Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “A private one?”

  “Of course.”

  Emily glanced at the bathroom door. She remembered the look on Exavior’s face when he’d seen her in Chevalier’s arms, and decided the shower wasn’t a good idea, “No thanks.”

  “Don’t be difficult, just go shower,” Exavior said, and sat down.

  “No”

  “Fine, be dirty if you want.”

  “Please, let me go,” Emily asked him, and sat down across from him. “If you care about me at all, you’ll let me go.”

  “I can’t, I won’t break the Council’s decision.”

  “What exactly do you want? Just tell me. You didn’t take on my care just for your health,” Emily asked, watching him carefully.

  “Maybe I just want to be around you.”

  “Something you could have done without kidnapping me.”

  “I didn’t kidnap you, that was a council decision. I just took it upon myself to make sure you were taken care of.”

  “I find it hard to believe that I was kidnapped for killing 20 Valle that obviously, I didn’t,” Emily said, glancing at the window.

  Emily gasped when Exavior fell to his knees in front of her and took her hands, “Please, let me care for you. Let me treat you like you should be. I know you miss your Equites, but they haven’t come close to treating you like you should be. Just let me have this.”

  Emily pulled her hands out of his, “You have no idea how well the Equites treat me, and what they’ve put up with from me.”

  “I love you. I’ve loved you since I saw you walk down the aisle in New Mexico,” he said, and took her hand again to kiss it softly.

  “Exavior, I’m sorry… but I don’t love you,” Emily said. She was so shocked, she didn’t realize how quickly she had said that.

  “You will,” Exavior told her angrily, and left the bedroom. She heard the door lock from the outside.

  Emily got up and walked around the bedroom. There wasn’t a fireplace, but it was warm and cozy. The bed was soft, but she refused to lie down. She looked out the window, studying the side of the building. She couldn’t see any way to get out of the bedroom through there. She was six floors up and there were no hand-holds or pipes to crawl down.

  She went through the closets and drawers, but all she found were frilly dresses and high heeled shoes. She pulled them all out of the closet and tossed them out the window, watching as they floated to the grass below. She saw an overhang above the front doors of the palace and tossed all of the shoes onto it.

  ***

  Chevalier and Kyle looked up when Exavior walked in, obviously angry, “She’s not coming back. Emily has decided to stay in the stateroom.”

  Exavior slammed the door and walked out.

  Kyle grinned, “And so it begins.”

  “I wonder what he did to make her mad,” Chevalier said, and shrugged.

  The door opened again and six heku came in, “You two, come.”

  Kyle and Chevalier stood up, and each was guarded by three Valle as they walked down the corridor. The guards backed off when the Equites walked into the trial area. Zohn turned to them and nodded as they stepped up to stand by the other Equites.

  “Where is Emily? We asked for all three of them,” Zohn asked angrily.

  “Well you get two, Emily is busy,” Sotomar said. “So tell us why we are here.”

  “We’ve decided to give in and exchange Ingram and Selhman for the three Equites that you have,” Zohn told them.

  “We accept,” Sotomar said.

  “Good, bring Emily here and we will arrange the exchange.”

  “Oh, Emily isn’t an Equites, but we will exchange your Elder and Chief Enforcer for Ingram and Selhman.”

  “Emily is too an Equites,” Chevalier growled. “Just ask her.”

  “Mortals can’t claim a faction.”

  “She’s more than a mortal, and you know it.”

  “Yes, we agree she has special abilities, but is still a mortal, therefore, not factionable,” Sotomar said, and glanced to the Valle Elders.

  “We aren’t leaving here without Emily,” Kyle said, and Chevalier’s eyes narrowed at the Valle Elders.

  Sotomar chuckled, “If you ask her, she no longer wishes to be with you.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Fine, but I want to hear it from her.”

  “She doesn’t want to see you,” Exavior said, stepping into the council chambers and taking his seat with the Valle Council.

  “Then no deal. Unless we hear it directly from her that she doesn’t want to return,” Zohn said.

  “Take them,” Sotomar said. Chevalier and Kyle were forcibly dragged from the room.

  ***

  Emily turned when the door opened. Exavior looked around the room and shut the door, “Do you feel better now?”

  “Maybe,” Emily said, looking at the destroyed room.

  Exavior tossed a dress to her, “Put that on.”

  “No thanks, I’m good,” she said, and started to toss the pink dress out the window. Exavior blurred to the window and caught it.

  “That wasn’t a suggestion, put it on,” he said, and shoved it back into her hands.

  Emily glared at him and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She changed quickly, aware that he could break the lock easily. She held up the dress and sighed. It was a low cut, floor-length, pink a-line with thin spaghetti straps and diamonds embroidered into the fitted body. She cringed as she walked past the mirror and then emerged into the bedroom.

  “Beautiful,” Exavior said, and walked around her, smiling.

  “Not really my style,” she told him, and glared at him.

  “Sit, someone’s coming to do your hair,” Exavior said, and pulled up a chair.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “You will see,” he said, and took her hand, kissing it softly.

  “Good, I hope my hair matches the bruise you put on my arm,” Emily said, and sat down.

  She sat, impatiently, while a heku worked frantically on her hair. When she was finished, she got approval from Exavior and left the room, locking the door after her.

  “Go and look,” Exavior said, and offered her his hand. She stood up without help and glanced in the mirror, her eyes growing wide.

  “What the hell?” she asked. Her hair had been twisted onto the top of her head and was used to secure a diamond tiara.

  “Now, this… is how a Winchester should be dressed,” Exavior smiled.

  Emily tried to take off the delicate diamond crown, but her hair held it tightly in place.

  “Come, we’re attending a ball,” he said, and held his hand out. “I would suggest you behave tonight too, or we may have to punish your cell mates.”

  Emily frowned and took his hand. He led them down several corridors and staircases, and then through a set of double doors into a large banquet hall filled with heku. They all turned to look at her and she felt her skin crawl. She was very much mindful that everyone looking at her was a Valle. She flexed her hands as they began to tingle. She was suddenly aware that wherever Chevalier was, they were using electricity on him.

  Sotomar came up to them and kissed her hand as Exavior smiled, “You look lovely, Dear. So glad you decided to join us.”

  Emily smiled politely and kept repeating to herself that she was protecting Chevalier and Kyle. She politely nodded to each of the dignitaries that Exavior led her to, and stood silently as they commented about her beauty, or mentioned how helpful it would be to have her abilities in their faction.

  “Emily, I’m Elder Ryan, so good to finally meet you,” a heku said, and kissed her hand.

  Emily nodded and smiled, afraid her voice might give her irritation away.

  The banquet hall fell quiet when the building began to shake. The sound of landing helicopters filled the palace and Emily couldn’t help but smile. She felt the tension building within the banquet hall as Valle guards streamed into it and Exavior pulled Emily into the protective circle
with the Council. She crossed her arms, excited to see who was causing so much tension in the Valle ranks.

  Emily felt her heart leap when she saw the green uniforms of the Thukil Cavalry. They were followed by a massive Council City Army. Darren spotted her almost immediately, and he grinned and headed the Thukil Cavalry towards her. Exavior let go of Emily and began to fight one of the Equites guards. Emily stepped back away from the fighting and ran out into the hallway. The corridor was deserted. All available hands were fighting in the banquet hall.

  Emily pulled up the long hem of her dress and started to search frantically for the prison. She remembered landmarks from inside the palace and tried to follow them from memory. When she found her stateroom, she knew she was on the right track.

  She opened a door and came face-to-face with the long corridor full of cells. She began to search for electrical controls. Emily found the control room and started flipping all of the switches. The menacing sound of pulsing electricity faded, and she looked around for the control keys. She was able to reach them after climbing on a chair and then she quickly ran back to the corridor.

  Emily opened each door. If they were Equites, she told them of the fight in the banquet hall, if they were Encala, she told them they had 5 minutes to get out of the Valle city. Emily turned around when she’d opened the last cell and glanced down, all of the doors were opened, but she hadn’t found Chevalier or Kyle.

  One of the Encala turned around on his way out of the corridor, “What’s wrong? Get out of here.”

  “I can’t, I don’t see the ones I came with,” she said, and looked at him frantically.

  The Encala turned around toward the exit, and then ran back to her, “There may be more cells down here, come.”

  Emily followed him through an adjacent corridor and they emerged in another row of cells. The Encala quickly shut off the electricity and Emily used the keys to go through each cell.

  “You’re Emily, aren’t you?” the Encala asked, and she felt a panic rising.

  She nodded at him.

  “Ok, go check for them,” he said, and she repeated what she had done with the previous hallway. The Encala took off quickly while the Equites headed deeper into the palace.

  “Nothing, still,” Emily said to the Encala.

  He sighed, “Come on, let’s keep looking.”

  Emily nervously headed down a dark stairway, following what she realized was an enemy, but she was desperate to find Kyle and Chevalier. The Encala opened a door and crouched, hissing angrily.

  She ran up behind him and saw four Valle guards crouched to attack him. They fell to ash instantly, and the Encala stood up and looked at her, shocked. She pushed past him and started to turn off the electrical current. It wasn’t until she got into the corridor that she saw there were no cells here, just heku shackled to the walls in various stages of starvation.

  “Emily, no,” the Encala said when she moved to one of them. “He’s starving. He won’t be able to resist your scent.”

  Emily frowned and looked at the one she was about to release. His eyes were fixed on the throbbing vein in her neck, “I can’t leave them.”

  “Go get the ones that aren’t this bad off. I’ll move these ones,” he told her.

  Emily nodded and ran down further. She touched the face of a heku and he looked up at her, shocked.

  “Encala or Equites?” she asked softly.

  “Encala,” he said, and she could tell he thought she would leave him there. She reached up and unlatched his shackles.

  “Get out of here, do you hear me? Run,” she said, and he blurred out of the corridor.

  Emily moved up to the next one, and then the next one, releasing each and giving orders to either run or join in the fight. She released the last heku and turned to the Encala that was helping her. He had already let go the last of the first batch.

  “Still not finding them?” he asked her, frustrated.

  Emily shook her head, “No.”

  “I smell…” she saw him cock his head slightly to the side and inhaled. “There’s more down here.”

  Emily frowned and frantically looked around.

  The Encala suddenly took off, and Emily ran after him. She almost ran into him in the dark corridor, but light appeared when he opened the door. Emily walked in and gasped. The room was full of electrified heku, horribly in pain, and she was sure some of them were dead.

  The Encala quickly turned off the electricity and Emily ran to Chevalier. He was lying still on the dirt floor, “Chev?”

  He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her.

  Emily turned to the side. She took Kyle’s hand and touched his face, “Kyle?”

  She turned to the Encala, “He’s not moving.”

  Chevalier frowned when a well-known Encala murderer knelt down beside Emily and looked Kyle over, “He’s alive. You get the other one, I’ll get him.”

  “Did you let the rest of them go?” she asked, looking around.

  “If they are alive, yes, I let them go,” he said, and picked Kyle up in a fireman’s hold.

  Emily nodded and tried to get Chevalier to his feet, but he was too weak and groaned with the pain.

  “Chev, can you stand up? We have to get out of here,” she said, and Chevalier used the wall to stand, but his legs buckled and he fell back to the ground.

  The Encala laid Kyle’s limp body back on the ground. He looked at Emily, “How strong are you?”

  “Tell me what to do,” Emily said, and glanced at Chevalier.

  The Encala nodded and pulled Chevalier to his feet, “Ok, bend slightly. I’m going to lay him across your back. Keep moving. If you stop, it’ll be hard for you to get going again.”

  Emily nodded and bent slightly. Chevalier tried to talk, tried to tell her not to trust the Encala, but he wasn’t able to say anything. The Encala leaned Chevalier against her back, wincing at how small she looked trying to carry the hulking heku.

  “Can you do this?” he asked.

  “If you can help me up the stairs, yes,” Emily said, and grabbed his arms that were draped over her shoulders. She groaned and stepped one foot forward, slowly moving toward the door as Chevalier’s feet drug behind her.

  When she got to the stairs, the Encala took Chevalier and ran him upstairs as Emily followed. Once they were on the ground floor, he turned to her.

  “I have to warn you, the Equites aren’t going to like seeing you with me,” he said, and picked Chevalier up to lean against Emily again.

  “Why is that? I couldn’t do this without you,” she asked as Chevalier’s weight was again put on her back. She grabbed his arms and began to inch forward.

  “They just won’t, if they attack, let me be, ok?” the Encala said, and picked Kyle up fireman style.

  “No,” Emily managed to whisper.

  “Yes, the worst they can do is put me in their jail, but if I can, I’ll run,” he said, and walked slowly beside Emily. “You’re tough for a mortal, do you know that?”

  Emily just smiled slightly and groaned with each step.

  “Why… are they… unconscious?” Emily managed to pant.

  “It’s a torturer’s trick. Electricity and a few special herbs, and it can incapacitate a heku indefinitely,” he said, keeping pace with her.

  “How… long?” Emily groaned louder as her legs began to shake.

  “Could be days,” the Encala said, and froze. “Watch it.”

  Emily looked up and saw Mark and Silas staring at them, both of them were glaring at the Encala.

  “Mark, help,” Emily whispered, and Zohn appeared at his side. Mark ran to her and picked Chevalier up. She fell to her knees, her legs unable to bear any more weight.

  “No, Zohn!” Emily yelled, when Kyle was ripped from the Encala’s shoulders and he stood crouched, facing Zohn. “He helped me, let him go.”

  The Encala grinned slightly, “She doesn’t listen does she?”

  “Never,” Zohn said, and suddenly the Encala was pinne
d to the floor by Equites.

  “Stop!” Emily yelled, and tried to get to her feet, but she still couldn’t stand up. Her legs felt like jelly.

  Silas picked Emily up and before she could complain, he blurred her to the Blackhawk helicopter and she was lifted inside by Mark.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked, looking her over.

  “No, Mark, listen to me,” she said quickly. “The Encala I was with, let him go.”

  “We can’t let him go. He’s wanted by the Equites, too,” Mark explained.

  “He helped me, without him I wouldn’t have found them,” she told him.

  “Sorry, Em, he has to be seen by the Council.” Mark ignored the way she glared at him and readied the wounded for travel.

  When the Thukil guards brought the Encala out the doors, they pushed him roughly into another helicopter. Emily jumped down from the helicopter she was in, and ran to the other one.

  “Get me up!” she yelled, and Zohn pulled her up by her arms.

  “Go!” Zohn yelled, and the pilot nodded as the helicopter lifted from the ground.

  Emily looked over and saw Thukil guards holding the Encala down.

  “Be nice to him,” she said.

  “Yes, Commander,” they said, and loosened their grip on him a little. The Encala looked at them, surprised they not only called her Commander, but followed her orders.

  “Are you ok?” the Encala asked her.

  “You have no right to talk to her,” Zohn yelled.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Emily said, ignoring Zohn.

  The Encala laughed, “I can’t believe you carried him. Looked like he would squish you.”

  Emily smiled, “I’m tougher than I look.”

  Zohn was infuriated and the Thukil guards were uncomfortable with how she talked so freely with a convicted murderer, wanted in all three factions.

  “You’re going to hurt tomorrow though,” he told her.

  “I’m sure I will. How can I repay you?” she asked.

  “Emily!” Zohn yelled, and pulled her away from the Encala by her arm.

  Emily cried out as he grabbed exactly where Exavior had, “Stop, that hurts.”

  The Encala growled, “Nice, and I’m the one that’s wanted.”

  “Do not talk to him,” Zohn growled at her.

  “You’re not my Elder and I can do what I want.” Emily glared at him.