“I’ve heard them talking, Mom. The servants are happy you’re back and will do anything for you.” Dain studied her face, “Are you hurting?”
“Some, it’ll go away.”
He reached down and pulled her pills from the bag, “Take one.”
“No, really, I’m ok,” she told him, and shut her eyes. Dain leaned back on the headboard and watched the fire while Emily and the Border collie fell asleep.
***
Chevalier looked over at Emily’s guards. They were still standing in front of the empty bedroom, “Is she in there?”
“Yes, Elder,” Kralen said.
He sighed, “Why?”
“I don’t know, Sir. She just said it was better than one of the servant quarters because Kyle had a bathroom installed.”
“It’s dirty though, and dark.”
“She wouldn’t let me have it cleaned.”
“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier sighed. “I should take her another blanket I guess.”
“She doesn’t even have one. She wouldn’t allow Dain to go find one.”
“Because…”
“Because she didn’t want to bother anyone,” Kralen explained.
Mark appeared beside them, “Did you tell him about the stables?”
“What’s up with the stables?” Chevalier asked.
“Mortimer was pretty harsh with her,” Kralen said. “I also had no idea how bad they’d gotten. He’s not been mucking the stalls out, he’s not maintaining the building, there are cobwebs, dust, and burnt out light bulbs.”
“Fire him,” Chevalier said, and opened the door to where Emily was sleeping. The guards blurred inside when they heard a hiss, and found Dain crouched, facing the Elder.
“Don’t do this,” Mark whispered.
“She’s sleeping,” Dain hissed softly.
“Back off,” Chevalier ordered.
“No, leave her alone. She’s had a rough day and she’s in pain.”
Chevalier stood up and frowned slightly, “Pain from what?”
“Just go away,” Dain said. The Border collie lifted his head and suddenly jumped from the bed to face the heku. His hackles bristled and he growled deeply.
Emily woke up slightly when she heard the voice, and noticed her stomach was hurting. She moved slightly and the stabbing pain became worse. She curled up and groaned, “Dain.”
Dain spun suddenly and dropped to his knees, “Mom?”
“Get them,” she whispered, and the heku could hear her heart race and knew she’d broken out in a sweat.
Dain grabbed her bag and dug through it quickly until he found her pills. Chevalier tried to step closer, but the Border collie moved with him and snapped at his knees.
Chevalier growled, “Get rid of this damned dog.”
Silas appeared with a rope and pulled the dog from the room as Dain handed Emily one of her pills and she downed it with no water. She leaned over, clutching her stomach, and Dain put his arm around her.
Chevalier ordered the guards out and when they left, he sat down beside her, “Em?”
Dain looked up at him as he held her and her body shook from the pain, “Don’t talk to her.”
“That’s enough, or I’ll have you removed.”
“Try it.”
Chevalier stood up, but Emily whispered, “Don’t…”
“Em, what can I do?” he whispered, and gently brushed the hair from her face.
“She’s had her pill. Now she just needs to sleep,” Dain told him, his voice full of anger.
The room grew quiet and within 30 minutes, Emily was asleep.
Chevalier stood up and pointed to the door, “Get out.”
Dain stood also, “No.”
The Elder roughly pulled Dain from the room and the heku guards moved aside when they exited. Kralen reached over and quietly shut the bedroom door when Chevalier and Dain faced each other and crouched.
“I told you, Boy, you don’t get in the way of anyone in this palace, especially me,” Chevalier said sternly.
“I know what you said, but you’re not my boss and you stay away from Mom when she’s in pain,” Dain yelled.
Chevalier roughly pushed Dain against the stone wall and wrapped his hand around his neck, “You will do as I say.”
Kyle appeared in the hallway and quickly moved beside Dain.
“I won’t let you hurt her,” Dain choked out, still glaring at his Dad.
Chevalier slammed Dain’s head against the stones, “You are no longer responsible for Emily. Do you understand?”
Chevalier stepped back and Kyle restrained him while the Elder went in to check on Emily. A few minutes later, Dr. Cook walked past them and disappeared into her room. Dain struggled to get out of Kyle’s grasp.
“Let me go,” he growled.
“No, not until you learn your place,” Kyle told him.
Chevalier looked up when Dr. Cook walked in, “She’s pretty bad.”
The doctor sat down beside her bed and felt her forehead, “She’s running a fever. Has she taken her pill?”
“Yes, about 15 minutes ago.”
“Did she eat dinner?” he asked, listening to her heart.
“No”
“Has she been stressed?”
Chevalier sighed, “She’s sleeping in here…”
Dr. Cook looked around at the empty bedroom, “If she’s taken her pill, there’s not much we can do. Make sure she doesn’t drink coffee in the morning and try to get her something to eat.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it, I’m sorry.”
Chevalier watched the doctor leave and laid down beside Emily. He wrapped his arm around her and immediately fell into her dream.
“Emmmily,” the clear voice pierced the dark stables. Emily looked behind her and kept running, past rows and rows of angry horses that kicked at the stalls and whinnied loudly.
“Keep running or he’ll get you,” Exavior said as she passed. He grinned when she turned to him for help, and put his hands out, “I can’t help you, you killed me.”
She turned, still frantically running, trying desperately to find a way out of the massive stables. As she rounded a corner, she stopped suddenly when a row of gray wolves appeared in front of her. They were lowered and snarling as they slowly advanced to her with their teeth glowing in the night.
Emily walked backwards away from them and felt someone at her back. She turned and gasped when Chevalier smiled at her.
“Help me,” she whispered, and stepped behind him.
“Why would I? You’re just a fat, lazy, good for nothing mortal. I hope Dustin drains you,” Chevalier said, and started to laugh.
Emily turned to the wolves and they were now heku. Dustin, Kyle, Damon, Encala’s Lieutenant Andrew, and Thukil’s Captain Darren were all grinning maliciously and moving towards her.
“Do it fast. I hate to hear her whine,” Chevalier said, and disappeared into the stables.
“Let me get that for you,” Silas said from beside her. She turned and saw he had Kyle’s dagger in his hand. Emily turned, thinking Silas would protect her, and instead, he sunk the dagger deep into her stomach.
Chevalier gasped when he could feel the pain from the dagger in his stomach, the burning stab of the blade as it cut through her.
“Emily, wake up,” she heard the voice from far off, but the pain increased. Silas took a step back and ran his tongue along the blood coated dagger.
“Mmm, not bad, have at her,” he said, and stepped back. The heku again turned to wolves and dove at her.
“Come on, Em, wake up,” the soft voice sounded again.
“I can’t wake up!” she screamed as Damon began to chew through her stomach. The pain was intense and her entire body shook as the wolves devoured her flesh.
Chevalier appeared beside her and sat to watch the wolves, “Do it faster. She’s still bitching about it.”
Kyle looked up at the Elder as blood dripped from his chin, “Damn, Elder, let us enj
oy this.”
“Fine,” Chevalier growled. “I guess we just listen to her.”
“Stop it!” Dain yelled, and ran towards where the heku were eating.
“Dain…” Emily whispered through the pain.
The young heku sat down by his Dad, “You promised me I could have some.”
“Em…” she heard the soft voice and tried to get to it, the pain kept her from pulling away from the heku.
“What’s that smell?” Tucker asked. Emily looked up at him and gasped. He was now a heku and he was watching her with hungry, predatory eyes.
“Dear, wake up.” She heard Dr. Cook’s voice echo through the stables.
“Help me,” she whispered, hoping the doctor could hear her.
“Can I have some?” Tucker asked, and walked up to where the heku were feeding.
“Sure,” Damon said, and moved aside. Tucker’s teeth digging into her stomach renewed the pain and she cried out softly.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Chevalier asked. Emily looked over at him and he was talking to the stable wall.
Dr. Cook’s voice sounded through the stables again, “She’s just caught in her dream… Emily, come on, Child, wake up.”
“Damn, if I would have known she tasted this good, I would have killed her on the ranch,” Tucker said, grinning. His canines were longer than the others and had silver tips that dripped with her blood.
“Emily, listen to me,” Chevalier said. She looked over at him and saw he was no longer smiling, his voice was serious, “Wake up. It’s just a dream.”
She heard an angry growl from Dain, but when she looked at him, he was still feasting on her stomach, intensifying the pain.
“Get him out of here,” Chevalier said, he was still talking to the wall.
“Get your hands off of her,” Dain growled.
“Kyle!” Chevalier called out.
“Damnit,” Kyle hissed.
“No!” Dain yelled.
Emily gasped. Suddenly, she was standing before the Encala Council, still grasping her stomach as blood poured from the bite marks.
“We sentence you to death,” Frederick said, and grinned.
“Death by what though?” William asked.
“She’s already dying, can’t you see?” Frederick told him, and lunged at her.
Emily cried out and sat up suddenly. She barely saw Kyle’s old room come into view when she doubled over. The pain in her stomach was still burning.
“Em, take this,” Chevalier said, and handed her a pill. She took it quickly and swallowed it dry, then leaned over to lessen the pain in her stomach.
“Drink this,” Dr. Cook said, and handed her a glass of milk.
She didn’t have the strength to argue, so she took the glass and drank it. She hated how Chevalier and Dr. Cook watched her while she waited out the medicine, so she buried her face in her arms and rocked slowly.
When the pain began to dull, she looked over at Chevalier, “Where’s Dain?”
“He’s out with Kyle… Em, how often does this happen?”
“Not often,” she said, and sat up straight to stretch.
Dr. Cook sat down beside her, “More than once a week?”
“Coffee please,” she said, and slowly got out of bed.
“Belay that,” Chevalier called toward the door.
“What? Why?” she asked, and turned towards him.
“Coffee makes ulcers worse,” Dr. Cook said.
“My doctor said coffee is ok.”
The doctor smiled slightly, “I talked to your doctor. He said he told you no coffee.”
She glared at the doctor and then grabbed her clothes and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Chevalier shook his head and ordered pancakes. He walked the doctor out when they heard the shower start and then turned to Kyle, who was again restraining Dain.
Dain glared at his Dad, “She called for me.”
“In her sleep,” Chevalier told him. “She was in the middle of a dream when she called for you… again… you are no longer responsible for your Mother.”
“I am too!” Dain yelled. “You were gone for a year after kicking her out of her home.”
“You know as well as I do that wasn’t me.”
“Didn’t see you looking for Mom either. You sent your Cavalry while you sat around in the Encala’s palace and did nothing to find her,” Dain growled.
Kyle’s arms tightened around him, “Watch what you say, Boy.”
“No, he needs to hear it and I’m not too afraid of him to set him straight,” Dain said, and glared at his Dad.
“Until you understand the workings of this faction, you have no right to talk to me like that,” Chevalier told him.
“Let him go!” Alexis screamed, and ran up to Kyle. She began pulling at his hands.
“Alex, stop it,” Kyle told her.
“No, let him go!”
“Alex…” Chevalier said, and pulled her away from Kyle.
“No, Mom wouldn’t let you restrain him.”
“He’s not hurt,” Chevalier told her. “He just overstepped and…. Alex, no!”
Kyle gasped and turned quickly away from Alexis when he realized that as he watched her, she was gearing up to turn him to ash.
“Alex,” Allen said as he walked up the stairs.
“Allen!” she gasped, and turned toward him. “Make them let Dain go.”
“No, Alex, you need to let them do this,” Allen said, and took her hand.
“You don’t understand, he takes care of Mom. She needs him.”
“No, I take care of your Mom,” Chevalier told her.
“You weren’t there! You didn’t see what Mom went through when you first kicked her out. You didn’t see how it was just Dain and I in a hotel room when Mom had surgery… You weren’t there when the Encala attacked us and Dain fought them off of me so I could turn them to ash…”
“Wait,” Chevalier said, and his eyes grew wide, “The Encala attacked you and Dain?”
“Yes! They were after Mom,” Alexis said, and glared at him. “You weren’t there when men started attacking Mom… I’m not stupid, I know what they wanted, and between Dain, Pelton, and Tucker, they kept her safe. You can’t expect him to turn that off just because all of a sudden you decide to return.”
“Alexis,” Allen whispered, and started to pull her down the stairs.
“You may have occupied the Encala’s palace… but Mom, Dain, and I fought them off, attack after attack… She doesn’t have ulcers! She…”
“Allen, wait,” Chevalier said, and walked down the stairs to them. “Keep going, Alex.”
She stopped talking and glanced at Dain when he yelled, “Alex, stop it!”
Dr. Cook grabbed his phone and quickly dialed Emily’s doctor in Louisiana as he walked into a servant’s room to talk in quiet.
“Keep talking,” Chevalier told his daughter.
Alexis looked over at Dain and sighed, “Nothing, let’s go, Allen.”
“No, what did you mean?” Allen asked her.
Alexis held her hand out for Dain, “All I’m saying is… Mom, Dain, and I did fine on our own. We don’t need the Equites.”
Kyle let Dain go when he tried to get to his sister, and he walked forward and took her hand.
“Good morning, Elder,” Miri said when she walked up by Allen.
Chevalier ignored her and watched Dain carefully as he and Alexis walked down the stairs with Allen and Miri following.
Dr. Cook came out and sighed, “Her doctor in Louisiana won’t tell me what Alexis meant, but he knows. He’s claiming patient confidentiality.”
Chevalier walked back into the room when he heard the shower turn off and he sat and waited for Emily. She came out finally in jeans and a t-shirt as she braided her hair.
“We need to talk,” Chevalier said softly.
She looked over at him and tied her hair off, “About what?”
“The Encala attacks when you w
ere away.”
She sighed, “We took care of them.”
He patted the bed beside him, “Sit, please.”
She hesitated and then sat down and turned towards him.
“How often did they attack?”
“It’s ok, we handled them.”
“Tell me.”
She looked down at her hands, “There were 8 attacks.”
“How many heku at a time?”
“The worst was 83.”
“You turned them to ash?”
“Yes”
“Where are the ashes?”
“Dain buried them out in the trees by the ranch.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked up at him, “Because it doesn’t matter. Heku attacks were part of my life before, and if I return to the mortal world, it only stands to reason that they are going to be again.”
“Still…”
“What, Chevalier? You already practically wiped out the Encala. What good would it do to seek revenge for those?”
“What did the Encala do to cause your stomach pains then?”
“Those are ulcers,” she told him.
“Emily?” Zohn said from behind her, and she turned to face him. “Try that again, please.”
“You promised me you’d let me take care of you,” Chevalier reminded her.
“The ulcer pills help, though.”
“Not entirely, or you wouldn’t have had that happen last night.”
She glanced again at Zohn, “Fine… no, I don’t have ulcers.”
“What do you have?”
“I don’t know what it is,” she told them. “When the ulcer pills kept working, I didn’t get the tests my doctor ordered to find out what the Encala caused.”
Zohn pulled a chair up and sat down.
“Don’t interrogate me, please,” she whispered, and looked toward the window when tears began to fill her eyes.
“We just need to know what they did,” Chevalier told her and took her hand. “I have Zohn here to make it easier for you, lying won’t help.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said to both of them. “The attacks were taken care of by Alex, Dain, and I. Telling you will only tick you off and the damage is done. I hope that the no-aging thing will fix it and the pains will stop.”
Chevalier touched her hand lightly, “What did they do?”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 32
