Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (83 page)

“
Yes,” Exavior said, moving
into the clearing. “She is my wife.”

“
She smells…” another heku
said, inhaling. He also had gray hair and worn eyes,
“Extraordinary. Not bad to look at either.”

“
Yes, I know,” Exavior
said, smiling. “She doesn’t age either, another plus.”

Emily stopped her horse. The panic was
backing off, and she remembered she needed to get off the horse
somehow. The horse already had his ears cocked back angrily, and
she knew if any of the heku came at her, it would buck.

“
I’m leaving, Exavior, and
that includes you,” Emily said scathingly.

“
I’m not going to let you
disappear,” Exavior replied, moving forward slightly. The two
ancients headed around her, and she started to feel them close in
on her.

Emily bumped her pocket slightly, and knew
the horse heard the rattle as soon as he whinnied loudly and bucked
hard, throwing Emily forward. She slammed into the ground as the
skittish horse backed away.

Emily gasped, not having to fake because the
fall knocked the wind out of her. She had enough control to realize
she needed to be injured and she fell against the ground, groaning.
Exavior blurred to her and knelt down.

“
What’s wrong, my love?” he
asked as she tried to push him away.

“
I hope we didn’t break
your mortal. It would be a shame to lose such a succulent girl,”
one of the ancients said.

“
She’s ok. She’s tougher
than she looks,” Exavior said, picking her up. She cried out and
winced with the movement.

“
Look at me, Child,” the
taller Ancient said. Emily looked up at him and he began to talk to
her quickly. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from his, and his
words flowed through her, relaxing her and calming her nerves. As
he spoke, all she wanted to do was pull closer to him, to lay her
hands against his strong face, and have his soft breath blow across
her skin.

Exavior grinned and handed her over to the
Ancient, who continued to speak softly to her and concentrate on
her eyes as he spoke.

Exavior growled and spun as the trees came
alive and an army advanced on them in the clearing. He crouched
slightly at the same time as the other ancient did, and hissed at
the incoming heku. Hundreds advanced on foot while the Thukil
Cavalry brought up a circle behind them. The red, gray, and green
capes were intermingled as they focused on Exavior and the Ancient,
and moved into the clearing. Exavior’s army circled their leader
and crouched, facing the onslaught of angry heku.

“
It’s over,” Sotomar said,
stepping out from the army. “Save the bloodshed and
surrender.”

“
Put her down!” Chevalier
growled at his maker. The Ancient didn’t break his gaze on Emily’s,
and continued to speak in flowing Latin.

“
Not happy to see your old
Master, Chevalier?” Exavior asked, grinning.

Chevalier glared at him, “How dare you let
him close to her! You know what he’s doing.”

“
I do,” Exavior said. “I’m
very much aware of it.”

“
If you will not
surrender,” William said angrily. “Then we’ll end it
now.”

The tri-faction army advanced on Exavior’s
heku and a battle erupted around them. Chevalier fought to get to
Emily, to stop the Ancient, but he was blocked by heku that would
move only when killed. Blood began to saturate the field and parts
of heku were thrown around in jumbled piles.

Emily gazed into the Ancient’s eyes. She
brought her hand up and gently placed it on the side of his face as
she studied his kind expression and felt contentment in his arms.
The sounds of battle around her were far away compared to his soft
voice that enveloped her in safety and compassion.

She wanted to talk to the Ancient, to tell
him how much she cared about him. She reached up and brushed her
lips against his, stopping the soft chant of Latin, and his arms
tightened around her. He responded and pressed his lips forcefully
against hers. Emily wound her fingers through his hair, ignoring
the screams coming from around them.

When the Ancient began to kiss toward her
neck, Emily leaned her head back to give him clear access to a
vein. As his teeth sunk into the soft flesh of her neck, she gasped
softly and relaxed in his arms. He pulled away from her, inhaling,
and then pressed his lips to hers again.

“
No!” Emily screamed when
she was torn away from the Ancient. She struggled against the
strong arms holding her and tried to return to him. He disappeared
in a swarm of heku as she was blurred away and the trees flew past
her.

“
Stop fighting me,” Sotomar
growled as he gripped her tighter.

Emily screamed angrily as he continued to
carry her away from the Ancient.

Sotomar ignored her screams and appeared in
the Council City prison. He let her go once she was in a tiny cell,
and quickly shut the door. Emily slammed into the bars, reaching
for Sotomar as she screamed. The guards looked at her with wide
eyes. She growled, and screamed, clawing against the bars, no
longer reasoning or understanding.

“
Do not let her out,”
Sotomar ordered the guards, and headed up the stairs as an inhuman
shriek echoed through the prison. He quickly made his way back out
to the battle just as the last of Exavior’s followers were falling
at the hands of the factioned army. Exavior and the Ancients were
sitting in the center, surrounded by guards as the other Elders
stood around them.

“
Get the wounded back to
Council City, leave the dead here,” Sotomar shouted, and guards
from all factions began to follow his orders.

Chevalier’s entire body was tense. He was
panting from the fighting and his hands were balled into tight
fists as he watched his maker.

“
Ephraim, how dare you…”
Chevalier growled angrily.

“
You will thank me later,
my dear Boy,” the Ancient said, grinning.

Chevalier turned to Sotomar, “How far did he
get?”

Sotomar sighed, “He completed, I think. It’s
too early to tell.”

Ephraim grinned, “You do remember that,
don’t you? You were my prized possession, to have turned the great
Equitis… leader, warrior… pity how you hated me for it.”

Kyle looked down at the Ancient. Chevalier
would never talk about the one who turned him, and he wasn’t sure
what the Ancient had done to Emily.

“
Pity I didn’t kill you for
it,” Chevalier said. “Now though, I will have my
chance.”

“
You owe me!” Ephraim
growled. “Look at the life I gave you! You owe me and I demand the
respect you never showed me.”

William grabbed Chevalier’s arm when he
tried to advance on the Ancient, “Stop, we need him if we are to
find out how to reverse what he did.”

Chevalier’s eyes darkened, “Put him in the
prison.”

Silas, Mark, Kralen, and two of Thukil’s
Lieutenants stepped forward and pulled the Ancient from the circle,
forcing him toward the palace.

“
This Ancient,” Sotomar
said, and turned to the other, “I don’t know…”

“
There has to be a reason
that Exavior wanted you,” William said, circling him.

“
What you did to us was
disgraceful. You owe your very existence to us, yet you threw us
into the ground to suffer for eternity,” the Ancient yelled. “You
should be bowing down before me.”

Chevalier turned to Exavior, who sat in
silence, and watched the interaction with his ancients, “You’re
being very quiet.”

“
What is your talent?” Zohn
asked the Ancient, coming up from behind them. He was covered in
blood and just recently recovered from the fight.

The Ancient glared at Zohn, “Omnipotence…
bow to me.”

“
I don’t think I will,”
Zohn said, and turned to Exavior. “We have a special place for
you.”

Exavior smiled, “Where you put me won’t
matter. Emily will come to me.”

“
In your dreams,” Quinn
grinned. “Take him to the prison. We’ll put him away
later.”

Angry Valle guards swarmed forward and
pulled Exavior to his feet as they shoved him toward the city. They
seemed angrier than the rest because it was their faction member, a
member of their Council that had started the war and betrayed them
by building an army against them.

“
What to do with you,” Zohn
said, staring down at the Ancient.

“
I’d like to know his
talent,” Sotomar said, glaring at him. “Something to do with Emily,
we know that. Otherwise, Exavior wouldn’t have revived
him.”

The Ancient grinned, “That pretty little
mortal? Delectable child, I see why minions go to war for her.”

“
We didn’t go to war for
the mortal,” Sotomar said, crossing his arms. “We went to war to
stop the outrageous formation of a fourth faction.”

“
Sure you did. You’re all
smitten with her,” the Ancient said. “Does she pleasure all of you,
then? What else would bring the factions together?”

“
Don’t talk about her like
that,” Chevalier hissed. “She is my wife, and this war was not over
her. It was to stop Exavior.”

“
I can read it in their
faces. They are all infatuated with her. Better watch or they will
take her from you.”

“
Emily goes with and does
whatever she…” Chevalier’s voice trailed off and his heart
sunk.

The Ancient smiled, “Yes, it’s too late for
her now.”

“
Get him into the prison,”
William growled.

Chevalier turned to Sotomar while the Encala
guards hauled the Ancient way, “Is she…”

“
Feral? Yes,” Sotomar said
softly. “We’ll figure something out… there must be a way to get her
back.”

“
He’s your maker?” William
asked. The gathered Equites turn to Chevalier. No one had ever had
the nerve to ask him about his maker. The Elder’s hatred for him
was well known.

“
Yes,” Chevalier hissed,
and started back for the palace.

“
Why does he do it? Turn a
mortal wild?” William asked as he followed.

“
It’s easier to turn a
mortal if their humanity is gone… I would never have turned, but
once I lost myself, it was easy for him,” Chevalier said, his voice
hostile.

“
He was going to try to
turn her again?” Kyle asked angrily.

“
That is my guess,” Sotomar
said. “We still don’t know if she would even survive, but I suspect
that Exavior doesn’t care if she died.”

“
Has anyone… ever…
recovered?” Mark asked, catching up with them.

“
No, he turns them,”
Chevalier told them.

“
There was an ancient… one
that was an original Elder in the Encala,” William said, deep in
thought. “His name was Sterling, at least, when I heard about him.
He was able to turn a mortal into a heku without even a
bite.”

Chevalier stopped and turned to William,
“I’ve heard of him… he used to be able to turn a mortal in minutes,
by himself.”

“
If that’s him… then the
plan was to weaken Emily and then try to turn her without the
ritual,” William suggested. “Without the ritual, there’s a chance
her abilities might not interfere.”

“
Find out if that’s him,”
Chevalier told Kyle and Mark, and they blurred into the
palace.

“
I don’t think you should
see her,” Sotomar whispered.

Chevalier stopped outside of the palace, “I
have to see if I can get through to her.”

“
He fed,” Sotomar
said.

Chevalier growled, and stormed into the
palace, heading directly for the prison cells. The guards looked at
him nervously, unsure if they should have allowed a Valle to put
Emily in prison.

Chevalier rounded the corner and looked into
her cell. She was crouched in the corner and looked at him with
angry, uncomprehending eyes. The flowing green in her eyes had
turned black and she hissed up at him.

Chevalier crouched down to her level,
“Em…”

Kyle walked over and stood beside the Elder.
His heart ached as he saw the wild look on her face and the
predatory posture of her small body.

“
Emily?” Chevalier said
softly. He jerked back away from her when she slammed into the
bars, grabbing for his neck and screaming inhumanly.

“
Damn,” Kyle said, stepping
away as she tried to claw his legs.

“
Open the cell door,”
Chevalier whispered.

“
Belay that,” Kyle said,
holding his hand up to the guard. “You can’t let her
out.”

“
She’ll be more comfortable
on the bed in restraints.”

“
She can get out of
those.”

“
I can’t leave her
here.”

“
We have to, for now,” Kyle
said. “Let Richard and I take Ephraim into the interrogation room.
We’ll see if he can tell us how to reverse it.”

Chevalier nodded and ordered a food tray
brought down. He watched Emily carefully, ready for her to attack
again. She hunkered down in the corner, glaring at him.

“
Dad?” Allen asked, sitting
down on the floor beside him. “I brought her a sandwich. From what
Silas said, I didn’t think she would eat anything else.”

“
Ok,” he said, and pushed
the tray through the cells.

“
Do you remember?” Allen
asked, watching Emily tear the sandwich apart, not eating any of
it.