Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  ***

  The ceremony took longer than expected. Seven hours to swear in a new Coven Head was pushing it, and all three Elders were eager to return to Council City. With the city at imminent war, it made them all uncomfortable to be away for that long. Equites 1 hovered over the palace before gently setting down. The pilot cut the engines, and the Elders stepped out to a long line of guards.

  “It just seems… that if we are asked to come to a new Coven Head’s coronation, they should drop the daily announcements and other random coven business, and bring it up at a later date,” Maleth said, irritated, as they stepped into the palace.

  “Maybe we should specify that the next time we’re invited,” Quinn suggested, slipping off his green robe.

  The Elders stopped and listened when they heard the shouting.

  “Run Mark!” Emily screamed.

  “I can’t, you attack him. I’m busy with this one,” Mark replied, frantically.

  “Don’t attack me! I will always win,” Kyle said, and laughed menacingly.

  “I’m hurt,” Emily yelled.

  “Die, Emily!” Damon yelled, and then laughed.

  Chevalier and the Elders blurred into Emily’s room, and then stopped suddenly. Kyle, Damon, and Marked turned around quickly and stood at attention. Emily peered at the Elders from a wheelchair by the TV.

  “Welcome back,” Emily said, smiling.

  Chevalier frowned, “What’s going on?”

  “Erm… Vampire Attack IV,” Kyle said, stifling a grin.

  Maleth frowned, “Excuse me?”

  Chevalier laughed, “Did you buy her a game console?”

  Mark nodded, “She was bored, Sir.”

  “But… I heard Damon threaten Emily,” Maleth said, still confused.

  Chevalier took Maleth to the TV, and showed him what was going on. The large LCD TV was displaying a dark, destroyed village. The stereotypical vampire was running around aimlessly, while four dead, bloody bodies lie in the streets. Above the heads of the deceased were the names: Emily, Kyle, Mark, and Damon.

  “It’s a game,” Chevalier said, frowning. “A bad one at that.”

  “It’s fun!” Emily laughed. “I think Damon cheated, though. He only attacked me when I had vampires all around.”

  “That’s not cheating, that’s strategy.” Damon grinned.

  “At least our team was winning,” Mark said.

  “Was not.” Kyle laughed. “We had you both dead before the zombies even got out of the graveyard.”

  “The zombies were pansies,” Emily said. “They ran from the vampires, at least the big ones… the little ones they could take out though.”

  “This is just weird,” Quinn said, and left the room.

  Emily squinted her face at him after he left, “No fun.”

  “Hmm,” Chevalier said, walking around the wheelchair. “What did they have to do to get you into that?”

  Emily smiled, “They bought me a game, of course.”

  “It only seemed logical. Now she can easily maneuver around her room by herself,” Mark said, looking at it. The footrest on the right was lifted to accommodate the cast on her right leg, and a pillow was propped under her left arm, which was no longer in a cast.

  “Where’s your cast, Em?” Chevalier sighed.

  “It was bugging me,” she said, looking down at her arm, propped up on a soft pillow.

  “Who took it off?”

  “I’m not telling.”

  Chevalier turned to Mark.

  “It was off when we got back here with the Wii,” Mark said quickly.

  “So we leave for the night, and you all decide to play games?” Chevalier asked.

  “It was purely tactical,” Emily said. “Now if I’m ever attacked by vampires, I know to stay away from Damon and the zombies.”

  “Hrm,” Damon said, laying down the remote controller.

  Maleth lifted the controller and looked at it, then at the screen, where a small human avatar was being eaten by enraged, computer controlled vampires, “Interesting.”

  “We… better get back to work,” Kyle said, nodding to Mark, and they both blurred out of the room.

  Silas knocked on the door and came into the room carrying a pizza box, “Did someone order pizza?”

  Emily smiled, “How’d you guess it was me? Allen, come eat!”

  Allen ran out of the bedroom in his pajamas, and grabbed a slice from Silas before running back into his room with it. Silas laid the box down on the table and left the room. Emily picked up a piece, and took a bite of the pepperoni, olive, and pineapple pizza, and then looked up at Chevalier, Maleth, and Damon, who were watching her.

  “Um... did you want some?” she asked, holding up a slice.

  “No, I think we’re all good.” Chevalier smiled.

  “Then why are you watching me?”

  “To try to figure out how you can eat something so disgusting,” Damon said casually.

  Emily frowned, “Pizza is not disgusting. Now that salty coagulated blood… that is nasty.”

  “Says the mortal,” Damon said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Leech”

  “Child”

  “Psychopath.” Emily threw a slice of pizza at him just as he started to turn away, and it smashed into the side of his face.

  “Control your wife,” Damon said to Chevalier.

  “Get bent,” Emily yelled at him.

  Damon threw his hands up in the air, “What does that even mean!?”

  “Out,” Chevalier said, pointing to the door. Maleth took Damon by the shoulder and ushered him out, then shut the door.

  Emily pushed the control on her wheelchair and it slid silently over to the gaming console. She turned it off and then drove over to Chevalier.

  “It’s actually kind of fun,” she said.

  Chevalier chuckled and sat down on the bed, “Did Mark talk to you?”

  Emily nodded, “Yes.”

  “So… let’s start with the answer to his request.”

  “I agreed to two, not four, and they have to stay outside of my room. They also have to leave me alone when I go riding,” she said. “Oh, and if I tell them to get lost, they have to.”

  “Were those the only conditions?” he asked, chuckling.

  “No, it can’t be Damon… ever.” Emily thought, “I think that was all.”

  “But you honestly agreed to two?” Chevalier asked, just to clarify.

  She sighed, “Yes, I did.”

  “What did you ask in return… dare I ask?” he asked, watching her.

  “Well the Wii was one of them, or, more like something to do. I get a palomino and a paint stallion when I am up and around. Kyle’s not allowed to give me any more uninvited shots, and I can talk to Exavior whenever I want,” she said, listing the bribe.

  “That’s quite the list,” Chevalier said.

  “Yes, well… it was quite the demand, too,” Emily told him.

  “True, I don’t like a few of the listed items though.”

  “Like what?”

  “The shots… sometimes they are necessary, and you are just too stubborn to see that,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Emily frowned, “That one stays.”

  “What about Exavior? Why would you even want to see him?”

  “He didn’t know my back was hurt, nor did he know that picking me up like that aggravated it,” she said.

  “He still had no right to do what he did,” Chevalier said sternly.

  “I agree.”

  “Then why?” Chevalier was confused.

  “Because… that’s why,” Emily said bluntly.

  “That helps.”

  “Live with it,” she said, frowning. She drove her wheelchair into the bathroom, and tried to slam the door, but it hit her back wheels.

  “No fighting, ok? Let me bring it up to the Council and see what they say.”

  “Why do they get a say in it?” she asked, backing out of the bathroom.

  “Just the
Exavior thing.”

  “No Exavior… then no guard,” she said, and lowered the footrest on her wheelchair. Chevalier helped her to her feet and turned her around, sitting her in bed.

  Emily laid back and relaxed on the bed, “Long day.”

  “How’s your back?” he asked, folding her wheelchair out of the way.

  “Sore, but not too bad,” she told him, and pulled the covers up.

  Chevalier kissed her forehead and turned the lights off, then headed for the door. He still had a lot of work to do.

  “Chev?” Emily asked softly.

  “Yes?” he asked, turning around.

  “Will you stay?”

  Chevalier smiled and slipped off his shoes, then crawled onto the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head against his shoulder.

  “Don’t let go,” she whispered, and snuggled down into the bed.

  “I won’t,” he promised and kissed her softly.

  Emily slipped quickly off to sleep. Chevalier smiled as he shut his eyes and saw the swirl of emotions surround his thoughts. He hadn’t been able to feel her emotions since she’d removed the ring, and he forgot how much he missed it. The soft swirls were peaceful and flowing. He watched as the swirls slowly formed into images.

  Chevalier shivered in the cold. The wind howled above him, and he felt the ice cold water drench the back of his clothing as the snow he laid on melted. There were piles of twisted metal and blood all around him. He couldn’t breathe well, there was something lying against his chest.

  Chevalier put his hands under the metal on his chest and pushed it off, easily. He sat up and looked around. He was in a long dark corridor. He felt a cold hand against his leg, but the scream he heard wasn’t his own. He pulled his leg back, desperate for the skeletal hand to release him.

  A skeleton slowly crawled toward him as it spoke, “I am Encala.”

  Chevalier felt fear, a foreign emotion for him, yet it surrounded him in this place. Blood began to flow from the ceiling and soon the snow was dyed red.

  Chevalier felt Emily’s hands tighten against his arm, and she cried out softly in her sleep. He opened his eyes and felt her body tense against his. He touched her cheek lightly.

  “Shhhh,” he whispered into her ear, and she settled down.

  Chevalier shut his eyes again and rested his cheek against the top of her head. He saw the dark corridors swirl back into flowing, soft emotions, and smiled. He opened his eyes just as Emily started to wake up. The emotions and random thoughts had stopped and began to fade.

  Emily opened her eyes and smiled, “You stayed.”

  “I told you I would,” Chevalier reminded her.

  “Let’s just stay here all day,” she said, curling up against him.

  Chevalier chuckled, “It’s trial day. I don’t think the Council would appreciate if I stayed in bed all day.”

  “What? They can’t punish the innocent without you?” she mumbled.

  “We don’t punish the innocent,” he said, amused.

  “When’s the last time a trial found someone innocent?” she asked, sitting up slowly and wincing as her back complained.

  “Just because we don’t arrest the innocent,” Chevalier said as he reached over and grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. He held out two of them to her.

  “Thanks” Emily said, and took them.

  “I’ll be back tonight. We have a full list today,” Chevalier said, standing up.

  Emily nodded, “No problem, Allen and I are going riding.”

  Chevalier turned, “You sure you’re supposed to do that?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Your back though,” he said, concerned.

  “I’ll keep Patra at a walk, I promise,” she said, smiling. “Tell Damon I said he’s an idiot.”

  Chevalier chuckled and left the room.

  “Sam, get Patra and Damnit ready, please,” Emily called out. Sam came out of Allen’s room and smiled.

  “He’s excited to go out,” Sam said, and left the room.

  “Allen, get some breakfast,” Emily called out, and she stood up slowly and stretched.

  “What’s for breakfast?” Allen asked, stepping out of his room. He was dressed in jeans, a western cut shirt, small black cowboy boots and a small black Stetson.

  “Why… don’t you look handsome,” Emily said, sitting down in the wheelchair.

  “Aww, Mom,” Allen sat at the table.

  Chapter 3 - Rescued

  Emily drove her wheelchair to the door when she heard a knock, and let in the servant. He sat their breakfast on the table and was out of the room before she even turned around.

  “Eew, eggs,” Allen complained.

  “Eggs are good for you,” Emily told him, wheeling up to the table.

  “Do we get to race today?”

  “Not today, Hun. When my back is better, I’ll show you how fast Patra is,” she said, and grinned.

  When they were done eating, Emily drove her wheelchair out into the foyer and then used her crutch to stand up. She looked down the long flight of stairs, five floors worth, and started down them slowly.

  “Ma’am?” one of the guards said as they followed her.

  “Yes?”

  “May I… assist?” he asked nervously.

  Emily thought about it, and then nodded, “Sure, then you two are off. I ride alone.”

  The guard nodded and picked her up, carrying her swiftly down the stairs. He sat her down on the ground floor, and the two guards left for the barracks. Emily hobbled out toward the stables while Allen ran ahead, and was visiting with Sam when she got there. Sam bowed to Emily, and then left, going back into the palace.

  “Ok, up you go,” Emily said to Allen. He hopped on a bale of hay and then slid onto Damnit’s saddle.

  Emily walked up to Patra and looked up at the saddle, “Ok, so I didn’t think this through,” she said, smiling slightly at Allen.

  Emily gasped when she felt strong hands on her waist lift her up into the saddle.

  “Thanks,” she said, turning toward the strange heku.

  He nodded and left, nervously.

  “Walk him,” Emily told Allen as she clicked her tongue and brought Patra into a smooth walk. It felt good to be out with the mare again. There was an exhilarating sense of freedom in being out on a horse. Emily and Allen made their way slowly through the streets of Council City and out onto the hills.

  “Run Damnit to the trees and back,” Emily said, smiling.

  Allen took off quickly, kicking Damnit into a fast gallop. Emily watched him proudly. At five, he was already handling a horse like a seasoned cowboy. Allen brought his horse to a stop about halfway back to Emily, and she kicked Patra into a walk to meet up with him. She wasn’t sure why he stopped.

  As Emily approached Allen, she saw a group of people heading toward them.

  “Are they heku?” Allen asked.

  “I don’t know,” Emily said. “If I tell you to run, you kick that horse and get into the town, ok?”

  “Ok,” he answered.

  Emily sat tall on Patra as the twenty mortals walked up to her.

  “Hiya, Ma’am,” the front one said to her.

  “Hello,” she answered, politely. It was strange to see a large group of mortals so close to Council City.

  “Just out for a ride?” he asked, smiling.

  Emily nodded. She got an uncomfortable feeling as she watched the mortals. She jerked Patra hard when she saw one of the mortals take the reins on Damnit, and another on Patra.

  “Get out of here, Allen!” she yelled, and then kicked the horse, but the mortal already had control of the stallion.

  Emily was pulled off of Patra, and she screamed when her back spasmed.

  She saw Allen in the arms of one of the mortal women. Suddenly, Emily was in the grips of a large mortal man. She struggled against his muscular arms, but couldn’t get free as she was led to a black van, parked alongside the road.

  ***

/>   “Sir,” Mark said, stepping into the trial area. Quinn was about to chastise him for barging in on a trial, but his voice was urgent.

  “What’s wrong, Mark?” Maleth asked.

  “Patra and Damnit were just found wandering outside of the city. Emily’s guards said she and Allen are out riding,” Mark said quickly.

  “Take some guards out and search the woods. They probably got off of them to do something, and the horses took off,” Chevalier said. He felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. Emily knew better than to leave her horse un-tethered, and he couldn’t imagine her walking a lot with her back hurting.

  As soon as Mark left, Damon stood up, “So we are all in agreement that you are guilty of treason, by means of fraternizing with an Encala.”

  The heku looked nervously up at the Council, “I told you, I didn’t know his faction.”

  “It is your responsibility to know his faction.” Damon glared. “Five years for that.”

  A guard came and removed the heku from the trial area.

  “Shall we break?” Maleth suggested. He knew Chevalier was anxious to go out and look for Emily, himself.

  “Yes, that sounds good,” Quinn agreed.

  “Damon,” Chevalier said, and headed out of the council chambers, followed by the Chief Enforcer.

  “You don’t think she wandered off, do you?” Damon asked. He was proficient at reading body language.

  “Emily wouldn’t get off of Patra without tying her up,” Chevalier said as they blurred to the hills outside of town.

  “When do we officially call this what it is then?” Damon asked, looking around at the guards searching the area.

  “Thirty minutes, then we label it a kidnapping,” Chevalier sighed.

  “Encala or Valle?”

  “I guess… both,” he said.

  Chevalier watched carefully as the guards came back with no sign of Emily. The thirty minutes passed too quickly, and Damon went back to the Council to alert them of her kidnapping.

  Quinn frowned, “Send diplomats to both the Encala and the Valle, see if we can ascertain where she is.”

  Damon nodded and left for the barracks.

  Chevalier stayed out through the night, searching for clues to her whereabouts. He knew that Kyle had led a group of guards to the Encala Council, and one of the Generals had led his troops to the Valle Council to try to get information. They were due back in a few hours, and Chevalier waited impatiently for them. Just after the sun rose, he returned to the palace and stepped into the council chambers.