Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (111 page)

“
What’s so important that
we had to do this at 3am?” she asked, irritated.

“
Derrick, bring them in,”
the Chief of Defense called out.

Emily sipped her coffee and dug a few
suckers out of her pocket while the guards brought in four heku and
made them kneel in front of the Council. They were dressed in the
white guard shirts and green capes, indicative of palace
guards.

“
What’d you do?” she asked,
yawning into her hand.

Derrick stood up straight and faced Emily,
“These four were caught sending e-mails to the Valle, with
locations and troop numbers for the Equites going out to bring back
the Elders.”

Emily almost choked on her coffee, “They
were?”

“
No! It was just a friendly
e-mail between us guards, it didn’t go to the Valle,” one of the
guards said frantically.

“
Where’s the
computer?”

Derrick shrugged, “We left it in the
barracks.”

Emily sighed, “Get it for me.”

Within a few minutes, one of the Cavalry
returned with a laptop. Emily took it, plugged it in, and sat back
with it as her fingers flew over the keyboard. She stopped
occasionally, just to sip her coffee. The heku all watched her,
unsure what she was doing or how long it would take.

After almost an hour, Emily sighed and read
out loud

They left at 4pm, one Elder and 78 members
of the guards. Will be meeting up with Encala forces in Reno, NV.
Left Winchester in charge, need further instructions.

“
Sounds to me like you have
some explaining to do,” Emily said, looking at the four heku on the
ground.

“
That wasn’t us! We
wouldn’t do that,” he said, his eyes wide.

Await further instructions. For now, keep an
eye on the Winchester and let us know if more forces are heading
out.

“
That reply isn’t for you?”
Emily asked.

“
No, no we wouldn’t turn in
the Equites to the Valle. We’re loyal.”

“
We’ll see. I sent them a
response… seems we have Thukil headed over to Idaho for some
reason,” Emily said, and opened a sucker.

Dustin grinned, “This should be
interesting.”

“
You are writing to the
Valle?” the Chief Interrogator asked.

“
Yes, under their e-mail
address,” she told him.

The Chief Interrogator laughed, “Nice.”

“
Oh, here we go…
Damn, they must know of our staging location.
Will divert all into Wyoming
.”

“
Staging location?” Dustin
asked.

“
I picked a state at
random… Wyoming, huh? I wonder if that’s where Zohn and Quinn are.
You… dumb nuts,” Emily said, looking at the smallest of those on
their knees. “What’s your name?”

“
Jackson, Ma’am,” he said,
then glanced at Derrick.

Emily’s fingers flew across the keyboard as
she responded to the e-mail, “There we go.”

“
What do we do with them?”
Derrick asked her.

Emily gasped, “No! They have Chev.”

“
Damnit,” Dustin
growled.

“
Derrick, when’s the last
time you used the interrogation chamber?” Emily asked, still
reading through deleted e-mails.

Derrick grinned, “It’s been a while.”

“
Pick one… put the others
in cells until I decide what to do with them.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and
grabbed one of them by the neck, hauling him from the room. Four
members of the palace guard came in and took the other three
away.

Emily hit the speakerphone and dialed.

“
Encala Council,” an angry
voice said.

“
Is William there?” Emily
asked.

“
Lady Emily? No, he’s not,
he went with Chevalier.”

“
Are any of the Elders
there?”

“
I’m here,” Reese
said.

“
I just intercepted an
e-mail. They have Chevalier, and I’m guessing William,
too.”

“
Damnit,” Reese growled.
“We’ll have to go get them.”

“
No, I have an idea,” Emily
said. “Can you get me 50 of your best guards?”

“
I can’t allow you to go
get them,” Reese said.

“
I’d like to see you stop
me. You can either send 50, or I’ll go without them.”

Reese sighed, “It’ll take them 3 hours to
get there.”

“
Do it,” Emily said, and
hung up.

“
We aren’t supposed to let
you go after them,” Dustin said, standing up.

Emily glared at him, “Right now, I outrank
you and I’d like to see you try.”

“
You can’t turn anyone to
ash,” the Chief of Defense said.

“
Wanna bet? Now I’m pissed.
That changes everything,” Emily said, and stood up. “Get me 50 from
Powan and 50 from Thukil, now.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” Dustin said,
dialing quickly.

Emily turned to the Records Keeper, “Get me
a maternity guard uniform and make damned sure it looks like
everyone else’s.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and
disappeared.

“
Cavalry, meet me in front
of the palace,” Emily said, and walked out of the council
chambers.

“
He’s going to kill us,”
the Chief of Finances said, sighing.

“
Do we have a choice? She’s
right, she does outrank us,” Dustin said, and then turned back to
the phone.

Emily went into her room and shut the door.
She was shaking too badly and needed to calm down and clear her
thoughts. She grabbed a sucker when she started to feel sick again
and glanced around the room.

“
Mom?” Allen asked, coming
into the room.

Emily looked over at him.

“
I want to go with
you.”

“
I need you to stay with
Alexis… if your Dad and I…”

Allen nodded, “Ok… what are you going to
do?”

“
I don’t really know,”
Emily said, sighing.

“
Can you turn a heku to
ash?”

“
Not right now, but I have
an idea.”

“
You’re feeling sick
though, I can tell by your color.”

“
I have to go, Allen. They
have Elders from all three factions.”

“
Dad would want you to
stay.”

Emily smiled slightly, “Yes, he would.”

Allen walked quickly and wrapped his arms
around her. She held him tightly and teared up. She couldn’t
remember the last time her son hugged her.

“
Hurry back,” he said,
pulling away from her.

Emily just nodded and watched him leave. She
glanced out the window and saw the Cavalry lined up on horseback in
front of the palace, waiting for her. She took a deep breath,
grabbed another sucker, and headed out of the room. The tailor
caught her before she left the fifth-floor, and handed her a new
uniform. She dressed quickly, wincing slightly at the maternity cut
and how it made her look more pregnant than she really was. She was
covered though, and official, so she went down to the Cavalry.

“
Good morning, Commander,”
Jaron said when she appeared.

Emily sighed, “I’ve called in Thukil, Powan,
and some Encala. I’m leading a little attack of my own.”

“
You are?” Jaron asked,
shocked.

“
Yes, it’s a little
different, so I’ll explain when the others get here.”

The Cavalry glanced nervously at one
another. One of them came out of the stables with Emily’s horse and
helped her up onto it. She worried about how weak she was still
feeling, how her entire body just wanted to sleep, but she was all
that was left to go and get the leaders.

Within an hour, Powan arrived and lined up
behind the Council City Cavalry.

“
Where’s General Skinner?”
Emily asked, looking at them.

“
He was with Elder Quinn,
Commander,” one of the Lieutenants told her.

Emily nodded, “Ok, you’re the highest
ranking?”

“
Yes,
Commander.”

They all looked over when Thukil arrived, 50
members of their Cavalry lined up behind Powan, and Captain Darren
came over to her.

“
Commander?” he asked,
surprised.

“
Just… stick with me on
this,” she said to him.

Darren nodded, “Ok, as you outrank me here,
I don’t have a choice.”

She smiled slightly, knowing he didn’t like
the idea that she was about to lead an army.

The Encala arrived by helicopter a couple of
hours later. They looked out of place and unsure as they took up
formation behind Thukil.

“
Ok,” Emily said from
horseback. “I’ll get this out in the open… I’ve never led an army,
I have no idea what I’m doing, and that could work to our
advantage. I don’t know military traditions and strategies, so
anything I come up with will be foreign to the Valle.”

She blushed slightly when she saw all of
them intently watching her.

“
It’s going to be simple,
your job… your only job… is to get the heku out of the Valle’s
Palace, and into the helicopters. They will land when you attack,”
she told them.

Darren turned to her, “What about Valle
forces?”

Emily sighed, “I’ll be taking care of those,
as many as I can. Obviously, if you run across them, kill them. I
don’t want to question anyone. I don’t want to torture anyone. I
just want them dead, and I want our heku free.”

“
What of the original Valle
Council?” one of the Encala asked.

“
Just let them free.
They’ll go where they belong.”

“
Emily,” Darren said, and
put his hand on hers. “There are thousands of Valle in that palace
right now, they’re expecting you to attack.”

Emily nodded, “I know, but I have to get
them back.”

“
Rumor has it you can’t
turn a heku to ash anymore.”

“
I couldn’t before, that’s
true, but now I’m mad and that’s what I need to do it…
anger.”

Darren nodded and turned back to his troops,
“I want the highest ranking from the Encala, Thukil, Powan, and
Council City to come here.”

Emily watched as four heku joined them at
the front line.

“
You will each lead a
group, mix the groups up. I want someone from each faction and/or
coven in each group,” Darren told them.

Emily started to panic. She wasn’t sure if
she could lead 200 heku into the Valle and come out alive. She was
afraid she was leading them to their deaths. She quickly slid off
of her horse and disappeared into the palace while the Thukil
Captain formed the groups, then she went into the council chambers
and they all looked at her.

“
Richard?” she asked,
turning to the Chief Interrogator.

“
Yes?”

“
I’m putting you in charge
until either myself or an Elder gets back.”

He nodded. His eyes were warm and caring and
she saw in his face the same fears that she had, the fears that
they wouldn’t return.

“
Lady Emily?” the Chief of
Defense said softly.

Emily looked over at him.

“
Please reconsider, let the
Thukil Captain lead this raid.”

“
I can’t let them go
without me. I’m the only one that has a chance of getting them all
back.”

“
But the baby…”

Emily looked down. Over the last month, the
baby had grown a lot and she was now obviously pregnant and already
starting to get off balance.

“
I have to go,” she
whispered and left.

Emily walked out and saw the groups were
formed and all were standing at attention, watching her.

“
I’m taking my Harley,”
Emily said. “I’m going in first to give myself over for
punishment…”

She paused when she heard a murmur through
the crowd.

“
I’m not really, but I have
to get into the palace. You’ll follow. I need about a 15-minute
head start, and then storm the palace, get our leaders out. Take
the buses and come in from a distance.”

“
Ma’am?” she heard from
behind her. Emily turned to see the Valle that the Equites were
housing.

“
You want to
go?”

“
Yes, we can get word to a
few groups of Imperial Guards that are in the area, waiting for a
break to take the Council back.”

“
Do that, get in touch with
Darren for a rendezvous point.”

The Valle nodded and all of them joined
Darren’s group. Emily took a deep breath and disappeared into the
garage to get the motorcycle. Just as she slipped her helmet on,
she heard the helicopters landing outside of the palace and buses
parking beside them.

Emily didn’t look back. She took off from
the palace garage and headed out of Council City. The sun was
rising over the horizon at her back as she made her way to the
Valle. She stopped outside of the main city at a convenience store
and grabbed several energy drinks, hoping they would wake her body
up long enough to do what needed done.

It was dark when she arrived. She wiped the
memory of the front gate guards to the Valle’s main city, and
pulled the Harley up to the front of the palace. The guards there
watched her curiously until she took off her helmet, and then they
lunged at her and pulled her from the motorcycle.