“You want us to ask him?” Silas asked Emily.
She turned to Mark.
“Ask me what?” Mark asked.
“Fine… General, can we remove the bars from the windows?” Kralen asked, already knowing the answer.
Mark frowned, “No, you may not.”
Emily stomped and turned to Silas.
Silas looked at her, “He’s going to tell me no, too.”
“Is that what this is?” Mark asked her. “You want them to remove the bars?”
Emily angrily sat down on a rug in front of the fire.
“You tried to jump out of the window,” Mark reminded her. “We can’t remove them until you talk and let us know what’s going on.”
She stood up after only a few minutes and walked out the door, followed by the four heku. When they reached the fourth-floor, she turned to the council chambers.
Derrick smiled, “Good afternoon. Do you need to see the Council?”
Emily watched him.
He chuckled and opened the door, “Go on in.”
The four members of the Cavalry followed Emily into the trial area of the council chambers.
“What’s up?” Chevalier asked them.
Emily turned to Mark.
“You want me to ask him?” Mark asked, and then crossed his arms. “Then tell me and I’ll ask.”
“Ask what?”
“When she tells me that’s what she wants, then I’ll ask.”
Chevalier nodded, “What do you want, Em?”
She turned to Kralen.
“Nope, it’s the General’s job to do that.”
Emily glanced at Silas and he shook his head.
Quinn watched the frustration growing in her face, “Do you know what she wants?”
Mark nodded, “Yes, I do.”
“I see.”
“Just tell us,” Chevalier said to her.
She crossed her arms and stared at Mark.
He shifted nervously and glanced at Kyle’s empty chair, “Erm, when will the Chief Enforcer be back?”
Chevalier chuckled, “He’s not far.”
The entire council chambers fell silent while they all waited for Emily to talk. It wasn’t until Derrick stepped in almost twenty minutes later that anyone spoke.
“Yes, Derrick?” Zohn said.
He glanced at Emily and then lowered his voice so she couldn’t hear, “The Valle have sent representatives to speak to the Council.”
“Who?”
“Sotomar and their new Chief Interrogator.”
“Beautiful, we have such a good track record with the Valle Chief Interrogators,” Chevalier mumbled.
“If you aren’t going to tell us what you want,” Zohn said to Emily, “Then we have something we need to get to.”
Emily looked again at Mark.
He smiled, “Nope, not going to cave. Either tell me what you want me to do, or we can go back to the bedroom.”
She stomped and then left the council chambers.
“Kralen, wait,” Quinn said when the other heku left after Emily.
“Yes, Elder?”
“What does she want?”
“She wants us to remove the bars from her window.”
Chevalier nodded, “Well… don’t do it.”
Kralen smiled, “We know, Elder.”
“While the Valle are here, please keep her in her room.”
Kralen nodded, bowed, and then left.
A few minutes later, Derrick opened the door for the Valle. Sotomar and a dark-skinned heku entered and walked up to stand before the Elders.
“Is there some reason for this uninvited visit?” Richard, the Chief Interrogator asked.
Sotomar glanced at him, and then turned to the Elders, “Yes. It’s been long enough and we wish to see Emily.”
“She’s not ready to see you,” Chevalier told them.
“Never the less, we want to see her.”
“No”
The Valle’s Chief Interrogator stepped forward, “We’ve been able to flush out three of Salazar’s coven members, and we wish to ascertain Emily’s state of mind to ensure we aren’t going to punish them needlessly.”
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Turn them over to us.”
“No”
Sotomar put a hand out, “Let’s not get riled up. We feel that you have enough Valle here to punish, so it’s our turn to show our own faction that the Council won’t tolerate anyone hurting the Winchester.”
Quinn turned to Chevalier, “Emily did consider Sotomar a friend. Maybe it is time we let him see her.”
Chevalier continued to watch Sotomar, “What exactly do you want to say to her?”
“We merely want to see her. It’s not that we’re accusing you of lying,” Sotomar explained. “However, for the Council to fully punish those from Green Mountain Coven, we want to know the extent.”
Zohn shrugged, “I agree with Quinn… however, this isn’t a Council decision.”
Quinn nodded, “This is your call, Chevalier.”
“Lori?” Chevalier called out.
Sotomar turned when the Psychiatrist came into the room and stood beside him, unafraid, “Yes, Elder?”
“The Valle wish to see Emily.”
She looked at them and then turned to Chevalier, “Might I ask why? She’s still very fragile.”
Sotomar smiled, “Emily has never been fragile.”
Lori glared at him and he turned to Chevalier.
“I understand that,” Chevalier told her. “However, she did consider Sotomar to be a friend.”
“Well,” Lori said, mostly to herself. “She has quit shushing us when we say his name.”
Sotomar frowned, “Excuse me?”
“I’d say let’s do it, but I think that I need to be there, along with the Elder and her three closest guards… unless Kyle is close.”
Chevalier shook his head, “We can’t pull him away. Bring her to the Council’s conference room.”
Lori nodded and blurred away.
Sotomar smiled, “The Equites like to exaggerate. This should be interesting.”
Chevalier held the door open, “We’ll see… follow me.”
They all went to the closest conference room and Chevalier ordered the fires stoked while the Valle sat down.
Chevalier studied the Valle before speaking, “I know you think we’re not telling the truth, but I have some rules for this.”
“Rules?” Sotomar asked.
“Yes… you remain sitting, you don’t make any sudden movements, and you do not yell or even raise your voice a bit.”
“That sounds easy enough.”
Mark was the first to step in, followed by Kralen and Lori. They each walked up to stand at the wall behind the Valle.
Sotomar smiled when Emily peeked around the corner and into the room.
“Come in, Em,” Chevalier said.
She looked over at Sotomar and her eyes grew wide. Silas caught her just as she tried to run, and gently pulled her into the room and shut the door behind them. Emily stood and stared at Sotomar while Silas blocked the door.
“They just want to see how you’re doing,” Chevalier told her.
“It is so good to see you,” Sotomar said with a smile. “Can you sit and talk to us?”
She just watched them.
“She has a slight aversion to chairs,” Lori told them.
Sotomar frowned, “Why?”
“We aren’t quite sure.”
He turned back to Emily, “That’s ok. We can talk on the floor, ok?”
Mark smiled, “Good luck with that.”
“She’s non-verbal,” Lori told them.
Sotomar watched her as she began to pace back and forth along the far wall, “She looks fine… nervous maybe.”
“Em, what’s wrong?” Chevalier asked.
She was nervously wringing her hands and walking up and down the wall, glancing often at Sotomar and her heart was racing.
Sotomar frowned, �
�Are you afraid of me?”
Emily gasped softly and paced faster, still wringing her hands hard enough they were turning red. Every so often, she would glance at Sotomar, but would turn away quickly and continue to stare at the floor as she walked.
“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked Lori.
“I’m not sure.”
“Could it be the strange heku?”
“Out,” Sotomar whispered. His Chief Interrogator stood and exited the room. Silas shut the door behind him and turned to Emily.
“Ok, Em. You know all of us now,” Silas said to her.
She didn’t stop pacing and her eyes darted between the heku in the room.
“Do we need to stop this?” Chevalier asked.
Lori shook her head, “No, let’s see if we can figure out what’s wrong.”
Sotomar was having a hard time speaking, “Is she afraid of me?”
“Looks like it,” Mark said.
Emily finally stopped and turned to Sotomar. He smiled widely, but his face fell when she tilted her head back and pulled the collar of her t-shirt away from her neck.
Sotomar gasped.
“Em, no,” Chevalier said sternly. She looked up at Chevalier, and then over at Sotomar.
Lori smiled reassuringly, “Sotomar isn’t going to feed from you.”
She began to wring her hands again as she watched the Valle.
“Can you give us some indication what’s wrong?” Mark asked her.
It was obvious that Emily was thinking about something as she watched the enemy Elder.
“You look well,” Sotomar whispered to her, though his voice gave away his doubts.
Emily sat down in front of the fire and looked back at Sotomar.
“I think she wants you to join her,” Lori said, and then smiled. “That’s a good sign.”
Sotomar nodded and joined her on the rug, “It is warmer down here, and maybe that’s why you like it.”
Emily looked at him for a few minutes and then slowly held her hands out to the fire.
“Are you cold, Dear?” he asked her.
She watched his eyes as she leaned forward slowly. Chevalier lunged for her when her hands touched flames, and pulled her away from the fire.
Sotomar gasped and stood up when he first realized she was burning her hands, “What was that!?”
Chevalier held her hands and looked at them, “It doesn’t look like a bad burn.”
“Let me see,” Lori said, and walked up to get a better look.
“Wh… why…?” Sotomar managed to whisper.
Mark turned to him, “That was one of Salazar’s techniques. He liked to burn her hands.”
Lori turned back to them and nodded, “She’s ok. Just a little red.”
Chevalier let her go and lifted her chin so she was looking at him, “No one in this room is going to punish you.”
“I… I wouldn’t,” Sotomar said, his voice cracking.
Kralen sighed and looked at him, “It’s ok. This has happened before.”
“Why would he burn her hands?”
“It was part of a brainwashing technique that Reed taught him,” Chevalier said. “Along with some that made that one look calm.”
Emily again began to pace and glance nervously at Sotomar.
“Reassure her,” Lori said to him.
Sotomar cleared his throat, “I don’t want to punish you, or hurt you in any way. We’re friends, remember?”
“I wonder what Sotomar is supposed to punish her for,” Silas said.
Lori shook her head and watched Emily pace, “There’s no telling.”
“C… Can you remember when we were friends?” Sotomar asked. He didn’t like how nervous she was around him and how she kept looking at him like he might attack.
Sotomar sat down at the table and watched Emily pace fearfully.
Chevalier sat down, lowered his voice, and told Sotomar about the brainwashing techniques and how Salazar learned of them. The other heku joined them at the table and let Emily pace by herself.
Sotomar slowly lowered his head into his hands as he listened to the torment at the hands of his former council member.
“We thought it was all lies,” Sotomar whispered.
“We know,” Chevalier said.
“Elder,” Silas whispered, and motioned for Emily.
Sotomar gasped when he saw her up against the wall with her hands crossed above her and her shirt lying at her feet.
Chevalier sighed and got up. He gently brought her hands off of the wall and slipped her shirt back on.
“She’s done that before, too,” Lori told Sotomar. “She was often lashed and it seems she thinks you are here to punish her for something.”
There was obvious pain in Sotomar’s eyes, “What can I say to get her to trust me?”
“It just takes time,” Lori told him. She smiled when Chevalier turned away from Emily, “Would you like to sit with us and we can talk about Sotomar?”
Emily began to pace again.
Chevalier sat down, “She’s trying to figure out how Sotomar wants to punish her.”
Lori nodded, “I agree. She’s tried the usual methods used by Salazar. Now she’ll come up with some he maybe didn’t use as often.”
Sotomar watched her, “I don’t want to see another.”
“I’d like to see what else he did,” Chevalier whispered. “This may be the only way we know what else happened in that coven.”
Sotomar nodded, “If it will help… though I don’t like that she thinks I’m here to punish her.”
Lori turned to Emily, “We’re trying to figure out why Sotomar needs to punish you.”
“Lori!” Chevalier growled.
She turned and lowered her voice, “Emily isn’t going to believe anything other than what Salazar told her. If he said that Sotomar would punish her for something, we need to not change that or she could disbelieve anything else we say.”
Sotomar sighed and looked at his hands.
Lori looked over at Emily, “Can you give us a hint?”
Emily just looked at her and continued to pace.
“Is Sotomar here because we have Salazar?” Mark asked. When he got no response from Emily, he shrugged.
“Is he here to take you back to the Valle?” Lori asked her.
Chevalier watched and listened, but Emily didn’t give any indication that they were right.
“Is he here because you are with the Equites?” Mark asked her.
“I hate this guessing game,” Kralen said.
Chevalier sighed, “He’s here to punish you for not giving the Valle a baby, isn’t he?”
Sotomar gasped, “What?”
She looked at Sotomar and then walked over to face the corner. It was evident to everyone that Chevalier was right.
Sotomar composed himself and then spoke softly, “If Salazar told you that I would be upset that you didn’t have a baby for the Valle, then he was sorely mistaken.”
“Salazar worked alone, Em,” Chevalier said.
Sotomar nodded, “We didn’t even know he had you. We wouldn’t have allowed any of this to happen.”
Emily’s body suddenly went stiff and straight, and they could hear her breathing quicken as she stood facing the corner.
“That’s an odd posture,” Lori said, studying her.
“What’s she doing?” Sotomar asked.
Chevalier shrugged, “Em, we don’t know what that is.”
“Is this another punishment?” Lori asked.
Mark nodded, “Remember when Reed told us about Salazar burying Emily? He first tied her up.”
Sotomar gasped, “He did what!?”
“He buried her alive,” Chevalier said, and stood up. He walked over to her and touched her shoulder, “We’re not going to bury you, nor is Sotomar.”
Emily’s body relaxed some and she turned to him, confused.
“She’s still trying to figure out how you want to punish her,” Lori said. “She’s starting to pa
nic because she doesn’t know what you’re going to do.”
“Emily,” Sotomar whispered. “I’m not here to punish you. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
She watched him for a few seconds before dropping to her knees and holding her arms out toward him, soft side up.
Sotomar gasped and his eyes grew wide.
“What?” Chevalier asked, watching the enemy Elder.
“Did… did he do that to you?” Sotomar asked her
Emily squeezed her eyes shut and began to shake.
“Do what?” Lori asked.
Sotomar shook his head, “I… I don’t want to say…”
“What’s she doing?” Chevalier asked.
“It’s something the Valle have come up with to get compliance from heku that normal interrogation doesn’t work for.”
“What is it?”
Chevalier was the only one who caught Sotomar’s movements. The first the other heku saw him move was when he tenderly grasped Emily’s head in his large hands and immediately locked her eyes.
Mark flew to his feet, but Chevalier stopped him, “Let him do it.”
The Equites watched carefully as Sotomar attempted to erase Emily’s fears of the Valle, naming each member of the Valle Council and stressing how none of them wanted to punish her.
After almost 30 minutes, Sotomar let her go and gently kissed her forehead. She looked up at him and the fear instantly returned. He stood and then sat down at the table to watch her as she began to pace again.
“She’s still afraid of me,” he whispered.
“It’s not that easy to erase 2 years’ worth of lies,” Chevalier said.
“Emily?” Sotomar said softly.
She looked over at him and wrung her hands tightly.
He smiled, “The Valle care too much about you to ever hurt you. I know that you remember when we thought you nothing more than a weapon. Now though, we consider you a cherished friend.”
Emily turned away from him and put a poker into the fire.
“If you’re cold, I can stoke it,” Mark said, standing up.
Lori sighed, “This isn’t working.”
Chevalier looked over at her, “She seems calmer… some.”
“I suspect she’s preparing to be burned.”
He watched Emily, “Em? Are you stoking the fire?”
She turned away from him and lifted her t-shirt slightly in back, and then tugged the back of her pants down to reveal the Equites tattoo.
Chevalier sighed, “Let’s end this.”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 76
