Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (102 page)

“
What exactly is wrong?”
Chevalier asked.

“
A few things,” he began.
“First and most important, is that the morning sickness made it so
she couldn’t eat, which dropped her blood sugar dangerously low and
lowered her blood volume. That caused severe anemia.”

“
She’s on iron pills for
that,” Chevalier said.

“
Those only help. She needs
to eat to make it all work together. We have her on some medication
that should help her eat better and keep things down.”

“
Why is she so
tired?”

“
That… is because we had to
sedate her to keep the I.V. in for the blood transfusion. We are
going to let her return home, and I’ve been in touch with Dr.
Hayden, so he knows what’s going on.”

Chevalier nodded, “When can we go then?”

“
We can check her out now.
I’ll send some Zofran pills with you. She needs to take one every 4
hours to help her stomach calm down enough to eat. Try to push red
meat, and lots of it.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “She’s never
been a good eater.”

“
See what you can do. The
baby’s fine, but it may not be if we can’t get her blood volume
regulated. That should help her mood. She wasn’t very happy to be
here, and let everyone know it.”

Kyle couldn’t help but glance down at her
neck and wrists, but found no other cause for the low blood.

Chevalier chuckled, “I’ll bet.”

“
I’ll send in the nurse.
Dr. Hayden wants to see her the day after she gets back,” Dr.
Vasili told them, and then took her chart and walked
out.

The nurse came in to remove Emily’s I.V. and
the heku all stepped out of the room quickly. She grinned, thinking
they couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and proceeded to remove the
I.V. and wrap Emily’s arm up. She then dug through Emily’s bag and
pulled out a blue summer dress, and then changed her into it before
going back out to talk to Chevalier.

“
She’s ready. I gave her
some medicine and she should be waking up now,” the nurse said.
“I’ll go get a wheelchair.”

“
Can I just carry her? It’s
easier,” Chevalier asked.

The nurse thought, “I guess you can, if you
can carry her without dropping her. She’ll still be pretty
groggy.”

“
I’m pretty sure I won’t
drop her,” he said, grinning, and walked into her room. Emily was
looking around the room in a daze, so he just picked her up and
started for the door.

Emily pushed against him, “Exavior has the
kids.” Her words were slow and slurred.

“
We got them back,”
Chevalier told her, heading down the hallway with the other heku
following.

“
Exavior… put me down right
now,” she mumbled, and pulled at Chevalier’s hands.

“
Yeah, Exavior, put her
down,” Zohn said, amused. “Don’t drop her either.”

Chevalier shook his head and climbed into
the waiting Suburban. She crawled out of his lap and laid down on
the seat beside him, “I just need a nap first.”

Sotomar started the Suburban, and they were
soon on their way to the Valle Palace.

“
So what did you find?”
Zohn asked.

“
The first place we went to
was just a Ferus coven, one Allen said was made for Emily to lead
while she is Elder,” Chevalier explained. “Allen was in prison,
dressed in guard uniform with a Commander insignia, guess he was
going to help her run the place.”

“
Emily as head of a coven?
That I’d pay to see,” Zohn chuckled.

“
The second was their main
city, not much interesting there, but we did find Alexis. Burned
the place to the ground when we left, I hope that does away with
the 4
^th
faction.”

“
How’d they even get your
kids?”

“
Allen said they were out
riding alone…” Chevalier said, frowning. “I need to deal with that
when we get back.”

“
You called for me?” Allen
asked when he stepped into Chevalier’s office. The boy glanced at
his Dad, and then to Quinn and Mark before sitting down, “Am I in
trouble?”

Mark chuckled, “Runs in the family, that’s
what your Mom always asks.”

“
Well, in her case it’s
usually true.”

“
Allen, we’re worried about
the kidnapping last month,” Chevalier said, leaning on the desk.
“We expect you to help protect your Mom and Sister.”

“
I know, and I’m sorry,”
Allen said.

“
It’s disconcerting that
you felt it safe to take Alexis outside of the city by
yourself.”

“
I told you, I’m sorry and
it won’t happen again.”

“
We also wonder if you have
too much time on your hands,” Quinn said. “Your studying phase is
over, and we realize that you have nothing to do.”

Allen shrugged, “I find stuff.”

“
That’s the problem,”
Chevalier said. “So we want you to join the Cavalry. Not as a
Lieutenant, but as a regular guard.”

“
Really?” Allen asked,
smiling.

“
Yes, but we won’t give you
special treatment because you’re my son. You will be expected to do
whatever the others are doing and to keep up.”

Allen cringed, “You realize I’m not as fast
or as strong as a full heku.”

“
We do realize that,” Mark
said. “However, it’s not very often we need full speed or strength
to take down a problem heku, and you won’t be alone on the streets.
We’ll pair you up with a mentor.”

“
Mom said ok to this?”
Allen asked suspiciously.

Chevalier sighed, “She’s not well enough to
deal with this right now. When she’s stronger, we’ll tell her.”

Allen crossed his arms, “And what’s being
done about that?”

“
You worry about Cavalry
training. We have your mother taken care of.”

“
So as a member of the
Cavalry, I will also be one of Mom’s guards?”

“
No, that’s the one thing
we consider you to have a conflict of interest with. You will
solely cover the streets of Council City,” Mark told
him.

“
And if we go to
war?”

“
We’ll decide when it comes
to that.”

Allen nodded, “Ok, I’ll do it.”

“
Mark will get you started
today, fit for uniforms, and set up with training,” Chevalier told
him. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on you for a while. We aren’t
sure how well the city guards will handle your
presence.”

“
Will I be staying in the
palace?”

“
No, you’ll be staying with
the Cavalry,” Mark said. “There’s already a place for you. It’ll be
safer than being in the barracks. Let’s go.”

Allen smiled and then left the office with
Mark, who shut the door behind them.

“
What are you going to tell
Emily?” Quinn asked, sitting down across from Chevalier.

“
She doesn’t see him a lot
anyway, he’s always studying… I hope that it doesn’t come up for a
while. Mark knows that Allen’s to see his mom at least once a day
to lessen the suspicion.”

“
Are you going in to see
the doctor with her today?”

“
Yes, which reminds me, we
need to get going,” Chevalier said, and they both walked up to the
bedroom together. Chevalier released two of the guards until their
return, and went into the room with Quinn.

Emily was sitting up in bed, leaned back
against the headboard reading. Both fires were going and the room
was hot enough it made it hard to breathe, yet she had a blanket
thrown over her legs.

“
Is it time to go?” she
asked, setting her book down. Quinn couldn’t help but stare. She
was pale and shaking, and seemed thinner and more frail. Her eyes
were dull and she obviously didn’t feel well.

“
Yes, I’d like to go with
today.”

Emily nodded and got up. She put on a
sweater and then took Chevalier’s hand. He drove the Humvee to the
doctor’s office and told the two members of the Cavalry to wait in
the car. Emily had complained during the last visit that they stood
out too much, and it made people look at her. Right now, everyone
was doing what they could to lessen any stress or anxiety in her
life.

“
Go right in,” the
receptionist told Emily when she checked in. They weighted her as
she glared at Chevalier’s back to make sure he didn’t turn around,
and then she was seated in a small office. She sat down on the bed
and swung her legs while the nurse took her blood pressure and then
they waited for the doctor.

Dr. Hayden came in and smiled, “Good to see
you. How are you feeling?” he asked, and sat down on the rolling
chair.

“
About the same,” Emily
said, watching as he wrote in her chart.

“
You’re at 12 weeks today,
so you’re out of the first trimester, and things should be easy
going from here,” Dr. Hayden said. “Your blood pressure’s too low,
I don’t really like that.”

“
Too low?” Chevalier asked.
“I thought we were keeping things calm to keep it down.”

“
There’s down… and there’s
low enough she could pass out,” Dr. Hayden explained. “Not sure why
it’s down, but we’ll keep an eye on it. You’ve also lost 4 pounds
in the last month, are you eating?”

“
When I can, yes,” Emily
told him.

“
Is the Zofran not
helping?”

“
It does... but not all the
time.”

“
She really is trying to
eat,” Chevalier said. He wanted the doctor to understand that she
was attempting to do as he asked, “She’s craving red meat, but can
only eat a few bites or she gets sick.”

Dr. Hayden looked at Emily and tapped his
finger against the side of his head, “I wish I could figure out why
your body is fighting this baby so badly.”

Emily shrugged slightly.

Dr. Hayden grinned, “You sure it’s a human
baby?”

“
Not entirely,” Emily said
with a slight grin.

Chevalier shifted nervously.

“
I may want you to check in
with a specialist, see if we can find out why it is your body is so
unhappy with this baby,” Dr. Hayden said. “You mentioned morning
sickness with your other two was only a month long?”

“
Yes, but I won’t see
anyone else,” Emily said, and Chevalier looked up just as she set
her jaw.

“
A specialist may be able
to tell us why you’re so sick,” Dr. Hayden said. “I can’t figure it
out. Your blood work is good, other than we can’t get the iron up.
Your blood pressure is too low and you shouldn’t be losing weight.
You’re also too pale, which makes me think you may not be making
enough blood.”

“
No”

“
I’m willing to give it two
more weeks, but if you haven’t put on weight and don’t look any
better, you’ll have to go to a specialist.”

“
No”

“
Have you been staying in
bed?”

“
Yes, never far from the
bathroom.”

“
Then get out, go out
horseback riding today. Get some fresh air and some sun,” Dr.
Hayden told her, and then turned to Chevalier. “Go out with her.
She probably shouldn’t handle one on her own.”

Chevalier nodded, “Easy enough.”

“
Two weeks then,” he said,
and smiled before leaving.

They pulled into the palace garage just at
shift change for the Cavalry. Chevalier saw Kralen and Silas
getting their horses ready for the later shift.

Emily looked out, “I can handle my own
horse.”

“
I know, but why don’t you
tandem with someone,” he suggested, getting out of the
Humvee.

“
I’m heading out. I can
take you,” Jaron said as he crawled out of the backseat with the
other member of the Cavalry.

“
I’m ok on my own,” Emily
said, and headed toward the stables, followed by the two guards and
Chevalier.

“
Still, Dr. Hayden said…”
Chevalier started.

“
Dr. Hayden is being
overcautious. I agreed to get out and get some air, but I ride my
own,” she told him, and grabbed a bridle before disappearing into
the stall with her stallion.

Chevalier gave orders to those mounting up,
and then walked into the stall, “I have a meeting. I’ll try to come
out when you get back.”

She was just slipping the bridle on the tall
horse and leaned up against his neck, trying to catch her breath.
Chevalier took the reins and led the horse out of the stables and
tied him to the post.

“
Do you want a saddle?”
Chevalier asked, watching her come out of the stall. She was still
out of breath and shaking.

“
No,” she said, and ran her
hand along the shiny coat of the stallion.

“
Just for me, ride with
Jaron,” Chevalier said, and motioned for the member of the Cavalry
to come over.

“
No,” she said again, and
glanced at the ten gathered members of the Cavalry. She put her
hands on the horse’s back and looked up, wondering how she was
going to hoist herself up there. She jumped slightly when someone
appeared on the horse.

“
I haven’t been out in a
while. I’ll go with you,” Kyle said, and reached down for
her.