Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (28 page)

“Yet the Encala are the ones that kidnapped
us.”

“You aren’t kidnapped. We didn’t even take
you from your home.”

She crossed her arms, “So now what?”

“Now we come to an agreement on how to handle
Dain, and how to get you two back into Council City where you
belong.”

“Why do you even care?”

“You know I care about you, Em.”

Alexis finally stood up, “So let me get this
straight. The Encala are going to hold us in Mom’s basement until
we agree to tell you where Dain is?”

“Basically”

“Then what? Then you banish him?”

“Yes,” Andrew said bluntly.

“No,” Emily said, and pushed Andrew as hard
as she could. “You aren’t going to touch my son!”

“The Encala Council feels it’s prudent that
we handle Dain, so there aren’t any tensions between you and the
Equites.”

“That’s bullshit!” Emily yelled. “The Encala
don’t give a rat’s ass about my relationship with the Equites.”

“On the contrary, it’s very important to
us.”

“Why is that?” Alexis asked him.

Andrew smiled slightly, “It’s Emily that
keeps the Equites from attacking the Encala and wiping us out.
Until we’re strong enough to defend ourselves against them, we have
to keep things calm.”

“And banishing my son will keep things calm?”
Emily snapped.

“It’s either us or the Equites.”

“It’s no one. I’m not going to allow this to
happen.”

“It has to be done. He's a danger.”

“We were friends,” Emily said, her voice
cracking slightly.

“We still are.”

“No we’re not. You put your Council before me
and allowed them to get in our friendship and break it up.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“Sure it is! I was kidnapped in your
presence, big deal.”

“It put the Encala at risk.”

“Get out,” Emily yelled, and pointed at the
door.

“The house is full of Encala. You’re
protected here,” Andrew said before leaving. The distinct noise of
a dead-bolt locking sounded through the tiny room.

“This is beyond insane,” Alexis told Emily.
“It’s all out of hand.”

“Completely out of hand.”

“They have to have something else up their
sleeves. There’s no way they’re doing all of this to protect the
Equites.”

“Well, I have news for them… if the Encala
banish Dain, they’ll have to face me.”

***

“I guess she’s madder than I thought,” Kyle
said to the Council. “Two weeks without a single word is pretty
serious.”

Chevalier nodded, “That’s why I’ve stayed
away. Garrett hasn’t heard from Alexis either. They’re holed up in
that damned house.”

“Maybe we should pay them a visit.”

“I hesitate to do that.”

“I know, but what if they’re in trouble?”

“Emily can still call for me if she needs me.
I’m not picking up any negative emotions from her other than brief
periods of annoyance. My guess is that she and Alexis are starting
to get on each other’s nerves,” Chevalier said.

***

“Damn, I have to go to jail again,” Andrew
said as he moved his playing piece over to the corner spot.

“It’s fate telling you where you belong,”
Emily told him, and then rolled the dice.

Andrew grinned, “Give up on the mad angle. I
know you’ve forgiven me.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Yes, you have, or you’d have ashed this
entire house and walked out. You owe me $65.”

Emily paid him with the fake money and sat
back, “I don’t ash this house because then the Equites will find
out that I’ve allowed the Encala to detain Alex and I for the past
three weeks.”

Andrew chuckled, “That too.”

“I’m not going to hand Dain over to you.”

“I realize that.”

“Then why keep this up?”

“My Council still thinks you’ll hand him
over.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Because you trust me.”

“Used to.”

“Still do,” he said, and grabbed a card off
of the deck to read.

“Tell me the truth about why you’re
here.”

“I did. The Encala Council wants Dain put
away without you disappearing.”

“It has to be more than that.”

“No, it doesn’t. You keep the Equites from
wiping us out.”

“That’s not true. Chevalier let you all go
when he thought I was dead.”

“He did so because of thoughts on how you
would react if you had a say in it.”

“I shouldn’t have told you anything.”

Andrew nodded, “Probably not. I’ve kept it a
secret though.”

“I’m not going to hand Dain over to you.”

“He’s dangerous. I wish you could see
that.”

“All I see is a lost boy who…”

“…
lost heku.”

“Lost boy who is full of feelings and
instincts that he can’t control. He didn’t choose to be a heku and
shouldn’t be treated like he did.”

“He can control them if he wants to.”

“No he can’t.”

“Mom?” Alexis asked from the couch.

Emily looked over at her, “He won’t
sleep?”

“No, I don’t know why.”

“It’s because he’s shut up in this stuffy
room,” Emily said, and picked Asher up from Alexis.

“I can take him out for some air then,”
Andrew told them.

Alexis stood up and blocked Emily from the
Encala, “Touch my son, and you’ll have to deal with me.”

“No reason to threaten. I was just going to
take him for a bit.”

“No”

“Fine, but he’s restless and has cabin
fever.”

“We all do!”

Andrew hated when Alexis started to scream at
him, so when she started to lose her temper, he left the room and
locked the door behind him.

“It’s time to call for Dad.”

“I can’t do that,” Emily said, sitting down.
“How are we going to explain sitting in Encala custody for three
weeks?”

“We tell him the truth, that we wanted to get
out on our own and can’t.”

“Admit to the Council that the Equites had to
come rescue the Winchesters? I think not.”

“So we just sit here until that Interrogator
gets out of us where Dain is?”

“I don’t think he’s used interrogation on
us.”

“Not yet.”

“He won’t. This is his misguided attempt at
renewing the friendship that he threw away,” Emily explained.

Alexis finally sat down next to Emily, “Dain
used to call every night. He hasn’t heard from us in three weeks.
If we can’t get out of here, he’s going to come see why we aren’t
talking.”

“I know,” Emily said, deep in thought.

Alexis put her hand on Emily’s, “Mom, it’s
time to call for Dad.”

“He’s going to be furious.”

“I know, but if we don’t get out of here,
Dain will return.”

“Andrew?” Emily called out. It was only a few
seconds later that he stepped into the room.

“Did you need something?”

“Yes, it’s time to let us out, or I’ll have
to call for the Equites.”

“You’d risk them thinking you can’t take care
of yourself?”

“No, I have an idea that lets us off the
hook,” Emily told him.

Andrew nodded, “What idea is that?”

“Let us go.”

“I care too much about you to do that. You’re
my friend.”

“Then you know me well enough to know you
can’t keep me here any longer.”

Andrew reached down and took her hand, “Is it
that bad being here under Encala protection?”

“No, but it’s restrictive.”

“I’m afraid that this thing with Dain is
going to go overboard, and I still don’t think you can handle
it.”

“I can.”

“Are you sure? Can you handle the backlash
from the Equites when you refuse to give his location? Can you
handle the thought that he’s been banished?”

Emily pulled her hand away from him, “He
won’t be.”

“Yes he will. That’s part of being immortal,
there’s plenty of time to find him. Someday, someone’s going to see
him, and then it’ll all be over.”

“I won’t let them banish my son.”

“You won’t have a choice. I talked to
William, and we decided that if we can get to Dain, we won’t banish
him.”

“You won’t?” she asked skeptically.

“No. We’ll imprison him, where you can visit
him any time you want, but he’ll be out of the public eye and no
longer able to attack innocents.”

“The Equites would fight to get him
back.”

Andrew nodded, “Yes, but that’s where you
come in.”

“So I keep them away from you.”

“Right”

Emily looked over at Alexis, “What do you
think?”

“Imprisonment has to be better than
banishment.”

“Let me think about it,” Emily said, turning
back to Andrew.

He nodded and then left them alone.

“Fine,” Emily hissed, and then shut her
eyes.

***

Chevalier frowned, “Em needs us at the
house.”

“Did she say why?” Kyle asked as he looked
across Chevalier’s desk at him.

“No, but let’s go. I haven’t heard from her
in long enough that I want to go.”

“Let’s just you and I go,” Kyle
suggested.

Chevalier answered by blurring down to his
McLaren. Within just a few minutes they pulled up at the house and
looked up.

“Seems nice and quiet,” Kyle said, getting
out.

Chevalier’s nose wrinkled, “Smells like
Encala though.”

“Do you think Andrew’s in there?”

“Not sure, let’s go find out.”

The Encala scent was stronger inside of the
house, and Chevalier crouched slightly, “Em?”

Kyle looked around, ready for an attack.

When no one answered, Chevalier stood up and
listened carefully, “I hear someone downstairs.”

Kyle nodded and started for the stairs. When
he got to the door to the entertainment room, he whispered to
Chevalier, “This door is locked from the outside.”

Chevalier opened the door and stepped
inside.

“Hi,” Emily said, smiling.

“Hi, Dad,” Alexis said.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Who locked you in
here?”

“I did, by accident,” Emily told him. “I did
it yesterday, and by today, we figured we weren’t going to get out
by ourselves.”

Kyle walked around the room and stopped at
the table, “You brought lunch in with you then?”

“We wanted to eat during a movie, but I hit
the wrong button and locked us in.”

Alexis nodded, “Bright, huh? Well, all’s good
here now.”

Alexis headed up the stairs with Asher. Emily
watched her go and then turned to Chevalier, “Thanks for letting us
out.”

“Is Andrew here?”

“No, why?”

“It smells like the Encala around here.”

“Not sure why,” she said, and started up the
stairs. Emily went into the kitchen to get a drink, and then
cringed when Kyle lifted the lid on a boiling pot on the stove.

“This stew doesn’t look like it’s cooked for
the last 24 hours.”

“Well it has.”

Chevalier walked over and looked at it, “You
sticking by the story you told us?”

“Of course, it’s the truth.”

He decided not to push the issue, and dropped
it, “Now that we’re all here. Can we talk?”

Emily turned around with a glass of ice
water, “Sure, talk away.”

Kyle sat at the table and waited for Emily to
join him. She sighed and sat down, followed by Chevalier.

“How can we get you back to the palace?” Kyle
asked her.

“With Richard and the two interrogating
Elders? I think not.”

“They aren’t going to interrogate you,”
Chevalier told her.

“Mom, I’m ready to go back,” Alexis said from
the doorway. “I miss Garrett, and I don’t think the Council will
bother me.”

“We won’t interrogate her. I swear,”
Chevalier said.

Emily looked up at the ceiling and
thought.

“Right now, I’m more anxious to get you back
to the palace than to find Dain.”

“That’s because you know if I go back to the
palace, you have more of a chance of catching him,” Emily said.

“No it’s not. I’m not as underhanded as you
seem to think I am. You belong with me, and I never feel
comfortable when you’re away,” Chevalier told her.

Kyle nodded, “None of us do. It puts the
entire palace on edge when you’re alone.”

Alexis finally sat down at the table,
“Please, Mom. Let’s go back.”

“Alexis won’t be punished?”

Chevalier shook his head, “Of course
not.”

“I won’t be asked a ton of questions?”

“No”

“Or followed, or restrained?”

“No, though I wouldn’t mind if we got back to
how we were before. Our mutual agreement, I mean.”

Emily looked over at Alexis and saw how badly
she missed her husband. Finally, she sighed, “Ok, we can go
back.”

“Yes!” Alexis yelled, and stood up to go get
Asher.

“I need a few minutes alone,” Emily said.
“Take Alex and Asher back, and then I’ll be there in a bit.”

Chevalier kissed her softly and then left
with Kyle. As soon as the McLaren took off, Emily dialed Dain.

“My God, Mom! Where have you been?” he asked
frantically.

“To make a long story short… the Encala had
Alex and I held hostage in this house.”

“Did they hurt you?!”

“No, but they did offer you something.”

“What?”

“They promised you a prison sentence and not
banishment.”

“I think I’d rather be banished than to sit
and rot in an Encala prison.”

“But in prison, I can come and see you.”

“I stopped.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, I haven’t attacked anyone since I left.
This has got to blow over eventually.”

“I like their offer. If we turn you over to
the Encala and keep the Equites out of it…”

“Then Dad will just petition the Encala to
get me back.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Dain sighed, “I don’t want to be in
prison.”

“It has to be better than starving for
eternity,” she whispered. “I’m scared, Dain.”