Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (115 page)

“
I’m sorry about Vizia and
Buach,” she said softly.

“
Child, we don’t blame
you.”

“
Chevalier here,” he said,
grabbing the phone. “We have one tiny problem that we wondered if
you might be able to help with.

“
What might that be?”
Sotomar asked.

“
Emily didn’t move for 3
months, she’s sore and stiff… she can barely function.”

“
I’m not that bad,” Emily
whispered, and heard Sotomar laugh.

“
Yes, I have just the fix
for that. Can you accommodate two of us for a few days?”

“
Yes, by all means,”
Chevalier said. “We’ll alert security that you are coming. The
palace is on lockdown at the moment.”

“
Wait,” Emily said before
they disconnected. “How are you going to fix it?”

Sotomar chuckled, “We’ll discuss it when we
arrive.”

Emily frowned when Chevalier hung up, “If he
hurts me, I’ll ash him.”

“
Stop,” Chevalier said
sternly. “No more…”

“
I can’t just stop,” she
whispered and picked up some toast.

“
Yes you can. There’s no
reason for it anymore.”

“
You’re going to try to put
guards on me again, aren’t you?”

“
I’m not going to try, I’ve
already done it.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t want
guards.”

“
I didn’t ask what you
wanted. Now eat and I’ll run you a bath.”

“
Go away.”

“
No,” he said,
amused.

“
I’m not your
child.”

“
Then don’t act like one,
and do what’s best for you.”

“
Go away!”

“
No”

“
Who’s guarding my
door?”

Chevalier smiled slightly, “Silas and Jaron
right now.”

“
Silas!” Emily called out,
her voice barely above a whisper.

Silas and Jaron both came in, “Yes?”

“
Remove him from my room,”
she said, and started eating.

“
They can’t forcibly remove
me,” Chevalier chuckled.

“
You’re being a pest, now
go.”

Chevalier stood up, “Fine… I have things to
do in my office anyway.”

Emily mimicked his words and went back to
eating.

“
Good to see you didn’t
wake up grouchy,” he said, laughing, and went to leave.

She watched him leave and heard Silas and
Jaron laughing in the hallway as the door shut.

Chevalier smiled on the way to his office,
shaking his head. He wasn’t sure why, but her grouchy attitude was
charming to him. He still couldn’t believe she woke up, and seemed
to only suffer some muscle weakness for the mass slaying of over
3400 heku and 3 months of sleep. He went into his office and shut
the door, deeply engrossing himself in staffing restrictions.

A knock on his door a few hours later
brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up, “Come.”

Sotomar and a strange heku in gray robes
came in, “I’ll never get used to coming into the Equites palace
calmly.”

Chevalier nodded, “I hear you… thank you for
coming.”

Sotomar turned to the other heku, “This is
Lex. He was a Physical Therapist when he turned a few years
ago.”

“
Physical Therapist? You
think you can help her?”

Lex smiled, “I know I can.”

“
Her scent though, to one
so young.”

“
We’ve been discussing it,
and though it may take a while, it would be easier to acclimate him
to her than to restrict him with a mask,” Sotomar said. “When he’s
done, I will help take the soreness away.”

“
There’s one… tiny… thing,”
Chevalier said, and smiled slightly.

“
Tiny?” Sotomar asked,
raising an eyebrow.

“
Emily’s a little… grouchy,
with this pregnancy.”

“
Define
grouchy.”

“
Snippy, short tempered,”
Chevalier said. “She’s not hurt anyone, but threatens a lot… and
makes pretty harsh remarks.”

“
Worse than when she stayed
with us?”

“
Yes”

“
That should be
interesting. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“
Great, I’ll have Kralen
help you acclimate,” Chevalier said, and walked out of his office
with Sotomar and Lex. Kralen and Mark were on the ground floor
talking when they walked up, “Kralen, will you help Sotomar and Lex
acclimate to Emily?”

“
Yes, Elder,” Kralen said.
“When I did it I started down here and just slowly moved
up.”

“
How long did it take?” Lex
asked.

“
About twelve
hours.”

“
To acclimate to a
mortal?”

Kralen grinned, “No, to acclimate to a
Winchester.”

“
I guess I just don’t
understand, but will follow instructions.”

“
We need to acclimate a new
chef also, we’ll get him,” Mark said, and called for one of the
servants.

“
I’ll go stay with her…
just in case,” Chevalier said, and headed up the stairs. He stopped
when one of her guards held is hand out.

Silas grinned “We’re not supposed to let you
in.”

Chevalier sighed, “Did she say why?”

Jaron nodded, “Yes, she said… erm…”

Silas glanced at Jaron, and
then back to the Elder, “I’ll quote, Sir, ‘
Tell him when I want him in here, I’ll summon him… until then
he can turn around and kiss his own ass.’
”

Chevalier chuckled, “Very well, I’ll tell
her you tried to stop me.”

Silas sighed, “She’s in the bathroom.”

“
Is she sick?”

“
Yes”

“
Damn,” he whispered, and
walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He looked
around the room. The equipment was all turned off and the I.V. was
hanging over the side of the bed. He could see her mostly untouched
breakfast, and heard her move slightly in the bathroom. He knocked
lightly on the door.

“
I’m begging you to go
away,” she said weakly.

Chevalier tried the door and was surprised
it was unlocked. He opened it and sat down on the cold tile beside
where Emily was napping, “Couldn’t eat again?”

“
I don’t like you,” she
whispered, not even opening her eyes.

He grinned, “I know.”

“
I’ll let you feed if you
go away.”

“
Nope, you’ve tried that
before and it didn’t work then either. Besides, there’s a reason
I’m here.”

“
You mean other than
babysitting me?”

“
I’m not babysitting you…
ok… so I kind of am. Sotomar and his… friend… are
acclimating.”

Emily opened her eyes and looked over at
him, “Friend?”

“
Yes, a friend. He came to
help you get your strength back.”

“
What kind of
friend?”

“
A Physical
Therapist.”

“
Any needles?”

“
I don’t know,” Chevalier
said. He began to wonder if he should have asked.

“
If he comes at me with
needles, I won’t be happy.”

Chevalier watched Emily until she fell
asleep on the tile and got up to check on the acclimation progress.
He found Sotomar, Lex, and a servant, on the second-floor landing
with Kralen.

“
How’s it going?” Chevalier
asked, bending slightly to look at Lex. He was an odd color and
seemed to be holding his breath.

Sotomar grinned, “He’s no longer questioning
the need to acclimate.”

“
You’re going to have to
breathe at some point, Boy,” Chevalier chuckled, standing
up.

“
My God,” Lex
hissed.

“
Oh, we know. Mark’s even
tasted it,” Kralen said, grinning, but got quiet when Chevalier
glared at him.

Sotomar’s eyes grew wide, “He tasted a
pregnant Winchester’s blood?”

“
It was an accident,”
Chevalier explained, “But yes, he did… then fought off twelve of us
to get back to her.”

“
Are you ready to move up a
few steps?” Kralen asked them.

Sotomar nodded and Lex just took the steps
slowly. Over the next eight hours, they moved up the stairs until
they were standing in the fifth- floor foyer. Lex was still
straining, but Sotomar seemed to be adjusting smoothly and visited
about how the Valle were recovering from their entire city being
turned to ash.

Within two hours, they were outside of the
bedroom door and Chevalier went in first with Silas and Kralen to
make sure they stayed away from Emily. She was sitting up in bed
reading when they came in. She sat her book down and watched them
as they moved to the bed, blocking the way from her to the
door.

“
What’s going on?” she
asked nervously.

“
Last stage of
acclimation,” Kralen said as he crouched slightly.

Emily sighed and tried to get out of bed,
but turned when she heard a hiss behind her. Sotomar was standing
by a strange heku with his arm on the heku’s shoulder. The strange
heku was crouched slightly, his hands curved into claws as he
watched her.

“
It’s good to see you
again, Dear,” Sotomar said, smiling. Emily frowned at him,
wondering how he could be so calm when this heku was about to
attack her.

Lex slowly relaxed and shut his eyes as he
stood back up. Emily watched him carefully to make sure he didn’t
get out of Sotomar’s grasp.

“
Breathe, Em,” Chevalier
chuckled, and she took a deep breath, her eyes still on
Lex.

“
You… weren’t
exaggerating,” Lex whispered, his eyes still shut.

“
Control, Boy, that’s what
helps,” Sotomar said, and let go of him to walk over to Emily. “How
are you feeling?”

“
Fine… you can go,” Emily
said, trying to get her leg off the bed so she could stand
up.

Sotomar smiled and put his hand out, “If
you’re doing so well, then grab my hand.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to hold
your hand.”

“
He didn’t say hold it, he
said grab it,” Chevalier said, turning away to hide a
grin.

“
If you are too weak to
grab my hand, then just admit it, and we will help you,” Sotomar
told her.

“
Bite me,” Emily
growled.

“
Hmm,” he said, and turned
to Chevalier and whispered too low for her to hear. “Grouchy, you
say?”

Chevalier nodded and smiled.

“
Let me see,” Lex said, and
took her hand. She tried to pull it away, but he held onto it,
“Swelling, atrophy, and weakness, you’re sore too I would
imagine.”

“
I don’t like you,” Emily
said, glaring at him.

“
3 months?” Lex asked,
turning to Chevalier.

“
Yes, no movement at
all.”

“
Hmm, easy enough to fix,
but can be painful.”

“
Know what else can be
painful?” Emily asked angrily.

“
Em…” Chevalier started to
say.

“
My foot up your
ass.”

“
If you could manage that,
I wouldn’t be here,” Lex said, and put her hand in her
lap.

Chevalier smiled when she turned away from
them.

“
So when do we start?” he
asked.

“
I saw a stable. Are there
horses?” Lex asked.

Emily turned slightly toward him.

“
Yes,” Chevalier
answered.

“
Can she ride?”

“
Yes, she can,” Emily said,
irritated.

“
Good, then I say we start
there.”

“
Perfect, on horseback I
can outrun you,” she growled, and tried to stand up, but couldn’t
get her legs to cooperate.

“
Not if we’re on the same
horse,” Lex said, and started for the door.

“
Hey!” Emily yelled when
Kralen picked her up. “Put me down.”

“
Nope,” Kralen said, and
followed Lex.

“
Put me down or I’ll ash
you.”

“
No you won’t,” Kralen
chuckled.

“
Silas, you and Kralen go
with them,” Chevalier said.

“
I trust him with her,”
Sotomar told him.

Chevalier grinned, “It’s to protect him, not
her.”

“
Gotcha, don’t let the
mortal kill the Valle,” Silas said, and headed down the
stairs.

“
Shall we pay Exavior a
visit?” Sotomar asked.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, we’ll take Kyle with
us.”

The Elders walked down toward the prison and
called for Kyle to meet them there. The three gathered inside of
the maximum-security block, but only one could look in at a
time.

“
Exavior, why did you order
the death of Emily?” Sotomar asked angrily.

“
I no longer have to tell
you what I do,” Exavior hissed, looking up from the wall he hung
against.

“
You knew of Emily’s
existence long before the Council did, why did you keep her from
us?”

Exavior grinned, “She was mine to do with as
I wanted.”

“
You tried to turn her ten
times in four days… a child even, you could have killed
her.”