Encala (43 page)

“
You are trembling. Your
mortal body can’t take this kind of cold much longer… feel it… it’s
getting colder,” he said, and Emily could feel her hands and feet
becoming numb. Steam rose off of her body as the temperature
dropped.

“
Run, Emily,” Alec said
from inside the room. “Get away from the heku.”

She looked at her uncle confused,
“What?”

“
Listen to me. The heku
killed your mother. They killed your brother, and your father. You
have to get away from them, please believe me,” Alec said,
pleadingly.

“
Join the Encala, Emily,
and this will all be over,” Vaughn said, ignoring Alec.

“
Stop!” Emily screamed at
them.

“
Run,” Alec said to her,
urgently.

“
I will, I promise I will,”
Emily said, with fear in her eyes. “Get me out of here and I
will.”

“
I can’t get you out of
here, Em. You have to get out yourself, and then get away from the
heku,” Alec said, and disappeared into the shadows.

“
Don’t listen to that old
man… join me and I will take you up where there’s food and warmth.
I have Allen, too. You can be with Allen,” Vaughn said.

“
Chevalier wouldn’t give
Allen to you,” she said. Her voice was hesitant and
timid.

“
You heard them through the
wall. All they want is to use you. He doesn’t care about the male
child. A female heir is what he wants,” Vaughn said,
sadly.

Emily felt herself losing hope. All of the
bravery and courage she prided herself on having, seeped out
through her freezing skin. Defeated, she sunk into the corner and
her eyes were full of pain and despair.

Chevalier dropped his head into his hands.
The rest of the heku turned away from the flames. The sight of
Emily’s broken spirit seemed too personal for them to witness. They
didn’t want to observe her desperate fight to save her life, the
choice to join the Encala.

“
Ok,” she
whispered.

Chevalier stood up and turned away from the
flames. He offered her the dignity to surrender in peace.

“
Come to me then, submit to
me,” Vaughn said, coolly.

“
My decision is to die down
here, to die an Equites,” Emily whispered.

The heku in the game room all gasped and
turned around to watch.

“
Emily, no,” Chevalier
said, watching the fire.

She screamed and the flames went out,
drowning the room in silence and darkness. The heku looked around,
confused. Where the flame had been, was a small form curled up into
a ball.

“
Emily?” Chevalier said,
shocked.

She raised her head and looked up at the
heku staring at her. It was too dark, and she couldn’t see into the
room.

“
Lights,” Emily whispered,
and then frowned when no torches came to life.

Emily felt along the fireplace wall until it
opened into the room. She stood up slowly, as her eyes strained to
see. She was still shivering. Her t-shirt and jeans were caked with
mud, and her feet were black from the dirt floors of the trap.

“
Who’s there?” she asked,
fearfully.

Kyle flipped on the lights and she shielded
her eyes against the sudden brightness. A voice echoed from the
fireplace, a soft whisper, “Emily, run.”

Chevalier took a step toward her and she
screamed, a blood-curdling scream that resonated off of the palace
walls, then she ran for the door.

Chevalier put his hand out to stop the
others, “Don’t follow her.”

“
We can’t let her go, she’s
terrified,” Kyle said, frowning.

“
I know… of us,” Chevalier
said, thinking quickly.

The heku from the game room ran out into the
hallway when Emily screamed again. A heku guard was standing above
her, trying to help her to her feet as she kicked at him violently.
Her eyes were well past terrified.

“
Back off,” Chevalier
hissed, and the heku guard backed away from her.

“
She just slipped, I was…”
he said, but was hushed by Kyle.

Emily scrambled to her feet. Her frozen
hands and feet were hindering her escape. She stumbled toward the
doors just as Kyle ordered the door guards to disappear.

She threw open the palace doors and ran out
into the dark night. She screamed at every noise, and ran
hysterically toward Council City. Kyle gave the order for all heku
in the city to go inside of their houses and stay there until
further orders were given.

A light rain was falling, but it turned to
hail before Emily made it to the stables. She ran past them, her
feet cutting painfully on the gravel as she moved.

“
We can’t let this go on,”
Kyle said, frantically.

“
She will turn you to ash
if you touch her. I promise that,” Chevalier said.

“
We have to do something,”
Mark said, watching her stagger through the streets.

“
I know that,” Chevalier
growled at him.

“
Emily, stop!” Chevalier
called to her. She whirled around quickly and looked at him through
the wet hair over her face.

“
Stay back,” she growled at
them, and took a few steps backwards.

“
We will,” Chevalier
promised her. “We saw what happened. It was an ancient’s room, and
you got caught in it. Do you understand me?”

Emily nodded, but kept walking backwards,
“Always blaming the ancients.”

“
All of it was a trick,
your Dad, Keith, all of them,” he said to her, staying as still as
possible.

“
Now you… are you part of
that trick?” she scowled.

“
No, but we also realize
there’s no way to prove that to you.”

Emily took a step back and ran into someone.
She turned suddenly and was face-to-face with Kenneth.

“
What have we here?” he
asked, looking down at her.

“
Kenneth, I called general
quarters,” Kyle yelled at him.

Emily balled her hands into fists, “You want
blood from me, too?”

“
Would love that, but not
in front of the superiors,” he said, and then laughed.

“
Kenneth…” Kyle
warned.

Kenneth suddenly disappeared into a pile of
soggy ash.

Chevalier sighed.

Emily turned around, “He ashed,” she said,
confused.

“
That’s because you’re out
of the trap,” Chevalier told her.

“
So I can ash you, too?”
she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“
Yes, if it will help prove
to you we’re real, then go ahead, ash me,” he said, taking a step
toward her.

Emily pulled her wet hair back away from her
face.

“
I don’t know what to do,”
she said to no one.

“
You need to get into the
warmth,” Chevalier said to her, watching her shiver in the
cold.

“
I suppose I have to do
something to get that,” she scowled.

“
Just walk into the palace,
that’s all,” he said.

“
Do I have to pledge my
undying devotion to something?”

“
No,” he said, and then
lowered his voice so only the heku could hear him. “You already
did.”

“
Allen is dead,” she said,
her voice cracking.

“
No he’s not. I didn’t kill
him. I didn’t touch him,” Kyle said.

Emily looked around the dark streets.

“
Get back,” she said,
taking a step toward them.

The heku spread apart and left a wide path
for her.

Emily headed back to the palace, leaving a
trail of blood from her feet on the gravel streets. She turned
often to check on them, making sure they weren’t too close.

Kyle gave orders to clear the palace, and
heard the building fall silent.

The smooth tiles felt good on her feet as
she entered the foyer to the palace. She was relieved to feel the
warmth of the building, but it made her shiver harder. She walked
up the stairs, leaving a trail of blood and water behind her.
Maleth and Leonid left them and headed for the council chambers
when Mark stayed at the foot of the stairs. Kyle and Chevalier
followed her, but stayed a safe distance behind.

Emily opened the bedroom door and looked
inside. She stepped in and turned around to check on the others.
She shut the door and locked it.

“
It’s going to be a long
night,” Kyle said.

Chevalier nodded, “Damon?”

Damon appeared at their sides, “Yes,
Sir?”

“
Kyle will show you where
Kenneth is. Revive him and bring him to my office,” Chevalier said,
angrily.

Damon nodded and blurred from the palace
with Kyle. Chevalier headed for his office, but kept a close ear on
the bedroom up the stairs.

“
Enter,” Chevalier said
when he heard the other Elders come to his door.

“
How is she?” Maleth asked,
coming into the office and sitting down.

“
I don’t know. She locked
the door.”

Leonid frowned, “It’s a lock.”

“
It’s a request for
privacy,” Chevalier told them.

“
We’ve been researching how
to seal the trap.” Leonid said, sitting down. “It shouldn’t be too
hard, but we need the blood from a mortal.”

“
Do it then,” Chevalier
said, quickly.

“
It has to be fresh blood,
so we’ll need to bring in a mortal,” Maleth explained.

“
Can’t you just get it and
seal the door immediately?”

“
No, it has to go directly
from the mortal to the door,” Leonid said, showing Chevalier the
book entry on it.

“
We think…” Maleth said,
and hesitated, “it should be Emily.”

Chevalier growled.

“
Just listen to us,” Leonid
said. “She’s the only mortal we’ve known that’s escaped from an
ancient’s trap. She’s half ancient, her blood has got to be the
most… well… capable, to seal the portal.”

“
No,” Chevalier said. “Find
another way.”

Maleth nodded, “We just had to ask.”

“
We’ll bring a mortal in
blindfolded, seal the door, and then they can leave,” Leonid said,
softly.

“
Can we even ask her?”
Maleth asked.

“
No,” Chevalier
hissed.

“
You’re right, she would
say no anyway,” Maleth nodded.

“
She would say yes… but I’m
saying no.”

Chevalier sighed when there was another
knock on the door, “Enter.”

Kyle walked in with Kenneth and Damon.
Kenneth was scowling and still shaking from the burn and
revival.

“
One smoldering heku, at
your request,” Damon said, shutting the door behind
them.

“
Do you want to explain why
you felt it necessary to break the general quarters?” Chevalier
asked, standing up.

Kyle pushed Kenneth so he was closer to the
Elder.

“
I… I thought there may be
some trouble,” Kenneth said, nervously.

“
What made you think there
was the kind of trouble that would allow you to break an order?”
Kyle asked him.

Kenneth looked at the ground, “It was my
mistake. I heard that mortal talking and she sounded mad. We have
all heard how she turns a heku to ash on a whim, and I thought you
may need help.”

“
That mortal?” Chevalier
frowned.

“
Ashes on a whim?” Kyle
growled.

“
Is that what happens in
the barracks? Rumors spread about my wife?” Chevalier
hissed.

Leonid addressed Kenneth, and spoke calmly,
“I’ve seen more devotion out of that mortal tonight, than I have
ever seen out of you, Kenneth.”

Kenneth growled.

“
I don’t appreciate my
orders being disobeyed,” Kyle said angrily, and the Elders backed
off from him.

“
I apologize, Sir. It was a
misunderstanding,” Kenneth stood at attention.

“
What we need is an
example,” Kyle scowled.

Kenneth looked at him, nervously, “Sir?”

“
Of what happens when my
orders aren’t followed.”

“
Yes, Sir. You have to see
it though…” Kenneth said, becoming angry.

“
See what?” Kyle
asked.

“
How that mortal runs this
palace. It’s disgusting how you all cater to her, and abide by her
every wish. Just once I wish your minds would clear, and see her
for what the rest of us do,” Kenneth spoke as if he had limited
time.

Chevalier glared at him, “Which is what
exactly?”

“
A spoiled
brat.”

“
Damon,” Kyle
said.

Damon lunged at Kenneth and swiftly
decapitated him.

He held up the heku’s head, “We should hang
it in the barracks.”

Kyle grinned maliciously, “Do it. Don’t
mention Emily, just the broken order.”

Damon nodded and blurred away with the
head.

“
Someone get this… thing…
out of my office,” Chevalier said, and watched as one heku arrived
and removed the body, and another cleaned up the blood.

“
I suggest we keep the
entire palace on alert. Make sure if Emily comes out of her room,
that she sees no one,” Kyle said.