Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (117 page)

“
The Ferus have attacked
four times in the last week,” William explained. “We don’t know how
they are infiltrating our city, but they seem to…”

Chevalier stood up suddenly, his body tense.
The Council turned to him as he blurred from the room. Mark, Silas,
and Kralen had heard it too, and followed him out, immediately
joining in the fight. The stables filled suddenly with Cavalry and
council members.

Once the heku on Emily was able to knock her
unconscious for a few seconds, he picked her up and quickly headed
around the fighting to the door. He backed up, watching to make
sure no one was around him, and ran directly into Sotomar and
William.

“
Going somewhere, Son?”
William asked angrily.

“
Come here, Child,” Sotomar
said, and took Emily from the Ferus. She leaned her head against
his shoulder. She could taste blood in her mouth and her jaw was
throbbing. William grabbed the heku and restrained him while the
Equites took care of the rest of them.

When the fighting slowed down, Sotomar
headed into the palace with Emily, calling for ice bags and
ibuprofen. He laid her down on the bed and handed her an ice bag,
which she put against her jaw.

“
Ferus?” she
asked.

“
Yes, the Ferus,” he said,
and turned when he heard Chevalier, William, and Mark come in the
bedroom door. They were covered in blood and standing
defensively.

“
Why? I thought I’m an
Elder. Shouldn’t they be nice to me?”

“
To them you are an Elder
who has been kidnapped, and they will do whatever it takes to get
you back,” Chevalier explained. He sat down and lifted the ice bag
and hissed.

“
Was anyone
hurt?”

“
Just you, Dear,” William
said. “We still have the one that assaulted you, so we can…
discuss… matters with him.”

Emily sat up, “I’ll discuss it with
him.”

“
No,” Chevalier said, and
gently pushed her back onto the bed. “No more ashing.”

Emily returned the ice pack to her cheek,
“What made you think I was going to ash him?”

Sotomar chuckled, “I saw that one coming,
too.”

Mark came up to the bed and handed her
orange juice.

“
Thanks, I hate the taste
of blood,” Emily said, and took a drink.

William grinned, “Ahhh… what we would
give…”

“
Silas and Jaron are
outside of your door,” Chevalier said, standing up. “We have some
business in the council chambers.”

“
Wait,” Emily said, and sat
up. “I want to go.”

“
You’re protected here,”
Mark told her.

“
I’m not afraid… I want to
see what the little git has to say,” she told them, and sat up
slowly. She took the ibuprofen off the table and downed them with
the orange juice, then stood up slowly and started for the
door.

“
Did he hurt your back?”
Sotomar asked, frowning.

“
No, why?” Emily asked, and
turned around to face him.

“
You’re walking
strangely.”

Emily started toward Sotomar, but Chevalier
took her arm and led her toward the door, “He didn’t mean
that.”

Sotomar turned slightly as Mark whispered an
explanation about the baby dropping. The Valle Elder grinned and
followed everyone down into the council chambers.

Chevalier stopped outside of the back
entrance to the council chambers and turned to Emily, “No ashing,
promise me.”

Emily sighed, “Ok, I promise… unless
he…”

“
No, none,” Quinn said
sternly.

Emily grumbled as she walked in, “Don’t do
this Emily… don’t do that Emily…”

Chevalier chuckled and walked in behind her.
She took the seat beside Chevalier and looked out. The Cavalry was
assembled, and one lone heku was knelt in the center of the trial
area.

“
What the hell was up with
that?” Emily yelled, leaning forward so her elbows were on the
desk.

Zohn smiled, fighting a laugh, “Please let
us question him.”

Sotomar and William came into the trial area
and stood behind the Ferus.

“
Let’s start simple, how
did you get into the city?” Quinn asked as the room fell
silent.

“
I’m not going to tell you
anything,” the Ferus said.

“
We have ways to make you
talk.”

“
I’m not afraid of
you.”

Emily frowned slightly, “Wait… I’m your
Elder, am I not?”

The Ferus looked at her, “Yes, you are.”

“
Fine then… answer his
question, I order you.”

The Council all turned back to the Ferus to
see if that would work.

The heku paused, unsure what to do, and then
policy dictated he answer, “We come in through the tunnels at the
farmhouse.”

“
Those are guarded,” Quinn
said.

“
We have our ways,” the
heku told him.

Emily sighed, “How?”

“
Elder, we shouldn’t be
telling these things,” the heku told her.

Emily leaned forward, “Tell me, now.”

The Ferus sighed, “The night guards, Phillip
and Scott, they are Ferus.”

Zohn nodded to Mark, and he disappeared from
the room.

“
How do you get into the
Valle and Encala cities?” Emily asked, leaning back. She shut her
eyes and took a deep breath.

“
Em?” Chevalier asked,
touching her arm.

“
Suckers,” she whispered,
and within a few seconds, had a bag of candy on the table in front
of her. Chevalier opened one and handed it to her.

“
She asked you a question,
Boy,” William said, smacking the Ferus on the back of the
head.

He knelt silently and watched Emily as she
popped the sucker into her mouth and began to relax. She opened her
eyes after a few minutes.

“
Answer me,” Emily
said.

“
All of the night guards in
the Valle city are Ferus,” he said, downtrodden. “The gate guards
for the Encala are Ferus, all shifts.”

“
You’re kind of like
cockroaches aren’t you? Reproduce like crazy and hard to get rid
of.”

“
If you take your place as
our Elder, we can be strong,” he said, looking at Emily.

“
Kyle?” Emily asked,
leaning forward.

“
Yes?”

“
If Silas over there beat
the crap out of Zohn, what would the punishment be?”

“
What? Wait…” Silas said,
but Zohn held his hand up for him to be quiet.

“
Instant death,” Kyle said.
“No question.”

“
Sotomar, same question for
the Valle.”

Sotomar nodded, “That would be death.”

“
William?”

“
I’m sure we’d interrogate
and then kill,” William told her.

“
So… what makes you think
you should live after assaulting an Elder?” Emily asked the Ferus
as he glanced around the room, starting to panic.

“
I was trying to save you,”
he told her softly.

“
From…”

“
The Equites.”

“
How does assaulting the
Elder save her from us?” Kyle asked.

“
She needs to get away from
you, to her rightful place as Elder, and we will do anything to
achieve that.”

“
That’s stupid,” Emily
said, frowning.

“
You are too young to know
what’s good for you. You need to trust those of us that care about
you and take your place on our Council.”

“
Emily!” Quinn yelled when
he saw her concentrating on the Ferus.

She looked at him, “I wasn’t going to
completely turn him to ash.”

“
Let us punish him,” Quinn
told her.

“
How is it that the Ferus
are so easily infiltrating the guard staff of the three factions?”
Emily asked, confused.

“
There are four factions,”
the heku hissed.

“
Hey! Watch it, Moron, I’m
your Elder,” Emily yelled, and the heku sat back on his feet. “Now
answer me.”

“
The Valle were easy, Elder
Exavior already had supporters and followers.”

Sotomar was visibly upset at that
information.

“
And the
Encala?”

“
They were the hardest out
of all 3 factions,” the Ferus explained. “They soon realized that
we would become a superpower in the heku, and chose to join us with
little coercion.”

It was obvious to the Equites Council that
William was ready to tear the Ferus to shreds.

“
The Equites then, they
were easy?” Emily asked him.

“
Yes, almost as easy as the
Valle.”

“
How so?” Quinn
asked.

“
Part of the Elder’s place
with the Ferus was a discipline program. Through punishment and
humiliation, she would learn to respect the heku and would become
stronger and more able to lead us.”

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “Do what?”

“
Punishment and
humiliation? What exactly did you have planned?” Zohn asked,
shocked.

“
What did we have planned?
The plan isn’t over… it’s still waiting for her,” he explained. He
ignored the others and watched her eyes.

“
Stop it!” Emily shouted,
and stood up. “Stop trying to control my mind, it doesn’t work on
me.”

William slammed his knee into the side of
the Ferus’ face, crushing in his skull. He fell to the ground,
slowly recovering as blood poured out of his mouth.

Emily turned to leave, pulling her hand out
of Chevalier’s when he tried to take it. She slammed the door
behind her, and headed up the stairs as four members of the Cavalry
fell in behind her.

Quinn looked down as the heku healed, “I
hesitate to banish or kill you. You have too much fun information
for us.”

“
Next I’d like some
numbers… how many Ferus are there, for instance,” Zohn
asked.

The Ferus healed and slowly got to his
knees, “My Elder is no longer here to order me around, you’ll get
nothing.”

“
I don’t need Emily to get
information,” Chevalier said as he stood up and hurdled the desk,
landing in front of the Ferus.

“
The Ferus won’t stand for
this!” he yelled. Chevalier grabbed him by the neck and blurred
toward the interrogation room.

“
We’ll see what he can get
out of the Ferus… I just hope he gets information before he kills
him,” Zohn said.

Emily appeared in the trial area door as she
pulled on her riding gloves, “Cavalry mount up. Kyle, wanna
ride?”

“
Sure,” he said, and
appeared at her side.

“
Ever been on a horse?”
Emily asked William and Sotomar.

“
No, but I’ll go,” William
said, and followed some of the Cavalry out.

“
I think I will wait here
for word from Chevalier,” Sotomar told her.

When Emily got out to the stables, her
stallion was already saddled and waiting for her by the post. She
pulled her hair up into her black cowboy hat and turned.

“
Silas?” she called
out.

Silas came out and grinned. He put his hands
on her waist and lifted her up onto the tall stallion. She took the
reins and waited for the others. Once the others were ready, she
led them out of the city and onto the hills, keeping a close eye on
William.

“
Not going to fall off,
right?” Emily asked the Elder.

William grinned, “Don’t think so.”

She dug around in her pocket for another
sucker and then watched as the Cavalry raced across the field.

“
Why don’t you race?”
William asked.

Emily looked over at him and smiled, “That a
challenge?”

“
Doesn’t seem fair, I’m not
good on a horse.”

“
Then race me… my horse
against your feet.”

“
Don’t do it,” Kralen told
the enemy Elder. “She has the fastest horse.”

“
It’s on… what do I get if
I win?” William asked, climbing down off of his horse.

“
I’ll wear a red cape for a
week,” Emily said. “If I win, you have to wear a green cape for a
week.”

“
You’re on, Tiny,” William
said, and grinned.

Silas shook his head. He couldn’t believe
they’d made a bet.

“
Count it down, Kralen,”
Emily said. “First to hit the trees wins.”

“
In 3… 2… 1!” Kralen
yelled.

Emily kicked her stallion and he lurched
into a smooth gallop. William quickly took the lead, but she soon
caught up. She could hear the Cavalry cheering her on, and she
leaned forward and grinned as she passed him. She kept her eye on
the trees and felt the stallion push harder, his racing instincts
kicking in. Just after she passed the first tree, she turned
quickly, and saw William catch up to her.

“
Damn, that’s a fast
animal,” William laughed.

“
Silas… your cape please,”
Emily said, and he slipped it off and handed it to
William.

“
This is going to be fun to
explain,” he said, and slipped the green cape over his red
one.

Emily turned away from their playful
bantering when the pain hit. She held steady to the reins and
breathed through it, not wanting them to know.