Chapter 5 - The Challenge

“Emily, I’ve been so worried about you,” Exavior said, coming to the doors of his cell.

“I’ve been busy,” Emily told him, sitting down against the wall. Her leg was in a walking boot, less painful as not having a cast, yet not quite as slow as having one. It had taken a few days for her back to feel better though, and this was the first chance she had to get around.

“How are you?”

“I’m ok,” she said, watching as a heku down from them screamed about her scent and fought to get through the bars.

Exavior smiled, “That baby is growing.”

Emily nodded.

“Are they being nice to you?” he asked skeptically.

“Yes, they are.”

“The arm and leg?”

“Arm’s fine, my leg still has problems. It’s my back that’s not happy,” Emily said, and watched him wince. The last time she’d re-injured her back badly was his doing.

“Are you still saying it’s from a helicopter crash?” Exavior asked, watching her closely.

“It was a helicopter crash. One that killed Frank and the pilot,” Emily said sadly.

Emily’s scent in the prison now had all of the prisoners yelling and screaming in their cells. Their innate predatory nature had taken over.

“Quite the commotion you cause, don’t you?” Exavior asked, not amused.

Emily shrugged.

“You really shouldn’t come down here,” he told her.

“I’m looking for something.”

“What might that be?”

“I don’t know exactly. I was gone a few nights ago, and I’m trying to figure out what Chevalier, Kyle, and Damon were doing,” Emily explained.

“Maybe it’s best if you don’t know.”

“Do you know then?”

“Yes, I know exactly which night it was.”

“Then tell me, please,” Emily asked.

“I don’t feel it’s safe to tell you. There are some things in the heku nature that you might not understand,” he said, concerned.

Emily frowned, “Give me a shot, tell me.”

“No, I don’t feel like I should. In fact, you shouldn’t even be down here,” Exavior said, and returned to his bed.

“So that’s it? You’re kicking me out?” Emily stood up and adjusted her clothes.

“It’s not safe down here. Listen to them, you really need to go,” Exavior told her, and rolled over on his side away from her.

As Emily walked back up the stairs from the prison, she thought about what he said, how some things in the heku nature might be hard to understand. Her mind whirled and she didn’t even hear the two Cavalry guards fall in behind her when she left the prison.

Emily thought hard. She knew Chevalier, Kyle, and Damon wouldn’t talk. Now Exavior wasn’t going to tell her either, and she knew Mark wouldn’t talk, the time for secret conversations had passed. She didn’t trust Quinn, but maybe Maleth. She wondered if Maleth would tell her what Exavior meant by that. Without even thinking about it, Emily found herself standing outside of Maleth’s door. She knocked softly.

“Enter,” he yelled at the door. Emily didn’t like the tone of his voice, and wondered if she should just walk away. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into his office.

Maleth immediately smiled at her, “Hello, Emily.”

“Do you have a second?” she asked from the doorway.

“Yes, yes, come in,” Maleth said, shutting a large ledger.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I wasn’t sure who else would help me,” Emily said, sitting down.

Maleth frowned, “What is troubling you, ch… Dear?”

“Something Exavior said to me,” she told him, suddenly wondering if she should even tell him.

“What exactly?”

“The night I spent away… Chevalier, Damon, and Kyle did something and I want to know what. I asked Exavior and he said ‘There are some things in the heku nature that you might not understand,’” Emily said, and watched him.

Maleth nodded, “He is correct.”

“That’s not really what I wanted. I want to know what they were doing, and what was so bad that I wouldn’t understand it?”

“It’s our nature to be predators. Sometimes predators have to let go and be themselves. I agree with Exavior, and would prefer that you not find out.”

“So you’re ashamed of them for it?”

“No, not at all. I just don’t think you would… understand.”

“How do you all know what I will and won’t understand? I’ve lived with heku for seven years, and I think I have a fairly good understanding,” she said, standing up.

“No, Dear, you do not. We hold quite a bit back around you,” Maleth sounded frustrated. He knew she was getting angry at his lack of response.

“Well… don’t do me any favors,” Emily said, and walked out of his office. The Cavalry again fell in behind her quietly.

“Hey, Tiny, I have the glue truck coming for that mustang,” Damon said jokingly from ahead of her.

Emily was toe-to-toe with him before he finished. She slapped him and he looked down at her, shocked. Her guards weren’t sure what to do. They were afraid she was about to be assaulted, yet she’d started it, and he was a member of the Council. They glanced at each other nervously.

“It was a joke,” Damon said, frowning.

Emily screamed at him, hitting his chest with her fist to accentuate each word, “Do... not… mess… with… me… today.”

Damon took her upper arms in his hands, “Calm down,” he said sternly.

She ripped her arms away from his hands and pushed him once more, hard across the chest. He staggered back a bit out of surprise and she stormed off.

“Get lost,” she said to the guards, and they stopped by Damon.

Damon raised an eyebrow, “Moody today, isn’t she?”

One of the guards nodded, “She’s had a rough morning.”

“What happened?”

“She’s trying to find out what you three did the night she was gone,” the guard explained. “She went to the Valle’s Chief Interrogator first, he wouldn’t tell her, and then wouldn’t talk to her because he said the prison wasn’t safe. So then she went to Elder Maleth.”

“She did not!” Damon said with wide eyes.

The guard nodded, “He wouldn’t tell her either, so she walked out of his office and then she ran into you.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to the Elder. He needs to know what extent she’s going to, to find out. Did she go near the door?”

“We weren’t allowed to go with her, but it didn’t sound like it.”

“New orders from me, if she goes near that door, stop her and let me know,” Damon whispered to the guards. They nodded and walked up the stairs to wait at Emily’s door.

It was an hour later before Chevalier made it up to their room. He had met with Kyle and Damon again, and they also brought Mark into the conversation. It seemed that their bid to keep Emily away from the Interrogation Room would be harder than expected.

When Chevalier stepped into the bedroom, it seemed uncomfortably hot and both fires were roaring. Emily was asleep on top of the covers wearing only a tank top and panties. His eyes fell onto the runes on her thigh. Everyone would feel better once they were removed. He watched her for a moment. He hadn’t noticed before how much the baby had grown, but it was obvious with her lying flat on her back. He worried about what Sam had told them, how most Winchesters didn’t survive childbirth because of large babies.

Chevalier laid down beside her on the bed and propped himself up on one elbow to watch her sleep. She seemed so peaceful when she slept, yet he knew her dreams held true terror and that when she woke up, she was going to be mad about the lack of information she obtained that day.

Emily finally woke up a few hours later. She reached down and pulled a blanket over her and then looked at Chevalier.

“Feel better?” he asked, smiling.

“Tell me,” she said softly.

Chevalier shook his head, “What can I do to get you to drop it?”

“Tell me.”

“You aren’t going to find out without being underhanded and scheming. I’d rather have you just let it go.”

“Exavior made it sound like you were eating small children, or biting the heads off pigeons, or something,” she said, and sat up against the headboard.

Chevalier couldn’t help but grin, “We haven’t done that in centuries.”

“If it’s not that bad, then tell me.”

“No, it’s heku stuff. Believe it or not, there are things that go on in this palace that don’t involve you,” he said, amused.

Emily frowned at him, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing bad. It’s just that some things don’t concern you.” Chevalier wasn’t sure that sounded right either. He didn’t like her reaction, the way her eyes narrowed as he spoke.

“Is that what you all think about me? I stick my nose in everything and think the entire universe revolves around me?”

“No, that’s not…”

“Maybe Damon’s just the only one to fess up to that, eh? The rest of you think about me like that, too? I’m just the spoiled mortal, right? I always get my way, and everyone’s too afraid of me to do anything about it.” Emily reached down and grabbed the hated pregnancy jeans, then stood up and slipped them on. She dug under the bed and grabbed her boot and slipped it on, then started fastening the ties with shaking hands.

“You twisted my words,” Chevalier said, watching her. “Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d go stick my nose in elsewhere… maybe there’s some good gossip down at the stables I haven’t been able to spread yet.” She stormed out of the room.

Chevalier heard her snap at the guards when they tried to follow her. They fell back into position at her door.

Emily was furious. She suspected for a while that the workers in the palace, whether guards or servants, were not only afraid of her, but saw her as the spoiled wife of the Elder. Chevalier’s words confirmed that and it infuriated her.

Emily’s personal rule was, if you are miserable, find someone more miserable than you to hang with. It wasn’t long before she crawled through the corral fence and looked at the antsy mustang. He was always calmer when no heku were around, so she thought today was the perfect day to try the bridle herself.

Emily grabbed the bridle that was still slung over the fence, and took one step toward the mustang, putting the bridle over her shoulder. He took a step back and lowered his ears, so she locked his eyes and waited for him to calm down.

“It’s ok,” she said to him softly, and then smiled when his ears moved forward to listen to her.

Emily took another step toward him. She could feel Ford walking slowly behind her, but didn’t see Kyle and Mark watching her from inside the stables. The mustang took another step away from her, but then held steady as she slowly inched toward him.

“You’re just an unhappy guy aren’t you?” she whispered, and extended her hands out to him. The mustang sniffed at her hands and eyed the bridle slung over her shoulder. He stamped his foot once and shied away from her.

Kyle and Mark saw him at the same time the mustang did, a strange heku was advancing on Emily. The mustang reared back suddenly and slammed his head against Emily on the way down, throwing her back into the fence. Mark caught up with the rogue heku and roughly pulled him indoors as Kyle lifted Emily over the fence, away from the angry horse.

“Are you ok?” he asked, looking her over.

“Who the hell was that?”

“Em, are you hurt?”

“Ugh, no,” she said, getting to her feet. She could feel her back starting to ache, though, “You don’t sneak up on a nervous horse, idiot.”

“Mark has him. We’ll find out who that was,” Kyle said angrily.

“Damn, it’s going to take longer to get him to trust me now,” Emily said, and tried to crawl through the fence, but Kyle took her arm.

“Let’s call it a day, ok?”

“You call it a day. I need that mustang to trust me, and I can’t do it with heku running around,” she said, pulling her arm out of his grasp.

Kyle nodded and let her go. He watched for a second and then turned around and headed in to see what Mark was finding out. As he entered the palace, he could hear Mark yelling at someone from the closest conference room. He noticed that Chevalier also caught part of the yelling and was heading for the room.

“Answer me. Do you honestly think I’m that stupid?” Mark yelled. The strange heku was cowered in the corner and glanced up nervously as Kyle and Chevalier stepped in.

“No... no I didn’t mean that,” the heku said, his eyes now fixed on Chevalier.

“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked Mark.

“Ed here thought it would be nice to go have a visit with Emily, by sneaking up on her while she was inching up on that mustang. Got her knocked into the fence, too,” Mark said, scowling at the heku.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “You just wanted to go talk to her?”

Ed nodded feverishly, “Yes, I swear! I just wanted to talk.”

“Before I teach this heku a lesson, is she ok?” Chevalier asked, turning to Kyle.

“Her back’s hurting. I can tell by how she moves, but she isn’t admitting it. She’s out there trying to get close to the mustang again,” Kyle answered, watching Ed.

“Good, let’s go interrogate,” Chevalier said, grinning. He watched as Kyle and Mark each took an arm and hauled Ed toward the prison as he fought.

Armed with treats, Emily tried again to get close to the mustang. This time, Ford opted to stay outside of the fence and watch, tail wagging.

“I know, he’s just an idiot,” she whispered calmly to the stallion. He was watching her carefully, glancing at the treat in her hand often. Emily took another small step forward and held her hand just a little further out.

“Slow and steady,” she said, and watched his movements for any sign he was getting nervous again. His ears were forward and his tail had finally stopped swishing. She was still mad, the heku set her back almost an hour, but things were going smoothly again.

As Emily got close enough to feed the mustang, he took a treat from her hand and sniffed at her shirt, then picked at it with his teeth. She stepped forward again and he sized her up quickly with his eyes and took a timid step towards her. He sniffed at the bridle over her shoulder and then at her hair.

“You too?” she asked him, slowly and calmly. “I get sniffed more than anyone I’ve ever known.”

Emily smiled and rubbed the horse’s muzzle gently. He tried to knock her hand away with his nose once, but then allowed her to move even closer to him and pet his neck.

“See, easy.” She smiled, still watching his every movement.

She took the bridle slowly from her shoulder and held it in her hand. The mustang sniffed it for a while and bit at it, but didn’t shy away or rear back.

“You’re going to be a great horse,” she said, patting his neck softly. “Think I can train you to buck on command? I bet I can get Damon that way, that might be worth it.”

“I just wanted to pet you,” she said, running her fingers through the mane on the top of his head. Emily gently pulled his lips back and looked at his teeth. “Well you’re just a baby, aren’t you? I’m going to have to say you’re about 2 years old.”

Emily handed him another treat and laid her head against his muzzle.

“I won’t let them get rid of you, I promise,” she whispered. Emily turned suddenly when she saw the mustang’s tail whip around quickly. She saw Damon standing beside the fence.

“You’re braver than you look,” he said, grinning at her.

Emily put a reassuring hand on the mustang’s neck, “Doesn’t take bravery to be nice to an animal.”

Emily took a few steps away from the mustang and slid through the fence. She walked around it and past Damon, heading into the stable.

Damon followed her.

“Why are you here?” she asked, slipping the bridle onto a hook.

“Making sure that horse doesn’t kill you.”

“Like you care,” she said, shutting the lights off into the stable.

“You’re right, I don’t care… it was an order.”

“Thought I wasn’t going to have a babysitter anymore.”

“So did I,” Damon said, following her as she walked into the palace.

“Go away,” Emily said, and stepped into the foyer. “Part of the deal of agreeing to guards, was that you were never to be one of them.”

“Why?”

Emily frowned, “What are you up to?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, leaning against the staircase.

“You wouldn’t be trying to keep me out of the prison would you?”

“I don’t care if you go into the prison,”

“Because whatever you three were up to the other night, it was in the prison. I figure if Exavior knows what you were up to, he had to have seen something, so the prison is where I plan on finding it,” Emily said.

She saw the briefest flicker of shock cross his face before he laughed, “Spend your day in the prison if you want.”

“Oh I will, tomorrow maybe,” Emily said, and took a slow step up the stairs.

“Need help?”

Emily frowned, “No.”

Damon stood back and watched her.

“Seriously, you’re buggin’,” Emily said about halfway up the stairs.

She heard Damon chuckle.

“Where’s Chev?”

“In a meeting,”

“Great,” Emily said, and ignored Damon as she made her way up to her room.

Emily sat down in the wheelchair and started up the Wii. She suddenly had the urge to annihilate an entire village of vampires.

“Mommy!” Emily scooped Allen up in her arms when he got back from school.

“How was school?” she asked, kissing him.

“Good… oooh can I play?” Allen asked, grabbing remote controller.

“Sure, come kill vampires with Mommy.” Emily grinned and loaded up his avatar.

“Do you want that mustang in a stall?” Sam asked.

“Not yet, I don’t think he’s ready, just feed him out in the corral,” Emily said as she viciously cut the arm off of a vampire.

“Kill them!” Allen yelled, and laughed when a horde of vampires slaughtered him.

“Sorry, Hun, start back up,” Emily said as he died.

“What’s happening?” Chevalier asked from behind them.

“We’re killing vampires,” Allen said, grinning.

“I see,” Chevalier said, and sat down to slip off his shoes.

Emily wheeled over and handed Chevalier the remote, “Kill some, it feels good.”

He watched as she wheeled into the bathroom, “You feeling ok?”

“Yes,” she called out, and shut the door after her. Chevalier heard the water running in the bathtub.

He turned to the game and joined his son in playing the mostly insulting video game.

“Daddy?” Allen asked, looking over at him.

“Yes?”

“Are you a vampire?”

Chevalier grinned, “No, I’m not.”

“Dennis said vampires are bad.”

“There’s no such thing as a vampire.”

“Do you drink blood?”

Chevalier sighed. He and Emily hadn’t decided what to tell Allen, “Have you ever seen me?”

“Well… no.”

“Then… there you have it.”

“Is it bad to drink blood?” Allen asked, looking intently at his Dad.

“No, it’s not.”

When the game ended, Chevalier tucked Allen into bed and kissed his forehead.

“Do you promise me you aren’t a vampire?” Allen asked him.

“I promise, now go to sleep.”

Chevalier walked out of Allen’s room and opened the bathroom door slowly. Emily was asleep in the jetted tub. He leaned against the counter and watched her sleeping. He smiled when he noticed the top edge of her tummy sticking out of the water.

Chevalier knelt down beside the tub, “Em?”

She jerked awake, sloshing water over the side of the tub.

“Don’t do that!” Emily yelled at him.

Chevalier chuckled, “Sorry, I just had an image of you drowning in your sleep.”

“Have fun in the prison tonight?” Emily said with a smirk.

“I wasn’t in the prison. I was in a meeting,” he said, watching her closely.

“No you weren’t, you have that look again.”

“What look?”

“That look… like you’ve done something exhilarating. Something that your mortal wife wouldn’t understand,” she said, and crawled out of the tub, wrapped in a towel, and then she bent down to put on the walking cast.

“It was a meeting.”

“It was in the prison, and I’m going to find out what it is down there,” she said, walking out of the bathroom.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chevalier told her, walking out just as she pulled on a nightgown.

“Of course you don’t,” she said, and sat down to brush her hair in front of the fire.

“Just forget about that night, Em. It’s no big deal.”

“If it was no big deal, you’d tell me what it was you were doing.”

“Tonight, I was at a meeting, ask Maleth,” Chevalier told her.

“No, he can’t be trusted now either.”

“What’d he do?”

“He evaded my questions. Obviously in cahoots with the three of you.”

“Damnit,” Chevalier said, irritated. “Stay out of it.”

Emily stood up slowly and walked over to the bed. She slipped off her boot and then laid down, fighting a wince as her back screamed at the movement.

Chevalier sighed, “Did the horse hurt your back?”

“Good night, Chev,” she said, and shut her eyes.

“At least take some ibuprofen,” he told her, holding his hand out with some of pills.

Emily took them with some water and shut her eyes again.

Chevalier watched her for a few minutes and then turned out the lights and sat by the fire in a chair.

“Chev?” she whispered softly from the bed.

He walked over to her and knelt down, “I’m here.”

“I’m afraid,” her voice was soft and timid.

“Of what?”

“Promise you won’t leave.”

Chevalier crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around her, “I promise.”

He almost immediately saw the swirls of grays fill his mind as she fell into a deep sleep.

Sam brought Allen out for school and Chevalier kissed his forehead and sent them out quietly. He wrapped his arms back around Emily and watched the swirls of emotion as they flowed around them. He opened his eyes just as she was about to wake up.

“Good morning,” Chevalier said, and kissed on the forehead.

Emily yawned into her hand and nodded.

“You slept late. I need to get to the trials,” he said, climbing out of bed.

Emily nodded and curled up on her side.

“Want breakfast?” he asked as he headed out of the room. He turned back to her, but she was already asleep.

Emily woke up a few hours later and looked around the empty room. There was a steaming pot of coffee on the table. She went to the table and sipped the coffee as she formulated a plan in her mind. She knew whatever they were hiding was in the prison. She also knew that Chevalier would have taken precautions against her finding it.

Her first course of action was to go through every one of the prisoners, in case it was a prisoner they were hiding from her. Dressing quickly, she slid on the hated boot and pulled the straps tight and then tied her hair up into a pony.

“You can have the day off,” Emily told the members of the Cavalry assigned to her. She watched as they blurred out of sight, and then made her way down the stairs. She was allowed in the prison now, so she didn’t have to worry about the guards there causing any problems.

“Ma’am,” they both said, bowing to her when she walked in.

Emily started a systematic pattern through the prison cells, making sure to check each one. She studied each prisoner as they flew at her and landed hard against the bars. Some foamed at the mouth, while others just inhaled and touched the air with their tongues.

Exavior sighed, “What are you up to?”

“Just looking,” Emily said, walking past his cell to the one next to him.

“Good morning, Winchester,” Sotomar said, looking through the bars. He inhaled and smiled as she walked by.

Emily started to think she was not on the right track, as prisoner after prisoner turned out to be nothing they would hide from her. She stopped at Greg’s cell and looked in, he was curled up into a ball and shaking.

“Greg?” she asked toward him.

He looked up at her and ducked his head back into his hands.

“What happened to you?” she asked, frowning. The bold leader of the V.E.S. that she spent so much time with, now looked like a weak shell.

“T… t… tor… torture,” he stammered out, as his entire body shook.

“Who tortured you?” she asked softly.

“Emily, I need to talk to you,” Exavior shouted.

“Who, Greg?” Emily asked, ignoring Exavior.

“Thh… they did,” he said, looking around nervously.

Emily walked around to Exavior, “Is that it? They were hiding a torture?”

“He’s a raving lunatic. Don’t listen to him,” Exavior said, leaning against the bars.

Emily turned around and finished her search of the cells, “What’s through this door?”

One of the guards appeared, “That’s off limits.”

“What’s through there?” she asked again.

“More cells, the more dangerous criminals are kept back there,” he told her.

Emily tried the door, but it was too heavy for her to open, “Open it.”

“No, Ma’am. We were told to allow you to visit Exavior, and that’s it,” the guard said.

“We can do this easy or hard, your choice,” Emily said, putting her hands on her hips.

The guard glanced at the other guard by the door, who shrugged.

Emily tapped her foot as the guard sighed and opened the heavy door for her.

“Knock when you’re ready to leave,” he told her.

Emily stepped into the dimly lit corridor and had the sudden feeling of déjà vu. The corridor looked like the one from the mortal trap. Instead of bars, the walls were stone with small peep holes up higher than she could see. She jumped to try to look inside, but couldn’t. All she could hear was the buzzing of electricity and the groaning of pain.

Emily saw a box at the end of the hallway and pulled it up to one of the openings. She peeked inside and gasped. There was a large heku in the small 4x4ft cell. He was shackled and chained to the wall. The muscles on his neck stood out as he strained with the pain. He suddenly looked up and into her eyes.

“Who are you?” she whispered through the small opening.

He growled deeply and grinned at her, the look on his face sent chills up her spine. Emily froze in terror, her eyes locked on his. She couldn’t move away from the window, but began to shake with the terror. His eyes seemed to dig deep into her soul and it was cold and alone. The air around her turned frigid and she found it hard to breathe. His eyes were malicious and full of loathing for her.

Emily screamed when she felt the hands on her waist, pulling her away from the window. Warm arms wrap around her and she buried her face in his chest, still trembling with fear.

“Shhh, it’s ok,” Damon said softly, pressing a hand against her head.

She didn’t care that it was Damon. She was out of the grip of the heku in the cell.

“He… he…” she tried to explain, but couldn’t get the words to come out.

“I know, you’re ok now,” he said to her.

Her body was tense against his and she began to tremble.

“Let’s get out of here,” Damon suggested, and when she nodded, he picked her up as she shook and carried her back up the stairs.

Damon met Kyle and Chevalier in the hallway leading to the foyer.

“What happened?” Chevalier asked, taking Emily from Damon. He could feel her entire body shaking.

“She met Adam,” Damon said, watching her, concerned.

“She what!?” Chevalier roared.

“He… he…” she stammered, still unable to talk.

“I was told by the guards that she went into the maximum security cells,” Damon said. “She got a box to stand on and… well… she found Adam.”

Even with the bright daylight flooding into the palace, Emily felt cold and afraid. Normally in the grips of Chevalier’s strong arms, nothing frightened her, but the terrified moments she looked into Adam’s eyes still made her shiver, and the coldness from his gaze still surrounded her.

“So… cold…” Emily mumbled.

“It’s ok, as soon as you get warm you’ll feel better,” Chevalier told her, and headed upstairs.

Emily had a tight grip on Chevalier as he ran the bathwater.

“Come on, let’s get you in the water,” he said as he shut off the water. He had to pry Emily’s fingers off of his neck.

“No, don’t let go,” she said, tightening her grip.

“You won’t feel better until you warm up, trust me,” he said, and pulled her arms from around him. He felt her body shaking as he removed her clothes and sat her in the water. He turned the hot water on for a few more minutes to heat it up.

Slowly, Emily stopped shaking and began to feel the warmth from the water. She buried her face in her hands and broke down crying. Chevalier touched her hair softly.

“It’s ok, he can’t get out,” Chevalier said softly.

As the warmth permeated into her body, Emily began to feel better. The shaking stopped and the terror that gripped her began to fade.

“Who is he?” she asked finally, looking up at Chevalier.

Chevalier sighed, “His name is Adam. He’s one of the most dangerous heku I’ve ever seen.”

“Those cells past the door?”

“Maximum security. Did you notice the cells didn’t have a door?” he asked.

Emily nodded.

“That’s because there are no doors… those prisoners were sealed in there with no chance of ever getting out. The wall was built around them,” Chevalier tried to assure her.

Emily shut her eyes and let the warmth from the water wash away the image of Adam in her mind.

“What were you doing in there?” Chevalier asked softly.

“I wanted to see,” she whispered.

“I wish you could see that there are reasons we try to keep you out of places,” he said, reaching over to massage her shoulders.

“Why isn’t he dead?”

“He’s too dangerous to kill,” Chevalier sighed.

“I… I don’t understand,” Emily said, looking up at him.

“There was an ancient, he’s been gone for almost 1200 years. He used to be able to reassemble a heku that died. He could reattach a heku’s head and bring him back to life, even years later. The risk of those heku down in maximum security coming back to life is too great, so we keep them,” Chevalier explained. “He can’t get out.”

Emily nodded.

“What were you afraid of last night?” Chevalier asked.

“I don’t remember,” Emily said, watching the water.

“I’ll get you some lunch, ok? Come out when you are ready. I’ll be right outside the door,” he said, and left, shutting the door behind him.

Emily sat for a while and let the warm water do its work. Finally, she climbed out of the tub and dressed quickly. She found Chevalier sitting by the table with a silver tray on it. She sat down and pulled off the dome. She was hungry from missing breakfast, and dug into the spaghetti.

“I need to go back to the trials. Will you be ok alone?” Chevalier asked, and brushed the hair away from her shoulder.

“Can I go with you?” she asked, frowning.

“What if I send Mark up?”

“Do you really have to go?”

“I really need to, yes,” Chevalier said. “What about Damon? I can send him up. Today’s trials are Elder only.”

Emily shook her head, “I bet he thinks this is really funny.”

“No, I don’t think he does,” Chevalier told her.

“Send Mark,” she said, and sat down the fork, no longer hungry.

Chevalier kissed her forehead and left just as Mark was arriving.

Mark was disappointed that Emily wasn’t in the mood for the game, but began to get worried when she lay in bed watching out the window for hours. He heard Chevalier coming up the stairs and met him out in the hallway.

“She hasn’t moved all afternoon. She’s just staying in bed, watching out the window,” Mark said, concerned.

Chevalier sighed, “She met Adam.”

Mark gasped, “How?”

“She got nosey down in the prison,” Chevalier said a bit coldly.

“Well at least that explains her mood. Damn, I hope she feels better,” Mark said, and left for the barracks.

***

“Doesn’t it seem like we’ve had a lot of trials lately?” Quinn asked as the Council settled in for another day.

“Seems like it,” Damon nodded.

“How is Emily?” Maleth asked, when Chevalier sat down.

“Better, seems like every day Adam wears off a little more,” he explained. Emily spent the first two days in bed, but over the next week, started to come out more and more, though she avoided the prison now.

“I hate to say this, though I wish it hadn’t been Adam, maybe that’s what we needed to keep her away from the interrogation chamber,” Damon said.

Chevalier just nodded.

The Court Reporter shuffled some papers, “First up is Ed. He’s an Equites, 248 years old. He’s accused of intent to harm a member of the Council.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow, “Which member?”

“I didn’t! I swear, it was a misunderstanding,” Ed yelled, his terror filled eyes on Chevalier.

“He snuck up behind Emily while she was working with that demon horse. He scared the horse, who ended up throwing Emily into a fence. On interrogation, he admitted he was going to make her an offer,” Damon told him.

“I just… I just wanted out of that room. I didn’t do anything,” Ed pleaded.

“Offer?” Quinn asked, ignoring Ed.

“An offer to feed,” Damon said, and scowled at Ed.

“No, no that’s not what I wanted, I swear!”

“What then, did you want with her?” Quinn asked him.

“I wanted to talk to her, that’s all.”

“About?”

“Just visit, nothing more,” Ed said, still watching Chevalier.

“Hmm, interesting. Aren’t there outstanding orders about talking to the Elder’s wife?” Quinn asked Damon.

Damon nodded, “There are.”

“I say guilty then,” Quinn said bluntly.

Each of the council members voted guilty, and then Damon stood up, “Using you as an example, you are sentenced to 16 years in prison for disobeying a direct order and causing harm to a member of the Council.”

“No... please... no,” Ed said, and fell to his knees. Two guards came in and hauled him away.

“Next?” Maleth asked the Court Reporter.

“Next up is Lady Emily,” he said.

“Excuse me?” Chevalier said.

“She submitted the correct paperwork for a trial. She is on the docket.”

“This should be interesting,” Damon said, and turned to the door when Emily entered.

“Good morning, Emily,” Maleth said, smiling.

Emily smiled at the Council and limped over to the trial area.

“What exactly brings you here today?” Quinn asked with a smile.

“I’ve been doing some research on the heku laws, specifically as it applies to Equites prisoners,” she said, and blushed briefly as she felt the Council watching her. “I am here on behalf of Exavior… to ask for his release.”

“Can she do that?” asked Zohn. He had been appointed the Equites Chief Interrogator, and this was his first trial day.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I do believe she can.”

“On what grounds do you appeal for his release?” Quinn asked.

“On the grounds that I’m the one he was accused of assaulting, and I want him released,” Emily said nervously.

“Bring Exavior here,” Damon said under his breath.

Emily turned suddenly when she heard the door behind her open, and then looked back to the Council when Exavior stepped in with his hands restrained at his back. He moved forward and stood beside Emily.

“What am I accused of now?” Exavior asked.

“The Lady is here to try to get you released,” Quinn told him.

Exavior raised an eyebrow, “Oh, she is?”

“Was that at your request?” Damon asked angrily.

“No, it was not. I wasn’t aware she was even trying,” Exavior said, and looked at Emily. It was obvious to the Council that she was avoiding looking at him.

Emily rocked back and forth nervously on her feet, “Sooo… can we let him go?”

“On what grounds?” Damon asked, irritated.

Chevalier hissed softly. The sight of his pregnant mortal wife standing before the Council beside a large enemy heku made him furious.

“On the grounds that he didn’t mean to hurt me, and I think time served is enough,” Emily said.

“What about attacks on Council City?” Quinn asked.

“Oh… that… do you have any proof that he actually attacked?” Emily asked.

“I did attack,” Exavior told her.

“Shut up,” she snapped at him.

Quinn chuckled, “Seems that we can hold him indefinitely on grounds of the attack.”

“Fine then… how about you release him so I can stay out of the prison,” Emily said, and looked at the ground.

“Wait for our decision in the hallway,” Maleth said.

Two guards came in. One took Exavior’s shoulder and the other pulled Emily’s hands behind her back.

“Hey!” she yelled.

“Let her go,” Chevalier growled. The guard looked up at him and let go of Emily nervously. He moved to Exavior and helped the guard escort him into the hallway. Emily followed, not looking back at the Council.

“What are you doing?” Exavior asked her after the door shut.

“Hopefully, setting you free.”

“Do you just wander around all day trying to find trouble?”

Emily frowned, “No. I thought you’d want to be free.”

“I can take care of myself. There’s no reason you need to put yourself in jeopardy to set me free,” he said, irritated.

“How is this putting me in jeopardy?”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with. I am just looking out for you,” he said, and Emily picked up a hint of patronization.

“Oh, another one of those heku traits that I haven’t seen in my 7 years with them?” she asked him, angrily.

“You have only scratched the surface of what the heku is truly like. You are my main concern. I want to keep your view of our species as you see it now.”

“Yeah well, don’t do me any favors,” Emily snapped, and stormed off.

The guards pushed Exavior back into the council room a short time later.

“Where is Emily?” Quinn asked, confused.

“I do believe I’ve lost my representative for this appeal,” Exavior said, and shrugged.

Damon motioned one of the guards up onto the stand. Quinn and Damon listened in while he relayed, word-for-word, what happened in the hallway.

Damon turned to Exavior, his eyes narrow, “What did you mean by scratching the surface of what the heku are truly like?”

Chevalier turned to Exavior as he spoke, “I know about your interrogation chamber. I also know she’s trying to find it. She sees this species as warm and kind. You know as well as I do that that’s a far cry from our true nature.”

“So, as you see it,” Quinn asked, “We are incapable of caring for her?”

“Exactly. If you cared for her at all, you would let her leave and start a life back with her own kind,” Exavior told them.

“Let her leave? She can leave whenever she wants,” Damon scowled.

“Can she?” Exavior asked.

“I will not sit here and defend my actions to a prisoner. Return him to lockup,” Chevalier growled.

Exavior nodded and went with the guards.

“Damnit,” Chevalier hissed.

“What?” Maleth asked, turning to him.

“Emily’s encounter with Adam scared her away from the prison. Now that Exavior brought it all up again, I can just see the challenge forming in her head again,” Chevalier said, frustrated.

“If we kill him, would she stop going down there?” Damon asked.

“No, if we kill him, she’ll take that personally and it would drive her harder.”

Damon growled and blurred from the room.

“Shall we continue?” Maleth asked, and turned to the Court Reporter.

Emily stood down in the prison looking at the empty wall. She tried to form a map in her mind of what would be behind it, but she wasn’t finding an answer. She’d been down into the prison a lot and never noticed this annex and its empty wall. She wondered who would build a hallway off of the main prison that went nowhere. She ran her hands along the cold stones.

“Having fun?” Damon asked, walking into the annex.

“What’s this place for? The hallway doesn’t go anywhere,” Emily asked, turning to him.

“It’s for future growth.”

Emily turned to him and leaned against the hidden doorway to the chamber, “You’re lying.”

Damon frowned, “What makes you think that? That’s quite an accusation.”

“It just so happens that I’ve been wandering this prison for almost an hour, yet the second I walk into this annex, you appear. Sounds to me like the guards yelled that the mortal was close to something she’s not supposed to be.”

“You’re flattering yourself. Maybe I was informed you were looking for trouble, and as my experience has taught me, you usually find it,” Damon grinned.

“If I’m not close to finding what I’m looking for, then you don’t need to watch me.”

“Someone has to, you’re a magnet for danger.”

Emily smiled sweetly, and then walked out of the annex and up the stairs to the foyer.

Damon blurred back to his seat.

“What was that?” Quinn asked, irritated.

“Our resident pain in the ass found her way to the door of the interrogation chamber,” he said, looking over at Chevalier.

“Did she know there was a door?” Chevalier felt his heart skip a beat.

“No, but she’s not stupid. She knows no one puts a hallway to nothing,” Damon said.

“Maybe you’d be better off just taking her in and showing her the room,” Maleth suggested.

Damon cringed.

“No, I don’t think she needs to see that right now. Exavior was partially right. She doesn’t know some of our more darker tendencies. It’d be nice if we could keep it that way. For now, I’ll just stay out of the chamber, Kyle and Damon should too,” Chevalier said.

“Hey, why am I getting punished?” Damon frowned.

“She’s going to watch you like a hawk. She knows you were there on the night in question.”

“Let’s just lock her in her room where she belongs then. That’s my room!” Damon said angrily.

“You’re not helping,” Maleth said to him.

“It’s also not helping if you appear down there every time she sets foot in the hallway. Just have them watch her,” Chevalier said. “You can keep going, but be careful that she’s not following you.”

Damon laughed, “She couldn’t follow me if she wanted too. I can smell her from a mile away.”

“Then it’s settled, just let her snoop. She can’t get the door open on her own,” Chevalier said, and turned back to the docket.

“Fine then, she’s down there again. We’ll just let her snoop,” Damon said, and watched as a guard brought in the next prisoner.

Emily made her way to the hallway again. Other than a stack of wooden crates in the corner, nothing else was in there. She felt along the wall on both sides, then stopped when the wall seemed a little warmer in one spot. She pushed against the wall, but it seemed solid.

“Hey, Ron,” Emily called out, and one of the door guards came to her.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Open this door for me,” she said, and pointed at the wall.

“No, Ma’am.”

Emily smiled, “Ok, thanks though. You can go back.”

Damon sighed, “I’m going to kill him myself.”

“Who are you going to kill now?” Quinn asked, amused.

“Ron, one of the door guards in the prison. He just fell for Emily’s trap. Now she knows there’s a door in that hallway,” Damon said, growling.

“Are you serious?” Chevalier asked angrily.

“Yup, when Emily asked him to open the door for her… pointing at the wall in the hallway, he said ‘no’… he didn’t say ‘What door?’ he said ‘no’,” Damon explained, shaking his head.

“She still can’t get in,” Chevalier said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She’s not trying. She’s gone out to the stables,” Damon told them.

“Perfect, that’s how she thinks… she’ll take Patra out and think,” Chevalier growled.

“She can’t get in. We have to push hard against that door to even budge it,” Maleth said.

Emily kicked Patra into a gallop and ran through the streets of Council City. Right now she just wanted to get out onto the hills. She hated how heku watched her from their houses when she passed. It was best to do it quickly, so she didn’t have time to get the creeps. Once out on the green hills, she looked over Council City, then headed into the woods and let Patra lead while she thought. Another plan was forming in her mind, and she started to get excited about ending this mystery.

***

“Shhh, it was a nightmare,” Chevalier said as he pulled Emily closer to him.

Emily buried her face in his chest, trying to wipe the images from her mind. Chevalier kissed the top of her head and smiled where she couldn’t see him. He found that nightmare somewhat funny, as it was too farfetched to ever actually happen. He knew that Adam didn’t have the same effect on heku that he did on mortals though, so he could see how it scared her.

“Do you have to work today?” she asked as she looked over at the clock.

“Yes, we have new covens applying. Tomorrow, though, I’m off.” He smiled, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“New covens? Someone just applies to be an Equites?” she asked, confused.

“No, someone who is already an Equites decides to move from their coven and start a new one.”

“Hrm, interesting.”

Chevalier grinned, “You going to give it a go?”

Emily smiled, “Maybe.”

Chevalier began to slide out of bed, but felt Emily’s arms tighten around him. He broke her grasp easily and stood up.

“I need a weight set,” she grumbled, and curled up with his pillow.

Chevalier chuckled, “It wouldn’t help.”

Emily faked mad until Chevalier left and then she scrambled out of bed. She threw some clothes on and dug through her dresser, pulling out the flashlight she kept in there. Grabbing a pancake, she left quickly for the prison.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” one of the guards said.

Emily smiled and headed down the hallway to Exavior’s cell. She passed him without a word, and doubled around the back way to the mysterious hallway. Slipping behind the wooden crates, she sat down and ate the pancake dry, waiting.

Hours passed, and Emily was finding it harder to keep herself entertained, she was getting anxious. She heard the changing of the guards and smiled. It’d been nearly four hours since she got there and she hadn’t heard her name mentioned in the briefing. She hoped they had forgotten she was down there.

Emily froze when she heard someone in the hallway. She peeked around the crate and saw Damon and two heku guards struggling to get a prisoner through the door. She hadn’t seen how they opened it, though, and cursed herself for missing that opportunity. She jumped when she heard screams coming from behind the wall a few minutes later.

Damon left the room a while later, he was covered in blood and mumbled, “Damn, this hallway even smells like her now.”

She waited for the others to come out. When they did, the two guards were dragging a lifeless prisoner from the room. They were talking in Latin, so Emily couldn’t understand what they were saying. She was focused on the slow closing door as they rounded the corner into the prison cell section.

Emily sprung from the crates and disappeared into the dark room, thne huddled down by the wall as the door closed with a loud thud.

She flipped on her flashlight, excited that she’d finally made it into the room. She had no proof that’s where the three heku spent their exhilarating night, but she had strong suspicions.

Standing up, she scanned the room with the flashlight. There weren’t any lights that she could find. She moved up to the tables in the center and ran her fingers along the ancient wood. One table had ropes at both ends, and she picked one up. There was something caught between the fibers, so she pulled it closer to the flashlight and dropped the rope suddenly when she realized it was skin.

Emily looked around the other tables and followed the wires connecting them to a smaller table off to the side, full of buttons. She pressed one of the buttons, and heard electricity flow through the wire and into the table.

She saw something in the corner and went toward it. It stood a lot taller than she was, kind of a metal coffin with an intricately carved sun at the head. She pulled open one of the doors and looked inside curiously. Nothing jumped out at her, so she opened the other set of doors. Large metal spikes stood out from the back and the doors and from the smell inside, someone, or many someones, had died in there. The spikes were covered in dried blood and Emily covered her nose against the smell.

“Methinks your Daddy’s been torturing someone,” Emily said, shaking her head as she talked to the baby.

“Ooooh, a guillotine,” Emily said, and went over to it. She pulled the lever and then jumped when a loud crash sounded as the blade swept past the seat to the floor. The floor beneath it was stained red. She tugged on the cord to raise the blade, but it was too heavy and she couldn’t lift it more than a few inches, even when she hung from the cord using all of her body weight.

“Hrm,” Emily sighed, and left the guillotine for a long wooden post across the floor that had two holes cut out of it.

She played with it for a second, and found that the top half lifted up from the corner. She slipped one wrist into the hole and shut the device, but the hole was too big and she was able to easily pull her hand out. She stood back and looked at it again, then realized it must be for feet.

Lastly, she went to the fireplace. It had a large metal pig dangling over where the flame would be. It was almost as long as she was tall, and stood almost 3 feet high. Emily knocked on it and heard that it was hollow. She pulled the top open and looked inside. Nothing was in there but black marks where the heat from the flame scorched the inside. She frowned and looked around inside of the pig, but there were no signs of any torture devices.

Emily shrugged and shut the top, then heard the ding as metal hit metal. She looked around to the side, and saw a set of padlocks that could be used to fasten the top.

“What the hell is that for?” she asked no one.

Emily sat down on one of the tables and stared at the metal pig. She shook her head and gave up trying to decide what it was. She scanned the room one last time, and headed for the door, then began to panic. She pushed as hard as she could against the door, but it didn’t move. She tried to knock, but knocking against solid rock didn’t make any noise.

“He’s going to kill me,” she said, and looked around the room.

Emily leaned against the wall and turned off the flashlight to conserve the battery. She debated how to get out of the newly found torture room. She was sure they would search for her eventually, but wondered if they would check this room. She figured that Damon would, he knew how close she had come to finding it.

She turned on the flashlight and went back over to the fireplace. She quickly found the gas valve and the matches and soon had a roaring fire, then turned off the flashlight and was able to see the entire room. Again she looked at the metal pig and wondered what it was for.

Emily scanned the room and saw something up higher that she’d missed before. It was shining in the firelight. She crawled up onto the guillotine’s seat and grabbed it from high on the wall. The end was a small decorated skull with a rope knotted a few inches below it. From the rope dangled more little ropes with knots tied at the ends.

She sat down on the guillotine and studied the device. She was sure it was a whip, but the knots on the end seemed like unnecessary additions. She sat it down on the guillotine when something else caught her eye. She got closer and saw shackles hanging a few inches down from the ceiling. She couldn’t reach them, even jumping, so they had to be at least eight feet from the ground.

Emily looked around. The room was getting warmer finally, and she wasn’t as panicked about being trapped than she was before. She knew she could always yell for Chevalier. Their bonding made it so she could call for help, but she wasn’t sure she really wanted him to know where she was. She just hoped for some way to get out on her own.

As Emily sat on the table and thought about how to get out, her eyes kept drifting to the wooden post along the floor. She was sure those holes were meant for feet, they were too big for hands, though, if the person was large, it may work. Finding nothing else better to do, she sat down on the ground and slipped her feet into the bottom half of the hole, and then grabbed the top half to swing it down. She felt the poke of a splinter and accidentally dropped the top half. It slammed into the bottom half, and Emily heard the sound of a metal latch.

“Oh… tell me I didn’t just do that,” she growled.

Emily pulled against the top half of the post, but it wouldn’t move. She tried to pull her feet free, but the holes were tight around her ankles and she wasn’t able to slip her feet out.

She ran her fingers around the pole, frantically looking for some type of latch release, but she didn’t find anything. She lay back against the cold ground and looked around the room.

***

“Have we ever approved three new covens in one meeting?” Damon asked, stepping onto the bottom stair.

“Not as long as I can remember,” Chevalier said, looking around. “They were good candidates though, I was impressed. Well… except for the two we denied, what a nightmare.”

“I can’t believe the one leader started screaming about going to the Encala,” Damon chuckled.

“I say we should have killed them right there for treason.”

“They’re still in the city aren’t they?”

Chevalier stopped and a grin formed, “I bet they are.”

“There were five of them, should we get some help?”

Chevalier looked at him, “I’ll take three, and you can have the other two.”

“Not unless I get there first,” Damon said, and blurred away, followed by Chevalier.

Chevalier caught up to them first and was able to incapacitate the first one easily. He was reading and not paying attention to his surroundings, and his head hit the floor with a thud and rolled into the roaring fireplace. Chevalier turned around as Damon brought his teeth to the neck of the leader, a stout woman with a bad attitude. He tore the flesh from her neck and swiftly snapped her neck with a sickening, crunching sound. Her head came off easily and he tossed it into the fire.

Chevalier and Damon turned around to the three remaining coven members.

“Why are you doing this?” the tallest man asked nervously.

“To keep you from joining the Encala, of course,” Damon said, grinning.

“We wouldn’t have! She was… out of line speaking for the rest of us,” he said, panicked.

Chevalier took a step forward and leaned his elbow on the taller man’s shoulder. Chevalier was still a good six inches taller than him, “Damon?”

“Why… yes Elder?”

“Do you believe him?” Chevalier asked, grinning at the man.

“Nope,” Damon said, just as Chevalier ripped the man’s head off and tossed it with the other two in the fire.

There were two coven members left, and they were cowering in the corner.

“Please, let us go,” the elder man begged.

“There’s two of them…” Damon said to Chevalier.

Chevalier grinned, ominously, “One for each of us.”

“Where’s Emily though? She can’t see us go,” Damon said, and smiled reassuringly down at the two heku.

Chevalier shut his eyes for no more than a second and opened them, “No idea where she is, but wherever she is, she’s embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? Damn, and I’m missing it,” Damon chuckled.

“Send guards down there to make sure she’s not around,” Chevalier said. He took the larger of the remaining coven member by the arm and began to drag him to the palace.

“We’re clear to go down, but Ron thinks we need to leave our toys in a cell and come in immediately,” Damon said, frowning.

“Why’s that?” Chevalier asked, towing the screaming heku. He started to listen for more information from the guards. He normally ignored what they said, as it didn’t pertain to him, but this piqued his interest.

“He won’t say, sounds nervous,” Damon said.

Chevalier and Damon pushed their heku into a cell and watched as Ron headed for the interrogation room.

“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked as Ron stammered and accidentally ran into a wall.

“It’s… it’s…” Ron said, and stopped. Chevalier stood to face him as Damon went on to the interrogation chamber.

“Speak now or I’ll throw you in there myself,” Chevalier said, annoyed that this guard was as nervous as he was.

“Umm… Elder?” Damon called from the doorway.

“What?” Chevalier scowled.

“You gotta see this,” Damon said, and Chevalier couldn’t help but notice he was laughing.

“What is up with…” Chevalier stopped suddenly at the door. He gasped when he saw Emily lying on the floor, her feet hooked into the stockade. She had one hand covering her eyes and he grew furious immediately.

“Em, are you ok?” he asked, and easily lifted the foot restraints.

She sat up and looked at the wooden post, “How did you do that? I’ve been trying to open those for hours.”

Chevalier growled, “Who put you in those?”

Emily glanced at Damon, then back to Chevalier, “Well… I… sort of did.”

Damon stepped out of the room quickly. He knew his laughing would make the Elder mad.

“You put yourself in the restraints?” he asked skeptically.

“Yeah… kind of,” she said, embarrassed. Chevalier looked around at the roaring fire, the dropped guillotine, and the cat-o-nine tails lying out of place.

Chevalier chuckled, “How’d you get in?”

“I waited until someone left and snuck in. Then… I didn’t think it out very well, so I couldn’t get out,” she said, and shrugged, watching closely to see if he was mad.

“You shoulda kept her in them,” Damon said, grinning from the doorway.

Emily was too embarrassed to even respond, she just blushed.

“Are you mad?” Emily asked. She couldn’t read him, but his eyes were confused and worried.

Chevalier grinned, “No, I’m not mad. I’m a little worried that you got yourself stuck though.”

Emily watched as Damon returned the whip to its spot and raised the blade on the guillotine.

“That was… pretty heavy,” she said, watching him.

“I’m assuming you didn’t lose any fingers,” Damon said, turning to her.

“I blame you for this,” she said to him.

“Me? How can this be my fault?” he asked, surprised.

“If you had shown me, when I asked, then I wouldn’t have had to sneak in.”

“Fine, but you can’t blame me for getting yourself stuck in the foot restraints.”

“How did you open those anyway?” Emily asked Chevalier.

He shook his head, “You can’t open them while you’re in them, that would defeat the purpose.”

Chevalier and Damon both watched her closely, not sure if she was going to start screaming about their room, or if the embarrassment hid her anger for now.

“What’s the pig?” she asked, nodding toward the fire.

Chevalier looked at Damon who shrugged.

“Oh come on. I’m not naïve enough to think you all don’t torture prisoners when you interrogate them. Just tell me what the pig is for,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Chevalier felt some relief when he realized that she didn’t know they sometimes tortured prisoners for the fun of it. She seemed perfectly fine with torture to elicit a confession, and he left her thoughts to believe that.

“It’s… well,” Chevalier said nervously to Damon.

“Cooks the heku inside,” Damon said bluntly, and grinned when Emily winced.

“That’s awful,” she gasped.

“Yeah and the rest of this just tickles,” Damon said, and shook his head, grinning.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to be in those feet restraints,” Emily said, and he realized that she would actually know about that.

“It’s not the restraints, it’s what we’re holding them down to do,” Damon said, and shut his mouth quickly when Chevalier glared at him.

Emily looked down at the restraints, “Like what?”

“I’m not comfortable with this,” Chevalier said. He stood up and helped Emily to her feet.

“Fine, then you go, and I’ll talk to Damon,” she said.

“Nope, I’m done,” Damon said, with one look from Chevalier.

Chevalier turned around to hide his laughter. He had the image in his mind of Emily, embarrassed and stuck in the foot restraints. Damon turned also. He hadn’t fully stopped laughing from the first sight of her, and it was getting worse.

Emily hopped up on a table and sat, watching them, “I’m so glad you both find this funny.”

“It’s... just…” Chevalier said, and couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you,” Quinn said, joining them in the room. He looked suspiciously from Chevalier to Damon.

Emily hopped down, “Why not?”

“It’s electrified. One push of a button and it would kill you,” he said bluntly.

Emily turned and looked at the table, wide eyed.

“What’s so funny?” Quinn asked.

Neither Chevalier nor Damon could answer.

“Fine… I snuck in here and couldn’t get out. Then I tried those foot things and got myself stuck in them,” Emily said casually.

Quinn chuckled, “They found you still in them?”

Emily nodded, embarrassed.

“Are you ok?” he asked her.

Emily nodded again.

“Are you upset about the room?”

“No, I can’t believe it was this huge secret. I know that some prisoners would need tortured to give up information,” she told him.

“I see,” Quinn said, and looked around the room. “How long were you in here?”

“What time is it?” she asked.

“7pm”

“So… well… eight hours,” Emily grimaced.

Quinn coughed, “Come, let’s get you something to eat.”

Emily nodded and followed him out. She heard laughing and whispers coming from Damon and Chevalier in the room.

“Don’t believe them, Emily! They don’t just torture for confessions… they torture for fun!” she heard someone yell from the prison.

Emily stopped and walked toward the voice. Damon and Chevalier appeared in the hallway, suddenly serious.

“Come, Emily,” Quinn said, and took her arm. She pulled away from him and went toward the screaming voice.

Emily came face-to-face with a heku she didn’t know. The moment he saw her, he inhaled and touched his tongue to his lips.

“What did you say?” Emily asked him.

“Torture… they do it for fun,” he said, grinning.

“Who does?”

“The Elder and his Council… more fun than interrogation, that I promise,” the heku prisoner said, and then eyed Quinn carefully.

“Exavior, is that true?” she asked into the air.

She got no answer, so she walked over to Exavior’s cell, followed by Quinn, Damon, and Chevalier.

“Did you hear me?” she asked him.

Exavior nodded, “Yes, I did.”

“So what’s the answer?”

“It’s not my place to answer,” he said, not moving from the bed.

“Tell me!” she yelled, and hit the bars.

Exavior didn’t respond.

“Do you?” Emily asked, turning to Chevalier.

“We use it for interrogating,” Chevalier said, watching her eyes.

“Do you?” she asked Damon.

“Tiny, I do whatever I want,” he said seriously.

“So you do… torture these prisoners for fun,” Emily glared at him.

“If I want to.”

“You disgust me.”

“You… will get over it.”

“Do you?” she turned to Quinn. He looked surprised that she brought him into this conversation.

“I…” Quinn sighed. “Yes.”

Emily eyed Chevalier suspiciously and walked up the stairs to the foyer.

Damon turned to the heku that told Emily about the fun torture.

“You get to see it firsthand,” Damon said, and drug him from the cell.

“This is not going to be good,” Chevalier said to Quinn.

“Just keep her believing you don’t do it, or we risk her running off again,” Quinn said.

“I hate to lie to her.”

“Just let the rest of us take the heat for it.”

Chevalier nodded and followed Emily up the stairs. He heard Emily yelling at someone as he opened the door.

“Do you?” she yelled.

“I… I don’t know how to answer that,” Kyle said, panicked.

“You don’t have to answer,” Chevalier said, coming up behind Emily.

“Do you?” she asked again.

“No,” he said, and winced when Chevalier sighed.

“Emily, are you going to ask everyone?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, and don’t think I’m done with you two,” she said, and walked up the stairs.

“Get the word out. No one else is to answer that question,” Chevalier said, and followed her up. He could hear voices through the palace sending on his orders.

Chevalier followed Emily up the stairs and into the room. She was just sitting down with Allen at the table. Allen pushed food around his plate, and Emily talked about his day and sat curled up on the chair. Chevalier watched, sitting on the edge of the bed. After they ate, Emily and Allen curled up on the couch to watch TV together as Chevalier watched them.

“I want Daddy to,” Allen said, when Emily started to put him to bed.

Emily nodded, and Chevalier picked Allen up and airplaned him into the room. She slipped into the bathroom and ran herself a hot tub. She was still cold from the prison and her back was aching from lying on the ground.

Emily crawled into the hot tub and turned on the jets, relaxing as they pounded against her back. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes, trying to stop her head from throbbing. Between the headache, the backache, and the near constant burning on her thigh, she was starting to get frustrated with everything around her. If the time in the interrogation room had done anything, it gave her enough time to consider what was going on in her life. The problem was, she hadn’t found a solution.

Emily stopped fighting it and began to cry softly. She laid her forehead against her knees and rubbed the runes on her thigh.

“Talk to me, please,” Chevalier said from the side of the tub. He’d been there long enough to know something was seriously wrong.

Emily shook her head, but didn’t look up from the water.

“We’re in this together, you don’t have to do it all alone,” he told her, touching her shoulder softly.

“You can’t help me,” she said finally.

“Tell me.” Chevalier was fighting the desire to grab her from the water and whisk her far away from everyone. It wasn’t often that he saw her looking as vulnerable as she did at that moment.

“I’m afraid,” she whispered.

“Of what? You said that the other night, and I really want to know,” he took her hand.

“Of everything, and I don’t like it. I’m not supposed to be afraid,” she said, turning her head so she could look at him.

He frowned, “Why are you not allowed to be afraid?”

“It’s a weakness.”

“It’s human,” he said softly.

“I can’t be human. I have to be stronger than that.”

“Who said?”

“Don’t you see that? I can’t survive in this world unless I’m stronger than a mere mortal.”

“You’ve never been a mere mortal, and you are strong, stronger than most of us even know,” he said, touching her cheek softly.

“No I’m not. My head hurts, my back hurts, and my thigh feels like it’s on fire. I’m surrounded by a species most mortals run from. I’m raising my son in an environment where prisoners are tortured for fun. Now I’m bringing a baby into a world that may only want to hurt it and take it away.”

“Em…”

“I’m afraid one of these days of being drained. I’m afraid of you leaving me and going into the ground. I’m afraid of dying when I have the baby, and of Adam, and the Valle, and the Encala. I’m afraid of someday becoming a prisoner, restrained and losing my freedom and my ability to think and say and act.”

“You should have told me before it got this bad,” Chevalier said when she finished.

“I can’t, I told you… I have to be strong.” She looked up at him with red, swollen eyes.

He smiled, “You are strong.”

“Not strong enough.”

“You have all of that going on in your mind and haven’t snapped. I think that’s about as strong as they come,” Chevalier told her.

“It’s not enough.”

“Let the doctor see you, Em, please.”

“No”

“Seeing a doctor isn’t showing a weakness. I’m worried about the headaches, and maybe he can fix the backache, too.”

“No”

Chevalier sighed, “Do me one favor then… eat.”

Emily nodded, “Ok.”

She crawled out of the tub and slipped on a long t-shirt before going out into the bedroom. Chevalier was just taking dinner from a servant, so she sat at the table. He pulled the dome off of the tray and Emily looked at all of the food, a steak, corn, potatoes, hot rolls and a piece of pie. She sighed and grabbed the orange juice, sipping it as she watched the fire.

“Food,” Chevalier whispered into her ear, and kissed her neck softly. Emily shivered at his touch and grabbed the hot roll.

“So would it help if I told you that your fears aren’t going to happen? I won’t let them,” Chevalier said as he sat down beside her.

“Probably not,” Emily answered. “You’ve already held me prisoner in here once.”

“I’m sorry, that was a mistake, and I never should have done that.”

“You kept Allen from me,” she reminded him.

“It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Emily nodded and took another bite of the roll.

Chevalier grinned, “I still can’t believe you got yourself stuck in the foot stockade.”

Emily couldn’t help but smile, “I hadn’t done anything utterly idiotic in a while, and figured Damon needed more ammunition.”

“Oh, well, you did give him that.”

“Yeah I figured.”

“When did the runes start burning?” Chevalier asked seriously.

“A few months ago. It’s just getting worse,” Emily told him, and grabbed the pie and a fork.

“I wish you would’ve told me. I can ask the others about it.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it, why complain?”

“You complain because I’m your husband, and I want to know what’s bothering you,” Chevalier told her.

“Do you really have tomorrow off?” Emily asked.

“I’m yours all day,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“We can do whatever I want?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m at your beckon call.”

Emily crawled into his lap, facing him, “Can we start right now?”

Chevalier took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.