Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Tous pour un!” Kralen yelled as he dove head-first into the fight.

  Chevalier chuckled and then slammed his elbow into a heku at his back. As the heku fell to the ground unconscious, Chevalier quickly removed his head and then grabbed his torso and threw it hard at several heku attacking Silas.

  Zohn, Quinn, and Chevalier met up after almost an hour of fighting to ascertain what was happening. From what they could see, their side had pulled far ahead but the current Council could no longer be seen.

  “A helicopter did take off,” Zohn said, scanning the skies.

  “It’s just odd to leave after joining a fight,” Quinn told him.

  “They are cowards, what can I say?”

  Chevalier blurred quickly over to help a member of the Cavalry who currently had 4 heku on him at once. The Elder grabbed the closest one and slammed his head into another one, sending both unconscious to the ground. Once there, he quickly dismembered them and then turned to fight another, but found only allies.

  Zohn looked around, “None are left?”

  Silas blurred up, “Permission to take a team into the palace?”

  “Granted,” Quinn said.

  Silas, Kralen, and 50 members of the Cavalry disappeared inside. The others waited for word on what was left and it was an hour later when Kralen returned.

  “No one’s in there but servants,” he said. “We’ve gathered all into the Great Hall… oh… and Kyle, this is yours.”

  Kyle gasped when Kralen handed the Equites dagger over, “Seems their Chief Enforcer left it at his desk when he fled.”

  Kyle smiled and slipped it back into his pocket, “I’ll need that.”

  “Just make sure Em didn’t mix up anyone else or you could revive the entire banished population,” Zohn said with a grin.

  “Where is she?” Kralen asked, suddenly very serious.

  “She’s ok,” Chevalier said. “She’s with the Encala right now.”

  Silas’ eyes fell, “She was…”

  “We know… well… most of it. We’ll find the rest later.”

  “The baby then?” Kralen asked.

  “We don’t know. Someone hit her in the stomach pretty hard, but a doctor said we won’t know until after the birth if anything happened.”

  “Did you know?”

  Chevalier shook his head, “No, I didn’t.”

  “Let’s go deal with the servants,” Zohn said.

  “I really don’t know if I can start reviving,” Kyle said. “What if she mixed up more ashes?”

  “Take Silas and Horace,” Chevalier said. “Revive Mark first and if it’s not Mark, re-banish and we’ll wait for Emily.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kyle said as he headed inside with the two heku following.

  Chevalier’s blood was pumping as he walked in to face the servants. The rest of the Council was tense and on edge, alert for anything amiss. They knew it was going to take time to weed out who supported the new Council and who might have helped with their banishment.

  As the Council took their seats, Quinn grabbed a baseball bat from beside his chair and held it up, “They played baseball?”

  Zohn shrugged, “Who knows.”

  Chevalier picked up a thick iron rod, “What is this?”

  The Chief Interrogator looked over, “That’s an odd thing to have in here.”

  “See those?” the Court Reporter said, and then looked over at shackles on the wall.

  Chevalier shook his head, “We have a lot to learn.”

  “Let’s hope we can find someone who knows something,” Zohn said.

  Kyle came in a few minutes later, “We’ve had to re-banish Boris. He was buried in Mark’s banishment sight.”

  Quinn nodded, “We’ll talk to Emily later and find out her method.”

  “We did find Derrick though,” Kyle said, and turned when their Door Guard walked in.

  Quinn studied his stiff movements, “How long were you with the new Council before being banished?”

  Derrick bowed slightly, “Only a few weeks.”

  “What is this?” Chevalier asked, holding up the metal rod.

  “I don’t know, Elder.”

  “This?” Quinn asked, motioning to the baseball bat.

  Derrick sighed, “That was used by the Council to force Lady Emily to kneel.”

  “How?”

  “They hit the back of her knees with it.”

  Kyle hissed, “That explains the bruises there.”

  “Make a full written report of everything that happened,” Zohn told him.

  Derrick nodded and then disappeared.

  “How do we find out about the servants?” the Chief Investigator asked.

  “We have a problem,” Chevalier said. “It is heku rule that they had to serve the new Council. How can we punish them for following heku tradition?”

  “We can’t, really,” Zohn said.

  “Same thing with the covens.”

  “Except for those that abandoned the Equites and joined the Valle.”

  Quinn nodded, “Even though we agree with why they did it, we need to take into consideration that it was traitorous to do.”

  “So, we don’t punish the servants for doing as they are told to do from turning,” Zohn said.

  Chevalier shrugged, “I guess I agree. I do want to know if they helped with the takeover though.”

  “True”

  “Right now I suggest a complete coven lockdown,” the Chief of Defense said. “Until we can ascertain which covens are stable and which are going to fall apart over this, we need to lock them down to prevent rumors and panic.”

  “Do it,” Zohn told him. “Lock down every coven until further notice.”

  The Chief of Defense nodded and disappeared.

  Quinn’s nose wrinkled and he looked around, “This room stinks.”

  “It kind of does, how odd is that?” Zohn asked, looking around.

  “It has a different feel.”

  “That too.”

  Kyle stood up, “I’m going to call Em and see if I can find out her pattern in the banishment room.”

  When Quinn nodded, he disappeared.

  The Records Keeper sighed, “These new laws passed down are insane. They forbid any Equites from going into donor bars. They said it’s beneath an Equites to beg for food.”

  “Since when is a donor bar begging? We pay them,” Chevalier said.

  He shrugged, “They also can’t petition to turn a mortal until that mortal has lived in the coven for a year.”

  Quinn gasped, “We have mortals living with our covens?”

  “I don’t show any have done it yet.”

  “Anything else come down from them?”

  The Records Keeper kept looking through files, “Lots of little stuff. Those are the only big things.”

  The Court Reporter frowned, “I have some death warrants.”

  “Do we even want to know?” Quinn asked.

  “I guess it’s no surprise that Allen, Alexis, and Dain are on the top of the list.”

  “Not surprising at all,” Chevalier said. “I wonder where they are.”

  “I bet Em knows.”

  “Thukil was set to be wiped out.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Looks like Lady Kim was on the chopping block, and Lord Jay.”

  “What did Lady Kim do?” Quinn asked.

  “Kim Coven refused to answer a call from the Council for the entire coven to move to Council City and become new staff servants.”

  “Forced?”

  “Yes”

  “Ok, what else are you reading in there?” Zohn asked.

  The Court Reporter thumbed through papers, “Lord Dexter was banished, says here Emily was supposed to, but refused.”

  Silas led 92 members of the Cavalry into the trial area, “This is all that’s left, other than Mark.”

  “What happened to the rest of you?” Chevalier asked.

  Horace stepped forward, “Most were killed
during the initial attack, defending the Council.”

  “Buried where?”

  “Mass grave out back,” Horace explained. “We were told they were to have no services.”

  “Rebury them with honors in the graveyard.”

  “Yes, Elder.”

  “For now, I want you out in the city,” Zohn said. “Put the city into lock down. No one is to step foot out of their homes until we re-secure our positions here.”

  “Yes, Elder,” Horace said, and then left with the Cavalry.

  “Silas, Kralen, wait,” Zohn said.

  They all looked over when Kyle walked in, “Ok, Emily told me her pattern and I should be able to start reviving.”

  “Take Silas and Kralen, just in case.”

  Kyle chuckled and walked out with them.

  “I need to go get Em back here,” Chevalier said, standing up. “I don’t trust her with the Encala.”

  Zohn looked up at him, “It could still be too dangerous.”

  “Let’s wait a week,” Quinn said. “At least make sure there are no skirmishes.”

  Chevalier sighed, “You’re right, I’ll call them.”

  “They won’t hurt her.”

  “I know. I just want her with me.”

  ***

  “Sir?” Mark asked, looking back at Chevalier.

  “It’s ok,” he said. “I can understand why they are nervous.”

  Mark nodded and watched as the Encala Palace Guards surrounded them, “Keep an eye on the Elder.”

  The twelve members of the Cavalry nodded and fell into formation.

  When they were escorted into the Encala council chambers, Chevalier walked up, “We’ve come to take her back.”

  William nodded and turned to an Encala General, “Take him up to Emily. She’s in the middle of a massage.”

  “Massage?”

  “Yes, we’ve given her a team of heku to make sure she’s taken care of.”

  “Interesting,” Chevalier said as he followed the General out. Mark tried to go too, and after a brief argument was allowed go to with while the rest of the Cavalry waited in the council chambers.

  Outside of a door on the third floor, the heku knocked softly and Lt. Andrew stepped out, “What?”

  “Elder said he can see the Lady,” the General said.

  Lt. Andrew scrutinized Chevalier, “She’s asleep.”

  Chevalier frowned, “We won’t wake her up.”

  Lt. Andrew nodded and then stepped aside. Chevalier and Mark walked in and looked around the room. Emily was asleep face-down on a massage table with a bulky female masseuse massaging the muscles in her back.

  Chevalier walked over and saw the shoe print bruise on her back was fading, and the carved ‘Proditor’ on her back was covered with bandages. Her elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles were all tightly bound with braces, and her hands were tightly wrapped with bandages.

  “Elder?” Mark whispered.

  Chevalier looked over at a bath tub set into to the floor and frowned, “What is that?”

  “Mud,” Mark said, amused.

  Chevalier scanned the room carefully, and then studied everything he found. Off beside the mud bath was a pedicure and manicure station, a miniature hair salon, and small fridge full of juice.

  When Chevalier turned back, he noticed Lt. Andrew standing beside Emily’s bed and his hands were tightened into fists.

  “She shouldn’t be on her stomach,” Chevalier whispered to the masseuse.

  “It’s a maternity table,” she said as she moved up to Emily’s neck.

  Chevalier nodded and then looked over when the door opened. It was obvious that the heku was waiting for Mark and Chevalier to leave.

  They both followed the Palace Guard down to the council chambers and stepped in.

  “That’s an interesting room,” Mark said.

  William shrugged, “She needs a lot of help right now and we felt it best to get a team over her care. Things in her room were suggested by members of the team.”

  Chevalier crossed his arms, “Why exactly does she need a team?”

  Elder Patrick looked at him, “It started with the need to address some of her physical concerns.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as recovery from after effects of time on the rack.”

  Chevalier frowned, “Who put her on the rack?”

  “Equites did.”

  He growled slightly, so Mark spoke, “What else?”

  “Our Psychiatrist said she’s still mentally frail and the incidents with the Equites made things worse. We have taken precautions to make her as comfortable here as possible,” William explained.

  “I want to see this… team,” Chevalier said.

  William nodded and called out, “Bring in Lady Emily’s team, please.”

  Chevalier watched as 8 heku entered and stood beside them in a neat row.

  “Introduce yourselves,” William said.

  “I’m a physician,” the first heku said. “I’ve overseen her injuries and am consulted on anything the others do.”

  The second heku stepped forward, “I’m an obstetrician. I’ve been making sure we’re doing all we can to help the pregnancy.”

  The Masseuse nodded, “I’m Lady Emily’s Masseuse. Right now I’m working on relieving pain from her time on the rack and hanging from shackles.”

  “I’m the chef,” another said. “That one is straight forward, but I worked as a nutritionist and we are focusing on pregnancy friendly foods.”

  Chevalier just watched them closely when another heku stepped forward, “I’m the Physical Therapist. She has a lot of pain in her joints from the rack, but she was pushed around a lot and has residual muscular-skeletal trauma.”

  “Which is where I come in,” a shorter heku said. “I’m a chiropractor and work with the Physical Therapist.”

  “I do facials, manicures, and pedicures,” a younger heku woman said with a smile. “I also do her hair when she allows.”

  “She’s said yes to that?” Mark asked.

  She smiled broadly, “Yes, almost every day.”

  “That’s odd,” Chevalier mumbled.

  “I’m her tailor,” another heku said, and glanced over at William before falling back into the line.

  Mark frowned, “This is all necessary?”

  Elder Iuna nodded, “Yes, it is. We have done all we can to alleviate any pain or emotional trauma.”

  Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “This is all of her team?”

  “No, Lt. Andrew has been reassigned to her.”

  Chevalier turned to Elder Iuna, “Why?”

  “He has one single task… to protect her.”

  “So he’s just a guard?”

  “No, there’s more. If the Encala is ever attacked or taken over, Lt. Andrew’s job is to get her to safety and stay with her so she’s never alone.”

  William sighed, “He’s become close to her and, once we forbid him from telling anyone anything she said, even the Council, she opened up to him and has told him about her three months with the new Council.”

  Chevalier glared, “I want to know.”

  “No, she needed someone to talk to that she can trust. We won’t betray that by telling you what she said to Lt. Andrew in confidence. He never leaves her side.”

  The Psychiatrist waited for permission from the Elder to speak and then stepped forward, “She’s comforted by his presence.”

  “She’s changed,” Elder Iuna said.

  Mark looked at him, “How so?”

  “She’s quiet, reserved, almost timid.”

  He nodded, “Yes, that we knew.”

  “She’s relaxed a lot over the two weeks with us,” William explained.

  “She’s awake,” Iuna said. “When she’s dressed, she’ll come down to see you.”

  They waited in silence and it wasn’t until bare feet padded unevenly against the stone stairs that they turned to the door of the trial area.

  Chevalier gasped when he saw Em
ily. She peeked out around Lt. Andrew and he saw her red hair was pulled away from her face and cascaded down her back in soft ringlets. When she stepped into the room, the heku were silent and her bare feet were all that could be heard.

  Mark watched, shocked, as she appeared in a floor-length red babydoll made out of layers and layers of soft, flowing material which accentuated her growing middle. A richly embellished ruby necklace was around her neck and she looked up at Lt. Andrew before following him into the trial area.

  Emily moved forward and into Chevalier’s arms. He looked questioningly over at Mark, who just shrugged, not sure what was going on. Emily’s team of specialists moved out of the room and she pulled away and looked back at Lt. Andrew.

  Chevalier reached down and gently took a bandaged hand, but Emily gasped and didn’t even see when Lt. Andrew blurred into Chevalier and pushed him back.

  “Don’t touch her hands!” he yelled.

  Chevalier snarled and blurred toward him, but Emily stepped between them with her back to Lt. Andrew and her hands out to Chevalier.

  Members of the Council descended into the trial area and restrained both of them.

  “Don’t tell me how to treat my own wife,” Chevalier hissed.

  “Then don’t hurt her,” Andrew yelled back, still struggling to get out from the tight grasp of the heku.

  “Calm down!” William shouted.

  Chevalier and Lt. Andrew both looked up at him.

  Lt. Andrew angrily shrugged off the hands of the Council and then walked over to stand behind Emily. She looked over at Chevalier and then back at Andrew before walking over to him.

  Mark frowned and moved closer to his Elder.

  “Lt. Andrew has taken her safety personally,” Iuna explained. “It’ll be best if everyone calm down and we start over.”

  Chevalier looked down at Emily, “Are you ready to go home?”

  She looked over at Lt. Andrew when he spoke, “I’m not sure she wants to go back.”

  “How would you know that?”

  Lt. Andrew shrugged, “Just saying.”

  “Do you not want to go back?” Chevalier asked her.

  Emily looked along the Encala Council and shrugged.