
lower back?”

Chevalier grinned, “I like it.”

Kyle chuckled, “Of course you do.”

“
Think she’ll stick with
leather for a while?”

“
I wouldn’t hold my breath…
I still wish I knew what she was doing out at 3am though. I don’t
buy her story.”

“
Me either, but I hate to
push the issue.”

“
The Council is in session.
Elder Sotomar wanted you to know,” one of Emily’s guards
said.

Chevalier nodded, “Fine… where is an empty
room?”

A servant appeared and showed Chevalier and
Kyle into a private conference room with a small table and three
wooden chairs. They sat silently, each in their own thoughts as the
night began and slipped slowly into morning with no word from
Emily.

Mid-morning, they heard her get up and walk
around. Her footsteps were distinctive because heku rarely went
without shoes, and she hardly ever wore them. Her steps were also
lighter and slightly irregular. They heard her door guards order
breakfast and then the shower ran in the bathroom.

“
We heading back today?”
Kyle asked.

“
Yeah, might as well,”
Chevalier said, standing up.

“
We going to let her
drive?”

Chevalier chuckled, “I’m not going to start
that fight.”

“
Yeah, but she’s obeying us
this week, remember?”

“
It’ll be an adventure,”
Chevalier said, grinning. “Let’s go.”

Chevalier and Kyle made their way up the
stairs to her door, where the door guard handed Chevalier jeans and
a t-shirt the tailor made for her, and then knocked.

“
Come in,” Emily called
out.

Chevalier and Kyle came in and shut the door
behind them.

“
I know… heku Barbie,”
Emily said, cringing at the flowing pink dress she was
wearing.

“
We come bearing gifts,”
Chevalier told her, grinning, and tossed the jeans and t-shirt to
her.

“
Oh… thank you!” Emily
yelled, and disappeared into the bathroom.

“
Is she trying to cook the
place?” Kyle asked, stepping away from the fires.

“
She likes it
warm.”

Emily came back out in low-rider jeans and a
gray t-shirt with an intricately designed “V” in the center,
“Ha-ha, very funny.”

Chevalier smirked, “We expected no
less.”

“
Are we
leaving?”

“
Yes, after breakfast,”
Chevalier said as Kyle went to the door and came back carrying a
tray. He sat it down on a small table and Emily pulled off the top
and smelled.

“
Nice, smells good,” she
said, and picked up a piece of bacon.

“
I’d like to give the Jeep
a try, may I drive?” Kyle asked.

Emily shook her head, “Nice try… no.”

Kyle shrugged and smiled at Chevalier.

Emily sighed and turned to them, “I need to
talk to Alec.”

“
I figured,” Chevalier
said, and called for Sotomar.

“
Glad you’re feeling
better,” the Valle Elder said, walking up to them.

“
Where is Alec?” Emily
asked him.

He sighed, “He’s on house arrest, down in
the city. He keeps trying to run to Exavior.”

“
Can she see him?” Kyle
asked.

“
Yes, I’ll take you there,”
Sotomar said, and led them out of the Valle Palace. They walked
down into the city and stopped in front of a small house that had
guards posted at the doors.

“
I need to go in alone,”
Emily said, and walked up to the door and knocked softly. She
walked in when she heard Alec tell her to enter.

Alec was sitting in a rocking chair,
watching the fire. He looked over at her and his eyes were sad,
“Hello, Emi.”

Emily walked over at sat down in the chair
beside him, “I’m not sure what to say.”

“
Sotomar told me that
Exavior has been imprisoned for eternity.”

Emily nodded and watched the fire.

“
I pledged my life to
him.”

“
I wish you would trust me,
he’s evil. He’s right where he belongs.”

Alec looked at her angrily, “He’s my maker
and my friend.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
So I go from being in this
new life with my friend, excited for my future and to try out my
new abilities… to sitting here, alone, unsure where to go or what
to do.”

“
Come live with me,” Emily
suggested and took his hand.

He roughly pulled his hand out of hers,
“When I leave, I’ll go back to the city Exavior created. He still
has followers there.”

“
They aren’t going to let
you go if you keep saying that.”

“
I’m not going to the
Equites, where my maker is trapped.”

“
Alec…”

“
Stop, Emi, you don’t know
as much as you think you do about the heku. You won’t even become
one.”

“
It doesn’t matter. I know
exactly what’s going on. I’ve lived with them for 14
years.”

“
And are still blind to
them. You can’t understand them like I do, until you become
one.”

Emily sighed, “I don’t want to leave you
here, alone.”

“
You already
did.”

“
Please, Alec, come with
me.”

“
You obviously don’t need
me around. You don’t do this to family that you care about. I hope
you enjoy the next few hundred years with your Equites.”

“
Don’t say that, Alec, and
you know I won’t be around for another hundred years… I won’t
turn,” Emily reminded him.

Alec looked at her and shook his head, “You
don’t even know, do you?”

“
Know what?”

“
You aren’t aging, Emi. How
can you not notice that?”

Emily looked over at him, “What do you mean?
I’m almost 40.”

“
You look 20, you had to
have noticed… Exavior did.”

“
Come back with
me.”

Alec shook his head, “No, I’m not going to
come and watch you with your heku while I know in my heart that the
one you belong with is suffering below you.”

“
I love Chevalier. You
aren’t around to see it, but the Equites are very good to me. They
are like my family.”

“
I’m glad you have a
replacement for us, then,” Alec said, his voice full of
pain.

Emily’s eyes filled with tears, “I didn’t
replace you with them. I want you to come and join me, be with your
family.”

“
Go, Emi, go back to the
Equites and leave me alone.”

Emily stood up, numb, and walked over to the
door. She glanced back at her uncle before opening the door and
stepping out. The heku looked at her and knew she didn’t want to
talk. They walked back to the palace and Emily crawled into the
back of the Jeep, and lay down in the backseat.

She felt an empty hole in her heart where
her mortal family belonged. Maybe Alec was right, and she’d
abandoned her own family for the heku. She knew, deep down, that
she hadn’t had a choice when she moved to Island Coven. She also
felt pangs of guilt as she realized that Alec abandoning her for
Exavior wasn’t only his fault.

“
I guess we’re going,”
Chevalier said, and sat in the driver’s seat.

“
If we can do anything…”
Sotomar started.

Kyle nodded at him and got into the
passenger’s seat, “We’ll let you know.”

Chevalier backed the Jeep out of the Valle’s
garage and was soon on the Interstate headed back to Council City.
Kyle kept an eye on Emily. She cried for a while, and then lie
motionless, staring at the back of the seat. She refused food and
they drove through the night, arriving at Council City just after
dawn.

“
Em, we’re here,” Chevalier
said, and pulled the Jeep into the garage. He stopped the engine
and looked back at her.

“
I know,” she
whispered.

Kyle glanced at her and then went into the
palace.

Chevalier watched as she stayed in the
backseat, unmoving. She watched the pattern on the seat, her mind
and body numb. Alec was the last of her family. The only reminder
she had of her family before the heku, and he hated her, hated that
she’d been a part of putting Exavior away. She didn’t move as
Chevalier picked her up and cradled her as he walked into the
palace.

“
What’s wrong?” Allen asked
when they walked into the palace.

“
We’re not really sure,”
Chevalier said, heading up the stairs. “She talked to Alec alone
and hasn’t said much since.”

“
Is he coming to live with
us?”

“
No, I don’t think
so.”

“
Did you say he
couldn’t?”

“
No, I did not. I would be
fine with Alec joining us in Council City.”

“
Maybe I should go talk to
him,” Allen said, and followed them into the bedroom. Chevalier
laid Emily down on the bed and walked back out to the hallway,
shutting the door behind Allen.

“
If I thought, for one
moment, that you could change his mind, then I would let you.
Sotomar told me that Alec is still pledging his allegiance to
Exavior and won’t change his opinions,” Chevalier
explained.

“
How can Alec do that?
After what Exavior did to Mom?”

Chevalier shrugged, “I’m not sure. There’s a
strong attachment to your maker, though. He may still be too new to
pull himself away from those loyalties.”

“
You were loyal to your
maker?” Allen asked curiously.

“
No, I wasn’t,” Chevalier
said, and sat down in a chair by Emily’s door. “Mine was different,
I didn’t choose to turn, so I didn’t feel I owed him
anything.”

“
Reporting for duty, Sir,”
one of the Cavalry said when four came up to her door.

Chevalier nodded and stood up, “Leave her
alone for now, deal or no deal, she needs to be alone.”

“
Do we disregard all of
Elder Zohn’s orders then?” he asked.

“
No, just leave her alone
in her room for now, the rest stands,” Chevalier said, and went
down into the council chambers.

“
Em?” Chevalier asked,
sitting on the edge of the bed. He could tell she’d been crying
again, and he put his hand on her arm softly.

Emily looked over at him.

“
It’s been three days… you
need to eat.”

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath and
then opened them slowly and nodded, “Ok, I agreed to obey.”

“
I’m not enforcing that
right now. I’d just like you to eat,” Chevalier said, and ordered
her some fried potatoes and sausage for breakfast.

Emily shrugged, “I agreed and I’ll follow
through.”

Chevalier pulled her onto his lap and
wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head against his chest
and shut her eyes, focusing on the sound of the beating of his
heart. She looked over when her breakfast was delivered and crawled
out of his lap.

“
I have meetings all day
today,” Chevalier told her.

Emily nodded and sat down to eat.

He watched her take a few bites and then
headed down to the council chambers. He sat down and turned to the
others, “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

“
How is she?” Quinn
asked.

“
She’s eating, that’s a
start… she’s also said she plans on holding to the two week
agreement.”

“
Derrick?” Zohn called out,
and when the door guard entered, he continued. “Bring in our first
appointment.”

“
Yes, Sir, the first
appointment is…” Derrick hesitated and checked a note in his hand
again, “Elder Vaughn.”

“
Who?” Quinn asked,
frowning.

“
I’m not sure I like where
this is going,” Chevalier said, his eyes narrowing.

“
Bring him in,” Zohn
sighed.

Derrick nodded and left the council
chambers. The door opened and the former Encala Elder, Vaughn,
walked in wearing a dark purple cape. He had four guards with him
and stood proudly before the Equites Council.

“
Well… this is
interesting,” Zohn said. “What exactly are you an Elder
of?”