Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Aela's POV

Oh, Bellar, our warrior king!

Come to save us all.

Call upon the sun to warm your land.

Drive away the dark shadows of the sea.

Bellar, Bellar

With a swift blade, you fought,

Killed a thousand men.

To save the souls of forty thousand.

Now, we call upon you from your lofty heights.

Watch your kin below!

Honor you with every battle they keep.

Our Great God Hero

Save us till the end of time.

“Shut up, Cal. If he really existed, then why did he let that pussyfooted king into succession?” A grumbled voice interrupts the solid baritone of the song. I try not to show that I’m eavesdropping because I have never heard about Bellar the god. Only that the country is named after him. I’m interested after having met the Redland’s chagrined gods. Could Bellar be from the same plane as them, and does he have the same indifference as they?

Also, it didn’t take long to realize that the Bellarn Veterans have little to no respect for their current king. In fact, many of the crew tell tall stories about how he came into succession, but every single one names him the accidental king. In my studies, I have learned Bellar succession has been surprisingly changed more often from after an assassination than from old age. Most of them were killed by their own heir to the throne in a movement to overthrow the Bellar’s King. It’s become almost a rite of passage for the heir to murder the King and then oust them in the same fell swoop. It's not always the king’s oldest son who is the chosen heir, but Bellar has a way of marking the rightful heir for his priests to find.

The current king had been the fourth son and was thought to be the weakest of all the princes. His brother’s were quick to rebel against him when he took the throne, and he was just barely able to maintain his reign. It all changed because the King’s assassin, the Shadow, began to work for him, and everything fell into place. Meaning the assassin either killed the king’s brothers or scared them into hiding. The king ruled for centuries without opposition, but the only battles he engaged in were territory disputes with Redland. The difference between him and his father is that the current king is more than likely to surrender than to confront anything directly.

I guess the treaties with Hou Ndour aren’t welcomed by many in his land. A few men even grumbled the slight peace from before was bad enough now they are servants towards the needs of Hou Ndour’s.

“Hey Cal? Do you think the rumors are true, the priests are searching for Bellar’s chosen successor?” Another voice comes from somewhere in the dark deck.

“It definitely wouldn’t be a child of the kings. He hasn’t been fruitful in any fashion in his life. So, since Shadow made his brothers scatter to the winds, maybe they were able to sneak one out of some wench. Well, maybe they were killed before the baby was born, so he wasn’t endangered. I sure hope it’s not a rumor. We needed a better king than a liver-belly.” Cal returns to his singing, but this time, it's more upbeat about some drunk sailor and a tavern wench.

I survey the horizon and can spot the edge of a storm whipping up the surface to leave fuzzy foam. The current and wind have brought the foam to splash upon the large vessel. It’s fascinating to watch the fish jump out of the froth almost as if they don’t recognize the difference between the water and they air. The first mate has been up all night staying between the storms, almost like they aren’t in a big hurry to reach shore, taking the safest route every time. Tonight, there is no moon. it's hidden away by some of the storm clouds, but the stars are shining brightly.

“We will need to take a pass on training tonight.” My mate whispers in my ear. I nod in acknowledgment because most nights, it's just my mate or another one on watch duty, but because of the storms, many are assigned to watch over the night.

My mate sits down next to me, and for a few long moments, I can only hear the men bickering to Cal about his singing and the low rumble of the faraway storms. “So, do you think the Bellar King is a coward?”

“Yes.” He answers so quickly and without even a moments hesitation. I have to keep myself from bursting into laughter. I guess I should know better. If he really is the Shadow, then he wouldn’t have fond sentiments of the King either.

“Do you regret it?” I ask while keeping from showing my amusement.

He doesn’t respond to that question quickly. I turn towards him because I’m actually hoping he will give me something more than just silence on this question.

“No. We all have obligations we must undertake, and although some aren’t in a timely manner as others. I don’t regret making the choices I did, and when I did.” He says with such vague emptiness of emotion I almost want to question if it was just a sentence to fill the awkward silence between us. “I made choices which were best for me. If I had changed anything, I may not have ever learned you existed.”

“Oh.” I say shocked, and my wolf perks up for his answer on that one. She tries to push me into asking him for more information. “Would things be different if you didn’t go to Bellar?”

He reaches around my waist and pulls me onto his lap. “Truthfully, I wouldn’t know. I have never been prone to premonitions unaided by a god. They have always led me in a direction, and I fulfilled them.”

“But you didn’t know how to communicate with the lupine gods.” I say confused because I had so much issue trying to summon the gods, and then they said I was rude because I didn’t know how to communicate with them.

“Only the chiefs communed with the gods. Although, I was the last of my clan. I was never accepted.” He says softly and then links his hands into mine. “I believe they admitted that was their mistake, but things wouldn’t be the same if they had accepted me. Probably worse than they are now.”

I shake my head, “Maybe the lupines would be still around.”

“Or maybe I would be dead among them.” He hisses softly, bringing his hands away from me. I whimper at his rejection and try to get his hands back, but he is cold as stone.

He shifted me off his lap, and he got up to leave me.

‘He’s hurt.’ My wolf sniffles in the back of my head. I can feel her whine, and I’m having to exhale slowly to keep them from escaping. ‘We should just give up. Our mate is too hurt to tell us what’s wrong with him.’

Then, no more questions. They only seem to bring back unsavory recollections. I just have to wait for him to tell us or I find some other way to learn. Maybe Lana or her library would have information about the Lupines and what it meant to be accepted by their gods. ‘I hardly doubt anything is left of the library’ my wolf snipped angrily.

Until then, I just have to concentrate and focus harder on his training. But, I also need to learn to forgive his silence because it's obviously not about withholding information from me.