“What else are you keeping from me?”
“Nothing, I honestly had forgotten about that. Colorado was hectic, and we were just getting to know each other.”
“Let’s go, Emily,” the Encala said, touching her arm.
Chevalier tensed and Mark took a step in her direction.
“Get back,” she said to Mark, and he froze.
Emily suddenly dropped to her knees with a scream and grabbed the sides of her head with her hands. The Encala took a shocked step backwards as the Equites heku descended on her. Chevalier scooped her up and laid her in bed as she writhed in pain. Mark took the Encala by the arm and held him in place. The Encala watched Emily carefully.
“Stop them,” Emily screamed.
“Who?” Chevalier asked, and then yelled for the doctor.
Emily fell silent, and her hands dropped to the bed as her body relaxed into sleep.
“What did you do?” Mark scowled at the Encala.
“I just touched her arm, I swear,” he said, nervously.
“Why were you even with her?”
“Just to talk to her… nothing more,” he said, looking around at the angry Equites.
“Put him in prison for now. Stop by the interrogation chamber, see what you can find out,” Chevalier ordered.
Mark pulled the Encala out of the bedroom. Chevalier put his arm under Emily’s shoulders and sat her up.
“Emily,” he said, touching her face lightly.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, “My head.”
“I know, you need to drink.” He put the glass to her lips, but she pushed it away.
“Drink,” he said, a little sterner, and she took a sip.
“Stop them,” she said again, shutting her eyes. She leaned her head against the crook of his neck.
“Stop who?” he asked, and pulled her into his lap. He looked down at her face and she was asleep.
Emily didn’t wake up until late that night. Chevalier was still holding her, and the doctor and Kyle were in the room sitting quietly.
She opened her eyes and reached out for the glass. He handed it to her and she took a long drink.
“How’s the headache?” the doctor asked her.
“Peachy,” she snapped, and sat the glass back down.
Emily crawled out of Chevalier’s lap and stumbled to the bathroom. They watched her and sat back down when they heard the shower turn on.
“Who is, ‘them’?” Chevalier looked at Kyle.
“Maybe the Valle, the ones that had her before?” Kyle asked, shrugging.
Servants delivered a steaming pile of pancakes just before Emily came back out. She was dressed again and her hair hung down loosely. She grabbed a pancake and took a bite, then headed for the door.
“Em?” Kyle asked her.
She turned to him.
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business,” she said, and turned around.
“You should stay here,” the doctor told her.
“Yeah? Well make me,” she snapped, and disappeared out the door.
Emily went immediately down into the prison. The guards bowed to her and stepped back out of the way when she entered.
“Where’s the Encala they just brought down?”
“Third row, middle of the cell’s on the left,” one of them said politely.
Emily followed his directions and came face-to-face with the Encala again. He stood up and smiled at her.
“I’m glad to see you’re ok,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Emily said, and then watched as he turned to ash.
She walked out of the cell area, calling over her shoulder, “Clean-up on aisle three.”
She entered the bedroom and grabbed her suitcase.
“Can you give us just a few weeks?” Chevalier asked, putting his hand gently on her arm.
“No”
“Are you leaving with the Encala then?” He fought to keep his voice calm.
“No, I ashed him,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom.
“You… you ashed him?”
Emily started throwing things into her suitcase, “Just now.”
Kyle’s eyes were wide, “You just walked down to the prison and ashed him?”
“Yes”
Chevalier grinned and shrugged at Kyle.
“Em?” Chevalier said. He stopped her, mid-packing, and made her look at him.
“When you say ‘stop them’, who do you mean?” Chevalier asked her.
She frowned, “What do you mean?”
“During the headaches… you say ‘stop them’.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She pulled away from him and went into the closet.
Chevalier frowned, “Emily, the headaches.”
“What about them?” she asked, coming out with an armful of t-shirts.
“You scream to ‘stop them’. Is it the headache you want stopped?”
Emily sighed and turned to him, “I’ve had a headache since you threw me up against the wall, and not once have I ever asked you to stop them.”
He winced and looked angrily at the floor.
“Not those headaches. The really bad ones, the ones that you scream during,” Kyle said to break the silence.
Emily shook her head, “I need to get out of here. You are all delusional.”
“He’s not kidding. You scream and grab your head, and beg for someone to ‘stop them’,” Chevalier said, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving.
“Emily, please, just stay until the headaches go away,” Kyle asked, pleading.
“I don’t think it’s going away. I’ve had headaches for weeks.” She looked up at Chevalier. Her deep green eyes filling with tears, “I have to go… now.”
“Why?”
Emily looked at the heku in the room, “Go away.”
“We can’t leave,” Kyle said.
“Get out, now,” she said to them again.
“They can’t go. I won’t risk hurting you again,” he said, touching the tear that fell down her cheek.
Emily turned to Kyle and the doctor, “Ashing in three… two…”
They looked nervously at Chevalier and when he nodded, they blurred out of the room.
“One…” She turned to Chevalier and softened her voice. “If I don’t go now, I won’t be able to leave.”
“If it’s so hard then don’t.” He pulled her close to him.
She buried her face in his chest, “I don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, you do.”
Emily put her hands on the side of Chevalier’s face and kissed him passionately. He picked her up and laid her gently in bed, then turned his head to the side and yelled, “Scram.”
A previously unnoticed heku guard blurred from the room.
***
“Stay, please, just until we figure out the headaches,” Chevalier asked, as he looked deep into her eyes.
“They aren’t that bad,” she said, kissing his shoulder lightly.
“You aren’t remembering the worst of them. You scream and then sleep when it’s over.” He pulled her close to him under the covers.
“If I don’t go now, I’ll never be able to,” she said, tracing the contours of his chest with her finger.
“I love you.”
“I know, but there are so many lies, so much deceit and control.”
“No more, I promise.” He began to kiss her again.
“Is it true? Am I an Encala?” she asked, seriously.
“No, it’s not true. Factioning isn’t born in you, it’s a choice.”
“But everything else he said is true?”
Chevalier nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbow.
“I couldn’t stand to see the pain in your eyes when I told you. You love Allen. Nothing will take that away, and I saw no reason to even shadow that.”
She nodded.
“So tell me why you didn’t tell me a
bout the baby.”
Emily gave a crooked smile, “That’s obvious isn’t it?”
“What can I do to get you to stay?”
“Nothing”
“You’re driving me insane, you know that? I can’t handle being away from you, not knowing if you’re safe.” He kissed her lightly.
“I can’t stay.” She sat up, but his strong hands pulled her back into bed.
“Something’s going on. The headaches aren’t from the concussion… you need to believe me and stay until we figure them out.”
“I told you, if I don’t leave now, then I won’t be able to leave.”
“Why?” he asked, brushing her hair away from her shoulder.
“Because I love you, and I’m afraid to be away from you. It scares me to face the mortal world again, to raise Allen by myself. It scares me to not know where you are or if you’re safe,” she whispered.
Chevalier smiled, softly, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does because it’s better for Allen, and it’s better for the Equites, if I go.”
“How do you figure?”
“Allen doesn’t know anything but the heku way of life. He needs kindergarten and trips to the park. He will have no chance at a normal life if we stay.”
“Why can’t the heku way of life be his normal life?” Chevalier asked.
“He’s mortal.”
“So? He’s mine, he can stay with me.”
“And find a heku wife? Have heku friends that are hundreds of years older than he is?” She couldn’t make him understand. She could tell by the look in his eyes.
“Why not? Is that so bad? I don’t see why normal can’t be my world.”
“Because he’s mortal.”
“So are you.”
“No, I’m somewhere trapped in the middle.”
“So Allen aside, why is it better for the Equites if you leave?” This was his most pressing question. He hated when she tried to protect the heku.
“You know why. The Valle and the Encala aren’t going to stop. How long before they form an alliance and come wipe out the Equites, all because of me?”
“Stop it,” he said, sternly.
“What?”
“Stop trying to protect us. If they didn’t invade over you, it would be something else. We’ve been at war for thousands of years. You leaving won’t change anything.”
“It will. It will change the fact that I won’t be to blame, and maybe that invasion will be later rather than sooner.”
“You leaving will cause it to be sooner. They will keep looking for you, and when they find you, I will come and get you. Me and the entire Equites faction,” he said, and kissed her forehead.
“Which is why I need to go now… so you can get over me before that happens.”
He chuckled, “I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”
“I don’t want to go,” she said, slipping out of the bed and wrapping a blanket around herself.
“Damnit, Emily, then don’t,” he said, frustrated. He watched her disappear into the bathroom.
Emily came out a few minutes later, dressed. She looked over at Chevalier sitting on the edge of the bed, and then the heku in the corner.
“I can make you stay,” he whispered.
Emily smiled, “But you won’t.”
Emily groaned, put her hand over her stomach, and ran back into the bathroom, slamming the door.
“Should I get the doctor?” the strange heku said from the corner.
“Nope, just more Sprite and crackers,” Chevalier told him, taking what was left of the crackers to the bathroom door. He knocked quietly.
He waited a few minutes and then opened the door without permission. Emily was sitting on the floor by the toilet, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.
He sat down beside her and took her hand.
“Do you think marching naked into a Valle City would get me killed? That’d stop the morning sickness,” Emily asked with a slight smile.
“Hell, Em, that’d get you killed here,” he chuckled.
“Two weeks… then you’ll stop asking me to stay,” she said, her eyes still closed.
“Just give me two weeks,” he promised.
“And you’ll buy me my own car?”
“Anything you want.” He smiled, two weeks gave him enough time.
“I shouldn’t have ashed him,” she said, before grabbing a cracker from him and taking a bite.
Chevalier laughed, “I can’t believe you did it.”
“I think I let my hormones get the best of me. He was irritating me,” she said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“Remind me never to irritate you.” He laughed.
“You sure you don’t want to just kill me now? I bet I taste good,” she said, leaning her cheek against the cool wall.
“Tempting… but I think not.” He watched her, and in that instant, she lost all of the color in her face.
Chevalier opened the door a bit, and stuck his hand out. When he brought it back, he was holding a cold glass of Sprite.
“Here,” he said, handing it to her.
“You don’t want any?” She smiled and took a drink.
“I don’t know how you handle it.”
“It’s pretty good, actually.”
“You should try blood.”
“Maybe I will someday,” she said, sipping the Sprite.
“That, I want to see.”
“I hate when you do that, by the way.”
“What?”
“Hold your hand out and get what you want without even asking.”
“I asked.”
“When?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Just before I opened the door.”
“You did not.”
He grinned, “You just couldn’t hear it, but I did.”
“It’s irritating.”
“You can do it, too… you won’t be able to hear them answer, but you can still ask.” He raised an eyebrow.
“I can?”
“Yes”
Emily sat up and looked at the door, “How?”
“What is it you want? Don’t say it… not even a whisper… just think it.”
Emily shut her eyes and then opened them and nodded.
“Ok… now, in the quietest voice you can use… too low for even you to hear it… ask for it.” He watched her amused.
Emily bit her bottom lip and grinned, “This is stupid.”
“Just do it.”
Emily’s lips moved, but no sound came out that she could hear. She grinned as Chevalier began to laugh, “You asked for it.”
There was a knock on the door and she frowned.
“Who is it?”
“I have what you requested,” the strange voice said.
“No way!” Emily yelled, and crawled to the door. She opened it and the heku handed her a black and white ball of fur. She shut the door and sat back as the puppy licked her face.
“If you told me you wanted a puppy, I would have given you one.”
“I don’t want a puppy… I tried to think of the one thing no one would be able to bring me,” she said, holding the puppy close to her and petting him.
Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed.
“Where did they get it?” she asked, holding him up and looking into his precious face. She guessed he was no more than 18 weeks old, a Border collie, her favorite dog.
“I don’t know. I’m not the one that got it,” he said, watching her. “I’ll take it back to them though.”
Emily pulled the puppy away from him and glared, “He’s mine.”
“You said you didn’t want a puppy.”
“I do, his name is Ford,” she said, kissing the top of the puppy’s head.
“Ford?” he asked.
“Yes… get it… now I have a Chevy and a Ford.” She grinned and Chevalier shook his head. Emily put the puppy down and pressed her palms into her eyes.
“Headache?”
&nb
sp; She nodded as the puppy pulled at the hem on her pants. Chevalier picked him up and heard a low, tiny growl.
“What did you do to him?” Emily asked, looking at Chevalier and taking the puppy from him.
“I didn’t do anything,” Chevalier looked at the puppy, suspiciously. His hackles were raised, and his tiny teeth were showing, but he was watching the wall of the bathroom.
Emily screamed as her back arched against the cold bathroom tiles, and her hands dug at the sides of her head. The bathroom suddenly filled with heku guards eyeing Chevalier suspiciously. He crawled to her and scooped her into his arms. He ignored the guards and laid her down on the bed, taking her hands to keep her from hurting herself.
Everyone looked over as a tiny howl erupted from the puppy and he started to paw at his ears.
“Stop them!” Emily screamed, and the guards looked around, trying to find who she needed saved from.
“Who, Em?” Chevalier asked, frantically.
“Stop them, please.” Her eyes locked on his and he saw the fear.
When the puppy began to bark furiously, one of the guards picked him up and locked him in the bathroom, out of the way.
“I won’t do it,” she screamed, as her body writhed in pain.
“Do what, talk to me,” Chevalier said, watching her.
As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and she fell silent on the bed. The room became eerily peaceful as the heku looked around at one another.
Emily opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room, “How… how did I get here?”
“Tell me, quickly. What are you refusing to do?” Chevalier asked her.
“Refusing? Did I refuse something?” she asked, and sat up. She looked around for her glass and a guard handed it to her.
“My head,” she said after a long drink. “I need some ibuprofen.”
Within a minute, a guard appeared and handed her a bottle. She took four of the pills and looked around the room, “Where’s Ford?”
Chevalier looked to the bathroom door, “I don’t think he likes me.”
“Why? What did you do?” she asked, accusingly.
“I didn’t do anything!” Chevalier said, and told the guards to let him out. The puppy ran into the room and began to chase his tail, “See, he’s fine… and as smart as ever.”
Emily frowned, “Be nice.”
She set the glass down and laid back, then sat up quickly, looking around.
She blushed, “Why are you all in here?”
“Disperse,” Chevalier ordered, and the guards blurred from her room, except for the one in the corner.
Encala Page 17
