Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (48 page)

Emily took a long, hot shower and pulled on
her robe before heading out into her room. Chevalier’s orders were
clear, the Equites guards were to remain within sight of Emily at
all times, even when she was in her bedroom. She walked out and sat
in the vanity chair to dry her hair. She kept nervously glancing at
the garment bag as she put her hair into a looped knot with soft
curled tendrils that fell down to the middle of her back.

Emily finally got up the nerve to open the
garment bag and was pleasantly surprised. The color was off, it was
Encala red, but that didn’t surprise her. The body was tightly
fitted and decorated with knots and swirls of satin sashes and the
skirt was floor-length and made of layers of soft, shimmery, fluid
material. The sleeves were simple, gathered straps that draped over
her shoulders and fell to a plunging back.

She slipped into the dress and pulled on the
red heels that came with it, then turned to the mirror and cringed.
Red heads were never to wear red, but Emily figured no one told the
ancient species that small bit of fashion.

Emily came out into the bedroom to look in
the full-length mirror, and saw the guards watching from behind
her. She blushed when she saw the look on their faces, and suddenly
had the image of hundreds of heku looking at her, and she shivered
slightly.

“
They have begun and are
waiting for you,” JV said, trying not to look at her for too
long.

Emily sighed and turned to them, “What do
you think?”

“
Erm… nice?” Russ asked,
afraid to say anything else.

Emily frowned, “Nice?”

“
What?” he asked
nervously.

“
This is going to be
weird,” Emily told them. She hated not knowing her guards. She
wasn’t able to talk to them or joke with them, these two were very
serious.

“
Shall we go?” JV
asked.

Emily nodded, “Sure, but I get your
arm.”

“
Ma’am?” Russ asked, his
eyes wide.

“
Your arm… I’m holding it
all night,” Emily said, and wrapped her hands around his
arm.

“
I’m not sure that…” he
started to complain, but Emily stopped him.

“
Shut up and do it,” Emily
said sternly. She walked out of her room, still holding Russ’s arm,
and was followed down the stairs by the five other guards. She
could hear the music and voices coming from the ballroom and felt
her stomach tie into a knot.

Guards in red velvet robes stood outside of
the ballroom and opened the door when she neared. Emily looked
inside and turned to leave when she saw hundreds of eyes turn
toward her and the room fell quiet. The guard behind her grinned
and shook his head, so she turned slowly, gripping Russ’s arm
tightly and stepped into the decorated ballroom.

“
Ahh, here she is,” William
said, extending a hand out to her. Emily hesitated and let go of
her guard’s arm to take his hand. She was blushing deeply and aware
of the soft murmurs that ran through the crowd.

“
You look lovely, M’Lady,”
Elder Aaron said, softly kissing her hand.

“
So good of you to join
us,” Elder Reese told her, smiling. The Encala Elders stood beside
her while coven dignitaries filed past her, kissing her hand and
smiling at her. Some passed by her with just a nod, nervous about
her reputation to turn heku to ash, while others looked over her
with fascinated awe.

“
So nice of you to come.
What brings you to the Encala?” one of the dignitaries
asked.

“
Just a vacation,” she
replied, smiling.

He laughed and walked away from her when he
found someone in the crowd to talk to. The next heku in line looked
at her sternly.

“
You caused quite an uproar
in my coven,” he said angrily, and Elder William glared at
him.

“
I’m sorry,” Emily said,
not quite sure what he meant.

“
You may be here in the
palace right now, but if you come near my coven, we’ll hold you
responsible for the death of one of our mortals,” he told
her.

“
Nicholas…” William said
warningly.

“
She killed a mortal we
were turning, an important one,” the dignitary said, still watching
Emily.

Emily sighed, “I’m sorry about that. That
was when the Ancient channeled through me. I didn’t mean to kill
anyone.”

“
Sure you didn’t… stay away
from my coven, that’s a warning,” he said, and walked away from
her.

Emily suddenly felt exposed. Even with
William beside her, she felt the eyes on her as the mad Coven
Leader walked way. Some moved away from her, afraid her temper
would spike and she would turn them all to ash.

“
Don’t worry about him,
Dear,” Elder Aaron said. “We will handle him at the next council
meeting.”

“
I didn’t mean to hurt the
mortal,” Emily said, starting to panic.

“
We know that,” William
said.

“
You turned me to ash,” a
heku said, turning toward her.

Emily’s eyes grew wide, “I…”

“
She turned most of us in
this room to ash,” another said, laughing.

“
Yes... but I’m not happy
about it,” the first heku said.

Emily took a step back as more of the Encala
moved toward her. The Encala Elders moved in front of her, and she
felt the guards form a barrier that she couldn’t see past.

“
Stand down,” William
growled. “She is our guest.”

“
She caused pain to most of
us… her being here is an insult,” he told the Elders.

Emily felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder
from one of the Valle guards, “It’s ok. We can handle them.”

“
No,” Emily said, pushing
through the Elders. “I have something to say.”

“
Now may not be the time,”
William told her.

Emily stepped forward, “You have no idea
what you’re talking about. Did you know that your ancient was my
father? Did you know that he killed my mother and my brother? Did
you know he used the pain ritual on me? Did you know that he killed
my baby?”

“
Well… that doesn’t…” he
started to say.

“
Yes it does matter. He
channeled to me, harassed me, and tortured me. When I killed your
mortal it was because I couldn’t control what he caused… a channel
to him,” Emily said. “After he killed my baby, I came to the Encala
to deal with him. I’m sorry you were all involved, but I’m not
going to take it lightly when someone messes with my
family.”

“
It wasn’t our fault that
happened to you,” he said.

“
No, it wasn’t... but had I
ashed your Council, would you have let me go?” Emily asked,
crossing her arms.

“
Well…”

“
The answer is no. I know
it caused you pain to be revived, but I hurt worse than you’ll ever
know. I still live with the death of my baby,” Emily said, tearing
up. “I’m not ash happy, and I don’t have any plans on turning any
of you to ash. William is my friend and I won’t do anything to hurt
him.”

“
We… didn’t know…” he said,
looking down at the ground.

Emily turned to leave, but Elder Aaron took
her arm, “Stay, please.”

William smiled warmly, “Stay.”

Emily nodded and moved back by the guards.
The Valle put his hand back on her shoulder. She watched as the
room returned to the happy murmur as Coven Leaders visited among
themselves. She stayed quiet and watched closely. Some started
dancing with the few female heku in the room, and an area was made
for a dance floor.

Emily froze when William extended his hand,
“Come… dance with me.”

“
No… I can’t…” she said,
but he took her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. She was
again amazed at how the heku always seemed to be excellent dancers,
and William was no exception.

“
I didn’t realize you
considered me a friend,” he said as he led her through the slow
dance.

“
Why wouldn’t you be?” she
asked, glancing nervously toward her guards. “Unless it’s because
I’ve ashed you, too.”

William chuckled, “You have, more than
once.”

She was shocked when William dipped her,
grinning, and then brought her back close against him.

“
I’d rather you not punish
that heku,” Emily said, glancing quickly at the door.

“
He was out of line,”
William told her.

“
Still, that’d be one more
reason to hate me.”

“
He threatened you, and it
has to be dealt with.”

Emily looked over at her guards again, and
her eyes grew wide. They were all holding drinks. She wondered if
only the Equites had the no-drinking policy with their guards, as
the Encala didn’t seem to mind their guards drinking. She knew Kyle
and Mark would both be livid if they knew their guards were
drinking inside of an enemy faction’s palace.

William followed her gaze and grinned, “They
aren’t hurting anyone.”

“
I know, it’s just…
surprising,” she said.

“
May I cut in?” Elder Aaron
asked, smiling.

William spun Emily toward him, and she was
suddenly in his arms, dancing across the floor.

“
Are you enjoying
yourself?” Aaron asked.

“
Sort of,” Emily said,
smiling slightly.

Aaron smiled, “Don’t let them bother you.
The majority of those here don’t hold a grudge.”

“
Are you sure about
that?”

“
Positive,” Aaron said,
pulling her closer to him with a strong hand against her lower
back.

“
He’s still watching me
though,” Emily said, glancing at the angry heku.

Aaron looked over at him and she saw the
heku leave, “There.”

“
What did you tell him?”
Emily asked, irritated that she couldn’t hear what was being
said.

“
To leave… so is there
anything you would like to do while you are here?” Aaron
asked.

Emily smiled slightly, “How much do your
palace guards hate me?”

“
They don’t.”

“
I need to learn how to
punch. I keep breaking my hand.”

Aaron started to laugh, “Have the Equites
not taught you?”

“
They keep saying they
will.”

“
Do you hit often?” he
asked, amused.

“
Well… define
often.”

“
Enough said. I’ll get our
Captain to show you. We also heard that you play a mean game of
football.”

Emily blushed and grinned, “I do.”

“
You may have to show us,”
Aaron said, and spun Emily into Elder Reese’s arms.

“
Oh, hello,” she said,
shocked.

Reese smiled, “Sorry, you may not have heard
me ask.”

“
Excuse me one second,”
Emily said, and pulled away from him. She slipped a finger in the
strap of her shoes and pulled them off, tossing them over to the
wall. She then returned to Elder Reese as he laughed.

“
What?” she
asked.

“
You’re not very tall, are
you?”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not short.”

“
Of course not, Dear,” he
said, and deftly spun her, then returned his hand to her
back.

“
Heels and dancing don’t go
very well together,” she told him.

“
I would imagine
not.”

Emily glanced back over at her six guards,
and they were all taking another drink from the heku servant. She
wondered how many they’d had so far, and then decided she probably
didn’t want to know.

After the song finished, Reese returned her
to her guards, “Your dinner is ready in the dining room.”

Emily nodded and glanced at her guards. They
were all holding new drinks. The Encala guards showed them to the
dining room.

“
Go back to the ball. I’m
ok here,” Emily told them. Without another word, all six heku left
and went back to the ball.

Emily turned back to her dinner, shocked
that the guards left her when she asked. She wasn’t sure what the
food was, but she started to eat, hungry from the dancing. She ate
slowly, enjoying her time alone, and she wondered what they would
do if she went out for a walk by herself.

She finished her dinner and then went out
into the palace alone. She was looking for a clock, but also
enjoyed being alone and able to explore. She opened a set of double
doors and looked down into the grand hall where she was once
shackled to the wall and turned over 1800 of this faction into ash.
There were torches burning to show her way, so she shut the doors
behind her and walked slowly down toward the Council’s chairs.

Emily sat down in the chair once occupied by
her ancient father, and looked around the quiet room. From in here,
she couldn’t hear noise from the ballroom. All she could hear was
the soft hiss as the torches burned. She noticed the shackles they
once used on her were still hanging from beside the Council
chairs.

She looked up when she heard the doors open,
and William appeared. He smiled and blurred down to where she was
sitting and sat down beside her.

“
It’s weird, being in
here,” Emily said, looking at the rows of empty chairs.

“
I bet… things were quite
different back then,” William said, watching her.