Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (37 page)

“
It’s required that all
involved tell their story,” Sotomar explained.

“
Their story, what happened
to them, isn’t going to affect the outcome… it’s not like you’re
going to set these men free any time soon, and therefore, I’m
begging you to let these two keep their silence,” Emily
said.

“
Why is this so important
to you?” William asked. “You don’t know them.”

“
It doesn’t matter if I
know them or not. No one should be forced to give details of their
humiliation at the hands of monsters,” Emily said, her voice was
tense and passionate.

“
Tradition dictates we make
them tell us,” Sotomar told her.

“
What can I do to make it
so they don’t have to?” Emily asked, and then looked at each of
them.

“
I don’t believe I have a
say, neither of them is Valle,” Sotomar said. “I have no authority
to force them to do anything.”

“
There is nothing you can
say that will force me not to elicit a story from the Encala,”
William said, irritated.

Emily took William’s hand and looked into
his eyes, “Please don’t do this. Don’t force them to tell you
something that shouldn’t be shared with anyone.”

William glanced quickly at Chevalier and
then back to Emily, “Tradition says…”

“
Screw tradition this once…
and please, for me, leave them alone,” she whispered, and the other
Elders were shocked when William’s face softened.

“
Agree to visit the Encala
palace, and I will do as you ask,” William said, watching
her.

“
What? No,” Chevalier
growled.

“
Fine,” Emily told him.
“I’ll agree to a visit.”

“
You can’t let her fall
into the hands of the Encala,” Sotomar said to
Chevalier.

Emily frowned, “He’d be stupid to do
anything. He knows I can wipe out the entire palace. I agree.”

Chevalier growled.

“
We don’t need you to
visit, and I want to hear everything these mortals did to our
kind,” Zohn said.

“
What’s it going to take,
Zohn?” Emily asked, looking directly at him.

“
She just spent 3 months
away from her children to help this species. We shouldn’t ask for
more than that,” Quinn said softly.

“
Name it, Zohn,” Emily
said.

“
No fair,” Zohn told her.
“If I cave, then I’m weak. If I don’t cave, then you’ll hate me
worse.”

“
Then name it, you’d rather
be hated than weak.”

“
Agree to guards again,”
Zohn said, narrowing his eyes.

“
And?”

“
That’s it…”

“
That can’t be all, that’s
too easy.”

Zohn grinned, “Now you owe me one.”

Emily nodded, “I owe you one.”

“
Then it’s settled, we skip
the testimony of the two,” Quinn said.

Emily smiled and stood up to head back into
the council chambers. The Equites went in the back door while
William and Sotomar went to the front entrance.

Before sitting down, Emily addressed the
heku, “The statement of those two will not be heard.”

Liv mouthed a thank you to Emily.

“
That’s it for the
experiments,” Zohn said. “The rest of the heku will be represented
in the kidnapping trial, but won’t be included in the torture. As
we’ve seen, most of them were not tortured in any way, only
confined against their will.”

“
Just kill us and get it
over with,” Cody said.

“
Emily.” Zohn turned to her
and her eyes grew wide, “Are there any charges you need to
add?”

Emily relaxed some, “No.”

“
The verdict will come down
from the Elders then,” Zohn said. “We will meet in the conference
room and return with our decision.”

Emily watched as William, Sotomar, and the
three Equites Elders left the room. She turned back to the heku and
smiled slightly.

Cody dug in his coat pocket when his cell
phone rang.

“
I want it,” Emily said,
and a Thukil guard blurred to Cody and then appeared in front of
her with the phone. “Thanks.”

Emily opened the phone, “Hello?”

“
It’s Madison,” Emily said.
“Yes, his fiancé.”

“
Help!” Cody yelled, but
was suddenly restrained and his mouth was covered by an
Encala.

“
He’s busy, can I take a
message?”

Emily grinned, “All of them? How can all of
the computers be down?”

Cody fought against the Encala and Larry
watched her, afraid to speak.

“
I see. Well… no, I don’t
think we’re coming back,” Emily told the man on the
phone.

“
Really? Every one of the
American V.E.S. leaders will be there?” Emily grabbed the paper
from Chevalier’s desk and started writing on it.

“
Yeah, I’ll tell him as
soon as he’s done,” she said, and smiled. “Sure, I’ll tell him… ok…
bye.”

She hurried and copied the information down
on three more pieces of paper, “Here we go… information for the
American V.E.S. Conference.”

“
Nice, Em,” Exavior said,
laughing.

Emily took the stairs down to the trial area
and handed a copy to Mark, one copy to an Encala General, and gave
the other to Exavior, “There, now we can all get together and call
it an open bar.”

The heku were all looking at the papers
Emily handed out, and missed the swift movement when Larry leapt
from the floor and slammed into her, knocking her to the floor as
he punched her. The Equites saw what happened first, and Larry
found himself in the air as one of them tore him off of her and
threw him into the middle of the rest of the Cavalry.

Exavior knelt down beside Emily, “Are you
ok?”

Emily held her head in her hands and nodded
slightly, “Just give me a sec.”

“
Heku out!” Mark yelled,
and the trial area emptied out suddenly, except for Mark, Silas,
Kralen, and Exavior.

Emily tried to sit up, but Mark held her
down, “Don’t move yet.”

“
Can you be around her
blood?” Kralen asked Exavior.

“
I have control,” Exavior
hissed at him.

“
Don’t fight, I’m ok,”
Emily said, and flexed her jaw.

“
Where is it?” Mark asked,
and felt along Emily’s head. He drew his fingers back, and they
were covered in blood.

“
I think it’s just the
stitches,” Emily told him, and sat up slowly.

“
Let me see,” Dr. Cook said
from behind her.

“
Hey, who called him?”
Emily asked, and tried to get up, but four sets of hands held her
down while the doctor pushed her hair aside.

“
The stitches tore open.
I’ll have to redo them,” Dr. Cook said. He brought out the syringe
and Mark grabbed Emily into a tight bear hug.

“
Let me go!” Emily growled,
and then screamed when the doctor injected her with the anesthetic.
She fought against Mark as the doctor re-did the
stitches.

“
Let her go,” Exavior
growled, and crouched slightly.

“
Back off, she’s fine,”
Silas hissed, matching Exavior’s crouch.

Emily stopped fighting and leaned her
forehead onto Mark’s shoulder. Her head was pounding, and it felt
good to lay it down for a few minutes. The standoff continued
behind her, but her head began to swim and she ignored the threats
and growls from the heku.

The doctor finished and handed Mark a few
pain pills before leaving. Mark held Emily as he watched Silas and
Exavior closely.

“
What’s going on?” Sotomar
growled, stepping into the trial area.

“
Silas, stand down,”
Chevalier said, jumping over the Council’s desk and landing beside
them in the trial area.

Exavior stood up, “You have no right to
restrain her when she says to stop.”

“
She’s none of your
concern,” Silas growled, and stood up.

“
What happened?” Chevalier
asked, pushing the hair back away from Emily’s face. He hissed
softly when he saw the bruise forming on her jaw.

Kralen filled the Elders in quickly as Mark
led Emily to her chair and handed her the pills with some
juice.

“
I don’t want those,” Emily
said, pushing the pills away.

“
Take’em, Em,” Chevalier
said from down by the others.

Emily didn’t feel like fighting, so she took
the pills and downed them with the juice, then leaned her head back
on the chair while the Elders were fully filled in on what happened
in their absence, and the other heku moved back into the trial
area.

Sotomar turned angrily to Exavior, “How does
a mortal get to the Winchester before you can stop him?”

“
We were looking at the
paper,” Exavior said, frowning.

“
That’s what I want to
know! How one slow mortal has the chance to body slam Emily before
heku can get to them?” Quinn growled.

“
It was my fault. Leave
them alone,” Emily said, and looked over at them.

“
I’m not done with you,”
Sotomar yelled, and walked back to the rest of the
Valle.

Emily leaned her head back again and waited
for the trial to resume. She heard snarls and hisses as Cody and
Larry were brought back in. Larry was only partially conscious and
was covered in dark black bruises. The blood caked on his shirt
came from numerous cuts on his face, and one eye was swollen
shut.

“
Order…” Zohn yelled, and
the room fell quiet. “The Elders have decided on a verdict. The
recent assault on Emily will be considered later.”

“
She deserved it,” Cody
snapped.

“
Shut up!” Zohn growled.
“We found you guilty on all charges.”

Cody laughed, “Of course you did. This
entire trial is biased.”

“
Punishment will be as
follows,” Chevalier said, standing up. “The Elders have decided to
house the mortals here in Council City’s prison for the span of 10
years, at which time they will be handed over to the Valle for 10
years, followed by the rest of their lives with the
Encala.”

“
This is all insanity!”
Cody yelled.

“
They are to be fed, given
water and any amenities that will further their lives, to ensure
each faction gets their due,” Chevalier explained. “They will not
be interrogated further, unless more charges come
forward.”

“
The Valle agrees to this
verdict, and the stipulations for the punishment,” Sotomar
said.

“
As do we,” William said.
“The Encala agree.”

Chevalier nodded and sat down.

“
What about charges for the
latest attack?” Exavior asked, still angry.

“
The assault was carried
out by Larry, how do you plead?” Quinn asked, looking down at the
disoriented man.

Larry looked at Cody, confused as to what
was going on.

“
He can’t even talk. He
should be tried later when he can defend himself,” Cody
said.

“
Is that ok with Lady
Emily?” Quinn asked.

All eyes fell on Emily as she slept in her
chair. Her breathing was slow and deep, and her blood had the scent
of medication.

“
What did he give her?”
Quinn asked, frowning.

Mark shrugged, “I didn’t ask, I just gave
them to her.”

Chevalier chuckled, “I think she’s ok with
postponing the assault trial.”

“
I call it postponed then,
everyone is free to go,” Quinn said.

Chevalier stood and picked Emily up out of
her chair, and cradled her gently in his arms. He pressed his lips
softly to her forehead and left the council chambers, still
chuckling softly.

“
I love you, Maddie,” Cody
said, and kissed her passionately, wrapping his arms around
her.

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck,
ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach as she pretended to love
him.

She felt his hands slip under her shirt and
start to unfasten her bra, so she pulled away from him.

“
No,” she said, and pushed
against his shoulders.

“
Don’t tell me no,” Keith
yelled as Cody turned into her ex-husband.

Emily pushed frantically at Chevalier’s
arms. The fight surprised him, and he let go of her as she
scrambled away from him and fell onto the floor.

Chevalier looked over the edge of the bed,
“Are you ok?”

Emily nodded, but stayed on the floor and
looked up at the ceiling.

He reached a hand down to help her up, but
she just looked at him.

“
I felt like I was cheating
on you,” Emily told him.

“
You weren’t,” he said,
still watching over the side of the bed.

“
He kept wanting
more.”

“
I don’t doubt
that.”

Emily turned back to the ceiling, deep in
thought for a few minutes.

“
He started to get mad when
I said no.”

Chevalier nodded.

Emily grinned suddenly, “Mortal men are so
easy to manipulate.”

He chuckled, “I don’t think it’s just
mortals… now get off the floor.”

Emily got up off of the floor and slid back
under the warm covers. She pulled close to Chevalier and laid her
head on his arm.