Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “You’re ok with this?” Zohn asked Ryan.

  Ryan sighed, “Sotomar was not only my friend, but was my mentor in a way. I cannot, however, deny the fact that he continually threatened the Valle’s way of life over his obsession.”

  “So Charles and his goons…”

  “Was Sotomar working behind the back of the rest of the Council.”

  “And telling Emily that I was banished and scattered?” Chevalier asked, knowing full well it was Ryan who represented the Valle.

  “That was done by me under Council agreement. We thought it might end Sotomar’s preoccupation with Emily, but it only made it worse.”

  “I’m still in shock,” Quinn said.

  “I know it was sudden, but it was necessary,” Ryan explained. “We as a Council began to see a decline in Sotomar’s ability to handle every-day business without involving Emily in it. He never once let a day pass without throwing out another idea on how to capture her and then how to keep her when we have her. The re-memory was impulsive and we regret it.”

  “It still haunts her,” Chevalier said, irritated.

  “We’re sorry, it shouldn’t have happened. We’ve given Sotomar 800 years to calm down, but then he will most surely resume his quest.”

  Kyle nodded, “We all knew he was obsessed with her.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Ryan said, and then turned to Chevalier. “We leave it to you. We can inform Emily if you feel that is what is needed to lessen the blow.”

  “No, I will need to,” Chevalier said, already deep in thought.

  “I apologize, but we saw no other way.”

  “Does this mean she’ll get a break then?” Kyle asked, not believing them.

  “Yes”

  “So after almost 40 years you’re going to leave her alone?”

  “Yes”

  “Then you won’t be surprised when we don’t believe you.”

  Ryan smiled, “Not at all.”

  “Our main goal now is to try to regroup as a faction,” the Valle’s Faction Liaison Officer said. “We’ve all been so focused on obtaining Emily, that things have been lax and it’s time we get back on track.”

  “Is he in prison waiting banishment or has it already been done?” Chevalier asked, still sounding unsure.

  “He has already been put in the ground, far away from anywhere Emily would think to look,” Ryan assured him.

  Chevalier nodded, “We’ll let Em know. Was there anything else?”

  “We just ask that you as a faction leave us alone long enough to deal with his loss. He had the covens convinced that our main goal was obtaining Emily, and a lot of them were very angry that we replaced him. It’s going to take time to rebuild and get back on track.”

  “We won’t agree to back off… we are still at war,” Zohn told him. “However, if you leave Emily alone, then we have no imminent reason to attack.”

  Ryan nodded, “Then we’ll be off.”

  Once the Valle were escorted out, Quinn turned to Richard, “Impressions?”

  “He was telling the truth,” Richard said. “I saw nothing he said as a lie.”

  Zohn nodded, “Sotomar did seem to be behind all of the captures.”

  Chevalier sighed and looked up at the ceiling, “I don’t know how to tell her.”

  “Should we, as a Council?”

  “No, it’s my responsibility to tell her and then handle the consequences.”

  Kyle smiled slightly, “She hates banishment, period.”

  “How can she be upset with all that Sotomar has done to her?” the Chief of Staff asked.

  Chevalier looked over at him, “Once you become a friend of Emily’s, it’s next to impossible to become an enemy. I don’t know if she’s going to be upset or not over his replacement, but she will be upset over a banishment.”

  “I can go with you,” Kyle suggested.

  “No, let me do this alone,” he said before standing up. The Council watched him walk out.

  Chevalier met Mark outside by the stables and asked that the training Cavalry bring Emily in from the trees. Mark saw the desolate look in his eyes and immediately called the entire Cavalry back in and had them scatter through the city to watch over things.

  Emily rode up and smiled, “Going to go riding?”

  “No, Em, I need to talk to you,” he said. He took the reins after she slipped off her horse, and then turned and handed them to a member of the Cavalry.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, slipping off her gloves.

  “Not here, let’s go upstairs.”

  She sighed, “This sounds bad.”

  He gently took her arm, “Let’s go.”

  The two walked up in silence and Emily glanced back and saw that she didn’t have any Cavalry guards behind her, which was unusual and highly frowned upon. Once they got to the fifth floor, they walked into their room and Chevalier shut the door behind them.

  “Have a seat,” he said, and then sat down in a chair by the fire.

  Emily did the same, “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to hear me out, ok?”

  “You’re scaring me.”

  “The Valle came to inform us that there’s been a change in the Council.”

  “Change?”

  “Sotomar has been replaced.”

  Emily frowned and looked into Chevalier’s eyes, “He what?”

  “The Valle realized his dangerous obsession with you was keeping him from fulfilling his duties as an Elder. He’s been replaced.”

  She was finding it hard to speak, “He’s buried…”

  “Yes, for 800 years.”

  “But…”

  “This is where you need to listen to me. This isn’t like when all of the Council was banished. You can’t get him and bring him back.”

  Emily stood up slowly as she grasped her neck, “It’s not too late… the Encala will revive him.”

  Chevalier took her hand, “In preparation for that, Sotomar has been moved to an undisclosed location.”

  She didn’t answer, but her eyes darted around the bedroom, desperately searching for something to help.

  “Em, the Valle were right. Sotomar couldn’t see anything other than owning you and it put their faction at risk continually. He was a liability and the only way to stop him was 800 years of banishment.”

  “Larsen,” she whispered, and looked over at the window.

  “Yes, he’ll be like Larsen. They did it to protect the Valle.”

  “No, to protect me,” she choked out as tears filled her eyes.

  “No, it wasn’t done to protect you. The rest of the Council don’t care enough about you to banish an Elder for you. They were focused on the good of the Valle. His obsession wasn’t your fault.”

  She spun suddenly and looked out the window, “He’s going to suffer for 800 years.”

  “He’s a liability.”

  “It doesn’t deserve that kind of punishment.”

  “It does. He was warned repeatedly by the Valle to leave you alone. He couldn’t do it. Everything the Valle have done in the last 15 years has been Sotomar’s doing. He brought back Salazar, he changed your memories, he enlisted Charles.”

  She shook her head and the tears began to spill down her cheeks, “I can’t let him suffer.

  “You can’t do anything about it. I don’t even know where Sotomar was buried.”

  “Please… stop this,” she said, turning pained eyes to him.

  He gently took her hand, “This is the only way you can have peace. The Valle are in ruins because of following Sotomar’s direction. It wasn’t an easy decision for them to make, but it was a good one.”

  She clutched at the front of her shirt, “I’ll have the Encala get him back.”

  “They aren’t going to help you on this.”

  “They will! They brought you back.”

  “Em, that was different. We all know that Sotomar had a fixation with you that clouded his judgment and encased his every movement
.”

  She slowly sunk to her knees, “For 800 years he’ll be in the ground, suffering, thinking about me.”

  “My guess is he’ll spend that time realizing that he was wrong.”

  Emily suddenly dug in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She hit speed dial and waited.

  “Em, they can’t help you,” Chevalier said softly. His face showed the concern over how desperately she was going to fight to save Sotomar from years of torment.

  “Em! How are you?” Andrew asked, happy to hear her.

  “Help him,” Emily whispered, unable to speak. Her heart was constricting in her chest as she thought of the short year she had to save Sotomar.

  “Help who? What’s wrong?” Andrew asked frantically.

  “Sotomar”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “B… banished.”

  “Sotomar’s been banished!?”

  “Help him…”

  “Em, I’m coming over. Stay with the Equites until I get there.”

  “Please,” she whispered, and then shut her phone and looked at Chevalier.

  “Please wait for him,” Chevalier said. He hated that an Encala was coming because of Emily’s desperation, but he also knew she trusted him and he might be able to help convince her to leave it all alone.

  “Kyle!” Emily called out. He arrived within seconds and shut the door behind him. Emily turned to him, “Do something.”

  “I can’t do anything. Even if I wanted to, I don’t know where he is. It’s the best move the Valle could have done though. He was ruining them.”

  “Please.” Emily wiped at the tears falling from her eyes and pleaded with him.

  Kyle gently took her hands and pulled her into a hug, “Try to understand that it’s for the best. It’s going to leave you alone to do what you want without always getting kidnapped. We can work through the re-memory without worrying about the Valle getting you. The Valle can…”

  Emily pulled away from him, “Stop saying it’s all good! He’s going to suffer for 800 years… lying in the cold ground thinking about me, hating me…”

  “He’s not Larsen,” Kyle said, seeing where she was coming from. “Sotomar’s smarter than Larsen. He’s going to spend that time trying to figure out how to get back into the Valle.”

  “No he won’t! He’s going to be obsessing about me for hundreds of years.”

  “Calm down,” he said, gently gripping her shoulders. “This is long overdue.”

  Emily pulled away from him and headed for the door.

  “Em…” Chevalier said, and followed her out. Mark had already replaced her Guards and they headed down the stairs after her.

  Chevalier appeared in front of her when she tried to get into the game room, “There’s no alcohol in there anymore.”

  “Leave me alone,” she snapped, and tried to push him out of the way.

  “No”

  Suddenly, she leaned her head against his chest and burst into tears, sobbing incomprehensibly as Chevalier’s arms wrapped around her and held her tightly. He gently stroked her hair as she sobbed about the loss of a friend. After a few minutes, she collapsed into his arms and he cradled her tenderly and walked back up the stairs. The entire incident was reminiscent of Allen’s death and how she cried in Keith’s uncaring arms.

  When he laid her down, she gripped tightly to his shirt and he crawled into bed beside her and held her in her sleep. Her dreams were confusing and disturbed, never forming cognitive images or scenes. Once in a while she woke long enough to cry again and fall asleep in his arms.

  When Andrew arrived, he waited patiently in the council chambers for her to wake up. She began to stir early the next morning and woke up, looking at Chevalier with red, swollen eyes.

  He gently brushed the hair away from her face, “Are you feeling any better?”

  “I have to ask the Encala.”

  “I know. Andrew is down in the council chambers.”

  She nodded and sat up, still dressed from the day before. Without even bothering to change, she took Chevalier’s hand and walked down to the council chambers with him.

  Chevalier stayed with her when they walked into the council chambers. Andrew started forward to give her his usual hug, but saw the pain in her face and froze in his tracks, “What’s going on?”

  She sniffed slightly and then wrapped her arms around herself before speaking, “Sotomar has been banished.”

  “Yes, after you told me we confirmed it.”

  “I want the Encala to bring him back.”

  “You have him here!?”

  “No, we have to find him first.”

  “He isn’t being kept in the Valle Palace.”

  “We can find him.”

  He sighed, “Em… it makes sense for the Valle to replace him. I know he’s your friend, but he was a dangerous friend, one that should probably have been an enemy.”

  She started to tear up again and scanned the Equites Council, looking for help, “No one will help me?”

  Andrew glanced at Chevalier, and then took Emily’s hand, “We are helping you by leaving him where he is.”

  “What?” she asked, looking up at him with a frown.

  “He wouldn’t leave you alone. When the Encala backed off, he continued to push even harder. He was dangerous to you and I’m more comforted knowing he’s gone for a while.”

  She pulled her hand away from him roughly, “He’s my friend!”

  “I know that.”

  “Then help me.”

  Andrew sighed, “No. I’m sorry, and I speak for the Encala faction and its Council. We aren’t going to help you revive Sotomar.”

  “Do it!” she screamed.

  “Em… this isn’t Chevalier,” Andrew whispered.

  Emily’s shoulders fell and she watched him, “What?”

  “What do you mean?” Chevalier asked the Encala.

  “Sotomar, the black haired heku, an Old One, an Elder… if they can banish Sotomar, then they can banish you,” Andrew explained.

  Suddenly, it started to make sense to him and Chevalier sighed as he looked down at her, “Is that it, Em?”

  She unconsciously wrapped her arms tightly around herself and took a step back, “No.”

  “Sotomar isn’t Chevalier,” Andrew said softly. “His banishment doesn’t mean that Chevalier’s is coming.”

  Emily looked over at Chevalier and he was shocked at the amount of fear, “What if I can’t get to you next time?”

  “Why does there need to be a next time?” Chevalier asked. “I’ve been alive for a long time and that’s the first I’d been banished.”

  “They can turn on you in an instant,” Emily whispered. “Sotomar didn’t have time to fight back.”

  “He messed up.”

  “Everyone messes up!”

  He softly took her arm, “Em, I’m not going to be banished.”

  Emily went to address the Council, but found them all gone. Emily, Kyle, Chevalier, and Andrew were all that was left in the council chambers.

  “Chevalier’s not going to be banished,” Andrew told her. “Sotomar will resurface in 800 years and will more than likely seek you out. When that time comes, I’m sure the Equites will be ready.”

  “All that time thinking about me,” she said, and a shiver ran up her spine.

  “You’re free, Em,” Kyle said, smiling. “No more Valle attacks.”

  “I’ll never be free.”

  “The Encala aren’t out to get you, the Valle have backed off… all you have now are unfactioned and rogues,” Kyle said reassuringly.

  She shook her head, “No, as long as someone I care about can be thrown into the ground, I won’t be free.”

  Chevalier wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head lightly, “You’re protecting me again.”

  She nodded, “What if I can’t get to you next time?”

  He bent down and whispered into her ear, “There won’t be a next time.”

  �
�You don’t know that.”

  “I do know that. We have new measures in place to prevent what happened. I’m not going to run to the frontlines of war anymore either. It’s time I step back and consider the impact on you if I were to die.”

  She looked at him, not quite sure she believed him, “You’re going to evacuate with the Council?”

  “Yes”

  “Both of you?” Emily looked over at Kyle.

  He frowned slightly, “I can’t do that… we evacuate the Elders mainly.”

  “We’ll work on that, Em,” Chevalier told her. “I just realized that we should evacuate Kyle too, as he’s your second best bet to seek help if something separates us.”

  Andrew smiled, “Then there’s me. If you ever need help, you can always come to me.”

  She nodded and then sighed, “Still… Sotomar’s suffering.”

  “His suffering will protect the Valle. I’m pretty sure in 800 years he’s going to see that,” Chevalier explained.

  Emily began to tear up again, “He’s going to be hungry and tormented.”

  Chevalier lifted her chin slightly so she was looking at him, “It’s for the good of the Valle. His infatuation was destroying them. Their numbers were down and there was no drive to rebuild. They had to take drastic action.”

  She swallowed hard, “Can I… maybe in a few years… ask that they reconsider?”

  He smiled, “I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt if you do just that.”

  Andrew chuckled, “It won’t be the first appeal of a sentence.”

  “It isn’t?” Emily looked over at him.

  “Nope. Friends and loved ones of banished often appeal for new sentences. I don’t believe it’s ever helped, but there’s a first for everything.”

  She sighed and nodded, “I guess if there’s hope…”

  “You’re free now. I bet they even back off your bloody guards.”

  Emily looked up at Chevalier and he grinned, “Not a chance. There are still unfactioned to think about.”

  She smiled, “I don’t mind guards, I guess.”

  “You don’t?” Kyle asked, a little surprised.

  “I’ve kind of gotten used to them. I can always get away from them if I want to.”

  “I hate that.”

  Chevalier smiled, “Or she can just make up shopping stories so I give her permission to go alone.”

  Emily couldn’t help but smile slightly, “I didn’t do that this last time. I told you the truth.”