Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (35 page)

Alexis looked over at Miri, “I wasn’t there
for the start of it.”

Miri talked down to her hands and went over
everything that happened from when she entered the room after Dain
threatened to kill Chevalier. Alexis took over after Dain and Emily
left the room and was able to give details up through when Emily
told Dain she was tired of running.

“She regretted what she did from the moment
she did it, Elder,” Miri said softly. “We all did.”

Alexis’ lip quivered and her eyes filled with
tears, “I didn’t realize how dangerous Dain is. This is all my
fault.”

“I’m to blame also,” Miri whispered. “I knew
better than to talk to the Council like that.”

Chevalier took Alexis’ hand, “No one’s going
to be punished for this. You already have been. Right now, we need
to focus on getting your Mom better, and then finding Dain before
he hurts someone else.”

“What if she doesn’t wake up?” Alexis asked
as a tear hit Chevalier’s hand.

“I honestly think she can heal from this.
It’s just going to take time.”

“Mom kept saying she was tired of running.
She said she’s run her entire life and isn’t going to do it
anymore. She said how things have been so much better lately, and
she was afraid she’d ruined it.”

“I made mistakes also,” Chevalier said. “When
she wakes up, it’ll be ok. You’ll see.”

“How mad is Allen?” Miri asked Mark.

Mark smiled slightly, “Pretty mad.”

“Allen and Garrett are both extremely
disappointed in you. Things will smooth over though,” Chevalier
told them.

Miri reached over and picked Asher up when he
began to cry, and she cradled him gently. He laid his head on her
shoulder and turned his black eyes to Chevalier.

“It’s amazing how much he looks like Dain,”
Chevalier said.

Alexis smiled, “Yes, he does.”

“Do you know where he’s gone?”

“No, and after the fight, he’s not going to
tell me.”

Chevalier looked up at Miri, “I appreciate
the loyalty you showed me.”

She shrugged, “It’s the least I could
do.”

“As long as you two guarantee a full report
to the Council, I can guarantee you won’t be punished.”

“Of course, Elder.”

Alexis nodded, “I’ll do it too.”

“I’m going to go wait with your Mom, in case
she wakes up,” Chevalier said, and then disappeared into the back
of the plane.

Chapter 11

“Em?” Chevalier said softly. Her finger
twitched a bit, and a soft groan escaped her lips, “You’re pretty
injured, so lie still.”

Dr. Edwards checked the monitors and nodded
to Chevalier, “Things are looking good. She’s breathing well.”

Chevalier nodded and took her hand, “Do you
need anything?”

“What… happened?” she asked through swollen
lips.

“Do you remember going to Denmark?”

“No”

“You went to Denmark, to the Equites
Stronghold, and you fell.”

When she didn’t say anything, Chevalier
looked up at Dr. Edwards, “She’s asleep again. Sleeping is the best
thing for her. I’ve noticed she heals faster.”

“Dad?” Megara said from the doorway.

Chevalier motioned her forward.

“Dain’s on the phone again.”

He sighed, “What did you tell him?”

“Just what you told me to.”

“Will he talk to me?”

“No. He said he won’t talk to anyone but me.”
Megara walked over and looked at her Mom, “Is she ok then?”

“She’s alive.”

“How long will she be injured?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her this bad
before.”

Megara turned tear filled eyes to her Dad,
“Did Dain mean to hurt her?”

“No, I don’t think he did.”

“They were screaming at each other.”

“I would imagine they were.”

Megara pulled up a chair and took Chevalier’s
hand, “It was scary down there.”

“In the caves?”

“Yes”

He smiled, “If you go again, I’ll go with
you.”

“If Mom is so against running, why does
she?”

“That’s hard to explain. When your Mom feels
cornered, she just has the instinct to run.”

Megara thought for a moment, “She said
something about running from Cade.”

“That’s her cousin. He was mean to your
Mom.”

“He’s the one that dropped her down a
hole.”

“Cade did?” he asked, looking down at
her.

“Yes, he tied a rope to her ankles and
dropped her down a hole.”

“She told you that?”

“Yes, and that bats would fly past her to get
out.”

“Damnit, Em,” Chevalier sighed, looking over
as Emily slept.

“She said she ran from Dean and Keith
too.”

He frowned slightly, “Who is Dean?”

“I don’t know. That’s just what she
said.”

“If she remembers the caves, I’ll ask her who
Dean is. If she doesn’t, I won’t bring it up.”

“Dad?” Alexis said from the doorway.
Chevalier turned and saw her carrying a suitcase in one hand and
Asher in the other, “Can we stay in the palace for a while?”

He frowned and then stood up and walked over
to her, “What happened?”

Alexis shrugged and wiped a tear from her
eye.

“Did Garrett ask you to leave?”

“No”

“Of course you can stay here.”

Alexis looked over at Emily, “Is she
awake?”

“She was for a few seconds.”

“I’ll go put my things in the room and be
right back.”

Chevalier watched her go and returned to his
chair. It was only a few minutes later when Alexis returned and
pulled a chair up, then gently took Emily’s hand.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked
her.

“I usually talk to Mom.”

Chevalier couldn’t help but smile, “She’s
better at that stuff than I am, but I can give it a try.”

Alexis thought about it and then looked at
Chevalier, “He and I’ve just been fighting a lot this last two
weeks.”

“Not physical?”

“No, just arguing.”

“Not as a defense, but he’s a staunch Council
follower, and you defied them.”

“I know, but Dain is my brother.”

“It’ll be ok, Alex. Let Garrett calm down,
and he’ll see that it wasn’t as bad as he thought.”

“Maybe”

“It’s hard when your spouse does something
like that.”

Alexis laughed slightly, “You’d know.”

He smiled, “Yes, I’m an expert in dealing
with that.”

“Allen and Miri are moving back to the
island.”

“I wondered if they would. He’s not forgiven
Miri either and wants to get their lives back.”

“Do heku get divorced?”

“Yes, but I don’t think it’ll come down to
that.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

Asher looked up from Alexis' shoulder and
smiled at Chevalier.

Alexis kissed his cheek softly and then
looked over when Emily sighed, “Dain didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“I know. He just has no control right
now.”

Megara interrupted, “He told me he’s in full
control.”

Chevalier nodded, “He thinks he is.”

“What’ll happen to Dain now that he’s
assaulted a member of the Council?” Megara asked.

Alexis looked over at Chevalier when he
spoke, “I’m not sure. I’m not sure he’ll get any worse than he was
before.”

“Which is what?”

“He’s set to be banished for 400 years.”

“Mom will allow that?” Alexis asked.

“I haven’t asked her, actually.”

“I think she saw the danger though.”

“But will she remember it?”

“Chev?” Emily whispered softly.

Chevalier took her hand, “I’m here, Em.”

“Did the Valle attack?”

“No”

“Who hurt me?”

“You fell,” he told her, and then watched as
she fell back asleep.

“She doesn’t remember Denmark?” Alexis
asked.

“Not yet.”

***

“Little lower,” Emily said, though her words
were still slurred.

Chevalier readjusted the small stick he had
down the leg of her cast and moved it.

“Oooh, that’s it.”

He smiled, “You’re pretty itchy under
there.”

“I know. I don’t see as though a full body
cast is really necessary.”

“I do. You should have seen that x-ray,”
Chevalier said, sitting down beside her. “Do you need anything
else?”

“Tell me again what happened.”

“Why don’t you wait until you’re feeling
better?”

“Because I want to know.”

“You fell from a height of about 100
feet.”

“How did I fall?”

“That will come later.”

“Was I pushed?”

“I think so.”

“On purpose?”

“No, I think it was an accident.”

Emily thought, “But you weren’t there?”

“I wasn’t there. You wouldn’t have fallen if
I had been.”

“Was it an enemy that pushed me?”

“Please, Em, let’s talk about that
later.”

She looked around the room, though her head
was in a halo, and she couldn’t move it, “This room is boring.”

“Mark’s on his way up,” Chevalier said. He
then stood and moved his chair when Mark and Horace came in.

Emily frowned, “I don’t think this is a good
idea.”

“Trust me,” Mark said.

“What if it falls?” Emily watched as Mark and
Horace began to drill holes in the ceiling to put a TV mount.

“Such faith.”

“Well it’s right over my head, and I can’t
lift my arms to block my face.”

“It’s not going to fall,” Horace told
her.

She sneezed when sawdust fell from the roof
onto her nose, and Chevalier laughed and brushed it off of her
face. It was only a few minutes later that the TV was mounted to
the ceiling above her, and Horace put a remote into her hand.

“There you go, entertainment,” Mark said,
looking up at his handy work.

“This’ll be great… until it falls,” Emily
joked.

“Don’t worry about it. If that thing falls
onto you, I’ll be a Valle before the Elder even realizes it,”
Horace said, laughing.

“Why a Valle?”

“I don’t know. I picked one at random.”

“I wouldn’t join the Valle,” Emily told
him.

Chevalier cleared his throat and Horace
bowed, “Sorry, Elder.”

“We gave it a go!” Alexis said, coming in
with a pan of brownies, followed by Megara.

“Oh those smell good.”

“Ew,” Mark said, covering his nose.

Alexis put the pan down on the table, and
Megara started to cut a piece.

“How are you going to eat this?” Megara
asked, holding up a slice.

“Without an audience?” Emily answered.

Chevalier grinned and asked the Cavalry to
leave, though he heard them stop outside of her door and take up a
post.

“Ok, let’s try it,” Alexis said, taking the
brownie from her little sister. She tore off a small piece and
easily slipped it into Emily’s mouth.

“That is so good,” Emily said, taking another
piece from Alexis.

“Well, I admit we had to call Gordon.”

“He does have good brownies.”

“I think he misses cooking for you. He
offered to drive over and make them himself.”

“We should let him. The new chef is bland,”
Emily said, taking another bite.

“He is?” Chevalier asked her.

“Yes, no reason to banish him.”

“I don’t banish everyone, Em.”

“Coulda fooled me.” Emily took another bite
and then shook her head when offered more.

“It’s time for medicine,” Dr. Edwards said as
he came in and looked over her I.V.

“Is that why you put me in a full body cast?
To keep my I.V. in?”

He smiled, “No, but had I thought of it…”

“Ha-ha”

Dr. Edwards put an injection into her I.V.
and then bowed to Chevalier and left.

“Why won’t you tell me why I was in Denmark?”
Emily asked Chevalier.

“Because I’ve told you several times, and you
keep forgetting.”

“No you haven’t.”

He grinned, “I have.”

“Did Dain call today?”

“No”

“I’m worried about him. He usually calls
every day.” Her words were more slurred, so Chevalier took the
opportunity to wait a few minutes until she fell asleep.

“What are you going to tell her?” Alexis
asked, sitting down beside him.

“About Dain?”

“About the entire trip.”

“I haven’t decided. If she was as upset as
you both say because of running, maybe I don’t need to remind her
of that.”

“Then how will you explain being in
Denmark?”

“As I said, I haven’t decided.”

Megara sat down on the side of the bed, “Dain
really wants to talk to Mom.”

“I would imagine he does.”

“I bet if you don’t tell Mom, he will.”

Chevalier nodded, “I’ve considered that.”

“It’d be better coming from you,” Alexis told
him. “There’s no other way to explain her fall, Dain’s absence, why
Allen and Miri moved back to the island, or why I’m living in the
palace again.”

“She’ll blame herself for all of that.”

Megara shrugged, “It is kinda her fault.”

“No it’s not,” Alexis said. “Miri and I
weren’t forced to go… well… Miri kind of was. Mom threatened to ash
her if she didn’t go with us.”

“She did?” Chevalier asked, shocked.

“Yeah, she did.”

“Ash her and hide it,” Megara added.

Chevalier looked over at Emily, “Why would
she do that?”

“Because Miri was trying to talk her into
facing the Council and just taking whatever punishment came our
way. Mom told her she didn’t have a choice.”

“I don’t understand how there’s still part of
this trip I don’t know about,” Chevalier said, irritated. “I keep
finding things out about your Mom’s past, even after 40 years of
living with her. I keep hearing about things that happened in those
damned caves…”

Alexis smiled, “You know Mom well enough to
know she has secrets.”

“Well, she shouldn’t.”

“You’re still mad about Dean?” Megara
asked.