She sighed, “I can’t ask them, that’s why I’m asking you.”
“What are you up to?” Sotomar asked, and she noted a hint of hesitancy in his voice.
“Nothing bad! Geesh, trust me. I just need to know the locations.”
“We don’t have the book, so we cannot tell you,” a gruff voice said.
“Who is that?” Emily asked, frowning.
“I am Salazar, Chief Interrogator.”
“Well, calm down, Salazar.”
“I am calm,” he said, though his voice still sounded angry.
“I know you know where these covens are, Sotomar. Please just tell me.”
“First tell me why.”
She thought about it and then sighed, “Fine… 5 years ago I was kidnapped by the Encala from the Valle…”
“Yes, we remember that.”
“One of the Encala freed me, and took me to an Equites coven.”
“Right”
“I want to know which coven that is.”
“Why?”
“I just do…”
“Do you know who freed you from the Encala?” Sotomar asked.
“Yes”
“Then ask that heku.”
“I’m not exactly on speaking terms with the Encala, remember?”
“Oh, that is right.”
“Please, Sotomar… just 8 locations.”
“We do not have the Equites book.”
She sighed, “Fine then, be that way.”
Emily hung up the phone and then walked over to eat breakfast.
“Mommy?” Dain said, walking in with a large glass.
“Good morning,” she told him, and turned to face him.
“I brung you this,” he said, and set a glass of blood on the table in front of her.
“Brought you this,” Emily corrected, and then looked inside. “That’s for me?”
“Uh hu,” he grinned broadly.
“Well, that is very sweet of you,” she said, and picked him up into a hug.
“Where’s Valle?”
“I think he and Encala are out in the stables.”
“Be right back,” Dain said, and blurred from the room.
Emily gave him a few seconds and then stepped out of her room with the glass. She held it out toward her guards, “Someone drink that real quick, please.”
The closest guard looked into the glass, “Why?”
“It’s blood, just drink it.”
“Whose?”
“Damnit, hurry,” Emily said, and looked down the stairs.
The guard shrugged and downed the glass, grimacing at the un-fresh, cold blood, “There.”
“Thanks,” she said, and went back inside. Seconds after she sat down, Dain came back in with the dogs.
“Was it good?” Dain asked, looking in the empty glass.
“Yes, thank you,” she said, and brushed the hair away from his face.
“When do I go to school?”
Emily shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess whenever you want to.”
She hesitated to put Dain in school. Both Alexis and Allen turned out to be so engrossed in school, that it became all-encompassing and everything else but learning was ignored or hated.
“Now,” he said, and grinned.
“Why not… next year?”
He thought and then smiled again. His smile was exactly like Chevalier’s, “Next month.”
“Deal, just give me another month.”
“Sesame Street!” the 5-year-old yelled and disappeared from the room.
Emily stepped out of the room and sighed, “I hate when he does that.”
“Want me to go catch him?” one of her guards asked.
“No, what I want… is for you to tell me where Kralen is.” She turned to the four members of the Cavalry.
“He’s on a mission, Ma’am.”
“Where?”
“That’s confidential.”
“You’re lying to me. Where is he?”
“He’s on a mission.”
She stepped closer to him, “You know I spent time with the Encala’s Chief Interrogator?”
“Yes,” he said, and glanced nervously at the other three guards.
“I learned how to tell when someone’s lying.”
“Ma’am…”
“What’s up?” Mark asked, blurring up the stairs.
“Snitch,” Emily hissed at the guard, and turned the Mark. “Where’s Kralen?”
“On a mission,” Mark told her, and excused her four guards when Silas and one of the Cavalry’s Commanders walked up.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t know what to tell you. He’s on a mission,” Silas said.
She headed down the stairs, “I’m going into town… alone.”
“No, you aren’t,” Silas grumbled and followed her.
She turned on the stairs, “Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Mark”
“I agree with Silas, just take him,” Mark said.
“No! I’m going alone.”
Silas crossed his arms, “I’m going.”
Emily set her jaw, “Tell me where Kralen is.”
“No.” Silas squared his shoulders and watched her carefully.
“Now”
“No”
“Both of you calm down,” Mark said, and put a hand on Emily’s arm.
She pulled away from him, “Tell me.”
“He’s on a mission.”
“Stop lying to me!”
“He’s on a mission,” Silas said again.
“Tell me, or so help me, you’ll need Kyle.”
“Turn me to ash. I’m not going to give you his location, nor am I going to let you leave this palace alone.”
“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked, blurring to the landing.
“Tell me,” she said again, and stepped closer to Silas.
“No”
Emily growled and then started down the stairs.
“Wait… how did I get up here? Em, what did you do?” Chevalier asked, and followed her.
“What did you just wipe?” Mark asked, and followed the Elder after realizing he didn’t remember walking up the stairs.
“Leave me alone,” Emily whispered.
“No! Tell me what you wiped,” Silas said, joining them.
Emily spun suddenly toward them, “Leave me the hell alone or it’ll be more than a mind wipe.”
Chevalier’s eyes grew wide, “What’s going on?”
Kyle appeared with the other heku, “Em, calm down.”
“Stop calling backup!” Emily screamed, and then ran out the front doors and to the stables.
Silas called for her guards to the stables and then turned to Chevalier, “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure, Kyle?” the Elder asked.
“She was asking about Kralen. I honestly don’t know why she wiped memories,” Kyle said, and watched the door. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Watch her closely,” Chevalier said, and returned to the council chambers with Kyle.
Mark and Silas both shook their heads and headed out to the stables.
“Where is she?” Mark asked the Cavalry’s Commander that was waiting outside of the stable doors.
“She’s inside, up in the loft.”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know. She wanted to be alone, so I’ve posted heku at each door.”
Chapter 7 - Lord Dexter
“Has she said anything about him lately?” Kyle asked Chevalier as they waited for the end of the trial day.
“Nothing, which actually makes me nervous.”
“He’s been gone for 7 months. Maybe she’s given up,” the Chief Investigator said.
Chevalier shook his head, “Not Emily, I suspect she’s waiting to see if he comes back.”
“At least she sent that poor child to school finally. He was running all over making a mess,” Dustin said, and studied a roster in f
ront of him.
Kyle turned and glared at him, “If Dain follows the pattern of Allen and Alexis, he will soon ignore his mother, which is hard for her.”
“They are highly intelligent children, ones that must be encouraged.”
“She’s their Mom.”
Dustin shrugged and ignored Kyle.
Kyle sighed and turned back to Chevalier, “The guards are worried, that’s why I ask. She’s still not really speaking to them, and even Mark and Silas can’t get her out of whatever slump she’s in.”
“I can’t either. She’s not different with me, but I’ve seen how she is with the guards,” Chevalier said, deep in thought. “She’s not rude, by any means, but she doesn’t talk to them, and when she rides with them, she stays off to the side.”
“Then get her a psychiatrist, isn’t that what they do?” the Chief of Defense suggested.
Chevalier looked over at him, “A psychiatrist?”
“Why not? Have her talk to one.”
“Do we have one in the faction though?”
“We must, somewhere,” Zohn said, and looked over at the Records Keeper.
“I’ll see what I can find,” he said, and left the room.
Kyle smiled slightly, “She’s not going to want to talk to a psychiatrist.”
“I know,” Chevalier said, and smiled slightly.
***
“Return our Elder!” William screamed into the phone.
Emily sighed, “Not yet…”
“It has been 16 months. He’s suffered enough.”
“Not yet… now, I asked nicely to talk to Aaron in private.”
Emily heard the distinctive click of the speakerphone turning off, “Fine… Aaron here.”
“Can anyone else hear this?”
“No,” he said, and she could tell he was moving.
“I need to know the location of the Equites coven you took me to.”
He gasped, “What?”
“I won’t tell anyone, I swear. I just need to know where it is.”
“Return Frederick and I will tell you,” he whispered.
“Tell me or I’ll tell William.”
Aaron growled, “I should have kept you.”
“Yes, you should have… but I appreciate that you didn’t. I never thanked you for that, but I am thankful.”
His voice softened, “I took you to the Equites’ Okanogan Coven, outside of Tonasket, Washington.”
“Thank you.”
“Please, return him.”
“I’ll think it over, because you helped me.”
“Are you doing something dangerous?” Aaron asked, still whispering.
She sighed, “I don’t know yet.”
“Okanogan is very close to our palace. Is it something I can help you with? In secret, of course.”
“I suspect that coven is housing one of my former guards, and I wish to speak to him, but they won’t even let me in.”
“You are a member of the Council. Just order them to let you in.”
“The heku don’t listen to me like that. I suspect they will first call Chev.”
“I am sending you a package… please keep its contents and sender a secret. It will get you in the doors, more than likely into the prison, but still inside,” Aaron assured her.
“Thank you,” she said, and hung up. Next, she dialed a local car rental company and made some arrangements.
***
Emily leaned her head against Chevalier’s chest and ran her fingers lightly over his abdomen as she watched the morning sun out the window.
“What are your plans today?” he asked, and then brushed the hair off of her shoulder.
“Nothing, I guess.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Why don’t you take the day off? Let’s go do something,” she suggested, and looked up at him.
“I can’t today, maybe next week.”
“You haven’t taken time off in forever.”
He smiled, “It’s not in my nature to vacation.”
“Yeah, well, it’s in my nature to spend more time with you.”
“I know, and I’m sorry… as I said, next week we’ll do something.”
She sighed, “Ok.”
“Why don’t you get dressed and meet me downstairs?”
“Why?”
“Just do,” he said, and grinned.
“Do I have guards today?”
“Of course.”
“Then no.”
He chuckled, “Em, just come down for a minute… before swimming.”
“No,” she said, and sat up, taking the sheet with her.
He gently ran his fingers up her back and grinned when she shivered, “Stop telling me no.”
“No,” she said again, and walked into the bathroom. She heard Chevalier leave just as she crawled into the shower. She knew that soon she would have to go find Kralen. She still suspected he was at his coven, and she knew that Aaron had given her an easy way inside.
The Council was watching her close lately and she supposed they knew that she’d called the Encala the previous month, and were waiting for her to release Frederick. Deciding she didn’t feel like going to talk to Chevalier in the council chambers, she got her bikini on and opted to go swimming instead.
***
“She’s coming down here?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, before she swims,” Chevalier told him as he watched the female heku in the trial area. “How long since you practiced psychiatry?”
“It’s only been about 30 years, Elder,” she told him. The woman was close to seven feet tall with short, dishwater blonde hair and harsh, angular features. She wore a pale blue business suit and carried an ancient brief case in her hand.
“She’s not going to do this willingly,” Kyle told her.
“I am aware of her leniency. I will see what I can do.”
He nodded, “Oh, here she comes.”
The Council listened to the conversation outside of their doors.
“He’s waiting for you,” Derrick said to Emily.
“He can keep waiting. I told him no, I’m going swimming,” she said, and they heard her walk down the stairs, followed by her guards.
Kyle grinned, “That went well.”
Chevalier chuckled, “She did tell me no.”
“Unacceptable,” Dustin mumbled, and sat back in his chair.
“Maybe we should meet her there,” the woman said, and looked from the door to Chevalier.
“Give her a second to get in, and then you and I will go,” he told her and then turned to Kyle. “You too.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Why are we taking the Chief Enforcer?” the Psychiatrist asked.
“He is good friends with Emily,” Chevalier explained. After a few minutes, the three heku left for the pool house. They walked past her guards and into the steamy hot room. Emily was in the middle of a lap and they watched her for a few seconds before she noticed them and stopped swimming.
She began to tread water and watched them, but didn’t speak.
“Em… this is Lori. She would like to speak to you,” Chevalier said, and walked to the edge of the water.
“About?”
“Just about stuff.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed as she looked from Chevalier, to Lori, to Kyle. She thought Kyle looked uncomfortable and the female heku seemed to be studying her.
“I’m busy.”
“Please, just for a few minutes.”
She sighed and then swam to the ladder. After climbing out and slipping on a robe, she walked over to them, “Ok.”
“Hello, Emily, I’m Lori from the Dover Coven.”
“In New Hampshire?”
“Yes, Child.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Sorry, I meant no disrespect,” the Psychiatrist said, and took a seat on a chaise.
“What is it you wanted to talk about?” Emily asked. She stood and watched the heku suspiciously.
Lori smiled,
“Have a seat, please.”
“No, I think I’ll stand.”
“Em… just sit down,” Chevalier said, and patted the chair beside him.
Emily glanced at Kyle and then sat down.
“We’ll leave you two alone,” Chevalier told her, and he and Kyle quickly left the pool room.
“Good, we’re alone,” Lori said, and smiled again. Emily felt like she was coddling her, and it was making her irritated.
“What is it you want?”
“Just to talk, nothing more.”
“About what?”
“Well… for starters, how are you doing?”
Emily frowned, “Why do you care? I don’t even know you.”
“I just want to help.”
“With what, exactly?” Emily asked, and crossed her arms.
“Please, just girl talk, nothing more.”
Emily grinned, “Chev brought you here so I have a girl to talk to?”
“Sort of.”
“Well I’m fine, thank you.”
“Good, good… and how are things going with your guards?”
“Peachy”
“They say you’ve been pretty quiet with them lately.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, is something bothering you?” Lori asked, and watched Emily carefully.
“Yes”
“What is it?”
“You, actually,” Emily said, and stood up. “Are you a shrink?”
“Well, I was schooled in psychiatry.”
“Chev thinks I need a shrink?”
“No, the Elder thought you may need to talk to someone.”
Emily started for the door.
“He’s worried, please, just talk for a bit.”
She ignored the Psychiatrist and stormed out of the out-building, followed by both Lori and the four Cavalry guards.
“They’re busy…” Derrick started, but just shook his head when Emily walked in anyway.
“You got me a shrink!” Emily yelled at Chevalier. The three heku on trial looked over at her with wide eyes.
Chevalier sighed, “Yes, I did.”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, not at all… I just…”
“You just thought you’d get me a shrink.”
“Em, you seem depressed lately. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Depressed?” she asked, still standing defensively.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 18
