“Clear the back stairs immediately,” Quinn called out. Within seconds, he was told that the back servant stairs were clear.
Chevalier moved slowly, making sure not to jostle Emily at all, and within just a few minutes, was back in his room. He set her down in the corner and left the blanket on top of her as he stepped back.
“You’re back in your room now, Dear,” Quinn said softly.
When she didn’t make to move out from under the blanket, Mark picked up a puppy and began to feed it to try to stop them all from crying.
Three hours later, Emily’s breathing slowed and she stopped rocking as she fell asleep. The heku watched her, not sure what to do exactly.
“Why don’t we pull the blanket off now?” Zohn asked.
Chevalier looked over at Emily and then slowly took the protective blanket from over her. She didn’t wake up, but rolled onto her side and settled back down.
“Do you think she’ll regress?”
He shrugged, “I’m not sure.”
Mark looked toward the door, “We need to find out if anyone saw her.”
“Do it,” Quinn whispered.
Mark nodded and disappeared from the room.
“That could be what happened,” Zohn said. “She felt safe enough to go down to the kitchen and get milk for the puppies, but then someone walked in and saw her.”
“I would imagine anyone seeing her would have come to the Council though,” Chevalier said.
“They should have, but maybe they chose not to.”
Mark returned a couple of hours later, “We’ve talked to everyone in the palace and had only one issue.”
“What issue?” Chevalier asked.
“Owen, Sir. He’s a third-floor guard, and when we questioned him, he just seemed nervous,” Mark explained. “So we got the Chief Interrogator and he had enough concerns that Owen is now in the council chambers.”
“Background on Owen?”
“He’s originally from the Banks Coven and has been here in the palace for 151 years. No write-ups or commendations, just does his job and goes home.”
“Nervous, you say?”
“Yes, Elder. He wouldn’t look me in the eye and just seemed nervous.”
Chevalier sighed, “Well I guess he saw her then. Let’s go talk to him.”
The Elders left once Dr. Edwards arrived to look over Emily while she slept. They stepped into the council chambers just as Richard, the Chief Interrogator, was yelling at the guard.
“I don’t really care! You will not stand here and lie to the Council!”
Chevalier sat down and looked down at Owen, who was knelt on the trial room floor in front of Silas and Horace. His eyes grew wide when he saw Chevalier and he began to panic more.
“What’s been said?” Zohn asked, watching Owen shift nervously.
“He denies seeing anyone in the kitchen today,” Richard said. “I do believe that, but I just get the feeling there’s something he’s not telling us.”
“Let’s interrogate,” Chevalier suggested.
“No!” Owen screamed. “Please… I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Quinn smiled slightly, “Seems a bit drastic to interrogate to see if he was in the kitchen.”
“Horace, he’s on your squad?” Zohn asked.
The Commander nodded, “Yes, Elder.”
“Any problems?”
“Never, Sir.”
“What are your thoughts?”
Horace glanced at Silas and then back to the Council, “I have some concerns about questions he’s been asking about the fifth-floor.”
Silas nodded, “He once asked us about it also. He’s pretty curious about what we have going on.”
“You wondering what we have up there?” Kyle asked him.
Owen shook his head, “No… no, Sir.”
“Then why the questions?”
“I… I didn’t mean anything… I swear.”
“You do seem nervous,” Kyle said, and then leaned back in his chair.
“That’s why we interrogate,” Chevalier told them.
Quinn grinned, “You have enough toys to interrogate at the moment. Let’s see if we can do this peacefully.”
“Suit yourself.”
Richard sighed, “Let’s do this again. Did you enter the kitchen today?”
“No, Sir.”
“Ok, so that’s correct. Do you know what’s on the fifth-floor?”
“No, Sir.”
“Do you have a guess?”
“No, Sir.”
“Ahhh, there’s the problem. You do suspect you know what’s there.”
“I don’t!”
“Stop lying to us!” Zohn yelled, and slammed his fist down onto the table.
Richard smiled slightly, “What do you think might be on the fifth-floor?”
“I… I don’t know…”
Richard sat down, “Maybe we should let the Elder have a go at him.”
“See,” Chevalier chuckled.
Zohn leaned forward, “Just tell us what you think might be up there.”
Dustin shrugged, “Why don’t we just let him see what’s up there?”
“Why would we do that?” Chevalier growled.
“To see if anything happens.”
“No”
Dustin sat back in his chair.
“I don’t see what harm can come in telling us what you think might be hidden up there,” Quinn said to him. “You’re moments from finding yourself in Chevalier’s care, yet you still won’t just tell us?”
“Must be bad,” Kyle said, suddenly more interested.
“I’ve done nothing wrong!” Owen screamed.
“Hmm,” Richard said, frowning. “That is a lie.”
“No it’s not, I swear.”
Zohn leaned forward, “Have you done anything wrong?”
“No, no I haven’t.”
“It’s strange. There are flickers of lying, but overall no indication of the truth or a lie.”
Richard nodded, “Yes, he’s masking.”
“Interesting talent,” Silas said to him.
Owen tensed, “I’m not!”
“He has a poker face?” Chevalier asked, interested.
“Seems so,” Zohn said.
“He’s not good at using it though,” Richard added.
“Fine, I vote to kill him,” Chevalier said.
Quinn chuckled, “Of course you do. I’d like to find out what he’s hiding.”
Zohn thought for a moment, “I concur, let’s get to the bottom of this.”
Richard studied Owen before speaking again, “Have you wronged a member of the guard staff?”
“No, Sir! I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Have you wronged a member of the Council?”
“No!”
“That one was a lie,” he said, studying Owen’s every movement.
Chevalier smirked, “Kill him.”
Zohn glanced at Chevalier and then over to Owen, “Was it an Elder?”
“I didn’t wrong anyone,” Owen whispered, starting to panic.
“So it wasn’t an Elder. It had to be one of you then,” Zohn said, looking along the row of Council members.
Richard frowned, “Wait…”
Zohn looked over at him and Owen gasped.
“He hasn’t wronged an Elder, or any member of the Council in the room,” Richard said angrily. “I saw the lie forming in his eyes.”
“There’s no other members left. We’re all here,” the Chief of Finance said.
“Please… I haven’t done anything,” Owen begged.
Kyle growled, “There’s one missing member.”
“Nn… No one’s missing… I… I swear.”
Chevalier’s face darkened, “Did you wrong Emily?”
Owen gasped, “Wh… what?”
“You heard me.”
“Shh… she’s… she’s dead.”
“He knows,” Zohn growled as his hands tightened into fists.
“
What did you do?” Chevalier asked, standing up.
Owen began to panic, “No… listen to me… I saw her, ok? That’s all. I saw her go to the kitchen… I didn’t do anything… I, I should have told you…”
“He’s lying,” Richard said.
“Clear out the palace,” Chevalier ordered.
Silas turned slightly when he heard the last of the servants leave the palace. One set of footsteps was heard and then Mark stepped into the trial area.
“The palace is clear.”
“Kyle,” Chevalier said. “See if you can bring her here.”
Kyle gasped, “Are you sure?”
“Yes”
He hesitated and then walked up the stairs to the bedroom. He made sure no one was in his path and when no heku were seen, he stepped into the room. Emily was sitting beside the box of puppies and looked up at him when he entered.
“I need you to come with me,” Kyle said, and put his hand out.
Emily frowned and moved away from him some. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and then put his hand out again, “You’re not in trouble. But I really need you to come with me.”
She hesitated and then stood slowly.
Kyle smiled, “It’s ok, come on.”
Emily took one timid step forward and then stopped.
“We’ve cleared out the palace. No one’s here. Just come here… come on,” he encouraged, and then stepped back slightly.
After a few minutes of coaxing, she finally took his hand and he led her down the flight of stairs to the fourth-floor. When they neared the doors to the council chambers, she started to pull away from him.
“No, it’s ok,” he said, and held tightly to her hand. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
Kyle opened the trial doors and looked inside. Owen was tucked behind Silas and Horace and all he could see other than the guards was the Council.
He turned back to Emily, “It’s ok, look inside. It’s safe.”
Emily peered carefully around the door and checked every inch of the council chambers before timidly stepping to the doors.
Chevalier slowly walked down the stairs to the trial area and she watched him carefully.
“Come in, Em, it’s ok. We’re all here to protect you,” he said, and put his hand out.
Emily took one small step into the council chambers.
“You know us, right?” Mark said softly. “Silas and Horace are here. You know the Elders and the Council.”
Emily scanned them again carefully.
Chevalier took her hand, even though she tried to pull it away. He could tell she was on the verge of running.
“This is really important,” Chevalier told her. “We need to know if you’ve seen this heku before.”
Emily looked over when Silas and Horace moved to the side. Owen was still on his knees looking up at the Council, but his body was tense and he was starting to panic more.
“Do you know him?” Chevalier asked softly.
She looked at Owen and calmed some. Chevalier felt her relax and she stopped pulling against his hand.
Mark smiled, “See, it’s ok.”
“Turn around,” Zohn ordered the prisoner.
“Please…” he whispered.
With that one word, Emily froze and her heart began to race. She started to pull slightly against Chevalier’s hand, but he held it tightly.
“Turn,” Mark ordered, and pulled the prisoner around by his neck.
Once Emily caught sight of him, she spun toward the door and jerked away from Chevalier. His attention was now on Owen, and Emily made a break for the door. Kyle blocked her way and held on when she tried to slam into him to knock him out of the way. He struggled to hold onto her as she shoved and clawed, trying to move him.
“What did you do?” Chevalier asked Owen, who was watching Emily as his heart raced.
“I… nothing,” he whispered.
With bloody arms, Kyle finally managed to restrain Emily so she wouldn’t hurt herself. He turned quickly and blurred her back up to the bedroom.
“She seemed ok until she saw you,” Mark hissed at Owen.
“I don’t know why.”
“I think you do,” Zohn told him.
Kyle’s call for Dr. Edwards rang out through the empty palace, and Silas took Owen’s arm when he tried to move away from Chevalier.
Without warning, Kyle appeared in the room and sent Owen flying back against the stone walls with a swift punch to his neck. The prisoner fell back against the stones, gasping for breath.
Dustin and the Chief of Finance restrained Kyle when he advanced on the prisoner.
“Why is she preparing to leave!?” Kyle roared at him.
Chevalier looked at Kyle, “What?”
“She’s gathered up her memorabilia and shoved the capes into her clothing,” Kyle hissed, and tried to get out of the heku’s restraint. “She’s preparing to be taken.”
Chevalier turned to Owen, his features now dark and enraged, “What… did… you… do?”
Owen looked up at him fearfully, “Not…”
He couldn’t finish. Kyle broke free of Dustin and the Chief of Finance and slammed his fist into Owen’s skull, caving it in. He fell to the floor unconscious as Zohn and Dustin pulled Kyle away from him.
Zohn shoved Kyle into Mark and Silas’ grasp, “We need to hear this!”
Chevalier walked over and watched Owen heal. When the heku looked up at his Elder, Chevalier snarled, “Did you give Emily to Salazar?”
“No,” he managed to whisper through horrified gasps.
“He’s lying,” Zohn hissed from above him.
Richard moved to the side of the cowering heku, “Let Elder Zohn and I take him into interrogation.”
Zohn nodded, “We need him alive. We need to know what happened.”
“Nothing happened!” the prisoner screamed.
Chevalier roared and then blurred from the room. Mark and Kralen pulled Kyle out after him and they all headed up to the bedroom. They stepped in together and saw Emily knelt in the corner with Dr. Edwards talking from beside her.
“You’re going to hurt it. Please, let me have it,” he whispered, and held his hand out.
Emily just looked at him, but clutched something to her chest.
“You need to let it go.”
Chevalier calmed when he saw the terror in Emily’s eyes. He stepped forward and crouched down, “What’s going on?”
“She has one of the puppies and she won’t let it go,” Dr. Edwards told him. “She collected the rank insignia into her pocket, shoved the capes down into her overalls, put the shackle on, and then grabbed a puppy.”
“Em, no one’s taking you away,” Chevalier told her. His heart lurched when he saw the vast amount of horror in the way she was moving.
Uncomfortable, the puppy began to yelp softly in her arms and she held tighter as she watched the heku.
“We got them all, Em. Everyone involved with what happened,” he told her. “Salazar, Solax, and now Owen, the one that somehow took you, are in our prison.”
Emily’s body shook as she shifted slightly, but she didn’t let go of the puppy.
When the puppy began to yelp louder and scratch to get out of her tight grasp, Kralen stepped forward and briefly sighed before bending down.
“Em, give me the dog,” he said, putting his hands out.
She looked up at him and her breath caught.
“Now”
A single tear fell down Emily’s cheek as she slowly held the yelping puppy out to Kralen. He gently took the wolf before standing up and petting it to calm it down.
Chevalier smiled, “Thank you. He’ll be ok with Kralen for a few minutes.”
Having calmed finally, Kyle sat down beside her, “Now, can we get the capes out of your overalls?”
Her overalls were pulled tight because of the bulk of having five green Equites capes shoved into them.
“You could just tell me no,” Kyle said to her.
Emily
wrapped her arms around the cape bulge at her chest and tightened them around her.
“Either tell me no, or give me the capes,” Chevalier said softly. “No one’s taking you from the palace, so there’s no reason to have them there.”
“Maybe we should back off,” Dr. Edwards suggested. “Her heart is too fast.”
Chevalier sighed, “How can we prove to you that he’s not taking you? You’ve been with us for over a year and we’ve not let anything happen.”
Emily turned away from them and leaned up against the wall, then wrapped her arms around herself and shut her eyes.
Dr. Edwards nodded, “Let her sleep then.”
Chevalier sat and watched her sleep. He again wondered at how still she slept. He hadn’t seen her have one nightmare even though her life for 2 years had been terrifying.
Early the next morning, Zohn came in looking angry, “We got the story.”
Chevalier nodded, “Lori’s gone, but the rest of the panel should be here.”
The heku gathered around the table in the bedroom and turned to Zohn.
“He was hard to interrogate. He knew the information would bring more than death and tried to infuriate Richard and I so we would kill him before he had to tell us,” Zohn explained.
“Let us have it then,” Kyle said.
“He heard Emily screaming the day after her funeral,” Zohn started. “So late that morning when the sun was high and the heku were all inside, he dug her up and then covered the grave so no one would know. He said she was only partially conscious, she shook and mumbled, but made no real sense.”
Dr. Edwards nodded, “That sounds like she’d healed from the stroke some, but still had most of the symptoms.”
“He immediately covered her in a blanket and carried her into the woods. He called the Encala Coven first and offered them an Equites prize in return for a large reward.”
Chevalier growled.
Zohn grinned, “The Encala turned him down, obviously. Next he called the Valle Council and got Salazar. The arrangement was made to exchange the next day at Salazar’s coven. At this point, Salazar didn’t know what he was getting. He thought he was just getting a well-known Equites.”
“What did Owen get in return?” Kyle asked.
“Money. Apparently Owen has a large gambling debt and he began to fear that collectors would come to the farmhouse looking for him.”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 63
