“Well we’re busy, and this is private.”
Zohn slammed the door and met Quinn in his office, “Call in two members of the Council.”
Quinn looked up, “It’s time?”
“It’s damn well time,” Zohn scowled, and sat down. “I just got yelled at for opening the conference room door.”
“Still… to banish him,” Quinn said. “He’s the strongest Elder we’ve ever had.”
“The strongest and now the angriest, most selfish, moodiest, and unreliable one.”
“It is becoming a problem.”
“I don’t see why we banished Jerry for 300 years, yet caught an Equites red-handed giving information to the Valle and he’s spared and put into prison.”
“Then… Emily…” Quinn said softly. They hadn’t spoken of her in public since Chevalier kicked her out, but they had some of the Cavalry on a mission to find her and make sure she was safe.
“I never, not in a million years, would think he would say what he did about her, and then kick her out.”
“It was awful. She was so sick.”
“I just hope she’s alive.”
“Do you think she was pregnant?”
“Mark said he didn’t detect anything,” Zohn reminded him.
“It was still early.”
“I know.”
“I’m just so confused about those three,” Quinn said, deep in thought. “Since their return from being missing for four days, they’ve acted strangely.”
“I agree, though, not enough to suspect that they are up to something.”
“Does it seem to you that Kyle is resisting turning anyone to ash?”
“Yes, but it’s not something the Chief Enforcer enjoys,” Zohn said.
“No, but he’s never hesitated if it was called for.”
“True”
“So are we banishing Chevalier?” Quinn asked.
“Let’s wait until we’re sure.”
Quinn nodded.
***
“How are you holding up?” Frederick asked as he looked down into the hole.
“This violates so many heku laws…” Chevalier growled.
“So did your little whore.”
“This has nothing to do with her, and you know it!”
“It does too. Why do you think I keep you down there? My plans are going perfectly.”
“What plans might that be?”
“To rid the Equites of the Winchester, of course.”
“What did you do?” Chevalier yelled.
Frederick smiled, “She’s gone… no one can find her. It’s beautiful.”
Chevalier’s features turned dark, “What did you do?”
“It’s time to get you out of the hole. We’re sending down a rope. First the wolf, then the Records Keeper, followed by the Chief Enforcer, and then the now single Elder,” he told them, and disappeared from the top.
A rope was lowered and Dustin looked at the others before taking it. Within ten minutes, the Equites were above ground and saw that they were in an old well located in the Encala’s palace. Encala guards surrounded them as they were escorted to the prison and locked in separate cells.
“Are we even going to get a trial?” Dustin asked the Encala guard.
“Nope, Elder Frederick just said you’re in custody.”
***
“We’re trying. So far… nothing,” Mark whispered as he sat in Quinn’s office with Quinn and Zohn.
“It’s been 5 months. She could be anywhere,” Zohn said, and sighed.
“Do we keep looking?”
“Yes, I regret letting him throw her out… she was sick, and it was horrific and vile.”
Mark nodded, “I know.”
“Keep up with what we’ve told Chevalier about your absence. Go back out and keep looking.”
“Yes, Elder,” he said.
“Have you tried all of Kyle’s houses?” Zohn asked, smiling slightly.
“Why would she go there?” Quinn asked him.
“She went there when she ran from the Ancient.”
“Yes, and he found her. She won’t make that mistake again.”
“Did we keep a record of the location of all of Exavior’s old houses?”
“Yes, and we’ve tried those,” Mark said. “Most of them actually belong to other Equites now.”
“Oh, I wasn’t aware she gave some away.”
“She did, all of them but the one close to here actually.”
“Keep looking then,” Zohn sighed.
Mark bowed slightly and then left.
“Now… about Kyle,” Quinn said, and turned toward Zohn.
“He murdered that entire village when he was supposed to banish them.”
“I know, which is a direct violation of the order.”
“He said that Chevalier overrode our orders and had them killed.”
“Since when do we allow one Elder to outweigh the other two though?” Quinn asked, deep in thought.
“Never, he’s overstepped again.”
“He keeps overstepping. That’s very much unlike Chevalier.”
Zohn sighed, “Do we do it then?”
“Let’s decide who should replace him first. We will probably need to do something about Kyle too. I don’t think Kyle will banish Chevalier.”
“What about Dustin?”
“He’s always been an ass, but between the three, he’s the least of our problems.”
“He may fight us, though. Those three are inseparable and back each other up.”
Quinn pulled out a file, “Li is my first choice for Elder. He’s been with the Council for 2,150 years as Chief of Defense.”
Zohn nodded, “I agree… and Kyle?”
“My first instinct is Mark.”
“We’ve never had to replace two members of the Council at the same time.”
“I know it’s going to be difficult, but I don’t see how we can just replace one of them.”
“Agreed… let’s just wait first, see if Chevalier and Kyle come around.”
***
The Encala guard opened Kyle’s cell first, “Go.”
“Where to now?” Kyle asked, and stepped out. He frowned slightly when he noticed no other guards were there.
“Elder’s orders, you’re free,” he said, and opened Dustin’s Cell.
The Coven Liaison Officer stepped out and joined Kyle, “Just like that? We’re free?”
The guard opened Jerry’s door next and the Records Keeper walked out and waited for Chevalier, “Our Elder, too?”
“Yes, all of you,” he told them, and opened the cell door. “Now get out of this palace.”
They glanced once at each other and blurred from the enemy city. Once far away, they slowed and then stopped so they could decide what to do.
“Why would they just let us go?” Kyle asked, looking around the strange area.
“I suspect that they were afraid of keeping us. It broke too many laws,” Chevalier replied.
“Now what?” Jerry asked.
“Now we find a ride back to Council City. Isn’t there a coven around here?”
“Yes, Kralen’s, actually… Okanogan Coven,” Kyle said, and blurred toward it, followed by the others. An hour later, they walked up to the gate.
“Elder?” the guard gasped, and moved aside.
Without speaking, Chevalier walked in with the other members of the Council.
“Elder Chevalier, good to see you,” Lord Dexter said when he met up with them.
“We need a car.”
“Right away,” he said, and then gasped when he saw Jerry.
“What?” Jerry asked, frowning.
“You… you were banished.”
“I most certainly was not!”
“I… I saw your banishment site.”
A low growl sounded from the Records Keeper.
“You were… you were replaced on the Council. How did you get out?”
Chevalier looked at Lord Dexter, “We’ve been
in an Encala prison for 5 months.”
“No, no I saw you last month when they replaced the Records Keeper on the Council.”
“How?” Kyle asked, frowning. “We just got out.”
“I saw you there. All of you… except for the Records Keeper, of course,” Lord Dexter said, confused.
“So no one was looking for us?” Jerry asked.
“No, why would we? You weren’t gone.”
Chevalier sighed, “And you saw us when?”
“Last month, Elder, and then I was called to help handle Thukil.”
“What happened to Thukil?”
“When… well… when the Lady… when she disappeared… Thukil raised a big raucous and the Council threatened to remove them from the Equites.”
“Thukil did??”
“Yes, Elder,” Lord Dexter said, and shook his head. “But you were there…”
“What do you mean when the Lady disappeared?” Chevalier asked.
“Lady Emily… she took off with the two youngest children almost 5 months ago, and hasn’t been seen.”
Chevalier glanced at the others, “Call the Council on your cell phone, and use the speakerphone so we can hear… ask for me.”
Lord Dexter nodded and then hesitated before calling.
“Council,” Zohn said, obviously mad.
“Can I speak to Elder Chevalier?”
“I’m here.” The voice was exactly like Chevalier’s and he glanced at the other heku, shocked.
“Umm… never mind,” Lord Dexter said, and went to hang up.
“Who is this?” they heard Kyle’s voice yell. The true Kyle gasped and looked over at Dustin.
Chevalier took Lord Dexter’s phone and hung it up, “Do you have a helicopter?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“We need a ride… We’ll land outside of Council City and go in in secret.”
Lord Dexter nodded and led them to the helicopter. Dustin climbed into the pilot’s seat and began preparations for take-off. Soon they were flying toward Council City.
“Why would they banish me?” Jerry asked, breaking almost an hour of silence.
“There’s no telling what we’ve done… or… what our… others… have done,” Kyle said, somewhat confused.
“She’s not answering,” Chevalier said, and shut the cell phone.
“Whatever happened… we can fix,” Kyle told him. “I’m sure she was afraid of something and ran off. We’ll get her back.”
Chevalier nodded.
“Landing in 20 minutes, we’ll have to run the last 10 miles,” Dustin called back.
“That’s fine.”
“What’s our plan?” Kyle asked, looking over at Chevalier.
“We storm the palace and kill those that usurped our places on the Council.”
“Easy enough.”
“We have to make sure the Encala didn’t keep any more doppelgangers when we killed them off,” Chevalier said, watching out the window.
“Why do you suppose they didn’t use doppelgangers when they tried to deceive Emily out in the wood?” Dustin asked. “The time it took to find Mark and Silas look-alikes and then the surgery…”
“Not sure, unless they didn’t want to give away the fact that they broke laws and kept some,” Chevalier suggested.
Dustin set the plane down by the Equites airplane hangar and all of them got out. The four heku surveyed the area quickly before blurring toward Council City.
“Elder,” the gate guard said, though he looked somewhat confused. Jerry was hidden beneath a robe to keep their path to the palace easier. They were afraid if the banished Records Keeper was seen, they could be seen as the fakes.
Chevalier smiled slightly and walked through the gates. The city people peeked out at them from dark windows and then disappeared back inside their houses. Their behavior was abnormal, but nothing was said as they approached the palace.
Derrick frowned when he saw the Elder walk up the stairs, “Oh, Elder, I thought you were inside.”
“Gather the Cavalry,” Kyle whispered.
“Into the palace?” Derrick asked, confused.
“Immediately”
Derrick nodded and blurred from the hallway.
Chevalier listened to the door and heard his voice proclaiming that whoever was on trial was to be beheaded immediately.
“We attack on 3,” Chevalier whispered, and got nods from the others. Jerry slipped off his robe and all crouched. On the count of 3, they all instantly appeared in the trial room, crouched toward their chairs and ready for blood.
“What the hell!?” Quinn yelled and stood up. He looked over at the doppelganger Chevalier.
The fake Chevalier, Kyle, and Dustin blurred to their look-alikes and a fight broke out, each fighting the one they looked like.
Jerry looked up at Quinn, “Where is mine?”
Zohn was shocked and stood slowly, “He… who are you?”
The Records Keeper walked up to the Council area, “We’ve been in an Encala prison for 5 months. Where is my doppelganger?”
Chevalier’s opponent seemed to block every hit, and miss each attack on the true Elder. Their fighting was evenly matched and too fast for most heku eyes to even see.
The true Elder finally felt flesh beneath his hands and he threw his doppelganger at the stone wall, shattering it as the fake fell to the ground. Just as he approached his counterpart, the fake Elder lunged from the floor and sunk his teeth into Chevalier’s arm. Four strong hands pulled him away from his target and he fought against them until he realized that it was Mark and Kralen holding him.
“Stop!” Quinn shouted, and the trial area fell quiet. The Cavalry had all 7 heku restrained and they turned to the Council.
Zohn stood up, “Until we ascertain what’s going on here, you will remain restrained.”
“Where is Emily?” the doppelganger Chevalier asked, looking up at the Council.
“Shut up!” Chevalier growled at him, and tried to attack, but was held back.
“Stop it,” Quinn hissed. “No more until we can figure this out.”
Dustin growled and then his image shimmered and he became a wolf. After only a few seconds, his illusion faded and he looked over at his doppelganger, “Try that.”
The fake Dustin screamed, “You don’t know what you’re messing with!”
“Let him go,” Quinn told the guards restraining the true Dustin. He spun suddenly and removed the head from the one that looked like him. Once done, Dustin straightened his shirt and walked up by the true Chevalier.
“That was easy,” Zohn said, and turned to the fake Kyle. “Turn the other Kyle to ash.”
“I don’t have to prove myself!” he yelled at the Elder.
“Ask me,” the real Kyle hissed, and stared at the doppelganger.
“Do it,” Zohn ordered.
The Cavalry let Kyle go and he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little dagger.
“Don’t do it! That proves nothing!” the fake one yelled, seconds before turning to ash.
“Take your seat, Kyle,” Quinn whispered. He nodded and walked up to his chair.
“You two are harder,” Zohn said, looking over at Jerry and the two, identical Chevaliers.
Quinn tapped his pen against the desk as he thought, “Ok then… before Emily… left… she was possibly sick. What was the problem?”
The doppelganger grinned, “She was vomiting blood.”
“She what!?” Chevalier growled.
“Before that,” Zohn said, and looked at the real Elder.
He sighed and frowned slightly, “Was it true then?”
“Was what true?”
“Is she pregnant?”
“Take him to prison,” Quinn said to the guards holding Chevalier’s doppelganger.
“Is she?”
“We don’t know,” Zohn told him, and turned to Jerry. “This one’s harder.”
“He was with us in prison for the last 5 months,” Chevalier explained.
Dustin nodded, “Agreed.”
“So who did we banish?” Quinn asked, and frowned slightly.
The new Records Keeper stood up and bowed, “I respectfully return to my coven and restore the position to its proper owner.”
Jerry nodded, “Thank you.”
“Where is she?” Chevalier asked as he stood in the trial area.
“We don’t know. We can’t find her,” Mark said from behind him. “We’ve been looking for months.”
“Why did she leave?”
Mark looked up at Zohn.
Zohn cleared his throat, “You… well… damn. We stood there and watched it happen.”
Quinn looked down at his hands, too angry to speak.
“Tell me,” Chevalier whispered, his anger growing.
“You… your doppelganger… kicked her out of the palace,” Zohn whispered, and sat down.
“We can just call her and get her back, tell her it wasn’t me.”
“There’s more,” the Chief Investigator said.
Over the next two hours, Mark and the Council was able to fill in what happened between the time the doppelganger arrived and when Emily drove out of the garage. Chevalier slowly sunk down in his chair and rested his head in his hands as the abuse at the hands of his doppelganger was spelled out for him, every insult, every snide remark, making him angrier.
“We should have known, when the ring wouldn’t come off,” Zohn said to Quinn.
“Or when he tried to backhand her.”
“Get Powan, Thukil, and the Buffalo Coven… get the Cavalry and the palace guards… find her,” Chevalier hissed.
“Tell Thukil they were right. They are removed from any suspicion and probationary status,” Zohn said.
Mark nodded and blurred away.
“Has she not called once?” Kyle asked. “When she left before, she called.”
“She won’t call us,” Chevalier said, still too shocked to move. “When she left before, it was her choice… this time… she won’t call.”
“Have you asked Allen for updates?” Dustin asked.
Quinn shook his head, “We did one thing right.”
“What?” Chevalier asked.
“We sent Silas to talk to Allen. We forbid him from telling the other Chevalier anything about Emily’s phone calls. We told him to keep the information secret, until two Elders voted to withdraw that order,” Zohn explained.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 23
