Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (97 page)

“
Guards!” Chevalier
growled, fighting to hold onto Mark as he hissed and growled,
clawing to get to Emily. The bathroom filled with the Cavalry and
the fight continued. Emily couldn’t breathe, too afraid as Mark
managed to fight off heku after heku, all the while watching her
and snarling. Chevalier finally managed to break Mark’s neck, but
he was healing quickly and it took ten of the Cavalry to haul him
out of the palace.

Chevalier leaned over, his hands on his
knees, panting. The others were slowly healing and crawling to
their feet. Emily pulled a towel off the rack and pushed it against
her neck, then laid down on the cold tile floor to catch her
breath.

“
Either we have the best
Captain of the Guard… or the rest of us are weak,” Kyle said,
grinning slightly.

“
I told him my wrist,”
Emily said angrily.

“
I’ve never seen one heku
fight off 12 others,” Chevalier said, slightly
impressed.

“
Did it work though?” Zohn
asked.

“
I’ll go see,” Kyle said,
and disappeared from the room.

When Emily looked up, the rest of them were
healed and standing against the walls, trying to calm
themselves.

Kyle came back, “Oh it worked alright. He
was almost attacked by one of the guards in the barracks.”

“
Seriously?” Quinn asked,
frowning.

“
Yes, the guard even went
for his neck, but the Cavalry stopped him.”

“
Now we just need to give
him about a week to acclimate the staff. Can you stay in your room
for that long?” Zohn asked.

Emily finally got to her feet, “A week?
Yeah, I guess.”

“
If he’s done sooner we’ll
let you know.”

“
Make sure the guards don’t
get mad at him,” Emily said.

He chuckled slightly, “Mad? No… jealous
maybe.”

“
Jealous?”

Quinn laughed slightly, “Dear, you have no
idea.”

“
Lucky bastard,” Zohn
chuckled, and stopped when Chevalier glared at him.

“
Can we not?” Chevalier
asked, and walked with Emily back into the bedroom.

“
I should go talk to him,”
Emily said, and started for the door.

“
No!” Kyle yelled, and then
smiled slightly. “You can’t be around Mark for a bit.”

“
Why not?”

“
He… um… it’ll take him a
while before he can keep control around you.”

“
You didn’t have a hard
time.”

“
You weren’t pregnant,”
Kyle said. “It’s 1,000 times worse.”

Zohn shut his eyes and inhaled, “I wonder if
it tastes as good as it smells.”

Emily gasped, “Ok… everyone out.”

Chevalier chuckled as the others hesitated
and left.

Emily smiled at him when they were alone,
“Now, no more masks.”

“
Let me see your neck?”
Chevalier asked, pushing her hair away from it.

“
It doesn’t
hurt.”

“
You’re lucky, most
wouldn’t have the control to do it gently.”

Emily pulled away from him, “That’s why I
wanted it to be Mark if you couldn’t.”

Chevalier sat down and pulled her onto his
lap, “That wasn’t a nice thing you did to Mark though.”

“
What’d I do?”

“
Used your… feminine wiles…
to get your way.”

“
I did not.”

Chevalier laughed, “Yes, you did.”

“
You’re imagining things,”
Emily told him, and leaned her head against his neck.

He kissed the top of her head and then
sighed, “Do you want to talk about the aging thing?”

Emily looked up at him, “Did you know?”

“
No, we aren’t used to
people aging, so I don’t think any of us noticed.”

“
Exavior did.”

“
He didn’t see you every
day like we did. It might have been more noticeable to
him.”

Emily sighed, “It’s just going to take time
to sink in I think.”

“
Some might see that as a
good thing… being 20 years old for eternity.”

“
Yeah, well, they may not
have spent a good part of the last fifteen years being kidnapped,
tortured, injured, and assaulted.”

Chevalier chuckled, “That’s true.”

Emily crawled out of his lap when someone
knocked on the door. Chevalier looked and then stepped aside when
Allen came in with a tray.

“
I was heading up anyway
and brought…” Allen froze in place. His eyes shut as he inhaled.
When he opened them, they fell onto Emily and he crouched, dropping
the tray with a loud crash.

“
Allen, no!” Emily screamed
as Chevalier pinned him to the wall. After a brief struggle,
Chevalier dragged him out of the room and slammed the door behind
them.

Emily knelt down by the spilled tray and
started to pick it up, hoping Chevalier wasn’t going to injure
Allen.

Chevalier could hear the guards laughing
about something when he burst through the doors. Allen was well
over 6 feet tall, though a lot shorter than his Dad. He wasn’t as
strong, but he was fighting and hissing to get back to his Mom.

“
Him first,” Chevalier
said, holding a restraining arm around Allen.

Mark turned and took a slight step back as
Allen turned his eyes towards the Captain, and a low growl erupted
from him. Suddenly, Allen began to claw at Chevalier, trying to get
to Mark.

“
Down, Boy,” Mark chuckled,
and went to the other end of the room.

“
Don’t blame him. I’d feed
from you myself if you’d stop fighting,” one of the City Generals
said, laughing.

“
Ha-ha, not my idea,” Mark
said.

Allen finally calmed down and stood up, out
of breath, “I’m sorry.”

“
It’s ok, Son,” Chevalier
said. “We’ll acclimate you and it won’t happen again.”

“
Mom’ll ground me for
sure,” Allen sighed. “Now I’ll be mucking stalls for a
week.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Just take a step
closer.”

“
What happened?” Allen
asked, taking a timid step closer to Mark, his Dad’s arms still
restraining him.

“
Your Mom’s going to have a
baby, you just don’t remember the scent,” Chevalier
said.

“
What did you do to Mom?”
Alexis yelled, running into the room.

Allen turned to Alexis, “I didn’t do
anything.”

“
She’s upset,” Alexis said,
and the look on her face was so much like Emily’s angry face, that
Chevalier smiled slightly.

“
Why blame me?”

“
Because you’re a moron,
and I heard you hiss at her from up the stairs.”

“
Alex, leave him alone,”
Chevalier said. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“
Go away, Alexis, you have
no idea what you’re talking about,” Allen said, turning back to
Mark.

“
Just because you’re older
and bigger doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you…”

“
Get lost, Alexis, I’m not
telling you again.”

“
You two calm down,”
Chevalier said, just before Allen turned to ash. “Damnit,
Alex.”

“
Come on, Lexi,” Silas
said, trying not to grin. “Let’s go back inside.”

Alexis stuck her tongue out at the ashes,
and then went with Silas.

“
Yet you keep bringing them
into this world,” Zohn said, walking into the room with
Kyle.

“
Very funny,” Chevalier
said. “Besides, this one was an accident.”

“
Have any been planned?”
Kyle asked, pulling the dagger from his pocket.

“
Not really, come to think
of it… wait… we talked about another when she got pregnant after
Allen,” Chevalier said. “So technically, Alex was
planned.”

“
Technically,” Zohn
chuckled.

“
Gah, can’t you stop her?”
Allen asked after recovering from the revival.

“
Sorry, she’s just having
little sister issues,” Chevalier explained.

“
Mom’s having
another?”

“
Yes”

“
If it’s a girl, I’m
joining the Valle,” Allen said, and turned back to Mark,
irritated.

“
Don’t worry about it, odds
are this baby won’t make it either,” Zohn said, leaning back
against the wall.

“
Zohn…” Chevalier
growled.

“
I can’t believe you just
said that,” Kyle said angrily.

“
Well think about it… she’s
been pregnant, what… four times, and has only 2 children,” Zohn
said. “The odds aren’t in her favor.”

“
Six times,” Kyle said, and
then shut up when Chevalier glared at him.

“
My point exactly,” Zohn
said.

“
Let’s count up how many of
those were caused by outside influences,” Chevalier said,
irritated. “Keith, the Ancient, the heku in the barn, and stress
from leaving us… that means if we keep outside influences away, she
should be ok.”

“
Well Keith is gone… as is
the Ancient, but there will always be a heku in the barn, and
stress is part of her everyday life,” Zohn said.

“
This time is different,”
Chevalier said, taking another step toward Mark. “She’s agreed to
see a doctor regularly, and follow his instructions. The Valle and
Encala won’t be attacking, and she’s agreed to guards, which would
alleviate the heku in the barn issue.”

“
Agreed to guards? For now…
we’ve heard that before.”

“
I got it, Dad,” Allen
said, walking the rest of the way up to Mark. “How did you get
Mom’s smell?”

Mark looked at Chevalier, “We’ll explain
later, let’s go feed.”

“
Can I drive?” Allen asked,
grinning.

Chevalier grinned, “If you don’t tell your
Mom.”

“
Things look good, Emily,”
Dr. Hayden said, smiling at her. He sat down and went over her
chart. “We’ll see you once a month until your third trimester, and
then it will be once a week.”

Emily nodded, wringing her hands. She was
always nervous in a doctor’s office.

“
Any questions?”

“
Just… well… can I still
ride horses?”

“
Do you ride often?” he
asked, looking at her over his glasses.

“
Yes, a lot,” Emily told
him.

“
Then, yes. Don’t pick up
anything new, but if you’re already doing it, it’s fine,” he
said.

“
Can I get a note for my
husband?” Emily asked, grinning slightly.

Dr. Hayden laughed, “Sure, I’ll write Kyle a
note.”

“
Well… actually… I’m not
with Kyle anymore. I’m with the other guy, Chevalier.”

Dr. Hayden frowned, “Your brother?”

Emily grinned, “He’s not my brother.”

“
Well, good… do you fight
with the new husband a lot?”

“
Yeah, kinda, I have a bit
of a temper.”

He scribbled a note on a prescription pad
and handed it to her, “Our goal this time is no stress… I’m still
positive that’s what the miscarriage was last time, so keep it
down.”

“
How’s the blood
pressure?”

“
Good so far, but I know
your history, so we’ll watch it. How’s morning
sickness?”

“
Nothing yet, any chance
I’ll skip it?”

Dr. Hayden smiled, “Not really. This is
probably none of my business... but those three men you came in
with… they look like bodyguards.”

Emily grinned slightly, “They are.”

“
Hm, interesting, ok… I’ll
see you in a month.”

Emily nodded and returned to the lobby where
Silas and two other members of the Cavalry were waiting. The fourth
was waiting in the Jeep, making sure no one did anything to the car
while they were away. She made the follow-up appointment and then
followed the guards out to the Jeep.

“
Do I get to drive?” the
Cavalry member in the driver’s seat asked.

“
I don’t drive like a
grandma!” Emily said, crawling into the passenger’s
seat.

He grinned and drove off toward the
palace.

“
Tacos!” Emily yelled, and
pointed at a taco place. The guard pulled in and she ate while he
drove to Council City.

“
Here you go, Em,” Silas
said, handing her a piece of paper.

“
What is this?” she asked,
taking a bite of the taco.

“
The
proclamation.”

“
Gah, I’d forgotten,” she
said, and finished her taco. “Best get it over with I
guess.”

Silas, Emily, and two guards got out at the
front door while the driver put the Jeep away. They walked her up
to the Council doors.

“
Yes, Lady Emily?” Derrick
asked.

“
I need to see the
Council.”

“
Go on in, they were just
finishing up.”

Emily nodded and turned, “You coming
in?”

Silas grinned, “We’ll wait for you out
here.”

She sighed and walked in, blushing when
everyone looked up at her.

“
You ok, Em?” Chevalier
asked.

“
Yes, I have a proclamation
for the Council.”