“I’m not sick,” Emily told him, and leaned back on the bed.
“You can’t know that.”
Emily’s eyes welled up with tears, “I can’t do it.”
“What if we sedate you? You won’t know a thing,” Chevalier said.
“Is it really that important to you?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I can be sedated? Won’t feel a thing?” Emily asked.
“I promise.”
Emily sighed and looked up at the ceiling as Chevalier blurred out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with Dr. Cook, Quinn, and Mark. Emily sat up quickly and glared at them.
“Why so many?” she asked, sliding off the bed.
“Don’t panic, Em. They are just here to help,” Chevalier said.
Emily backed up to the window, “I don’t need help.”
“You’re already panicking, calm down. The shot is the worst part,” Chevalier said, and took the needle from the doctor.
Emily’s eyes grew wide, “I changed my mind.”
“I knew you would,” Chevalier said, and handed the syringe off to Mark.
Emily pressed further back against the wall, “Mark, I’m warning you.”
Mark grinned slightly at her, “You agreed to this.”
“I changed my mind,” Emily yelled, and then screamed when Mark blurred to her. She sunk down against the wall before she could focus enough to turn him to ash. Mark picked her up and laid her down in bed.
Chevalier chuckled, “That was the easy part, now what?”
“First we need to get her shirt off and lay her on her side,” Dr. Cook said.
Chevalier glanced at the other heku in the room, and they all turned around toward the door. Chevalier slipped Emily’s shirt off and laid her on her side, toward him.
“Ok, flex her chin, knees and hips toward her chest,” Dr. Cook said, and started washing Emily’s back. The doctor was done within the hour, and hurried off to the lab after giving Chevalier instructions.
Chevalier slipped a nightgown over Emily and laid her on her back, as per the doctor’s instructions.
“One more, Mark,” Chevalier said, and handed Mark another syringe.
“When do I give this?” Mark asked.
“If she has a headache when she wakes up, we keep her on her back and give her that.”
“Stop,” Emily whispered, and her hands tightened around the blanket.
Chevalier touched her cheek lightly, “Em?”
“Too bright,” Emily mumbled, and frowned, even though her eyes were still closed.
Quinn turned the lights off and blurred to the window to pull the blinds.
“Em, how’s your head?” Chevalier asked.
“Hurts,” she whispered softly.
Chevalier nodded to Mark, and he gave her the injection with no reaction from Emily. Her breathing slowed as she fell back to sleep.
“How long until we know?” Quinn asked.
Chevalier brushed the hair away from Emily’s face, “He didn’t say.”
“Have you picked out the other twelve?” Mark asked, watching Emily sleep.
“Not yet, I still don’t even know if she would survive the process. She affects it negatively, so it may not even work,” Chevalier said, his voice pained.
“Mark, let’s go,” Quinn said, and he shut the door behind him, leaving Chevalier and Emily alone.
***
“Is she coming?” Quinn asked as the council members waited to start the trial.
“Yes, she said she’s still groggy from the sedation, but will be down,” Chevalier said as he thumbed through some of the reports.
Emily went down to the council chambers as soon as she’d eaten breakfast and kissed Alexis good-bye. She ignored their eyes on her as she slipped on the green robe and sat down in her seat.
“You ok?” Kyle asked her.
Emily nodded, “Let’s just get on with it.”
“Bring them in,” Kyle told Derrick.
The usual guards brought in Ingram and Selhman, and forced them to kneel before the Council.
Quinn stood up, “Let’s begin day 3 of the trial with a report on the interrogation.”
Quinn sat down while the Chief Interrogator stood up, “We were able to get out of them that the Encala were helping, our suspicions were correct. The Valle attacked through the back wall while these two let the Encala in through the front, though the Encala were dressed in Valle clothing.”
“Why, exactly, would they do that?” Zohn asked.
“As far as we can gather, the Encala were still severely hurting from the… erm… from Emily’s attack on them, and the Valle were protecting them from being implicated,” he explained.
Emily cringed.
“What was their purpose in attacking the small coven?” Chevalier asked, glaring at the prisoners.
“This was a practice run… and also a way to get a closer staging area for an attack on Powan Coven,” the Interrogator said, and sat back down.
Emily glanced along the Council when she heard them whispering quietly among themselves. She quickly wrote a note for Kyle and handed it over.
Why would they want the Powan Coven?
Kyle glanced at the note and handed it over to Chevalier. He read it and wrote quickly.
Will explain later
Emily sat back to pay attention. Once the Council talked it over, they quieted down and turned back to the prisoners.
Quinn spoke from his seat, “Do you, then, finally admit to turning your own coven over to the enemy?”
“No, we didn’t do it on purpose,” Ingram said.
Emily sighed. She couldn’t believe they were still denying their role.
Quinn’s voice was amused when he spoke again, “It was very nice of the enemy factions to fill you in on their plans, and then let you free.”
Selhman spoke pleadingly, “We overheard it, nothing more. We aren’t traitors.”
Zohn sighed, “I’ve heard enough to know my decision.”
“I have also,” Chevalier said.
Emily passed another note to Kyle.
So which is Valle and which is Encala?
Kyle read the note and then spoke, “So which of you is the Encala?”
Ingram glanced at Selhman, “Neither, we are Equites.”
“I find that hard to believe. Which of you is Encala?” he asked again.
“We are Equites!” Selhman said, panicked.
Both prisoners fell to the hard floor, writhing in agony as the room filled with the smell of burning flesh. No one spoke or tried to stop her, as Emily took charge of the interrogation. They both collapsed to the ground, panting as the pain stopped.
“Which of you is Encala?” Kyle asked again.
Ingram slowly got to his knees and scanned the council members. His eyes showed the terror he felt, “The… the Winchester is here?”
“I do believe I asked you a question,” Kyle reminded him.
Ingram screamed and clutched at his chest as he fell back to the floor, his body gripped in the burning pain.
Selhman got to his knees and looked down at Ingram, “He’s the Encala.”
Emily let Ingram go and sat back in her chair.
“Well that was easy,” Quinn chuckled.
Ingram finally made it back to his knees, “He… it was his idea… to take out the Lady.”
Zohn raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, well he burned the warehouse,” Selhman said, glaring at Ingram.
Ingram pointed at Selhman, “He chose the coven!”
“Bloody Encala! We should have known better than to try to work with you,” Selhman growled.
“Us? It was your fault the Equites Army was even alerted! If you’d followed the Encala’s plans, then the Equites wouldn’t have had time to call for help,” Ingram hissed.
“Shut up!” Zohn yelled, and the two prisoners looked back at the Council.
“Not another word from either of you,” Chevalier growle
d. “Pass down your votes.”
Emily glanced over and saw Kyle writing on a small piece of paper, so she did the same, and then passed them down to Chevalier. He counted the votes and then stood up.
“The decision is in. We have 12 votes for Guilty, and one that just says ‘fry them’,” Chevalier chuckled.
The prisoners looked down at the ground.
“Because of the attacks on the Equites for your return, we will not even vote on a punishment. Keeping you in prison is not an option,” Chevalier said. “Therefore, you will both be banished for 800 years.”
“You can’t do that to us!” Ingram yelled. “This Council is a joke. It’s time the Equites gets new, stronger leadership…”
Ingram’s words were cut short when he fell to ash on the floor.
Selhman’s eyes grew wide as he saw the ash scattered across the trial room floor at his side. He turned to the Council and gasped when Emily lowered her hood, “Do you want to give us your opinion of the Equites Council?”
He shook his head and whispered, “No.”
Emily watched as the Kyle scooped Ingram up into a leather bag and then turned Selhman to ash. He took both prisoners out of the council chambers.
“What’s so special about the Powan Coven?” Emily asked when the doors shut.
Chevalier glanced at Quinn and then back to Emily, “The Powan Coven is the only coven that no one can join. You are born into it… or turned into it, I guess I should say.”
“Ok”
“They are all direct descendents of an ancient that could illusion himself as a wolf.”
Emily grinned slightly, “They are werewolves?”
Quinn chuckled, “No, but they are where the werewolf legends came from. It is merely an illusion, nothing more.”
“Why, exactly, would one want to illusion as a wolf?”
“Stealth, mostly,” Zohn told her. “It also keeps mortals out of their coven.”
Emily grinned, “I want to see.”
“You’ve met them before,” Chevalier told her. “Some of them were the wounded at the Island.”
“I didn’t see any wolves.”
“They had no reason to illusion. It’s something they don’t share with others unless necessary,” he explained.
“Hmm,” Emily thought. “Vampires, werewolves… what else did you all start?”
“Stories of zombies and lich’s were formed out of some of our starving, recently unbanished heku,” Quinn said. “I do believe China’s Jiang Shi was one of our… shall we call it… fun loving heku, who found it amusing to hop around at night and terrorize small children.”
“Nice,” Emily said, peeling off the hot robe.
“I’ll go to Powan and talk to them about the attacks,” Kyle said, standing up.
“I want to go,” Emily told him.
Kyle looked at the Elders.
“Fine with me,” Chevalier said. “Take Mark, and go in uniform.”
“What? Why?” Emily asked, frowning.
“Trust me, go in uniform.”
Emily ran out of the room to get ready, and an hour later Equites 2 was leaving for Powan Coven.
“I don’t like the scent,” Kyle told her after a few minutes of silence.
Mark nodded, “I don’t either.”
Emily grinned, “So it’s working. You don’t want to eat me anymore?”
“No, far from it,” Kyle chuckled. “What did you do?”
“I thought of it after Sotomar’s little massage… I found a way to mask my scent.”
Emily watched as the pilot circled Powan Coven, waiting for clearance to land. The coven had high cement walls and large warehouse like buildings.
“No houses?” Emily asked, looking over at Kyle.
“No, Powan is completely militaristic. They live in barracks only,” he explained.
Mark smiled, “They’re probably the most disciplined and strongest coven out of all factions.”
“No families then?” Emily asked.
“No, no families, and no shops… only soldiers,” Mark said.
Emily watched as the helicopter landed on top of one of the barracks.
Emily unbuckled, “So not even a main house?”
Mark shook his head, “No, even the Lord of Powan lives in the barracks.”
Kyle and Mark jumped out and turned to help Emily out of the tall helicopter. She looked around when she got to the ground, and was amazed at the gathered army. There were perfectly formed rows of heku, all wearing fatigues and standing straight at attention. Not one of them even looked over at the arriving members from Council City. She was glad Chevalier insisted she wear her Thukil uniform. It made her feel like she wasn’t standing out as badly as she would have in civilian clothing.
“Chief Enforcer, it’s always good to see you,” a General said, shaking Kyle’s hand.
“This is Mark. He’s Captain of our Cavalry, and this is Lady Emily,” Kyle said.
The General nodded, “Captain, good to have you here. And… Commander, is it?”
Emily nodded and shook his hand. She couldn’t stop looking at the Powan heku. They stood still enough that she had to look closely to even see them breathing. They looked like statues out on the lawn.
Kyle turned to Mark and Emily, “This is the Lord of Powan Coven, General Skinner.”
“You said you had information for me?” General Skinner asked, and opened the door to the closest barracks.
Mark, Kyle, and Emily followed the General inside and into a small conference room. There was a pitcher of ice water and a glass already sitting on the table, and the General pulled Emily’s chair out for her and helped her slide in.
Once the others were seated, Kyle explained to the General about the combined Encala and Valle attacks on Randolph Coven, and their ultimate plans to attack Powan.
“Do we know of any further attacks that are planned?” General Skinner asked.
Kyle shook his head, “Nothing yet, obviously we are keeping an eye out.”
“We have… recently…” the General glanced at Mark briefly, “Caught a traitor in our midst. We haven’t been able to get any information out of him though, but we suspect he might have joined the Encala.”
“I can get him to talk,” Emily said, and blushed when everyone looked at her.
“She does have quite the knack for getting information,” Kyle said.
General Skinner smiled, “Then by all means.”
Emily stood up and followed the General as Kyle and Mark whispered behind her. He took them into another set of barracks and down a flight of metal stairs, into a small prison. He stood in front of the electrified bars of a cell that was only 4ft x 4ft. A large heku was sitting on the cement floor and glaring up at the General.
Emily stepped in front of the bars, and he stood up quickly, “Did you bring me a donor?”
Emily frowned, “I am not a donor.”
“Then why the beautiful girl?” the prisoner asked, watching the vein in her neck closely.
“I have a question for you,” Emily said, and smiled sweetly.
The prisoner reached out of the cell to grab her, but she was already out of his reach.
“Are you an Encala?” Emily asked, watching his eyes closely.
The prisoner smiled. His black, jagged teeth more prominent against his white, sunken face, “Why would I tell you?”
His smile turned to a grimace as he fell against the back wall of the cell, screaming and grabbing at his chest. The General watched, amazed, as the air filled with the smell of burning flesh.
“What else did you want to know?” Emily asked.
General Skinner glanced at the prisoner, surprised that Emily could hold him in pain and still talk, “See if he knows of any plans to attack.”
The prisoner collapsed and groaned when the pain stopped.
“Are you an Encala?” Emily asked again.
The prisoner got to his hands and knees and finally pulled himself up to standing, “I don’
t talk to little girls.”
Emily smiled, “I can make this a lot worse for you… a lot… worse.”
“A young mortal? I’m not afraid of you.”
Emily shrugged and then smiled at Mark as the prisoner screamed again and fell in pain. Just before he went unconscious, Emily released him.
“Last chance, tell me,” Emily said.
The prisoner shook his head and groaned.
“Fine, no more chances… General, Kyle, Mark?” Emily turned to then.
They all turned toward her.
“You may want to leave for a minute,” she told them.
“I don’t know, Em,” Mark said, looking at the fierce way the prisoner was watching her.
“Are these bars sturdy?” Emily asked the General.
“They are.”
“Good, then I’ll be out in a moment,” Emily said, and smiled.
Kyle and the General left, while Mark looked around the area and then hesitantly followed them.
Emily sat down, out of reach of the prisoner, “You thirsty?”
The prisoner nodded and ran his tongue along his teeth.
“There are worse things than pain, and you know it. Last chance to give me the information I want.”
“I won’t bow down to a mortal,” he told her, and touched the air with his tongue.
“Fine…” Emily said, and pulled a pair of fingernail clippers from her purse. She smiled at him and then cut her wrist a tiny bit, enough to send a drop of blood to the floor. The entire prison erupted in growls, screams, and hisses. The prisoner she was talking to ran full force at the electrically charged bars and slammed into them, desperate to get to her.
“Want some?” Emily asked him softly.
He looked up at her, no longer able to reason as his feral nature came to the front. He grabbed for her again, and inhaled as a guttural noise escaped him.
“I bet it tastes as good as it smells,” Emily told him, and he looked at her, his eyes fierce.
He inhaled again and his body shook as he reached for her, his hand grasping at the air in front of her.
“Want just a little bit?” Emily touched her finger to the drop of blood on the floor and showed him. “I have plenty of this… just for you.”
He hissed and his eyes fixed on the blood on her finger, “Yes, I joined the Encala.”
“Good, now we have some conversation going… I’m not done though, so you can’t feed quite yet,” Emily said, and he lunged at the bars again. “Why are you here, in Powan?”
Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series Page 8
