Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (48 page)

“I don’t understand the question,
General.”

Jaron shrugged when Mark
looked at him, and then he looked up at the sky, “Snow’s
starting.”

“Emily, it’s late, so you
need to get inside before you catch pneumonia,” Mark
said.

“It’s an odd joke, Sir… is there a reason
for it?”

“What joke?”

“The mortal comments… heckling, is it
not?”

Mark sighed and watched
her, deep in thought. He finally called for Silas and Kralen, who
rode up a few minutes later.

“What’s up?” Silas asked, surprised to see
Emily out in the snow.

“Em…” Mark said.

“Yes, General?” she asked, looking over at
him.

“How long have you been a heku?” he
asked.

“What…” Silas began, but
Mark held a hand up.

“39 years, Sir,” she said
bluntly.

Kralen frowned, “So you’re a heku?”

“Of course,
Captain.”

“I can smell your blood
from here,” Silas said. “What are you playing at?”

Emily looked straight ahead, obviously
insulted.

Mark sighed, “Kralen,
Silas, and Emily… head inside, and that’s an order.”

“Yes, General,” she said,
and followed Silas and Kralen to the stables. One of the Cavalry
came out and took their horses, so they could more quickly go into
the palace.

Derrick greeted them, “Did
you need to speak to the Council?”

“Yes,” Kralen said, and
glanced at Emily nervously.

Derrick stepped inside and then held the
door, “Enter.”

The three stepped up to the trial area and
all bowed slightly, again something Emily never did.

“Is there a problem?” Zohn asked.

“We’re not sure,” Kralen told him.

“Em?” Chevalier said.

“Yes, Elder?” she asked,
and looked at him.

He frowned, “Are you mad?”

“No, Elder.”

“If you’re not mad, why are you calling him
Elder?” Quinn asked her.

“He is an Elder, is he not?”

“Well… yes…”

“Then I will address him as such,” she told
him.

Kralen grinned slightly, “Emily, when did
you turn?”

“39 years ago,
Captain.”

“Wait… what?” Chevalier asked, not sure he
heard right.

“If you’re mortal, step
forward,” Silas said, and the Council watched as Emily held the
line with Silas and Kralen.

“I’m confused… Is this a
practical joke?” Zohn asked.

Silas shrugged, “Honestly, Sir, we aren’t
sure.”

“Curious,” the Chief
Interrogator said. “Emily, are you mortal?”

“No, Sir.”

“Are you heku?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The Chief Interrogator frowned, “She’s not
lying… well… she thinks she’s telling the truth.”

“Emily, look at me,” Zohn
said, and studied her. “Are you heku?”

“Yes, Sir,” she said to him.

“He’s right… she’s telling
the truth, as far as she knows.”

Dustin thought for a moment, “Hmm… full moon
out tonight.”

She didn’t respond, and
didn’t seem to notice everyone watching her.

“Em, are you playing a
joke?” Chevalier asked.

“No, Elder, that would be
unbefitting of a member of the Cavalry,” she answered.

“Why don’t you go grab some dinner,” Silas
told her.

“I’m fine. I fed a few
days ago.”

“Well… this is new,” Zohn
said, studying her as he tapped his fingers on the desk.

“When did this start?” Chevalier asked.

“Thinking back… she
fainted earlier this morning, and I think it started then, though
we at first assumed she was just mad because she only uses our rank
when she’s mad at one of us,” Silas explained.

Quinn studied her, and
noticed her guard uniform was soaked and she was shivering, “Emily,
go get into something dry while we discuss things.”

“Yes, Elder,” she said,
bowed slightly, and then walked out of the room.

Kralen turned toward the door, “She headed
down the stairs.”

“She’s going to the barracks,” Silas
suggested.

Chevalier sighed, “Go get
her.”

Kralen disappeared and came back in with her
following him.

“You needed me, Elder?” Emily asked.

“Change of plans. Go guard
my bedroom door,” Chevalier told her.

“Right away, Sir,” she
said, and walked out of the room.

“Did she hit her head when she fainted?”
Quinn asked.

“No, Sir, I caught her,” Kralen
explained.

“She was fine before that?”

“Yes”

“Nothing else?”

Silas thought for a moment, “I did detect a
small wound… but that’s not abnormal.”

“I caught that today too,” Chevalier said.
“It was pretty tiny though.”

“She’s not using her poker
face,” Zohn told them. “She truly believes what she’s
saying.”

“How can she all of a sudden think she’s
heku?” Quinn asked.

“I have no idea… She has
to have things we don’t though… sleeping, eating… those will need
to be taken care of until we figure this out.”

Chevalier thought for a moment, “Maybe she
can sleep it off, whatever it is.”

“We’ve already suggested
she eat. She won’t do it,” Kralen said.

“Can she survive off of blood then?” Dustin
asked.

“We can’t give her blood,”
Chevalier said. “Not only is her body not equipped for that, but if
she ever finds out, she’d kill us all.”

“See if she’ll sleep it
off then. It’s already past when she normally sleeps,” Quinn
said.

Chevalier nodded and
appeared at his bedroom door. Four members of the Cavalry were
standing at their posts, and Emily was beside them. They glanced
nervously at the Elder when he approached.

“Commander, in my room
please,” he said, and opened his door.

“Yes, Elder,” she replied,
and stepped in. He shut the door behind her and studied her for a
few moments.

“You’ll obey any order?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Good, then get in bed,”
he said, and stoked the fires. She was still shivering from being
out in the snow.

When he stood up, he saw a brief look of
panic cross her face and then quickly disappear, “Did you want me
undressed?”

“Why would… oh wait! No,
no, you misunderstood,” Chevalier said, finally understanding what
she thought was going on. He started to dig around in her dresser
and pulled out a nightgown, “Go into the bathroom and put this on,
and then come out.”

She nodded and did as she was told. When she
came out, she was wringing her hands nervously.

Chevalier pulled the covers aside, “We are
afraid of an attack, someone out to get me while I rest. You’ll
take my place in case it happens.”

“Yes, Elder,” she said.

“Get in.”

Emily nodded and laid down
in the bed. Chevalier covered her up with the blankets and then
stood up and looked around the room, making sure everything was
covered. When he turned back to her, she was lifting her arm to
adjust the pillow, and he caught sight of the two puncture wounds
on the underside of her arm.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm up,
“Who bit you?”

Emily looked over, “Why would a heku bite
me?”

“Just answer me,” he growled.

“I don’t know, Elder… I
don’t think I was bitten… I must have leaned up against something,
though it’s odd it hasn’t healed.”

“Just shut your eyes until
7am,” he said, and disappeared from the room when she complied. He
left orders for her guards to alert him if she got out of bed, and
returned to the council chambers.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked.

“She has bite marks on her arm.”

“What!?” Kralen growled. “Who?”

“I asked, and she doesn’t
know.”

“If she’s been fed from,
then she was weak enough to be controlled,” Zohn said, deep in
thought.

“No one was around her this morning, we had
sight of her at all times,” Silas told them.

“Alieno?” the Chief Interrogator
suggested.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed,
“That takes privacy… time… and usually a calm mortal. Emily would
have been fighting.”

“Not to mention, who would tell her she’s
heku? What good would that do?” Zohn asked.

“I’m the only one she’s alone with for any
length of time.”

“We sent Camber to her
yesterday,” Kyle reminded them as he started to get
irritated.

“Why wouldn’t she ash him though? She’s not
going to let anyone, especially Camber, feed from her.”

“Let’s find out,” Kyle
said, and called for Derrick to bring Camber to them.

Derrick stepped in a few
minutes later, “He’s no longer in Council City. Shall I send guards
to his coven?”

“No, let’s not point fingers until we know
what’s going on,” Zohn said. “First, bring me all the information
on Alieno that we have in the library.”

“Yes, Elder,” Derrick
said, and left with the Records Keeper.

“You have her asleep, correct?” Quinn asked
Chevalier.

“No, I have her in bed
with her eyes shut. The guards say she’s not fallen asleep yet… she
thinks she’s my stand in for a coming attack.”

Two hours later, Derrick
and the Records Keeper returned with stacks of books, all
containing information about Alieno. The books were handed out, and
each member of the Council began to read.

“This says it can be
delayed if the giver sets a time frame… so no one had to be with
Emily when it happened. They just had to specify when to start,”
Dustin said, still flipping through the book.

“There has to be a rune,” Quinn said after a
long silence.

“Yeah, I’m reading that too,” Kyle said.
“Derrick… I want everything searched, her car, stables, her room,
everything. Look for any runes, even small insignificant looking
ones.”

Derrick nodded, “The ones on her headboard…
I won’t know if those have been added to.”

“I’ll check those,”
Chevalier told him. “You all do the rest, call in the entire
Cavalry.”

“It’s almost 7am,” Quinn told Chevalier.

“She hasn’t slept at all.
I’ll go see if we got lucky and it’s worn off,” he said before
disappearing from the council chambers and appearing in his room.
She was lying exactly how he’d left her and her eyes were still
shut, but she was obviously not asleep.

Chevalier sat down on the side of her bed,
“Look at me.”

Emily opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Someone’s done something
to you, and I want to know who.”

“Like what, Elder?”

“Like someone bit you, controlled your mind,
even wrote a rune somewhere around you.”

She frowned, “No one’s done those
things.

“I want Dr. Cook to have a look at you.”

“Ok”

“That’s it, ok? Not going to argue.”

“With an Elder? No,
Sir.”

Chevalier sighed and
called for Dr. Cook. When the doctor came in, Emily stood up and
faced him.

“What’s the problem?” Dr. Cook asked.

“I don’t believe there is one,” Emily told
him. “However, the Elder thinks I should be seen.”

“Just give her a complete
physical. I want anything out of the ordinary, though I already
know about the marks on her arm,” Chevalier told him.

Dr. Cook nodded, “Have a seat.”

Emily walked over and sat
in the chair beside him. He was starting to get nervous, waiting
for her to turn him to ash at any moment. When he started to get
into the physical and met no resistance, he relaxed
some.

After poking her finger, Dr. Cook frowned,
“Your blood sugar is way low, when’s the last time you ate?”

“I fed a few nights ago,” Emily told
him.

“Why has it been so long?”

“That’s not long, you know
as well as I do that heku need only feed every few
weeks.”

“Yes, I do know that… humans, however,
should eat at least 3 times a day.”

“I’m aware of that, but as
I’m not human, I don’t see the reason to bring it up.”

Dr. Cook glanced at Chevalier.

“She’s heku,” Chevalier
said, and shrugged. “Just finish.”

Dr. Cook nodded and
continued, quickly figuring out why he was called. For the next
hour, he checked her over, finally realizing he couldn’t ask her
anything and get a straight answer. When he was done, he turned to
Chevalier.

“Other than the bite mark
and the low blood sugar, I’d say exhaustion and that’s about it.
She’s starting to get dehydrated though. She should drink
something.”

Emily nodded, “I can go find a donor tonight
after duty.”

“Water would be better.”

“Why?”

“It’s… that’s just what I recommend. Heku
have to drink water to survive,” Dr. Cook lied.

“Any sign of a head injury?” Chevalier
asked.

“None at all.”

“Poisoning?”

“No”

“Then what can cause her to… do this?”

Dr. Cook shrugged, “I’ve
never see it before, so I’m not sure. You may need a psychiatrist,
not a general practitioner.”

“Would that help?”

“I honestly don’t know, but that would be my
next course of action.”

“Find one and get them
here quickly,” Chevalier said, and turned back to Emily. “I order
you to drink water.”