Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (119 page)

“
She took off,” Dr. Hayden
explained. “The nurse got her blood pressure around noon, and then
went back in at 2 to check on her, and she was gone.”

“
That doesn’t make any
sense… did she take the baby?”

Dr. Hayden sighed, “No, I suspect
Post-Partum Depression… it’s common after having a baby and
depression can cause the mother to no longer want the baby.”

“
I still don’t see how she
would do that. Did anyone actually see her leave on her
own?”

“
Well, no.”

“
Then she could have been
taken?”

Dr. Hayden smiled, “I doubt it. Now’s as
good a time as any to explain the bruises on that girl.”

Chevalier nodded, “Do you have a private
office?”

“
This way,” he said, and
motioned for a conference room. Chevalier followed the doctor in
and sat down.

“
Start talking, I’m about
to call the police,” Dr. Hayden said, crossing his arms.

“
I can’t tell you a lot,
but you know we’re… what did you call it? Well off.”

“
Yes, go on.”

“
You probably noticed that
Emily has bodyguards.”

“
Yes… one that was her
husband a few years ago and now is her brother, while you used to
be her brother and are now her husband.”

Chevalier cringed, “I’ve always been her
husband, sorry about that. The other is because of my work. It puts
her in danger and her guards ran into some trouble. They were
outnumbered, and while they were fighting, Emily was assaulted. We
didn’t call the police, but they have been taken care of.”

Dr. Hayden sighed, “I don’t like it when my
patients show signs of abuse. Do you know that pregnant women are
the number one victims of assault? Though it’s usually the
husbands.”

“
I assure you,” Chevalier
said, “I also don’t like it when someone messes with my wife, and
as I said, they have been dealt with.”

“
When she returns, I’ll
make a decision on how to handle this,” he said, obviously still
angry.

Chevalier sighed, “Can I take the baby home
then?”

“
Sure, he’s doing great,
not a really good eater though. If you find Emily, we need her
back. She lost a lot of blood and we were still doing
transfusions.”

Chevalier waited, deep in thought, while the
staff got the baby ready and brought him out to Chevalier.

“
We still need a name
before we can release him,” the nurse said, gently rocking the
baby.

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide, “Did… did Emily
mention a name?”

“
No, it’s up to
you.”

“
We can’t just call you
later with a name?”

“
No, I’ll need a name
before you can leave.”

Two hours later, Chevalier pulled into the
palace garage with the baby in a car seat behind him. He sighed and
went around to pick him up before going inside. He’d already called
for Anna to come to the palace immediately, and planned on using
Allen to help with the baby until Emily could be found. He went
inside and headed straight for the council chambers with the
screaming baby in his arms.

Quinn smiled, “Oh, you brought him!”

Chevalier frowned, “Didn’t have a choice.
Emily disappeared from the hospital.”

“
She what?” Kyle asked,
shocked.

“
I just need to figure out
if she took off or if she was taken,” he said, sitting
down.

“
May I?” Zohn asked,
putting his hands out.

Chevalier shrugged and handed him over. The
Council watched while Zohn smelled his tiny wrist, making the baby
scream louder.

Kyle grinned, “Like mother, like son.”

“
Hmm, he is full heku,”
Zohn said, and passed the baby back to Chevalier.

“
We told you that,” Kyle
said, shaking his head.

“
Yes, well,” Zohn said, and
turned back to his roster.

“
How do we ascertain if she
left or if she’s been taken?” Quinn asked.

“
She’s not answering her
cell phone, so I’m not exactly sure,” Chevalier told them, and
called for Allen to take the baby.

“
What’s his name?” Dustin
asked.

Chevalier chuckled, “I had to name him
before they’d let me take him…”

“
Oh, heavens,” Kyle said,
cringing.

“
I pulled a name out of
Emily’s dreams… his name is Dain.”

Kyle nodded, “Not bad.”

“
Apparently, if she hates
it, we can legally have it changed.”

***

Emily slowly opened her eyes. It took a few
minutes for her eyes to focus through the drug haze. She looked
around the strange room, confused. When she went to sleep, she’d
been in the hospital. Now she was in a large stateroom with dark
cherry wood furniture and soft purple décor. She sighed when she
saw the dark purple banner above one of the doors, bearing an
intricately decorated ‘F’.

Emily sat up, clutching her stomach. She was
still in a lot of pain from having the baby the day before, and she
felt weak and tired. She was able to sit up on the edge of the bed
and look around the room more. She was alone, but the fire was
blazing and there was food on the table. She turned when there was
a knock on the door.

“
Who is it?” she said,
watching the door.

“
Elder?” a strange heku
asked, coming in. “Did you require assistance?”

“
Who the hell are
you?”

“
Val, Ma’am, I’m the
faction doctor. I’ve been looking over you this
morning.”

“
Yeah? And what did you
find?”

“
You’re still very
weak…”

“
I had a baby yesterday,
moron.”

“
Low on blood, I assume
they were giving you transfusions.”

“
Go away,” she said, and
stood up slowly. She sat down again when the world slipped out from
under her.

“
Elder!” Val said, and
rushed to her side. He put a hand on her leg, “Are you
ok?”

“
I’m an Elder, damnit, when
I say go away… then do it,” she growled.

Val nodded, “Yes, Elder.”

She watched as he left the room and shut the
door behind him. Emily looked again around the room and stood up,
slower this time. She finally made it to the table and sat down by
the food, then lifted the dome off the tray and saw a steak and
potatoes. Sighing, she started to eat, knowing she needed her
strength back. While eating, she went over how to use the Elder
title to her advantage, and soon had a plan for getting back to the
Equites.

Just as Emily finished eating, she heard
another knock.

“
What?” she yelled, and
turned around.

“
I came with your robes,
Elder,” a heku woman said. She came in and hung up a few dozen
purple robes and then bowed before leaving.

A few minutes later, Val returned, “Are you
in pain?”

“
What do you think?” she
yelled at him. She was furious that she was kidnapped again and
planned on making the Ferus regret taking her.

“
Take these, it’ll help,”
he said, and handed her two pills.

“
What are
these?”

“
Tylenol 3s”

“
Ok, go away.”

Emily watched as the doctor left, then
hesitated before taking the two pills and went back to lay down in
bed again. She found a comfortable spot and was able to fall asleep
once the pain began to back off.

“
Elder?” someone whispered,
and woke Emily up.

Emily rolled onto her back and looked at
him, “It’s 2:30 in the morning.”

“
Sorry, Elder, one of our
covens was attacked by the Encala,” the heku said.

“
Then attack them back, let
me sleep,” she said, and rolled over.

“
There are only 12 of them.
The Encala coven is too large.”

Emily sighed and looked back at him, “Then
give me a phone and let me talk to the Encala.”

There was a long pause, “We can’t do
that.”

“
Of course not… are the 12
dead?”

“
No, frightened though. The
Encala warned them and said they would be back.”

“
Tell the 12 of them to
abandon ship and join a larger coven. I’m sleeping!”

“
Yes, Elder,” he whispered,
and left the room.

***

Emily was feeling better. It had been 4
weeks since the birth and she was almost back to normal. She was
heavily guarded in the Ferus Palace, but was mostly able to go
where she wanted and do what she wanted, as long as it didn’t
involve going outside or using a phone. She was trying to gain the
strength to ash all of them and get away.

“
Please, Elder, help us,”
the leader of the eight heku coven said.

Emily sighed, “I’m thinking.”

The Council watched her, sitting in the
middle of the Council platform with an empty chair on each side of
her. She was the only Elder, and therefore, the ruling person,
though the Council kept her from getting away.

“
Ok, so the Equites keep
burning your houses,” she said, still trying to figure out what to
do.

“
Yes, we’ve moved four
times and they keep finding us.”

“
Six attacks by the Equites
and four by the Encala this week. Last week there were eight by the
Valle and one by each the Encala and the Equites. Seems to me like
we need to show them how powerful we are,” Emily said, still
thinking as she doodled on a notepad.

“
How do we do that,
exactly?”

“
Ok, here’s what we’re
going to do,” Emily said, hesitating. “There’s a weakling on the
Encala Council… name’s Fred.”

“
You mean Frederick?” the
acting Chief Enforcer asked.

“
Yes, Frederick… they talk
him up like he’s all mean, but he’s just a pansy, trust me, I’ve
met him,” Emily told him. “Ask around the Ferus that used to be
Encala, and find Fred’s coven… we gather one coven and we go kidnap
them all as a warning… and do it in the middle of the
night.”

“
Kidnap the entire coven?”
the acting Chief Interrogator asked, shocked.

“
Yes”

“
That’s not how things are
done, Dear.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Did I ask you?”

He sat back, “No, Elder.”

“
Wait and watch until Fred
goes back to his coven, and then attack… I want him,
too.”

“
Frederick is one of the
most notoriously vicious heku,” the Chief Enforcer said.

“
He’s a wimp… they build up
stories to make you all afraid of him. He’s a powder puff.” Emily
turned to the Council, and pointed to the white haired heku on the
end, “What’s your name?”

“
Winger, Ma’am.”

“
You will lead the attack.
Let me know when Frederick is in custody. I would imagine he runs
his coven like a pre-school.”

“
Yes, Elder,” he said, and
turned back to the trial area. “Next.”

“
Last for today is this,”
the guard said, pushing a heku to his knees in front of Emily. She
was surprised to see one of the members of her Cavalry knelt before
her, and her eyes grew wide.

“
Ok, what did he do?” she
asked, trying not to meet the eyes of the Equites.

“
The Equites have sent
spies to find you. This one was near here, watching the
palace.”

“
Send him back with a
warning that we’re stronger than they could ever imagine,” Emily
said, and flipped through a book someone handed her full of coven
listings.

“
Yes, Elder,” the guard
said, and drug the Equites away.

“
That’s it for today,” the
Chief Interrogator said.

Emily nodded, “Fine.”

***

“
They did what?” Zohn
asked, shocked.

William nodded, “You heard me correctly.
This rogue band of Ferus attacked Frederick’s coven in the middle
of the night and attempted to kidnap them all, including
Frederick.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Are they insane?”

“
The entire coven?” Quinn
asked, frowning. “During the nighttime even?”

“
Obviously, the Encala had
no losses and Frederick is livid. He killed the Commander, and so
we have no real information,” William said.

“
Why exactly are you
telling us this?” Zohn asked.

“
It seemed to us, the
Encala Council, that these attacks were planned by someone not
skilled in combat or the ways of the heku,” Reese told
them.

“
There have been some weird
things coming from the Ferus, things we’ve never seen before from a
heku coven,” Quinn said, turning to Chevalier.

“
I agree. When’s the last
time you saw a group of heku hold up a convenience store to steal
chips?” Aaron said, amused.

“
It has to be,” Chevalier
said, shaking his head. “How do we prove it?”

“
She’s sending us signals.
She knows no heku would knock over a store… we just need to figure
out where she is,” Quinn said.

“
Frederick killed all of
them?” Zohn asked.