Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (82 page)

“
I’m not sure what’s more
alarming,” Quinn said. “The fact that you were willing to hand a
Winchester over to a rogue faction, or the fact that you were
willing to kill her.”

One of the Equites looked at Chevalier, “I
wouldn’t kill her or kidnap her. I would give my life to protect
her.”

“
Damn I hate to see Equites
guards lie to the Council,” Zohn growled. “I’m more irritated at
that than the attempted murder.”

“
Sir,” Derrick said,
stepping in. “There’s been an attempted escape… do you want to deal
with this now or later?”

Chevalier sighed, “Now, this is getting
old.”

The Council chambers filled with the smell
of Winchester blood as Emily and Allen were brought in, both with
their hands cuffed behind them. Emily glared at the Council, and
Allen jerked away from the guard that was guiding him. They were
both forced to their knees at the side of the guards.

“
How did she try to escape
now?” Quinn asked angrily.

“
Out the ancient’s room.
She and Allen crawled through the bar window and attempted to take
Equites 2,” Derrick said scathingly.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “You can
fly?”

Allen nodded, “You’d be amazed at what I can
do.”

“
Take him to the prison.
I’ll interrogate him later,” Zohn hissed.

A guard came and forced Allen out of the
room and all eyes turned to Emily.

“
What to do with you…”
Quinn said, sighing.

“
How about you start… by
kissing my ass,” Emily said angrily.

“
Before we punish you, do
you know yet if you are with child?” Sotomar asked, sounding
hopeful.

“
Oh… I know,” Emily said,
grinning.

“
And?” William asked,
irritated.

“
And… it’ll be a cold day
in hell before I tell you anything,” Emily yelled.

“
Restrain her to the bed.
See how she feels after a day with no food,” Quinn ordered, and the
guards drug her away.

Chevalier watched, pleased, while the seven
treasonous guards watched with wide eyes as the Council sentenced
Emily and Allen.

“
Back to you…” Chevalier
said to the guards. “I trust Zohn, if he says they are lying, then
let’s sentence them.”

“
Wait! Please…” one of the
Valle said. “We are innocent.”

“
No you’re not! Now shut
up,” Sotomar growled.

“
I suggest that we
immediately banish all but one,” William said. “Then we’ll send one
of them back to Exavior with a message… he’s not getting
her.”

“
That’s not a bad idea,”
Quinn said, raising his eyebrows.

“
I concur, let’s do it,”
Chevalier said.

“
Wait,” the Valle guard
said again. “I’ll go… I know where to find him.”

“
Traitor!” the Encala
screamed at him.

“
I will deliver the
message,” the Valle said.

“
Fine, send the spineless
one back to Exavior,” Sotomar said. “I want nothing to do with him
anymore.”

“
Tell your Master that the
three factions will never honor the presence of a fourth, and that
he’s never going to see Emily or the children again,” Quinn hissed.
Derrick came in and escorted the Valle out.

“
Now… how to banish these
seven when our Chief Enforcers are back on Island Coven,” Zohn
asked.

“
Will she?” Sotomar asked
Chevalier.

Chevalier shrugged, “Depends on her
mood.”

Quinn stood up and disappeared from the
council chambers, and the room fell silent while they waited.

“
If she understands the
situation…” William said, and then stopped talking when all seven
fell to ash instantly.

“
That’d be a yes,”
Chevalier chuckled.

“
It’s quite amazing. She
doesn’t even have to be anywhere near them,” Sotomar said,
impressed.

“
Derrick?” Zohn
asked.

“
Yes, Sir,” Derrick said,
coming in and looking at the ashes.

“
Ancient’s room, please,”
Zohn said.

“
What’s up with Emily and
the ancient’s room?” Sotomar asked, turning to Chevalier. “Seems
you all keep asking her about it, and she blushes at the very
mention of it.”

Chevalier chuckled, “She was being poisoned,
and started having panicked hallucinations, and the worst was about
the ancient’s room. She even turned all three of us to ash when we
took her in there.”

William gasped, “She turned the three
Equites Elders to ash?”

“
Yes… and won’t even give
us a hint about what she thought the room was for,” Quinn said.
“Quite frustrating, it was such a big deal for months… and years
later, we still don’t know.”

“
Is she that stubborn?”
Sotomar asked.

“
More so,” Zohn said, and
watched as guards came and collected the ashes.

“
You two were even
involved, unbeknownst to you,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“
Me? How?” William
asked.

“
In her hallucinations, you
confirmed the ancient’s room to be… whatever it is… she thought it
was,” Chevalier explained.

“
Let’s go ask her. She’s
restrained upstairs,” Zohn said, standing up.

“
Good luck,” Chevalier told
him, and headed up to the bedroom.

Emily looked over from the TV when the heku
walked in. Zohn was leading them and was grinning
mischievously.

“
What?” Emily asked
suspiciously.

Chevalier checked the restrains and noticed
they weren’t tight at all. She’d be able to slip them
instantly.

“
We have a question for
you,” Zohn said, positioning himself on the bed so he could see her
closely.

“
Ok”

“
What did you think the
ancient’s room was for?” Zohn asked, focusing on her
eyes.

Emily grinned, “You seriously still
wondering that?”

“
Yes,” Zohn
said.

Emily’s grinned dropped and her eyes
narrowed, “You’re interrogating me on it?”

“
Yes”

“
I’m not
telling.”

“
Was it a torture
room?”

Emily pulled from her Encala training and
watched him, not moving.

“
Feeding?”

She just stared at him.

“
Damnit,” Zohn said,
frowning. “You’re frustrating.”

Emily grinned, “Amazing what you can learn
after a few hours with a Chief Interrogator.”

William chuckled.

“
Just tell us,” Quinn said.
“We won’t laugh.”

“
No”

“
Does anyone know? Anyone
at all?” Sotomar asked.

“
No,” she told
him.

“
She is stubborn,” William
said, amused.

“
Go away, I’m watching a
movie,” Emily said, and turned back to the TV.

“
I thought she was being
punished? Lying in bed watching TV isn’t punishment,” Zohn said,
looking over at the movie.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “You can leave
now.”

Zohn walked over and turned off the TV.

“
Hey,” Emily
yelled.

“
No food or TV,” Zohn said.
“This isn’t a game… you will learn obedience.”

Emily glared at him.

Chevalier went over to Emily’s table when
her cell phone rang. He grinned and opened it when he saw the
caller ID.

“
What do you want,
Exavior?”

“
Hand the phone to my
wife,” Exavior said angrily.

“
Your wife? No… she’s…
well… tied up at the moment,” Chevalier told him.

“
Do it… now!”

“
No”

“
I will not allow you to
torture my wife! Consider yourself warned,” Exavior said, and
disconnected the line.

Chevalier chuckled and set the phone down,
“He warned us about torturing his wife.”

Emily rolled her eyes.

“
Keeping it in the family,
is he?” Sotomar said, and left Emily’s room, irritated.

Chevalier stayed as the rest of them
left.

“
Hey… turn my TV back on,”
Emily said.

“
Discipline, that’s what
you need,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“
Burning… that’s what you
need,” Emily told him. “Turn on my TV.”

Chevalier chuckled and flipped the TV back
on before leaving. He went down quickly into the prison and stopped
at Allen’s cell.

Allen looked up at him and glared, “Go
away.”

“
Strange, that’s what your
Mom just told me,” Chevalier said, grinning. He knew Allen was in
on the plan, but figured a few days in prison might be good for
him, as long as Emily didn’t find out.

“
Just let us go,” Allen
said angrily. The fierceness in his voice shocked Chevalier, and he
had to remind himself that it was all an act.

“
See how you like
starvation, Son,” Chevalier growled, and disappeared up the
stairs.

***

Emily opened her eyes slowly and pulled the
covers up over her shoulder, then jerked when she realized she
wasn’t restrained anymore, and quickly slipped her hands back into
the soft leather wrist cuffs. She was anxious to get today over
with. She was to slip out today and hopefully, by the end of the
day, Exavior would no longer be a problem.

She stayed in bed and watched the fire. The
signal for her escape was when a servant came to put one of the
fires out, and as soon as he left, she would have a small escape
window. She sighed, hungry from not being able to eat the night
before. Food was left under her bed, but her nerves were too strung
to even try to eat.

She waited, listening to the sounds of the
palace, but it seemed eerily quiet. She wondered if the Elders were
also feeling nervous and maybe the servants and guards picked that
up and were on their best behavior.

“
M’Lady, I need to put out
a fire, per the Elders,” a nervous heku said, coming into the room
and glancing at her.

“
Whatever,” Emily sighed,
but her insides jumped and she glanced out the window. The day was
bright and sunny. She couldn’t see any clouds in the sky. The
servant left a few minutes later and shut the door behind him.
Emily caught sight of Silas and Kralen outside of her door just
before the door latched.

Emily shut her eyes and took a deep breath
before slipping her hands out of the restraints and untying her
legs. She quickly pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, but left her shoes
off. She needed to be able to hold onto the rope with her toes.

As planned, today was laundry day, and the
hamper was full of sheets. She began tying them together quickly,
leaving knots along the way, similar to the sheet she used to
escape the castle on Island Coven. Once she had enough, she tied
one end to the bed and pushed it against the window.

Emily scooted out onto the edge, the one she
used to climb over to the drainpipes with, and gripped it with her
toes while she got a good grip on the sheet rope. She checked
behind her. There were usually two or three groups of guards she
could see from her window, but today they were absent.

She hoisted herself onto the sheet and fell
a few feet before she was able to wrap the sheet around her feet
and get a tight hold. She caught her breath and rubbed her hands
from the sheet burn, and then started down as quickly as she could,
keeping a watch over her shoulder. She knew the Elders were waiting
for her to escape. She’d heard them talking in the hallway about
how she may try to leave by wiping memories or ashing along the
way. She knew her method would catch them off guard, and that was
part of the fun.

Emily’s feet hit the ground and she peeked
around the corner of the palace. There were guards a hundred yards
away, but they were looking out toward the trees. Crouching
slightly, Emily ran to the stables and grabbed the snake rattle
before taking a bridle into her stallion’s stall. She knew he was
faster than anything the Thukils had, and she needed to be able to
outrun them if they chased her. She slipped the bridle on and
hoisted herself up bareback onto the dark brown stallion.

Creeping out slowly, Emily emerged from the
stables and saw the heku guards heading for her, yelling. She
kicked the stallion and he jumped into a gallop out of the city.
She heard hoof beats behind her, but they were slowly fading by the
time she passed the gates. The gate guards yelled and jumped toward
her, but missed, and she was soon heading full-speed toward the
trees.

Emily’s heart was racing when she hit the
tree line, only a short distance to go before she came into the
clearing the guards used for parties. She gripped the snake’s
rattle in her hand and emerged into the clearing, but slipped her
hand out of her pocket when she saw the line of heku blocking her
from going further. She pulled the horse to back-up and scanned
them. They wore dark purple capes and none looked familiar.

The stallion reared back, but Emily stayed
on, no longer sure she wanted to fake a fall or an injury with them
all surrounding her. She turned and saw them move towards her from
all sides, and she started to panic.

“
This is the girl you
desire?” a heku asked, stepping forward. He had a malicious smile
and gray hair that Emily had only seen before on
ancients.