Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Andrew’s POV

She was just here. She couldn’t have gone far.

The queen said she tweaked the potion. She would be more inclined to my suggestions and be instantly calmed in my presence. She warned me that orders and commands may trigger her defenses.

She couldn’t have gone far. I asked the patrol, and they said she looked tired and out for a stroll. I followed where they pointed and saw her figure with the stars behind her.

She looks gorgeous in the starlight. I call out her name to warn her I’m coming up behind her. She looks back, and her expression scares me. She seems so determined, and I know the spell should relax her to my eye contact.

Her body falls forward, and I watch her eyes close as she falls from the edge. I rush to the ledge and peek over the cliff, and I’m locked in horror. Beneath the tide, I see her body broken and unresponsive in the rocks below. The waves are constantly pushing her body between them and pulling her farther out to sea.

My Aela, what have I done?

I rush down the side of the cliff, finding safer passage to jump to get down to the tides below. I ran into the surf, fighting their pull and their shoves into rocks. I get to the area where she had laid, and she’s not there. Only evidence was the blood stains and scraps of cloth. She must have been pulled away by the tide.

I search the rocky beach until the sun rises. She’s gone, and I failed her. The queen will be angered.

Ethan’s POV

I jump off my horse without bringing it to a halt. I head straight to the command center. She should be here. I know I’m outraged. She didn’t trust me to tell me her plans, and I’m fuming. I thought she was better than the stories I’ve heard. She seriously had them scalped?

The tent is empty, and it looks like someone’s plate is still uneaten on the side. I look around and see no other sign of where they might have gone. I shake my head in irritation and step out. I ask the closest patrol man, “Where’s the generals?”

The patrol man shrugs, “They went towards the beach late last night. No one has seen them come back.”

“Did you not think to check on them?” I yelled out.

“Well, they were hot and heavy. No one wanted to stop them from their celebrations.” The patrol man says with a knowingly and lazy grin.

I clench my fists. She hated Andrew and wanted to run as far away from him as possible before all this. Why would she be with him that the patrols were embarrassed to interrupt them. I turn and see Andrew walking towards me. His hair is tousled, and his uniform is wet and covered in sand. He’s holding something in his hand.

I can’t contain my fury, and I growl, “General Andrew, where’s princ-“

“She’s dead. She jumped off the cliff. I couldn’t find her before the tide took her away.” He says, collapsing on the ground in front of me and all of his men.

It’s his fault.

It’s ALL his fault.

He drove her to madness, and instead of continuing, she killed herself. Whatever caused her to not be able to tell me what was wrong with her since the Solstice ball is something he had to have done to her. She killed herself to get away from him.

I stepped forward to punch him, but the horns from the outside patrol went off. I swallow hard and look at Andrew. The patrol all starts to get up and set up formation around the camp, and Andrew doesn’t even move.

Several officers ask Andrew, and he doesn’t respond. I pissed at his inaction even if he was in grief. He has a duty and a role he has to fulfill. With an angry shout, I started yelling out orders in his stead. I don’t know what the real setup is with their camp, but their commanding officers are now out of commission. I rush to the forefront and see them lined up on the outside of the town. They’ve matched our numbers, and we are without a leader. I put Andrew on my horse, and he’s still unresponsive. I call for a retreat and watch everyone leaving through the dense forest. We will take the shortcut to Dobson.

Thankfully, the Bellarns don’t pursue us. We traveled nonstop to reach Dobson, and I meet up with my own personal men. The men I have spent the last few years in support of Redland and the rule of the Queen and the General Princess.

Andrew snaps out of his funk and starts ordering everyone to prepare to regain ground, but no one listens. Rumors about the princess death are spreading around, and no one has the will to follow Andrew’s orders. While Andrew is threatening insubordination, I pull off the medals and throw them in the dirt in front of Andrew.

He starts ranting about me, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. Silence is dead.