Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (54 page)

“
Take a hot bath and then
nap. I’ll come get you this afternoon, and we’ll try the tour
again,” Exavior said, and handed her the medication. Once she’d
taken it, he left her alone.

She did as she was told, but couldn’t fall
asleep until the medicine kicked in. She dreamt of swimming in the
castle’s pool, of eating dinner with the kids, and the feel of
Chevalier’s arms wrapped around her. The dream shifted suddenly and
it was Chevalier in Exavior’s interrogation room, looking at her
with predatory eyes as he starved in front of her.

Emily jerked awake suddenly and sat up. She
was on top of the covers in her room. The fire was roaring and it
was too warm. She heard a chuckle and noticed Exavior was lying
beside her.

“
Nightmare?” he asked,
smiling, and ran his fingers lightly from her knee up to her inner
thigh before she pushed his hand away.

“
Don’t,” Emily said, and
stood up.

“
Lay down, my love,” he
said, and pulled her back onto the bed. He took her wrist in his
hand and frowned at the bruises that formed from the
restraints.

She tried to pull her hand out of his, but
he held it tightly and then kissed the bruise. He started kissing
her neck and moved up to her lips, pressing them hard against hers
as his hand slid up her short dress and ran lightly along her
waist. Emily pushed his hand away, but he just chuckled and brought
it to her back, using it to press her body against his.

Exavior growled when his phone rang, and he
rolled onto his back and answered it, “What?”

“
No I can’t come to a
council meeting right now,” Exavior said after a pause.

Emily thought for only a second before
screaming, “Help me!”

Exavior slammed the phone shut and covered
her mouth and nose with his hand, “Do not do that!”

Emily struggled under his hand. She couldn’t
breathe, and she pulled at his fingers with her hands.

“
I thought we went over the
disobedience,” he hissed, his eyes furious. “Unless you want a turn
in my room, I suggest you behave.”

Exavior watched as she struggled to move his
hand. He smiled as her weak body fought against him, bringing out
his primal desire to inflict pain. He ran his eyes down the
delicate curves of her body and the smooth, soft skin the dress
revealed. He grinned as her fighting stopped and she fell
motionless on the bed, then removed his hand as she went
unconscious, and she began to breathe.

Exavior kissed Emily softly as she began to
wake up, “Don’t defy me again.”

Emily looked fearfully up at him and nodded
as her head pounded from the lack of oxygen. He kissed her forehead
softly as her throat burned and her lungs ached from fighting to
breathe.

“
I need to go return that
call. Stay here until I get back,” he said, grinning. He knew she
had no choice. As he blurred from the room, the two door guards
appeared and Emily pulled her dress down and reached for the
covers.

Exavior returned an hour later, and Emily
hadn’t moved. He sat down on the side of the bed and rubbed her
back gently.

“
You caused a handful of
trouble for me. I guess it’ll calm down though,” Exavior said. His
anger was again under control.

Emily looked over at him and peered into his
eyes, “Please, let me go.”

“
You’re so beautiful, do
you know that? I bet Chevalier doesn’t tell you often enough. Come,
let’s go on the grand tour.”

Emily stood up and pulled her dress down
again. She felt almost as if it were shrinking, “Can I please get a
longer dress?”

“
Not a chance,” Exavior
said, running his eyes down her body. “I like to be able to see
you.”

“
Yeah, so do your guards,”
she told him, hoping jealousy would win out.

“
I bet they do. They know
you’re mine though,” he said, and put his hand out to her. Emily
hesitated, took it, and then followed Exavior back out into the
room with the couches.

“
Where did we leave off?”
he asked, leading her toward the stairs. “Oh yes… those are all
extra rooms, for when I have guests.”

Emily didn’t comment. She noticed there were
now four guards following them. They started down the same set of
stairs that Emily had run down earlier, and Exavior turned right at
the bottom, talking about different art pieces he had obtained and
about their country or time. Emily paid close attention to exits
from the mansion and where rooms were situated. She wished she
could remember where the interrogation room was located, but she
was too upset and couldn’t remember any landmarks.

“
I had this installed for
you,” Exavior said, and opened the door to a hot, muggy room. A
large hot tub was situated in the middle of the floor and a
dressing curtain was off to the side, “We’ll come in here
later.”

Emily followed Exavior as he showed her his
state of the art kitchen, his game room, and the large TV room with
shelves full of movies. She noticed he neglected to show her into
the prison or the interrogation room. He was pleased to show her a
work-out room with a TV treadmill, also installed just for her
benefit.

After hours of following Exavior around as
he bragged about art or mortal amenities installed for her, they
arrived back at the white room with the couches that led to the
bedroom doors.

“
Now, for a surprise,”
Exavior said, obviously pleased. “This should help you while you
stay here. Go in and get dressed. The guards will bring you down to
me in an hour.”

Emily watched as Exavior strode away, almost
in a strut. She glanced at the guards and then walked into the
room. She went to lock the door, but found the lock was removed.
There was a garment bag hanging by the bathroom door, and Emily
ignored it and went over to sit in the bay window.

“
You have thirty minutes,”
one of the in-room guards said. Emily didn’t respond. She just
watched out the window at the snow falling.

It was quiet in the room until the guard
spoke again, “You have ten minutes, and if you don’t get dressed…
we’ll dress you.”

Emily sighed and stood up. She unzipped the
garment bag and gasped. It contained a long billowy white wedding
dress. She threw it and the veil on the floor and turned to the
guards with her arms crossed.

“
I’m not wearing that,” she
said angrily.

“
Oh yes you are. Seven
minutes and I’ll put it on you myself,” the guard said, grinning.
“I hope you don’t. I wouldn’t mind seeing that body of
yours.”

Emily screamed and grabbed the dress, then
disappeared into the bathroom to put it on. The sleeveless dress
had diamonds hand stitched into the fitted bodice. The skirt was a
shiny, white material that fit over a hoop and trailed several
yards behind her. She looked in the mirror and cringed, she looked
like a southern bell bride.

Emily came out of the bathroom and glared at
the guard when he sighed, disappointed. She let just a flash of
burn go, and he fell to his knees briefly before standing up, his
eyes furious.

“
Do that again, Sweetheart,
and even Lord Exavior won’t be able to stop me from draining you,”
he growled.

“
Lord Exavior… can kiss my
ass,” Emily said, and sat down in the bay window again.

“
I’m pretty sure that’s
what he has in mind,” the other guard said, laughing when Emily
glared at him.

“
Come on, Princess. Time to
go,” the guard told her, and opened the door. She left the veil on
the floor and pulled up the front of her skirt so she could walk
without tripping.

Emily was surprised to hear music and
laughter coming from the banquet hallway. Exavior appeared at her
side and kissed her softly. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with
the gray Valle cape flowing behind him, and numerous medals lined
his collar.

“
Where’s the veil?” he
asked.

Emily shrugged.

“
Get it,” he told the
guard, who blurred away and returned with it almost immediately.
Exavior pulled Emily’s hair back and fastened the veil to her head.
He hung the front part down over her eyes as she glared at
him.

“
I’m not marrying you,”
Emily said angrily.

“
Best bring 4 of you with
her, make sure she comes,” Exavior said, grinning, and disappeared
into the banquet hall.

One of the guards roughly shoved a bouquet
into her hand, and Emily heard the wedding march begin. She turned
and looked behind her, but the guards were already heading into the
banquet hall. One of them had a firm grip on her arm and was
pulling her down the aisle. Emily gasped. The banquet hall was full
of people, mortal and heku, all smiling at her and commenting on
how beautiful she looked.

Exavior was standing by what appeared to
Emily to be a reverend, and the guards stopped a few yards away
from him.

“
Who here gives this woman
to this man?” the Reverend asked, looking at Exavior
nervously.

“
I am,” one of the guards
said, and pulled Emily so she was standing by Exavior. Emily looked
up at him, shocked, and then back to the Reverend. As he began to
talk, Emily noticed the he was a mortal and very much afraid of his
surroundings.

“
Dearly beloved, we are
gathered here…” She heard the Reverend begin the usual marriage
ceremony, and she looked around the room, not paying much
attention. The banquet hall that she had seen earlier was
transformed from the grays of the Valle, into the whites and blacks
of a modern wedding.

“
Do you, Exavior, take
Emily to be your wife – to live together after…” The Reverend
paused and glanced at Exavior, “God’s ordinance – in the holy
estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep
her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better,
for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow
upon her your heart’s deepest devotion, forsaking all others,
keeping yourself only unto her as long as you both shall
live?”

“
I do,” Exavior said, and
kissed Emily’s hand lightly.

The Reverend turned toward Emily, “Do you,
Emily, take Exavior…”

“
No,” Emily said before
he’d finished.

Exavior squeezed Emily’s hand painfully,
“Yes, she does.”

“
I do not,” Emily said,
gritting her teeth through the pain. It felt as if Exavior were
about to break her hand.

“
She does… proceed,”
Exavior growled.

Emily sighed and stopped paying attention
again when the Reverend switched to Latin to finish the ceremony.
She didn’t look up at Exavior when he pulled on her ring from
Chevalier, and then slipped a large diamond ring on her finger
above it when it wouldn’t come off.

Emily grinned slightly at the frustrated
look on his face.

After a few more minutes of Latin verses,
the Reverend handed Emily a ring and Exavior held out his hand.
Emily moved her hand toward Exavior’s and then dropped the ring as
she looked into his eyes. He caught it before it hit the floor and
slipped it on his finger.

“
She’s just nervous,” he
said, smiling, and turned back to the Reverend. Emily rolled her
eyes, but figured no one could see it under the veil.

After a few minutes, Exavior pulled close to
Emily, lifted her veil over her head, and pressed his lips to hers
while the audience erupted into cheers. He turned to face the crowd
and then led her back up the aisle as she glared toward the guards
at the door.

Exavior then led her into a small private
room with a table in the center. A piece of paper and a feathered
pen sat on the table, and Exavior leaned over and signed it.

“
Sign that,” he
ordered.

Emily looked over at it and saw that it was
a marriage certificate from the state of Alaska, “No.”

“
Sign it,” he said again
sternly.

Emily crossed her arms, “No.”

Exavior shoved Emily against the brick wall
and his hand dug painfully into her stomach, “Do what I tell
you.”

Emily shook her head, unable to speak.

He shifted his hand slightly, and the
movement shot pain through Emily’s chest and down into her arms.
She couldn’t breathe as his hand pressed roughly against her lungs
and diaphragm, and it felt like his hand was about to break through
her skin. He moved back quickly and she fell to her knees, gasping
for air.

“
If you think you can
resist me, when no heku can, think again. I don’t even have to
leave bruises where they are visible,” Exavior said, and pulled her
roughly to her feet. He shoved the pen into her hand and forced it
down onto the paper.

Emily managed to scribble out some semblance
of her name before he let go of her hand and she sunk back to the
floor. The pain from his hand against her stomach left a lingering
ache that made it difficult to stand or breathe. She wrapped her
arms around her abdomen and leaned over, desperately needing to
relieve the pain.

“
I wish you wouldn’t make
me do that,” Exavior said, sounding regretful. “I have ways of
hurting a mortal that no heku ever thought possible, and I don’t
want to use those on you… if you would just do as you’re
told.”

She leaned over and put her forehead against
the floor, curled up into a protective ball as tears streamed down
her face. She just signed a marriage certificate, making her and
Exavior legally married.