Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (79 page)

“With all due respect… you’re wrong,” Silas
told him.

“Derrick, take him to the prison,” Dustin
yelled. “The rest of you leave immediately.”

Silas was hauled way to
the prison, while the rest of the Cavalry began to fight and argue
with the city and palace guards. Before the mutiny was over, Mark
and Kralen were also thrown into the prison, and the rest of the
Cavalry was forcibly removed from Council City.

Dustin sighed and looked
over at the Chief of Finance, “This is out of control. How can our
elite guards turn on the Council?”

“Lack of respect. Their
leaders are too attached to her.”

“I’m right though. One
simple answer, and I’ll let her out of prison, out with food and
warmth.”

***

“What happened?” the Chief
of Finance asked when Allen, Miri, and Alexis were thrown into the
council chambers onto their knees.

“Where is the Coven Liaison Officer?” one of
the guards asked.

“Dustin is away, what happened?”

“Allen and Miri attempted
to get into the prison, after Alexis turned the two prison guards
to ash,” the guard explained.

“You turned two guards to ash?” the Chief of
Finance yelled at Alexis.

The 11-year-old nodded, “Yes, I did.”

“Leave Alex alone,” Allen
growled. “You cannot keep my mom down there. She’s mortal. She
can’t live without food and in those cold conditions.”

“She can and she is,” he
told the young heku. “All she has to do is answer the Council’s
question and we will let her go.”

“My Dad will be back in
two days… you can either let her go now, and lessen your
punishment, or wait until he gets back and face him directly,”
Allen said angrily.

“I should banish you three for this
insubordination.”

“You can’t touch Alexis.
She’s mortal,” Miri yelled. “Do what you want to me. It won’t
change the fact that you’re killing Lady Emily because of your
pride.”

“Shut up, girl,” the Court
Reporter yelled.

“I’m sentencing Miri to banishment for 300
years,” the Chief of Finance said. “Put her in prison until the
Chief Enforcer returns.”

“No, don’t touch her!”
Allen said, and stood up. He began to fight with the guards, and
was soon pinned to the floor by three palace guards.

“It’s ok, Allen, the Chief
Enforcer won’t banish me,” Miri said, and calmly walked out with
the palace guard.

“Now what to do with you two,” he said,
watching Allen and Alexis.

“Alexis is too young to be
held responsible for her actions. Let’s just confine her to her
room with Dain,” the Court Reporter suggested.

The Chief of Finance nodded, “Very well,
take her to her room and confine her there.”

“No!” Alexis screamed.
Allen could tell she was trying to catch the eyes of one of the
guards.

“Alex no, just go, wait for Dad to get
back.”

Alexis looked over at him
and nodded. She then walked out after the palace guards.

“You, Boy, have already been stripped of
your rank and guard title… what to do with you now?”

“It won’t matter, not when Dad gets back,”
Allen told him.

“We’ll see about that.
He’s going to be concerned about the mutinous nature of his elite
guards and now his family.”

Allen grinned, “Keep thinking that.”

***

“Lady Emily?” Miri called from two cells
down.

“Who is that?” Emily
asked, and sat up, shivering.

“It’s Miri.”

“Miri? Why are you here?”

“Alexis called us… Allen and I came and
tried to get to you.”

Emily’s lips were dry and cracked and she
shivered uncontrollably in the cold, “Where are they?”

“I don’t know… I’ve been
banished, but I honestly don’t think the Chief Enforcer will do it.
I was brought here before Allen and Alexis were
sentenced.”

“You tried to get me out?”

“Yes, I’m sorry we failed.”

“If you’d have joined the Ferus with me, you
wouldn’t be in prison,” Vaughn said to her.

“Emily! I love you and I’ll get you out!”
David yelled.

“Listen to them call for you… these beings
you once loved… they turned on you and you can meet them in hell,”
Larry shouted.

“Shut up!” Mark yelled. “I
will get out of here, and I’ll make sure you pay for
this.”

Miri sighed, “Lady Emily,
ignore them. The Elders will be back in two days and this will all
end. I’m sure of it.”

“Look at me, Emily,”
Vaughn said, suddenly standing at the bars to his cell. “I can make
your body warm. I can make the hunger go away. Just trust me enough
and let me control you for only a short time.”

“Don’t do it, please… just two days,” Miri
said.

“Shut up, Girl!” Vaughn hissed.

“Listen to me, Emily,”
Miri said softly. “Two days… this will all be over.”

Emily spoke through chattering teeth, “It’s
just so cold.”

“I know… do what you can to stay warm, he’ll
be here.”

“Trust us, Em,” Silas said
from far away. “We’ll get out, I promise.”

She nodded and sat against
the wall of her cell on the floor and pulled the thin, stiff
mattress over her. The cement was freezing and uncomfortable, but
the mattress kept some of her body heat in. She coughed into her
arm and tried to focus on Chevalier’s return.

***

Dustin returned from a short absence and sat
down with a smile, “How are things going?”

“We cannot do this
anymore,” the Court Reporter told him. “We’ve been to see the Lady.
She’s going to die down there if you don’t let her back up here.
She’s not a heku.”

“I know that and all she has to do is answer
me.”

“Then I will be going,” he
said, and stood up to leave.

“As will I,” the Chief of
Finance told him. “Her children risked their lives to help her, and
have been punished. I can’t do this and I won’t be here when the
Elders come back to a dead Winchester.”

“Go then!” Dustin growled. “They will stand
by my decision.”

“Think of what you’re doing… remember when
Zohn sent her on a mission? The other Elders were livid… this is
much, much worse.”

“Go,” Dustin said, and
pulled out a ledger. He began to write as the rest of the Council
left for their covens. When he was done logging what happened, he
sighed and decided to give Emily another chance.

“Good evening, Sir,” the prison guards
mumbled.

Dustin ignored them and walked over to
Emily’s cell, “Are you ready to tell me what the Valle did?”

“No,” she whispered, shivering. He could
hear the slight wheeze as she breathed.

His eyes narrowed,
“Guards, get that mattress. She’s too comfortable with
it.”

“Please, no,” Emily said
when the only source of warmth was ripped out of her hands. She
curled up into a ball on the cement and began to rock as her cell
door was slammed shut.

“Last chance. If you don’t
tell me now, then I’ll let the Elders deal with you.”

She began to cough into her arm as Dustin
shrugged and walked away.

“Dustin!” Mark yelled.
“Listen to her. She’s getting sick… she needs warmth.”

“Traitor,” Dustin growled,
and walked up the stairs.

“Miri, can you see her?” Mark asked.

“No, I can’t,” Miri answered.

“Silas?”

“No, Sir, I can’t.”

“Oooh, I can,” Vaughn
said, and grinned. “She’s pretty bad off. She’s pale, running a
fever, and that cough is getting worse.”

“Kralen?” Mark called out.

“No, I can’t see her,” Kralen said.

“I love you so much,” David yelled.

“Oh, shut up!” an unknown prisoner yelled at
him.

“Who can see Emily, other than Vaughn?” Mark
called out. “I can reward you.”

“I can see her,” one of
the prisoners said. He was housed in the cell next to
Vaughn.

“Who are you?” Mark asked.

“Pollard, I’m an Encala.”

Mark sighed, “Can you lock her gaze? As I
said, I will reward you for it.”

“Emily?” he said, and went
to his bars.

“Oh sure! Trust the Encala,” Vaughn said,
laughing.

“Emily, look at me,” the Encala said.

“No,” Emily whispered, and
then started to cough.

“Emily, trust me, just let him get a lock on
you,” Kralen said. “I know you can control that… he can help.”

“Just look at me,” the Encala tried again.
One of the door guards blurred to his cell and opened it. He
quickly pulled the Encala out and hauled him to the other end of
the prison to a different cell.

“Damnit,” Mark growled.

“You all be quiet!” the
guard growled. “The next one to make a noise gets the interrogation
chamber.”

The prison fell quiet as
Emily rocked on the hard cement and coughed often. She could no
longer feel her hands, and she watched her breath in the freezing
air as it drifted off and disappeared. She could feel it getting
harder to breathe, and her head began to pound as her fever
grew.

***

“Wow, it’s quiet in here,”
Quinn said when he stepped off of the helicopter.

“Yeah, it is, where are
the guards?” Chevalier asked, and looked around the empty
roof.

Kyle walked over and
looked over the side of the roof, “Hmm, the Cavalry’s horses aren’t
out in the corral.”

“The quiet is good after
that nightmare,” Zohn said, and headed for the door. “I’m thinking
about taking a week vacation.”

Chevalier opened the door, “Go to the
island, it’s much more peaceful than your warring coven.”

Zohn laughed, “It’s peaceful now! They are
all too afraid Emily will come back.”

Quinn frowned and glanced around as they
walked down the stairs, “Where are all of our guards?”

“Odd, isn’t it?” Zohn said, noticing that
there were no floor guards.

Kyle blurred down the stairs and then
returned, “Powan is guarding outside of the palace.”

“Powan is?” Quinn asked, confused. “Did they
say why?”

“They just said to speak
to Dustin,” Kyle answered, and stepped into the council
chambers.

Dustin smiled, “Welcome back.”

“Where is everyone?”
Chevalier asked. Dustin was the only council member left and it was
during regular hours when the entire Council should have been
convened.

Dustin sighed, “It’s been a long week, to
say the least.”

“What happened?” Zohn asked.

“Well, for starters, I
dismissed the entire Cavalry, except for the General and the
Captains, and they are imprisoned.”

Kyle gasped, “Why?”

“Traitors, they broke a
direct order from the Council.”

“The Cavalry did?”
Chevalier asked, shocked.

“Yes, and then started a
fight when they were told to return to their covens. The fight was
led by Mark, Silas, and Kralen, and they were imprisoned. The rest
were sent back to their covens without honor,” Dustin
explained.

Quinn sighed, “Great… what was the direct
order?”

“That involves another
explanation on something,” Dustin said, and braced himself. “They
broke a direct order to stay out of the prison.”

“Why was the Cavalry so
bent on getting into the prison?”

“To help Emily.”

“Emily’s in prison?” Chevalier yelled.

“Yes, she is,” Dustin said
proudly. “She refused to answer a simple question and was thrown in
there. The Cavalry tried to get a blanket and food to
her.”

“Wait!” Zohn growled.
“She’s in the prison with no food or warmth?”

“Correct, and I took her mattress because
she was using it to get warm.”

Kyle followed the three Elders when they
blurred down to the prison. They could hear the heku prisoners
screaming for Emily’s blood as they entered the front foyer. Using
rage, they instantly appeared in the prison and the guards turned
on the lights.

“Elders,” the guards said,
and bowed.

“I love you, Emily!” David screamed.

“So help me, when I get out of here you’re
dead!” Silas growled.

“Feel that hatred, Bitch!” Larry yelled.
“How are those warm, carrying vampires now?”

“Silence!” Zohn shouted. “The next one to
speak will be killed.”

The entire prison fell
silent when they heard the Elder. Chevalier quickly found Emily and
waited for a guard to open her cell. She was no longer able to rock
as she sat on the cement, her fever was too high and she was
breathing in short raspy breaths. Her thin nightgown was wet with
sweat, and she was coated in dirt from the cement floor.

Kyle rounded the corner and gasped when he
saw her. Chevalier walked in and picked her up, wincing at how hot
her body was.

“Chev,” she whispered, and
leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Damnit,” Kyle growled as he felt her
forehead.

Mark quickly ran to her cell as soon as Zohn
released him, “We tried…”

“I know,” Chevalier told
him. “Make sure anyone involved with this is released and taken to
the council chambers.”

“Yes, Elder,” Mark said,
and started going cell to cell.

“Elder!” Miri yelled, and
ran out of her cell.

Chevalier turned and frowned, “Miri?”