Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (42 page)

“Where is Dain?” Kyle asked finally.

Alexis choked back a sob, “Banished.”

“Where are his ashes?”

“I hid them,” Niccolo said. “Where they won’t
be found.”

“He’ll be back in about 10 years then,” Zohn
said.

“No, the Valle sentenced him to 800 years
before Niccolo buried him,” Megara said.

“So you not only broke a prisoner out of
Island Coven, but then stole an airplane, banished a fugitive
without authorization, and went to an enemy faction?” Quinn
asked.

Allen swallowed hard, “Yes.”

“The Valle refused to actually bury him
though,” Megara added. “So we were going to figure out how, when
Niccolo graciously offered.”

“So you know where he is?” Kyle asked
him.

“Yes”

“And you will tell us?”

He sighed, “No, Sir.”

“Why not?”

Allen interrupted, “We’re keeping the Equites
out of every part of this. Mom won’t be able to blame this Council
for any of it… not one tiny part.”

Alexis looked up at Chevalier’s empty chair.
No matter how old she got, she still craved his affection and
always felt comfort knowing that she could lean on his strength
when things got too bad to bear. Now that she needed him, he was
absent, and she wanted nothing more than to see him.

“We’ll take the punishment,” Allen said. “We
are all willing participants, and it was done to keep Mom in good
standing with the Equites.”

“Now she’ll be mad at you though,” the Chief
Interrogator said.

“She’ll forgive us someday,” Alexis
whispered.

“Wait in the hallway while we discuss this,”
Zohn said. “Except Alexis. Stay for a moment.”

Alexis watched the others leave and then
turned back to the Council.

“How badly are you injured?”

“I’ll heal.”

“Your arm doesn’t look right.”

“I can see Dr. Edwards when this is done,”
Alexis told him.

Zohn nodded and then turned sad,
“Garrett…”

She looked at the ground as a tear
escaped.

“He’s asked to officially break the bond with
you.”

Alexis could only nod.

“We’d like to postpone his request until
things calm down.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“However… he feels betrayed, and we’re
honestly surprised that the bond didn’t break on its own,” the
Chief of Staff said.

“I didn’t betray him is why.”

“He doesn’t see it that way.”

Quinn stood, “Wait in the hallway.”

She nodded again and then walked out with a
limp. Once Derrick closed the doors to the council chambers behind
her, she looked up as Chevalier moved to her and pulled her into a
tight embrace. She buried her face in his strong chest and
cried.

“I can talk to him,” Chevalier said
softly.

She shook her head, “No. If he can’t trust
me, then this is the right thing for us.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

Allen looked up at his Dad, shocked, “You
are?”

“Yes, very. What you’ve done to protect your
Mom and the Equites is beyond what words can explain. You’ve made
it possible for Dain to be punished without the risk of your Mom
taking off.”

“I thought you’d be mad.”

“I was at first. Now though, I see why you
did it, and the long-term outcome is much better this way.”

“She’s going to need you,” Alexis said,
looking up at him.

“I know.”

“We should go tell her,” Allen said. He
looked back at the stairs.

“No, I need to tell her,” Chevalier said.
“This is something that’s going to take time for her to get over
and forgive you.”

Megara looked over when Miri came up with
Asher. He reached out for Alexis, but it was obvious that she
wasn’t able to hold him.

Allen sighed and looked up at her, “Are you
mad?”

Miri nodded, “Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. You’d do it again.” She
handed Asher down to Megara and then blurred away.

Chevalier watched her, “She’ll be ok.”

“And Garrett?” Megara asked him.

“I don’t think he’s going to get over
this.”

“I want to talk to you about Niccolo,” Allen
said to his Dad.

***

Chevalier carried Alexis into the council
chambers. Her strength was giving out, and the long deliberation by
the Council made it almost impossible for her to stand any longer.
Chevalier didn’t care what the Council thought. He was going to
stand by his children as their decision came down.

“We can bring in a chair,” Zohn said when he
saw Chevalier carrying Alexis.

“I’m fine,” he said sternly.

No one wanted to cross him, so Zohn simply
cleared his throat and began, “All charges were unanimously agreed
up on by the Council and you four were found guilty on all of
them.”

Allen tensed, and Alexis buried her face in
Chevalier’s shoulder as his grip tightened.

“However, we feel that punishment will be
handed down by Emily, and that there’s no reason for this Council
to punish you for the crimes committed. We do want to lay down some
things though.”

Allen nodded and watched the Council as
Megara gripped tightly to Chevalier’s side.

“You three will be watched closely,” Quinn
said to the Winchester children. “You are to be on probation until
further notice. One infraction will result in a long prison
sentence.”

“Yes, Sir,” Allen said.

“We understand your reasoning behind what you
did, but we can’t condone the insubordination and lack of respect
to this Council.”

“Alexis,” Kyle said sternly. “You are
released from your duties as the faction peacekeeper until such
time as this Council feels you are ready to return.”

“Ok,” she whispered.

“We will not punish Allen because he is a
member of the Island Coven Guard staff,” Kyle said to Chevalier.
“We leave his punishment up to you.”

Chevalier nodded.

“Megara is too young for us to hold her
accountable,” Zohn said. “But, young lady, we will be watching
you.”

Megara simply nodded.

“Dr. Edwards is waiting for you three while
we speak to Niccolo,” Quinn told them.

Chevalier stood still and addressed the
Council, “I’ve dropped all charges against Niccolo, and he’s been
reinstated back to the Island Coven Guard staff.”

“He has?” Kyle asked.

“Yes”

“Why?”

“I don’t often admit to making a mistake…,
but we did. He’s reinstated immediately.”

“We still have charges against him,” Zohn
reminded him.

“Go ahead then… but leave his punishment to
me.”

Quinn and Zohn spoke quickly and then turned
back to Niccolo. Zohn stood up, “The Council unanimously voted
guilty to all charges against you. We were going to extend your
sentence 100 years, but agree to let Chevalier sentence you
himself.”

“Do you realize what you did wrong?” Kyle
asked him.

Niccolo glanced once at Alexis, and then
faced the Chief Enforcer, “No. I did nothing wrong.”

“How do you call breaking out of prison,
stealing an airplane, taking the Elder’s kids across the border
without authorization, and burying a heku for punishment, not doing
anything wrong?” the Chief of Defense asked.

“I did it to protect the Equites.”

“Without permission.”

“I didn’t have time to ask permission.”

“That’s not a valid excuse. No matter what
punishment the Elder doles out to you… we will be watching you
closely.”

“Understood, Sir.”

Kyle looked at Chevalier, “Do you want me to
go with you when you tell her?”

He sighed, “No. There’s no way to lessen
this, and I have to do it alone.”

“You three go get looked at by the doctor
then,” Zohn said. “We’ll adjourn the Council for the day.”

Chevalier set Alexis down by Dr. Edwards in
the infirmary and headed to talk to Emily. He backed her guards off
for more privacy and then walked in.

“I’m sitting!” Emily said, smiling at him.
She was out of the body cast and now able to move some with
help.

He nodded, “Looks good. How bad is the
pain?”

“Not too bad. It just feels good to stop
looking at the ceiling.” Emily looked closely at him and then
frowned, “What’s wrong?”

Chevalier sat down beside the chair, “Are you
ok sitting for a bit? This is important.”

“What’s wrong?”

He took her hand, “It’s about Dain.”

She watched him, almost afraid to listen to
what he said next.

“He’s… well… he’s been banished.”

Chapter 13

“What do you think?” Mark asked, riding up to
Emily. She was on her stallion with Asher in front of her on the
saddle.

“I think she’s good to go back to work,” she
told him, watching the mare carefully as she ran across the
field.

Emily absentmindedly ran her fingers through
Asher’s thick black hair.

Mark studied her for a second, “Are you
ok?”

“It's been a year exactly,” she whispered,
still watching the horse.

“I know.”

“So he’s suffering now.”

“Probably”

Silas and Kralen heard the conversation and
rode over to join them.

“G’ma, go fast!” Asher yelled, and pointed at
the running horses.

“Not right now.”

Asher tried to kick the horse, but his tiny
feet only banged against the fender.

“I could take him out running,” Garrett said
from beside her.

She didn’t even look at him, but turned to
Mark, “I want to go to the Valle to petition to get Dain back.”

“I figured,” he said, motioning for Garrett
to back off. Although still a member of the Cavalry, he was slowly
losing favor with his leaders as Emily continued to give her former
son-in-law the cold shoulder.

“Chev doesn’t think it’ll do any good.”

“It won’t.”

“Alexis is ready to head out,” Silas said
after glancing back at the city.

“Alexis can wait,” Emily said coldly.

“You have to forgive her,” Kralen said. “It’s
been a year, and she was only trying to help.”

Emily looked at him, “She turned her brother
to ash, and then handed him over to the Valle.”

“It’s been a year.”

“Not for him! If I can’t get him back, he’ll
suffer for 800 years.”

“G’ma kisses,” Asher said, and then stood up
on the saddle and kissed her cheek.

Emily hugged him tightly and fought back the
tears. He looked so much like Dain that it hurt to see him, but she
couldn’t seem to let go of the toddler.

She finally forced a smile and looked into
his sweet face, “You don’t want to go, right? You want to stay with
Grandma?”

He nodded and grinned, “I stay, ok?”

“Sure, you can stay.”

“Chev go. I stay.”

“Exactly… we’ll send Chev,” Emily said,
laughing.

“How do you rank Grandma and the Elder is
Chev?” Silas asked her.

“Not sure how that happened.”

“Chev his name,” Asher said,
matter-of-factly.

Silas nodded, “That’s true.”

“Go, G’ma.”

“Go where?” Emily asked when he sat down in
the saddle.

“I see low low.”

“What’s a low low?”

“Low low, go.”

She shrugged and turned her horse back toward
the town, “I think I’ve lost my bid to keep him in Council City for
the week.”

Mark caught up with her, “I’m thinking
so.”

“Why is Garrett still on the Cavalry?”

“Chevalier was outvoted by the other Elders.
He’s done nothing to warrant a demotion back into the city.”

“Still…”

“Just because he divorced the Elder’s
daughter, doesn’t mean he deserves to lose rank.”

“I think he does.”

“You’re confusing. Do you know that?” Mark
said, shaking his head.

“Why’s that?”

“You haven’t spoken to Alexis any more than
necessary in a year… but the heku who is mad at her also, you’re
ready to behead.”

“I have a right to be mad at her. She
banished my son.”

“And betrayed her husband.”

“No, she didn’t. He’s just being overly
sensitive.”

They finished the ride in silence and found
Alexis waiting out in front of the palace beside her car.

“Have a nice ride?” she asked, smiling.

“Low low,” Asher said, reaching down for
her.

“What’s a low low?” Mark asked her.

Alexis blushed some, “Nothing… you ready to
go to the island?”

Asher smiled and nodded.

“Mom, you could go with us,” Alexis said.
“Allen and Miri mentioned they’d love to have you on the island for
a week.”

“I have things to do here,” Emily said
coldly, and then kicked off for the stables.

“She’ll come around,” Mark told her.

Alexis watched her, “I’m not so sure
anymore.”

“It’s worse right now because it’s been a
year,” Kralen said. “She doesn’t remember what happened in Denmark,
and the Elder is keeping a lot of it from her, so she doesn’t fully
understand how far Dain fell.”

“Does she know that he wanted to turn
Megara?”

“He did?!” Mark gasped.

Alexis cringed, “Never mind. I’m going to the
island.”

“Say hi to Low Low,” Kralen said, smiling
broadly.

She just turned and walked off with
Asher.

“You know who Low Low is?” Silas asked
him.

“Sure do,” Kralen said, and then kicked his
horse back toward the hills.

They followed him and entered the stables
just as Chevalier was helping Emily off of her horse. Even after a
year, she had lingering stiffness and pain from the fall. She found
it hard, especially after riding for long periods, to hide it, so
Chevalier insisted on helping her down.

“So who is Low Low?” Silas asked Kralen after
shutting the door to his horse’s stall.

Kralen shrugged, “She may not want anyone to
know.”

“Who?” Chevalier asked.