Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Emily cringed and smiled at Darren when he left.

  “Step up here,” Zohn said.

  Emily stepped forward, “What’d I do now?”

  “Do you want to explain the relationship between you and Exavior?” Zohn asked.

  Emily frowned, “You mean the marriage proposals and the kiss?”

  Chevalier frowned and she heard a low growl.

  “Yes, that,” Zohn said.

  “What do you want me to say? I’m not going to apologize because he has a crush,” Emily said, and scanned the Council.

  “How far has he gone with you?” Chevalier hissed.

  Emily glared at him, “What do you care?”

  “You two can fight later,” Zohn said. “I want to know what you are going to do about the… what did you call it? Crush… by the Valle’s Chief Interrogator.”

  “I’m not going to do anything,” Emily told him. She was watching Zohn carefully, avoiding the fierce look in Chevalier’s eyes.

  “Very well, you may go,” Zohn said, and turned to Quinn.

  Emily left, mumbling, “Thanks Em, for returning all of the Equites and exposing the conspiracy.”

  Quinn grinned when the door shut, “We could make our Faction Liaison Officer the new Coven Liaison Officer, and give her the Faction Liaison position.”

  “Do what?” Chevalier asked, still angry.

  “They can’t kidnap her. She could handle all relations with the Valle and Encala.”

  “No”

  “He has a good point,” Zohn said. “She just got every Equites released from the Valle prison.”

  “No,” Chevalier said again.

  “It might give her a reason to stay,” Kyle said.

  “No”

  Quinn sighed, “Who wants to interrogate the traitors?”

  “I do,” Chevalier said, and disappeared from the room.

  “I do, too,” Zohn said, and followed him.

  Kyle followed the Elders and the three Valle into the interrogation chamber, and made sure the door was shut before he took one of the prisoners and pushed him toward the Iron Maiden.

  Chevalier clasped his fists together and slammed them into the side of the General’s head, sending him back into the fireplace. He pulled the heku out of the ashes and tied him to the rack.

  Zohn was tying the female heku to the electrified table and watching Chevalier closely, “The Faction Liaison Officer idea was good.”

  “No,” Chevalier said, and stretched the heku slightly on the rack.

  Kyle pushed the Iron Maiden shut, ignoring the screams from inside, “She’s going to leave if you don’t stop.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Chevalier said, and sat down by his heku. “Want to tell us what’s going on in three days?”

  “No,” the Valle said, gritting his teeth against the pain.

  “I will!” a voice sounded from the Iron Maiden and Kyle laughed.

  “I always get the squealers,” Kyle said, and opened the tin coffin. “Start talking.”

  “Please, let me out,” Kyle’s prisoner said. “I’ll tell you if you let me out.”

  Kyle shrugged and shut the door to the Iron Maiden, “I still want to talk about Em.”

  “I think she and this Exavior guy have a thing,” Zohn said, and touched the button on the electrical current. He waited until the screaming turned to deathly gurgles before letting up on it.

  “They do not,” Chevalier growled, and cranked harder on the rack.

  ***

  “What did you find?” Quinn asked.

  “The Valle are coming after Ingram and Selhman in three days, arriving at night. The illustrious three musketeers were going to make sure they had a clear shot into the city,” Zohn said, picking something fleshy off of his shirt.

  “Or… they were,” Chevalier said. “I’m thinking now that Sotomar knows we have these three, we don’t have to worry about them.”

  “We need to decide, once and for all, what to do about those two,” Quinn said, deep in thought.

  “We just have to fill the last spot. We can’t try them with a missing member of the Council,” Zohn reminded them.

  Quinn growled, “We can’t fill his spot though. No one is fit to do it.”

  “You do realize that we have one more member of the Council,” Kyle said, and nodded when everyone looked at him.

  “We do?” Zohn asked.

  “Yes, we made spouses of the Council full members after Damon.”

  “Bring Emily into this trial?” Quinn asked, confused.

  “Why not? All she has to do is fill the thirteenth spot so the Council is full,” Kyle said, sitting back in his chair.

  “No,” Chevalier said sternly.

  “That’s one no… I vote yes,” Quinn said. “I’d like to get these two taken care of.”

  All eyes turned to Zohn, “Gah, I’m thinking. I would be nice to have them out of the way, but she’s so emotional and illogical.”

  “Elders get the deciding vote,” Kyle said. “All she has to do is sit here and represent the 13th.”

  Zohn sighed, “Yes.”

  “Damnit, no,” Chevalier yelled, slamming his fists on the table.

  “Your dislike of Emily does not mean that she can’t hold a valid position with this faction,” Quinn said, obviously angry. “You need to get over your feelings for her, and let us carry on with business.”

  “No one said I dislike Emily,” Chevalier hissed.

  “You sure as hell act like it,” Quinn snapped at him. “Two votes have it, and she’ll be on this trial, so we can finally be rid of these two.”

  Chevalier glared toward the trial door.

  ***

  Emily sat up suddenly in bed when she heard a loud thud from the stables, then slipped on a light jacket and moved out by the stalls. She saw Kralen’s mare lying up against the wall of her stall. She walked in and knelt down by the mare.

  “Damnit,” Emily whispered when she felt the horse’s high temperature. “Mark!”

  Mark appeared, “What’s wrong?”

  “Get the Cavalry. I need all of the horses out of the stables immediately,” Emily said, and ran for the storage room.

  Within seconds, the stalls were full of heku and the horses were being led out to the corral. Mark came in just as Emily was giving a shot to the horse. He couldn’t help but smile slightly, how Emily fought when she needed a shot, but had no problem giving one.

  “Sit with her,” Emily said, and stood up. She left the stables and went out into the corral. The Cavalry was surrounding the corral and watching the horses.

  Emily went horse to horse as the Cavalry watched, still not sure what was going on. She walked up to Patra slowly and the mare nipped at her and whinnied. The Cavalry was shocked. Patra was the calmest and most gentle horse in the stables.

  “Take her inside,” Emily said, and one of the Cavalry wrestled Patra back into the stables.

  “This one too,” Emily said again, and the appaloosa stallion was forced into the stables.

  Emily went back inside and shut the stall doors as Patra reared back and tried to slam into her.

  “What’s going on?” Mark asked.

  “I think they have a mosquito transmitted illness. Call Thukil, see if Darren can come,” Emily said, and started to fill another syringe.

  Mark ran off and Silas came into the stall, “What can I do?”

  “Watch the horses. If they are irritated, nervous, or listless, they need to come in here. The rest need to stay far away,” Emily said.

  “Em, the Council needs you,” Kyle said, strolling casually into the stables. He frowned when he saw the look on Emily’s face, “What’s going on?”

  “Encephalomyelitis,” Emily said, and gave Patra an injection. Patra tried to kick her, and she dodged out of the way, barely missing the angry hoof, “The Council’s going to have to wait until this is over.”

  “Did… did Patra just try to kick you?” Kyle asked, wide eyed.


  “Yes,” Emily told him, and then gave the stallion a shot.

  Kyle blurred from the stables and appeared back in the council chambers.

  “Is she coming?” Zohn asked.

  “No, there’s a problem with some of the horses. Mark said she’s called the Thukil Captain in to help,” Kyle said, and sat down in his chair.

  “She said no to the Council because a horse has the sniffles?” Zohn asked, frowning.

  “Not the sniffles, this is usually fatal,” Kyle said. “Plus, Patra has it.”

  Chevalier frowned, “Are you sure?”

  Kyle nodded, “So far three of them have come down with symptoms.”

  Chevalier was torn. He wanted to go comfort Emily, to help her with her beloved horses, but he realized how badly he’d behaved and wasn’t sure she would take any help from him. He’d watched her sleep the night before, hiding in the corner shadows of the small bedroom, and it was obvious from her soft talking that she thought he no longer loved her.

  “Go and help her, keep us posted,” Chevalier said, and Kyle disappeared from the room.

  “Let’s wait until the horses are well then. We will start the trial as soon as Emily is ready,” Quinn said, and looked around. “Until then, let’s adjourn.”

  Four hours later, the sound of a helicopter coming in brought the Elders out of their discussion about replacing James on the Council. They went out to meet with the Thukil’s Captain.

  “Thank you for coming, Darren,” Quinn said.

  Darren was in a hurry to get to the stables, “Have you kept Emily away from them?”

  Quinn stopped Darren with a hand on his arm, “No, why?”

  Darren frowned, “If it really is Encephalomyelitis, then it can be passed on to humans.”

  “What?” Chevalier growled, and blurred down into the stables. He found Emily leaned over Patra, who was lying motionless in her stall.

  Emily looked up at him with tear filled eyes, “She’s paralyzed.”

  Darren walked around the corner and knelt down by the painted mare. He quickly looked her over, “What have you done for them so far?”

  “They’ve had an antibiotics, acyclovir, vitamins, and ribavirin,” Emily said, and leaned her head on the mare.

  “That’s all we can do right now. We just have to watch them, but, Emily,” Darren said, and touched her hand. “This can pass to you by mosquitoes.”

  “I don’t care,” Emily said, and rubbed Patra’s nose.

  “Lady Emily?” A member of the Cavalry walked in with another horse, whose head hung low and his ears drooped, “This one is listless.”

  Darren stood up and took the stallion into an adjacent stall, “Where are the medications?”

  “They’re out here on the bale of hay by Chevalier,” Emily said, and stood up slowly. She walked over to check on Kralen’s pregnant mare, which was also paralyzed in the stall next to Patra.

  “Darren’s here now. Why don’t you let him handle it?” Chevalier asked softly.

  “I can’t leave them. If I’m going to catch it… I’m already infected,” Emily said, and returned to Patra.

  Darren came in with a long tube and needles, “We need to intubate.”

  Emily nodded and took the tubing, quickly putting an I.V. into the mare as Darren intubated her so her airway stayed clear.

  “Do we have Dilantin?” Darren asked.

  “No, there’s Diazepam and a corticosteroid in the storage room though,” Emily told him.

  Chevalier sat helplessly, and watched as the two of them worked through the night to make sure all four horses were medicated and intubated. Only one of the horses stayed on his feet, but swayed slightly in his stall.

  Emily was checking on Patra’s I.V. when Chevalier handed her a cup of coffee. She glanced at him briefly, and then took it, sipping it while she adjusted the horses I.V.’s.

  “Emily?” Darren said from the pregnant mare’s stall.

  Emily looked up at him, exhausted.

  “She’s gone.”

  “No!” Emily yelled, and ran into the stall. She knelt down beside the mare and ran her hand along her long body. The Thukil Captain stepped out of the stall and went to help the stallion, leaving Emily alone to mourn in peace.

  Chevalier watched her in silence. The anguish on her face was painful for him, and her sobs tore at his heart. After a few minutes, Emily stood up and pulled herself out of the stall. She briefly looked at Chevalier, and then turned into the other stallion’s stall. After adjusting his I.V., she returned to Patra’s side.

  The city’s Cavalry ran errands for Emily and Darren throughout the day as they feverishly fought to save the three sick horses. The Elders gathered toward dusk to check on the progress.

  “She needs to rest,” Quinn whispered to Chevalier.

  Chevalier just nodded and watched her give one of the sick stallions a shot.

  “Hypocritical, isn’t it?” Zohn said, and then shut his mouth quickly when both Chevalier and Quinn glared at him.

  “Emily, why don’t you go take a quick nap? I can handle these three,” Darren told her.

  “No, I’m ok,” she said, and sat down on the straw by Patra.

  “You need to eat at least,” Darren said, and quietly ordered a sandwich.

  Emily took the sandwich from the Captain and sat down against the stall wall. A light rain started and the stables turned cold as a breeze swept through them. After eating, she went in to check on the stallion in the stall beside Patra.

  “No,” she cried, and fell to her knees. The Elders had already smelled death on the air, but didn’t want to be the ones to tell her. Emily pulled out his I.V. and intubation tube, and several of the Cavalry members came in and took him to burn the body.

  Emily curled up by Patra and was soon asleep while Darren watched over the one remaining stallion. The Elders all sat back and watched the rain turn to snow while the night passed. The smell of death filled the air again, and the Thukil’s Captain stepped around the stall and sighed when he saw Emily curled up asleep against the mare.

  “It’s Patra, isn’t it?” Chevalier asked him, and the heku nodded slowly.

  Chevalier sighed, and the other Elders left respectfully, while Darren disappeared into the stall with the one remaining sick horse.

  Chevalier knelt down by Emily and touched her arm. She jerked awake and immediately checked on Patra.

  “Em,” Chevalier said, and touched her shoulder. “She’s gone.”

  “No, she’s not,” Emily said, and stood up to adjust Patra’s I.V.

  Chevalier took the syringe out of Emily’s hand and pulled her close to him, “It’s too late.”

  “No,” Emily whispered, and collapsed into Chevalier’s waiting arms. He carried her past the quiet members of the Cavalry and up into their bedroom, then laid her down on the bed and covered her up after ordering the fires lit. After slipping her jeans off of her so she could be comfortable, he curled up next to her and pulled her against him. She was crying in her sleep.

  The last horse died early the next morning, and Darren ordered the entire stable bleached down before any horses were to be returned. He checked in on Emily, and then left for Thukil once the horses were vaccinated.

  “Chevalier,” Quinn whispered from outside of the bedroom.

  Chevalier pulled slowly away from Emily and she rolled over and fell back asleep, facing away from him.

  “Yes?” Chevalier said after he’d shut the bedroom door.

  “This is Dr. Cook from the Pason Coven. He was called in when we heard that the disease that killed the horses could be transmitted to humans,” Quinn said.

  Chevalier nodded at the heku doctor.

  “Do you know if Emily has been bitten by any mosquitoes recently?” Dr. Cook asked.

  “She didn’t say, why?”

  “That’s how the disease is transmitted from horse to human, by mosquito,” the doctor explained.

  Chevalier went back into the room and sat down on t
he bed, “Em?”

  Emily rolled over and looked at him.

  “Have you had any mosquito bites recently?” Chevalier asked her softly.

  She rolled back over onto her side.

  “Emily, I really need to know.”

  Emily nodded slightly, never opening her eyes.

  Chevalier walked back out, “She said yes.”

  Dr. Cook sighed, “We’re going to need cerebral spinal fluid to test for it.”

  “What’s that?” Quinn asked, concerned.

  “It’s the fluid around the spinal cord. We’ll need to put a needle into the space between the spinal cord and vertebrae, and withdraw some fluid.” Dr. Cook frowned when the three Elders glanced at one another nervously.

  “She’s never going to go for that,” Chevalier said.

  “We can always hold her down,” Dr. Cook suggested.

  Quinn sighed, “Is there anything else? Something not involving needles?”

  “I don’t think you understand… 90% of those infected die within just a few days of the first symptoms. Those that do recover, usually have neurological problems for the rest of their lives.”

  “How long do we have before she starts to get sick?” Quinn asked.

  “About 4 weeks. By the time she gets sick, it will be too late.”

  Chevalier glanced at the door, “If she does have it, can it be fixed?”

  “There are antibiotics and anti-seizure medications, but those won’t cure it, they will just stop some of the symptoms,” Dr. Cook explained.

  “So that’s it then? If she has it, she’s going to die?” Chevalier asked angrily.

  Dr. Cook nodded, “Pretty much. The lumbar puncture would let us know before she got sick though.”

  “And we could turn her,” Chevalier whispered, mainly to himself.

  “Maybe we all need to go and talk to her,” Quinn suggested.

  “If you’re going to turn her, do it soon,” the doctor said.

  “She just lost her horse. We can’t drop this on her now,” Chevalier said, and turned to them. “Can’t this wait a few days?”

  “Why don’t we control her long enough to get the lumbar puncture, then we’ll know for sure,” Zohn suggested. “If she has it, then we bring up the turn to immortality to save her life.”