Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Ethan’s POV

I woke up the next day to Silence nudging me. She had a quick breakfast ready for me of some nuts and dried meat. It was perfect to kickstart my day. I helped her take the fishing boat to the clearing on a beach and pushed it off. I’m still astonished about the fact that the princess is an accomplished shipwright. I never would have imagined her building anything with her hands.

Then again, I shouldn’t be shocked about anything she does. She is an amazing person.

She’s still wearing that black cloak, but at least she has removed the hood. I wasn’t lying when I said she was beautiful. I’m glad I get to see her face more often now. We reached the docks before the sun even rose, and I was able to witness the fights over the four positions needed to fish food for the day. There were a lot of men wanting to be useful, and just having them mindlessly prodding through the wreckage isn’t getting them to do anything they feel is worthwhile.

When the men saw us rowing the new boat up, there was an overwhelming cheer. I jumped out to tie the rope up and went to offer Silence a hand to jump to, but she ignored me and jumped onto the dock almost defiantly. I know at the moment I must have looked sad at my defeat. I had to ignore the laughter and jests from the men nearby.

Silence ignored the shudders and the people who moved away from her and started to walk towards the clearing where everyone was training in the mornings. Most of my men should already be there.

“Hey Boss!” The kid from last night yells at me. I roll my eyes because I still can’t for the life of me remember what his name is. “Did you enjoy your night with the princess? You never came back.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t have time for your wisecracks. Let’s get some training in before we get to work today.”

A loud cheer jolts me up and looks back at all the men around me. Some pat me on the back and then tell me they’ve missed seeing me and also how much they miss my input during training. I can’t respond to any of them because it’s a constant hum as we walk to the clearing. I order everyone to line up for drills.

Silence joins the line to the side. No one seems to want to get close to her. But she does drills along with me and everyone else. By the time I get to start adding a new move for them to work on she’s found several men who are struggling and have offered some advice. A few have now warmed up to her.

“Alright time to pair up and do a little sparring with the new move. Princess, do you mind being my partner?” I nearly keep from pleading.

She comes up to me and moves into a defense stance. I instantly go in for an attack using the new move because I know my men will be watching me. She lets the move go the way it should after the seventh time, though she flinches like she always does during our training. She’s now moving to actual spar, so I need to be wary about the move.

I make the move one more time, and she counters it exactly how I expected her to. I had myself well-balanced for the counter, so I made another advance to finish with a final hit. That’s when she slips down and kicks my knees out from underneath me, causing me to fall.

Laughter again, and I have to take in the embarrassment. She’s always been the better fighter. There is nothing different with that. I just never failed so easily against anyone in front of my men. But this has to happen this way. They need to know and understand that she is here to help us.

She offers a hand to me, and I chuckle. I’ve been in my head for too long, and she’s almost worried I hurt myself. I move to grab her hand and decide I’m going to throw her off-balance and continue on our spar, but she catches on, and I drop back down on the ground. She crosses her arms and looks down at me.

I smile at her, looking back up, “You will never give me a chance, will you?”

“Nah, you are out of your league, little man.” She says with a hiss. The crowd around goes wild, and although I should be embarrassed for the inuendo. I’m extremely proud of her to show a more playful side that the men will appreciate.

“ETHAN!” A high-pitch scream ruptures my ears, and everyone around us groans in annoyance. “I’ve been waiting for your answer for the last day. Chain that b***h up or we are leaving!”

I stand up dusting off the dirt from being knocked off the ground. After a good stretch of time allowing everyone to calm down. “Well, safe travels.”

His mouth opens and shuts repeatedly like a cow chewing on a weed, “She will kill everyone!”

“No, she won’t. You’ve offended and insulted her and she hasn’t even though to exact revenge. She’s the princess and I’ve made a mistake listening to you and your fears and not take the advice of the one person who has been behind me the entire way. She isn’t a threat to us. When you are worried about how much money you can nip off everyone here, she’s been building boats so they can fish for your men. Its been three weeks and you haven’t done s**t to help rebuild. Leave and enjoy your life without the gratitude of the princess.” I say with a smile.

He huffs and stomps his foot in a tantrum and walks away. Turning back to Silence she nods her head in approval. Hopefully, this morning will start the rumors and everything will be easier. My men seem more comfortable with her and the people will know how much she works for them.