The heku standing beside her guards in the corner whispered softly to Chevalier, and he nodded before turning back to Emily.
Chevalier sighed, “See? He’s trying to show us he’s dominant to us. We can’t have that. You’re starting to panic, so they’re getting nervous.”
“We’ve been telling you for the last year that these were going to be part of the Cavalry. We really need to start training them,” Mark said.
She looked at her precious wolves and then back to the heku. The smaller male in the group rolled onto his back and Emily began rubbing his tummy.
Chevalier turned to the strange heku, “Emily, this is Clayton. He was a wildlife biologist and did a lot of wolf research. We’ve called him in to help us begin training the puppies to help the Cavalry.”
Clayton smiled and bowed slightly, “It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Emily.”
Emily watched him carefully as she ran her fingers through the thick fur on the wolf’s tummy.
“Normally, when a wolf pack breaks up, each wolf leaves to either find a new pack or create their own. The older they get, the hard it’s going to be to break up the pack with you as their alpha. If they are going to be trained to help the Cavalry, we have to establish their new owners in the pack,” he explained.
When Clayton moved closer, the large wolf at her side bared his teeth.
Clayton smiled, “I’m extremely pleased with how well you’ve raised them. From what I was told, they shouldn’t have made it at all after their mother died. You’ve done everything you could, but now it’s time to turn them over to us.”
Mark lowered his head and shut his eyes, then sighed and looked up at her. He knew what he was ordered to do, but hesitated before saying it, “Em, we need the wolves to protect the Cavalry.”
He saw the brief flicker of sadness in her eyes and she looked back at the wolves behind her.
“Can we take them now?” Clayton asked softly.
Emily looked at him and then again at her wolves. The heku could hear her breathing change and she started to shake. Finally, she lowered her shoulders and turned her eyes to the ground as she let go of the leashes.
Mark quickly took the leashes and led the wolves out of the bedroom, followed by Silas and Kralen. Clayton bowed slightly and then left, leaving Lori, Chevalier, and Emily alone in the bedroom.
“I’m sorry, Em,” Chevalier said, and touched her leg. She pulled away from him and then disappeared into the bathroom.
Lori smiled, “I’m impressed that she didn’t fall back into her protective posture.”
Chevalier turned pained eyes toward her, “We shouldn’t take them away. That makes us no better than the Valle.”
“We had to,” Lori said. “You’ve seen how they’ve left wounds on her from playing. They were too big for her to handle.”
He nodded and turned to look at the fire.
Lori bowed slightly and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Emily emerged a short time later and it was obvious she’d been crying. She ignored Chevalier and sat down in the bay window, where she could watch the stables below. She saw Mark hand the four wolves off to members of the Cavalry, and they took their new pets into the city toward the barracks, with Clayton following.
Chevalier softly told Alexis she could enter, and she walked in with a young puppy gently cradled in her arms.
“Mom?” Alexis said, sitting down beside her in the bay window.
Emily looked over at her daughter and then back down at the stables. Her stallion was out in the corral picking at some of the new spring grass.
“We thought you may want a puppy,” Alexis said as she pet the tiny creature.
Emily didn’t move from where she watched her horse.
“It’s a Tibetan Mastiff,” she explained. “It took us months to find one for you, they’re pretty rare.”
When Emily didn’t acknowledge Alexis’ presence, she looked over at her Dad.
Chevalier moved over and tried to take Emily’s hand, but she jerked it away from him and curled up on the pillow in front of the window, “We’re sorry, but it had to be done.”
He glanced at the Psychiatrist when she came back in, but she was smiling.
“What?” he asked.
“She’s mad at you,” she whispered.
“And you’re smiling?”
Lori nodded, “Yes, that’s great progress.”
“You have a strange definition of progress.”
“No, I don’t. She’s shown nothing but fear for three years. The show of anger lets me know that she’s not afraid to get angry right now. For 2 years, any sign of aggression would have brought harsh punishments. She’s now comfortable enough to be mad.”
“She seems sad though, not mad.”
“She’s mad, trust me.”
Chevalier watched Emily and began to think that the Psychiatrist was wrong. How Emily sat silently, curled up into a ball as she watched the horses in the corral seemed sad to him, not mad.
He looked at the puppy Alexis was holding, and then turned back to Emily, “We thought the puppy might help. We never meant to make you sad when we took the wolves, but we had to do it. Please… take the puppy.”
Emily looked over at Alexis and reached out for the tiny Mastiff. Alexis smiled and handed it over, but then gasped when Emily immediately handed it to Chevalier, and then turned back to the window.
Chevalier glared at Lori when she laughed softly in the corner. She saw him look at her and shrugged, “Progress.”
He sighed and looked at his daughter, “Want a puppy?”
Alexis smiled, “No, I don’t.”
“Well I don’t want it.”
“Someone in the city will, I’m sure.”
“I’ll see if Allen and Miri want it.”
“When are you going to tell Allen that Mom’s back?”
Chevalier shrugged, “I guess we can now.”
“He’ll be furious if he finds out you waited 2 years,” Alexis said.
“He’ll understand when we explain why. We were kind of hoping she’d talk first.”
“Mom,” Alexis said, touching Emily’s arm. “Do you want us to bring Allen here to see you?”
Emily didn’t turn away from the window, but she tensed and her breathing caught.
“It would really help us if you would talk and tell us what you want,” Chevalier said to her. “Do you want to see Allen?”
Alexis whispered too softly for Emily to hear, “Maybe he’ll take it better than Dain has.”
Chevalier just nodded. Dain had only been in to see his mom twice, and each time he watched her sit in silence and had immediately left. He didn’t know how to handle this new mom and had fully expected her to return to normal as soon as he saw her. Emily hadn’t made any indication that she noticed Dain was being elusive, but the strange way he behaved around her made Chevalier nervous about bringing Allen in.
“Bring Allen here,” Chevalier called toward the door.
Alexis looked down at the puppy and stood up, “I’ll go feed it at least.”
She looked once more at Emily, but when she didn’t move away from the window, Alexis left quietly.
***
“You called for me?” Allen asked the Council.
“Actually it was your Dad,” Zohn said. “Why don’t you head up to his bedroom?”
“The fifth-floor is no longer restricted?”
“You have been granted permission.”
Allen nodded and headed out of the trial area. He was curious as to why the entire fifth-floor had been restricted to everyone but the Elders and a few select members of the Cavalry for the last two years. He’d never asked, it wasn’t his place, but curiosity grew as he passed by guards on all floors
Allen knocked on Chevalier’s bedroom door and his Dad stepped out.
“Elder Zohn said you called for me.”
“Yes,” Chevalier whispered, and then hesitated. “This is easier to just show you. Don’
t react much, keep your voice down, and whatever you do, don’t touch her.”
“Touch who?” Allen asked as his Dad opened the door. The scent hit Allen before the sight of his Mom. He inhaled and his body tensed as his mind whirled with recognition. He slowly stepped into the room and when she looked over at him, he gasped and his knees gave out, gradually sinking him to the floor.
Emily turned back to the window to watch the stables as Allen came to terms with what he was seeing. Chevalier watched her closely and noticed that her heart rate was picking up and she was breathing rapidly. She’d made no outward indication that she recognized her son, but her body gave away her indifference.
Allen tried twice to talk, but each time his throat closed off and he just watched her, unbelieving.
Chevalier lowered his voice, “Two days after the funeral, a Valle gained possession of your Mom and held her captive for 2 years. She’s non-verbal and responds confusingly to almost everything. Don’t take her reaction to mean she doesn’t recognize you.”
Allen nodded and finally whispered, “Who?”
“Salazar, the Valle’s now former Chief Interrogator.”
“Where is he?”
“Downstairs, under my control.”
Allen swallowed hard and finally made it to his feet, “Mom?”
Lori frowned slightly when Emily recoiled and pressed against the barred window in what seemed to be an attempt to get further away from Allen.
“What’s going on?” Chevalier whispered to her.
“Allen, move back away from her,” Lori said.
Allen froze and then stepped back, “Mom, do you recognize me?”
Chevalier walked over slowly and sat down beside Emily. She did something she hadn’t done in months, and curled up with her face buried in her arms, and began to rock.
Allen frowned, “What did he do to her?”
“We’ve promised her we won’t tell anyone,” Lori told Allen. “But it’s horrors beyond the imagination what she went through for 2 years.”
“So she’s been here for 2 years?”
“Yes. We had hoped she would be verbal before we introduced her to anyone new,” Lori explained. “For this exact reason. Now she’s regressing, and we’ll have to figure out why. She’s not going to tell us.”
“Won’t, or can’t?” Allen asked.
“We aren’t sure of that either. My guess is that her mind won’t allow her to talk or get close to anyone yet. She became non-verbal after only about two months with Salazar, after what a member of his coven called an interrogation.”
Allen simply nodded, “What can I do?”
“Patience, that’s all any of us can do.”
Chevalier turned back to the others, “I’m taking him back into interrogation, to see if I can figure out what’s going on.”
After calling for Zohn, he disappeared from the room.
Lori put a hand on Allen’s arm, “Why don’t you head back to Island Coven and we’ll try again when she’s feeling better?”
He nodded, glanced at Emily, and then left.
Zohn and Kyle met Chevalier at the third-floor where the conference room was still converted into an interrogation room. Now that Emily’s reappearance was known, they debated moving it down the three prisoners down to the regular prison, but Chevalier felt better being closer to Emily.
“Are we playing today?” Kyle asked as he shut the door.
“No, we need to know why Emily’s afraid of Allen,” Chevalier said. He turned on the lights to reveal the three cowering heku. Salazar mumbled incoherently and his entire body shook. He still had some burns across his back that were slowly healing.
Zohn nudged Salazar with the toe of his boot and the Valle gasped and turned away from him, “If we need information, we may need to let him be for a couple of days while he recovers.”
Kyle roughly dragged Salazar to a sitting position by pulling him with a fistful of his hair.
“Then again, maybe not,” Zohn said, grinning slightly.
Chevalier crouched down and looked Salazar in the eye, “Why is Emily afraid of Allen?”
Salazar’s mouth moved slightly, but no noise came out. His eyes darted quickly between the Equites in front of him.
“Chevalier, let’s let him rest for two days and try again.”
“I want to know, now,” Chevalier growled.
Still grasping Salazar by his hair, Kyle forcibly hauled him up and laid him down on the rack. The Valle didn’t fight back as his arms and legs were tied to ropes on the ancient torture device.
Once he was secure, Chevalier looked down at him, “Last chance. Tell me why Emily is afraid of Allen.”
Salazar simply gasped and then screamed when Kyle turned the rank, pulling his limps painfully away from his body.
Zohn put a hand on Chevalier’s arm, “Chevalier, let him rest for 24 hours and you’ll get your information. Trust me. He’s not in the right mind to speak yet.”
Forcing his anger under control, Chevalier saw that Zohn was right and left the room quickly. Once in the bedroom, he ordered all heku out of the room and went over to where Emily was rocking on the seat of the bay window.
“Em, please, I need you to talk to me,” he whispered, and put a hand on her arm.
She shakily looked up at him and her eyes showed the terror she felt.
“Tell me why you’re afraid of Allen.”
Emily returned to her ball and began to rock.
Chevalier put a hand against her back, “I really need to know.”
After a few minutes of silence, he realized that Emily was crying softly as she rocked.
“Just tell me, please.”
When she didn’t answer, he tried another approach, “If I give you paper and a pen, will you write down why?”
He watched her tighten her protective ball and left long enough to grab something to write with. He put it down in front of her, “There… can you write down why you are afraid of Allen?”
She looked up at the paper and then over to him. The pain in her eyes was prevalent and he sighed and smiled slightly, “It was worth a shot. I’m going to have to get it out of them though, if you won’t tell me.”
He watched as she uncurled and then leaned up against the window to look down over the corral, “Why aren’t you talking yet? You’ve been here for 2 years, in the safety of the palace. You need to talk to me.”
He sighed and took her hand, and then smiled when she didn’t pull away, “It’s ok. I’ll get out of Salazar about Allen.”
Chevalier watched her when he noticed her body tensed at the Valle’s name, “Are you still afraid he’s going to come and take you?”
“I hate talking to myself,” he told her, and then looked toward the door. “The Council is moving back up to the fifth-floor today. If it gets too noisy or bothersome, we can always move them out. Course, you’d have to tell me.”
Emily looked away from the window and down at their intertwined hands.
Chevalier lifted her chin lightly with his free hand and looked into her eyes, “Talk to me. I know you’re in there. I can see your personality coming back, so it’s time you start to talk.”
When she didn’t respond, he got up and stormed out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
Lori sighed, “She doesn’t need that, Elder.”
Chevalier spun toward her, “She can talk! Why won’t she?”
“She’s not ready.”
“When will she be? It’s been two years.”
“There’s no way to tell. She will talk, when she’s ready.”
He turned angrily and walked down the stairs. Kyle passed him on the way up and watched the Elder disappear into the council chambers. He walked up and stopped by Lori.
“What happened?” he asked, watching the door.
“He’s just frustrated because she won’t talk.”
Kyle nodded, “He wants to know why she’s afraid of Allen. Salazar’s mind isn’t straight enough to get
answers from.”
“She doesn’t need any anger right now.”
“I know,” he said, and walked into her room. Kyle sat down beside Emily on the bay window seat and calmly spoke to her, “He’s not mad at you.”
Emily looked over at him.
“He’s mad at the situation. He’s blaming himself for the Valle having you for 2 years while we thought you were dead.”
When she didn’t respond, he smiled slightly, “We know you aren’t blaming him, but he’s blaming himself. He promised to protect you and then… well… you get the picture. He’s also frustrated because he doesn’t understand why you reacted to Allen like you did.”
“Usually he’d just force it out of Sa… erm… a prisoner, but this one’s not really rational anymore. We’re hoping a few days without torture will straighten his mind and he’ll give us answers,” Kyle said, and then looked out the window. “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s go outside.”
He saw Emily’s brow furrow just a bit before she turned to the window.
“Come on,” he told her, and stood up as he pulled her hand gently. “Let’s get on the horses and go out, ok?”
She hesitated and then stood up and watched Kyle dig around in her things for her cowboy boots and cowboy hat, “We aren’t sure where your gloves are, but I remember putting these away.”
Kyle helped her slip the boots on and then put the hat on her head and smiled, “There… ready to go?”
Emily looked over at the door and it was obvious that she was unsure.
“If you don’t want to go horseback riding, better tell me now or I’ll drag you out there,” he said with a smile. Kyle took her hand again and gently pulled her toward the door. He could hear her heart race as she began to panic, but he continued to move her.
“What’s up?” Lori asked when Kyle pulled Emily out of the room. She was tugging against him, but he was relentlessly moving her down the hallway.
“We’re going horseback riding,” Kyle told her.
Lori began to follow them, “She doesn’t look like she wants to go.”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 66
