Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 50

Chapter 49

Aela’s POV

Ethan parries and pushes the trainee’s away from him. He’s quick and decisive, and he’s making the new recruits from the port excited. I really did peg him as a charismatic leader. He has spent this week doing everything he can to comfort the people in the port and show we are strong enough to control the port. I’m just concerned about when the Hou Ndour will return and how many they will have with them.

It’s been a week since we took over the port, and I can’t seem to shake this feeling that something big is about to happen. We haven’t heard from Hou Ndour reinforcements at all. There hasn’t even been another ship to enter since the Bellarn trading ship left. Something is amiss, and I am more worried it is going to be our downfall.

Ethan finishes up his training with his men and goes to dump water over him to cool off. I roll my eyes as I see a herd of girls swoon at him. He really is trying to play all roles of this ordeal. The minstrels and storytellers are already exaggerating his endeavor on defeating at the bare minimum of two thousand men with only twenty of his own. In all actuality, it was two hundred fifty against eighty junior class or senior Hou Ndour recruits. They left everyone who didn’t have much fight left in them. Almost like they deserted the port before we even entered and left the expendable men behind.

Could the Hou Ndours know we were arriving beforehand? If they did, then someone had to have leaked it from the Lord’s group, but that would be unlikely because he was a stickler. They shouldn’t have known we were so close, and if they did, they would have had the chance of defending against us. Our numbers weren’t anything to brag about. No, something else called them away.

Cheers erupt, and I hide the fact I jump. I look back as I see one of the port girls run off with Ethan’s clothes, leaving him in just his pants. There was no shirt and definitely no jacket. They all admire him, and he blushes slightly, allowing all the girls to swoon at him. It's sickening. Only because I know he is playing them to keep passing rumors and tales to help the rebel cause with their time, money, and loyalty.

“A ship! A ship!” A scout yells, and all heads turn. I look out into the horizon of the bay, and he’s right. It’s a large vessel coming into view. It's barely recognizable, but I can tell from its figure.

Ethan brushes against me, “Reinforcements?”

“No. It's Bellarn Merchant. Might be our friends.” I mutter while everyone seems to be pushing for a good view.

“Our friends? Why would they come back so soon? They were expected in their next port, weren’t they?” Ethans asks but then shakes his head. He knows I don’t have the answer to any of his questions. He walks off without his shirt and grabs another mans jacket as he heads off towards the port.

I follow suit. Ethan is running through the port he didn’t even choose to grab a horse or anything. He was already wet and sweaty from the training, and now he’s present himself completely unkept. But he’s a vision for the sore eyes of the citizens. The ship is dropping anchor by the time we reach the dock. Ethan rubs his hands together nervously.

It feels like it’s taking them forever to finish laying anchor, but my impatience is answered when a plank is thrown onto the dock and the captain rushes off. The same captain from before. My gut wrenches in worry.

“Oh, good. Ethan. Thanks for coming to greet us. I was nervous you would believe we were hostile. We found the Hou Ndours. If they return, there won’t be much left of them. Bellarn’s Navy is ripping them to shreds as we speak. We are returning until the waters are clear.” The captain says with a large grin.

Ethan furrows his brow and bites his lip, “Bellar is fighting Hou Ndour? The treaty is over?”

The captain laughs at Ethan’s expression of confusion, “When we left last, the rumor was a new Bellar Champion was found. Looks like he got quick to work. I’m positive if when we return to Bellar, we will find ourselves under a new King, and the battle in the sea is evident he holds no sympathy for Hou Ndour. We thought it best to allow the King’s ships to do their work they are fighting without mercy.”

Ethan and the captain discuss other matters before the captain returns to his ship, and I smile at his excitement. I’m glad they were able to get back safely. Hopefully, this means more ships will be able to come through once the fights ease up.

Ethan presses his hands together and brings them up to his lips. He walks over to me and stands next to me, resting his hands on his hips. “A new Bellar King, and he’s fighting Hou Ndours? This is either a blessing or an omen.”

“Ethan, take it as it is. If it’s a new Bellar King, he’s cleaning house. We stay out of his hair until we have our country back.” I say, and Ethan nods in agreement.

The news has obviously spread through the dock, and I can hear the heralds yelling out in the streets. Bellar hasn’t been an enemy since Hou Ndour invaded. They even avoided our lands due to the treaty from Hou Ndour.

Two days later, the Lord returned to the port to help establish a council in the port to operate functions. He was shocked about the news about how quickly the new king had decimated the Hou Ndours enough to make them pull their men from our lands. Even he thought it was peculiar.

He brought news of information from across the sea. He had petitioned for help from Turmac to trade prior to our arrival. His agent returned to say the message wasn’t able to be reached because the civil war had taken a terrible turn. Turmac was the only place I could get a confirmation that Queen Lana was still alive. They insisted on her status be reported and proved without Turmac seeking justice for her death. With them being weakened then Hou Ndour may find it easier to kill her while they are preoccupied.

“You worried about Lana?” Ethan says softly towards me. I nod my head softly, and he sits down next to me on a bench far from anyone. “She’s strong. She will be fine. Maybe the Hou Ndour will run for their lives so fast they forget her and leave her behind. We will find her.”

I feel for the first time like I want to cry, and I know a tear develops in my eye, “Its been so many years and so long. We have no idea where she is, and the Lions didn’t even know where they hid her.”

Ethan smiles brilliantly at me. “Yes, but I believe someone greater than us is moving us into where we need to be. Too many coincidences are occurring. We keep pushing forward, and we will have the opportunity. I can feel it.”

I roll my eyes, “Redland’s gods are not strong enough, nor do they have any real connection to the outcome of our country’s destiny.”

Ethan laughs, “I think someone is influencing it.”

I stared off for a bit and lay my hand upon Titan’s boon, the amulet, and remember Delia’s words. I speak softly, but I know Ethan can hear me, “Someone told me a dragon lives in our world that doesn’t wish to leave. He gave me this amulet because I needed to keep a devourer from our world.”

Ethan is quiet for a while and then laughs. “That sounds outrageous, but our country is just one of the four lands in this part of the world, not the entire world.”

“You are right. It sounds like I’m selfish and conceited when I say anything like that.” I cross my arms. Too much is happening, and I really don’t feel strong enough to be the hero of the world. Maybe Delia was wrong, and it was just her counteracting personality that made me childish.