Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Emily shielded her eyes when she walked up on the sunny deck. She was right, and the yacht was anchored up against the pier leading into Island Coven.

  “Good morning, Lady Emily,” one of the Pier Guards said as he held his dog tightly. The German shepherd was growling low as his hackles rose and his lips pulled back to expose his menacing teeth.

  Emily frowned, “Is he going to eat me?”

  “No, M’Lady. He’s just new to the pier.”

  “What time is it?”

  “10:23am, Ma’am.”

  She nodded and then walked down the plank to the pier, trying to ignore the snarling dog. Chevalier had left his black Range Rover by the pier, so she would have a way to the castle. When she climbed in, she adjusted the seat, so she could reach the pedals, and was soon back at the castle.

  The Door Guards bowed when she walked up, “Good Morning, M’Lady.”

  “Morning… is Gordon here?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. He’s been in the kitchen most of the morning waiting for you.”

  “Ok,” she said, and walked through the door. She looked around the vacant foyer and immediately headed for the kitchen.

  Gordon turned and smiled when she walked in, “I bet you’re hungry.”

  “Starving! What’s for breakfast?” she asked as she sat down.

  “What would you like?”

  “Do you have strawberries?”

  Gordon reached down and picked up a wicker basket, “Fresh off the vine this morning.”

  She smiled, “Crepes then?”

  “One batch of crepes coming up. Here’s something while you wait,” he said, handing over a steaming up.

  Emily looked down at it, “What is it?”

  “Chocolat chaud.”

  “Is that Latin for coffee?”

  Gordon chuckled, “No. It's a Parisian hot chocolate.”

  She nodded and took a sip, “Oh my God, this is good!”

  He seemed pleased when she took another sip and then sat back to wait for breakfast.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Kyle said when he walked into the kitchen.

  Emily held out her cup, “You should try this. It's amazing.”

  He shook his head, “No thanks. The Elders would like you down in the court room.”

  “They’re here?”

  “Yes”

  “Chev hauled the entire Council here because Niccolo read a book?”

  “No, just myself and the Elders.”

  “Why not wait until we got to the city?”

  “Niccolo is from Island Coven,” Kyle said, and then stood back by the door, indicating he wanted her to follow.

  “I didn’t know that. No wonder Chev was mad.” She made no motion that she was going to follow him.

  “We need to go,” he said, amused.

  “I’m waiting for breakfast.”

  Gordon laughed and put a tray of cream cheese filled strawberry crepes down in front of her with sizzling bacon and hash browns, and a glass of ice cold orange juice, “You can take it with you.”

  She nodded and took the tray, which Kyle then took from her before stepping out into the hallway.

  “Hint taken, I’m coming,” she said, and followed him down the dark stairway into the cave-like court room. Just outside the door to the court room, Emily stole a piece of bacon and then ate it while she walked in.

  She hated how many heku were here for the trial and wondered what purpose it served to have Island Coven residents in these trials. Emily followed Kyle past them and up onto the stand where the Elders were waiting with Storm.

  “That smells awful,” Chevalier said when she sat down.

  “It’s bacon,” she told him, and took another one to eat.

  He winked at her, and then turned back to the court room, “Bring in Niccolo.”

  The court room’s Door Guard disappeared, and Emily dug into the crepes, not really caring that almost 50 heku were watching her eat. She was hungry enough it didn’t matter. She was just finishing when Niccolo was brought in, and she briefly wondered if they had waited until she finished. It normally took only seconds for them to retrieve a prisoner.

  Emily glanced at each of the Elders and saw they were now sitting straight and looking along the heku in the audience with stern glances. Niccolo was forced to his knees in front of them, and Kralen soon appeared and stood behind him.

  Storm shuffled some papers and stood up, “Niccolo, you are hereby charged with insubordination, neglect, and unlawful search. How do you plead?”

  Niccolo swallowed hard, “Not guilty?”

  “Are you asking me?” Storm asked him, irritated. She was disgusted with how he seemed nervous and fidgety.

  “No, I’m pleading not guilty.”

  “The trial will commence then. First charge is insubordination. Captain Kralen, what were your orders to Niccolo in regards to the yacht?” Storm asked.

  Kralen looked up at the Elders, “He was ordered to anchor the yacht, and then watch the boat and wait for our return.”

  “Did you do so?” Storm asked the prisoner.

  “Yes… yes I did… I just… well I was reading and didn’t know the yacht had floated away.”

  “So you did anchor it?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Kralen shook his head, “When we arrived, it was less than 2 feet into the water. That’s not enough to stop a boat of that size from drifting.”

  Storm nodded and wrote in a file before speaking, “Neglect charges are based on abandoning a member of the Council and your superiors on a deserted island. What do you have to say about that?”

  “I didn’t! I didn’t know the boat had floated away. I wouldn’t have abandoned them,” Niccolo whispered, too afraid to speak up.

  “At what point did you go below deck?”

  “It was… I don’t know.”

  “Was it within an hour of the rest of them heading inland?”

  He nodded, “Maybe a little longer.”

  “After you initially went below deck, did you come back up to check on things?”

  “No, Ma’am. I didn’t hear anything that would indicate the boat was being boarded.”

  Storm leaned forward, “However, when they did board the boat and a mortal walked down the stairs, you didn’t hear them?”

  “No, Ma’am. They must have been sneaking.”

  Storm turned to Emily, “Were you attempting to be quiet?”

  “I’m mortal. We don’t know how to be quiet,” Emily said, and then blushed when a laugh spread through the gathered heku.

  Storm shook her head and grinned before turning back to Niccolo, “What were you doing when Lady Emily arrived below deck?”

  “Reading, Ma’am.”

  “Where?”

  Niccolo frowned, “I was… well… I kind of…”

  “Where were you sitting? This isn’t a hard question.”

  “On… on the bed, Ma’am.”

  “So you were sitting on Lady Emily’s bed, reading her book?”

  Niccolo simply nodded.

  “Yet you didn’t hear her coming down the stairs?”

  “No, Ma’am.”

  Storm glared at him, “You were so engrossed in a romance novel that you wouldn’t have heard if the entire Valle population had boarded?”

  “I think I would have heard that,” Niccolo whispered. Kralen had had enough, so he reached down and smacked him upside the head. Niccolo winced and then looked up at Storm.

  She shook her head, “At what point did you find it necessary to search Lady Emily’s possessions?”

  He gasped, “I didn’t!”

  “Where was the book you were reading?”

  “On the night stand.”

  “So you didn’t go through her bags?”

  “I wouldn’t!”

  Storm turned to Emily, “Are you sure your things were disheveled?”

  Emily shrugged, “Well, I don’t have the heku’s photographic memory…, but things seemed a bit out
of order.”

  “Her bags had his scent. He had gone through them,” Chevalier told her.

  Storm nodded and wrote in the file, “Lying won’t get you anywhere in this court.”

  “I’m not! I may… well they fell… the bags. So I put the stuff back into them,” Niccolo said.

  “And you just remembered that?”

  “I… yes.”

  “Why did you go through her things?” Storm asked him again.

  “I didn’t!”

  Kralen hissed, “Do not make me interrogate you, boy.”

  Niccolo gasped and his eyes grew wide, “Ok… ok… so maybe I looked at just the stuff on top. I didn’t hurt anything.”

  Emily’s nose wrinkled, “Why?”

  Storm glanced at Emily and then turned to Niccolo, waiting for an answer.

  He sighed, “It’s just… I don’t know.”

  “So you felt it prudent to inspect Lady Emily’s personal belongings?” Storm asked him.

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  “What was it like?”

  “I just… I don’t know. I just wanted to see I guess.”

  “You are vying for a spot on the Council City Cavalry, are you not?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Is being nosey a trait that the heku seek in a good guard?”

  “No, Ma’am.” Emily could tell that Niccolo was defeated. His eyes were glued to the dirt floor at his knees, and his voice held no more emotion.

  Storm wrote for a few minutes and then turned to the Elders, “Do you need anything else?”

  “I think that’s enough,” Chevalier said, glaring down at Niccolo.

  “The Elders will now vote,” Storm said.

  Emily felt panic rising and started to stand, but Kyle put his hands on her shoulders and held her to the chair. She hadn’t realized he was behind her and knew he was there to keep her from running.

  “It’s ok,” Kyle whispered.

  She looked over at Chevalier when he spoke, “Guilty.”

  “Guilty,” Zohn said.

  Quinn nodded, “I concur. He's guilty of whatever it is he was doing.”

  The panic grew. Emily knew she had to get out of the court room before the heku was torn to pieces in front of her. She pushed harder to get up, but Kyle’s hands didn’t relent.

  “Em, calm down,” Chevalier said softly as he turned his chair toward her.

  “What’s wrong?” Zohn asked, frowning.

  Emily looked at Niccolo and was finding it hard to breathe. She could easily imagine Kralen reaching down and instantly tearing him apart. She looked up and met Kralen’s eye and knew that he would do it if given the order.

  Kyle bent down and whispered into her ear, “We’re not going to punish him in front of you.”

  Emily wanted to fight for his life, to demand the Elders let him go. It was such a small crime, and she didn’t feel it warranted any type of punishment. She had long since decided to let the Council do their job though, and the thoughts of standing up for this heku were soon tucked into the back of her mind.

  Chevalier studied her for a moment, “Kyle, take her upstairs please.”

  Kyle nodded and helped Emily to her feet. She walked as fast as she could and was soon up in her bedroom.

  “You ok?” Kyle asked her.

  “Are they going to tear him apart?”

  “Probably not for that small of a crime.”

  “Banishment?”

  “If I had to guess, just a prison sentence.”

  Emily nodded and looked over at her bag, “What do you think he did with my things?”

  “There’s no telling.”

  “I bet he just looked, right?”

  “Probably”

  She reached over and unzipped the bag, and then pulled out the top item, a simple green t-shirt, “Not much to look at, really.”

  Under the t-shirt was an extra bikini. Kyle frowned and reached over to pick up the top. He brought it to his nose and frowned, “His scent is still on this.”

  “On my swim suit?” she asked, frowning.

  “Pretty strong too. I wonder if he tried it on.”

  Emily wasn’t sure if Kyle was joking or not, but she took it away from him and tossed it into the trash.

  Kyle chuckled, “That was just a guess though.”

  “It’s disgusting!”

  “I’ll have Margaret make you a new one.”

  “No!” she said, a little too fast. She grinned sheepishly up at Kyle, “I’d rather the palace tailor make me one.”

  Kyle grinned, “I like Margaret’s better.”

  “Yes, I bet you do.”

  They both turned when the Elders walked in.

  “Did you kill him?” Emily asked them.

  Chevalier shook his head, “Not for something that small. He’s going to be in the prison for a while though.”

  Emily breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t often the Elders gave someone such a small sentence. Kralen walked in a few seconds later, and it was obvious he was still mad.

  “We’re headed to Council City,” Kralen told them.

  Chevalier nodded, “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  Chapter 2

  Derrick smiled when he saw Emily coming toward him, “Good afternoon, Lady Emily. Do you need to see the Council?”

  She sighed and looked at the door, “Are they busy?”

  “They have a prisoner but are waiting for Richard to get back.”

  “They won’t kill him in front of me, right?”

  Derrick couldn’t help but grin, “No. They try not to do that anymore.”

  “Ok, let me in please.”

  He turned to the door for a few seconds before opening it, “Go on in.”

  Emily walked in and stood at the door for a second to let her eyes adjust. Most of the time, the Council had the lights turned on, but once in a while, like now, they didn’t. She knew they could see fine without the lights, but it made it hard for her to get around.

  Once she could see enough to walk, she skirted around the prisoner on his knees and went up to kneel by Chevalier.

  He turned his chair, “You ok?”

  “Yes… can I talk to you for a sec?”

  “Sure”

  Emily stood up and then looked over at him when he didn’t stand up, “Alone.”

  “Oh! Right,” he said, and then followed her out through the back door.

  Once in the hallway behind the council chambers, Emily turned to him and wrung her hands slightly.

  Chevalier smiled, “You’re nervous.”

  “Well”

  “What’s up?”

  “Andrew invited me to come pay a visit,” she said, and then cringed when he sighed.

  “You want to go visit the Encala?”

  “Yes, just for a week.”

  Chevalier pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger, “Is there a reason?”

  “Not really anything special.”

  “For a week?” He was trying to be open-minded about the continuing friendship Emily had with not only Andrew but the entire Encala faction.

  Since Andrew was made the Encala’s Chief Interrogator, even when they spoke it made Chevalier nervous. He was pleased that she had asked though. Five years ago, Emily wouldn’t have asked and Chevalier wouldn’t have known she was even invited until she was already in Encala City.

  Emily watched him and began to get nervous that he was going to tell her she couldn’t go. She’d sworn to herself that she was going to involve him in decisions though and knew that if he said no, it might cause a fight.

  “It’s been so quiet,” Emily said. “I think a road trip would be fun.”

  “Road trip?” Chevalier asked.

  “Yeah, he wants to take our motorcycles.”

  “There are still unfactioned out there.”

  “I know, but I’ll be with Andrew…, and I can take care of myself too. Please, Chev. I haven’t visited the Encala in years.”
>
  He finally sighed, “I guess you can go.”

  Emily squealed slightly and wrapped her arms around him, “Thank you!”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “He said it’ll take him two days to get here, and then we’ll leave.”

  “You’ll be careful?”

  “I promise.”

  He studied her for a bit before nodding, “For now though, Thukil has just arrived.”

  “Great!” Emily said, and immediately headed down to the stables. In front of the stables was a large horse trailer bearing the name “Thukil Equestrian Ranch” emblazoned across it. Captain Darren was just climbing out of the driver’s seat.

  “Brought you some presents,” he said, smiling.

  Emily nodded and went around to the back of the horse trailer where Mark and Silas were waiting. She unhooked the security latch and opened the back, revealing two beautiful, black horses; a stallion and a mare.

  “Oh, they’re beautiful,” she said, looking over the majestic horses. “Are they fast?”

  “That stallion’s actually faster than his Mom, but the mare can hold her own,” one of the Thukil Cavalry Commanders said.

  “Are they broken?” Mark asked.

  Captain Darren nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

  Emily frowned and turned around, “I thought I was going to break them.”

  “Elder’s…”

  “… never mind.” She turned and watched Silas walk the stallion out of the trailer, “He’s huge!”

  “Why, thank you,” Silas chuckled.

  “Not you! The horse. Geesh.”

  “Seventeen hands that one,” Darren said as he took the reins on the mare and walked her out.

  “Let’s put them in the corral for now. Let them get used to Council City,” Emily suggested. She opened the gate to the corral, and they led the horses into it and let them go. The stallion didn’t take long to start grazing on what was left of the fall grass.

  When the gate was shut, Emily leaned up against the fence and watched them, “Absolutely gorgeous.”

  “Who gets them though?” Silas asked, watching them graze.

  “I’m thinking Mark will choose that.”

  “You aren’t snagging one?”

  “Nope, I have a horse.”

  Captain Darren lowered his voice so Emily couldn’t hear him, “She still doesn’t trust us, does she?”

  Mark looked over at him, “It’s hard to say. She won’t talk a lot about her time with the former Council.”