Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Andrew’s POV

“What do you mean she left?” The queen yells so loud the window frames creak from her high pitch and volume.

“She needed to investigate why Nevar wasn’t transporting goods to Dobson.” I say, keeping my breathing regulated. I’m furious, but she could manage to break any spell on her if we push her too much. It’s taken several years to even get the spell to hold. “She’s fuming mad and spiteful. I couldn’t risk any inflection with the spell.”

“She is still resistant?” The Queen says with a shake of confusion. But then she laughs, and I shiver. “Did you consummate?”

I swallow and bite my lips. I did things I had always wanted to do, but only wanted to do them with her as a willing participant. She hit the nail when she accused me of hurting her for my own enjoyment. “Yes.”

“Then everything should be good. Keep her happy for the next nine months.” The queen’s smile is evil. Her tone and confession unnerve me. Does she really want to kill Aela after the child is born? “Oh, don’t look so sad, Andy. You’ll be the greatest father ever. The child will not want for anything else.”

Aela’s POV

The mountain peak of my dreams is colder than usual. The shivers are uncontrollable as I try to draw as much warmth from around me as possible. Dreams aren’t supposed to be cold. I look around, and it's dark. The sun isn’t anywhere in sight. I go to pull my mate’s cloak closer to my body, and it’s not there.

Cowering in the bitter cold, I feel naked, and there’s nothing to provide warmth against the blistering wind. I call out for the white wolf searching for her, and I don’t feel her either. Is this my punishment for Andrew?

I cry out loud again, and I can make out an echo return to me far longer than when I yelled out. I never recognized how empty the expanse on this mountain summit really was. The summit tremors and I almost believe it is just from my shivering, but the snow shifts under my feet. Quickly, I run to a rock and look down as an avalanche falls into the stormy clouds. My gaze is fixated on the swirling mess of clouds rising and falling like the violent waves on a rock cliff.

Another rattle of rocks around me gives me the chance to brace for another avalanche. More ice and snow are falling into the dark clouds, plummeting and crashing against the mountain side. Then a flash, a scent of blood. I look around, hoping it’s not someone I love. But I am the only one at this peak. I am all alone.

I glance down at my hands and arms, and they are covered in scrapes and cuts. I try to lick the spontaneous wounds when I realize my mouth and nose are bleeding, too. Even my tears are bloodied.

The blood is mine. The blood is mine. The blood is mine…

Ethan’s POV

“Captain, the general is screaming.” One of my men wakes me up from my nap. I rushed off my bedroll and scrambled over to see the princess tossing and screaming in her sleep. She’s never been restless like this when she sleeps. I had the hardest time ever finding her when she was sleeping. She was always so silent.

“Everyone stay back. She won’t hurt you. She’s just having a nightmare.” I say forceful against the potential protest of my men. I know they are worried that her wolf will emerge and slaughter us. I still want to trust her. Her behavior, though, is concerning that she is losing grip on her sanity.

The men grumble about how no one ever acts like that during even a nightmare.

I try to touch her, but she quickly pushes me away and growls lowly before rolling farther away from me. She’s tossing and bucking like she’s running from something. Then, a glow catches my eye. An amulet around her neck has a warm glow, and then I can feel a presence around us, and she instantly calms down. I watch as her breath evens out, and I’m glad for the presence. She seems to be slowly returning to the waking world.

Her eyes flutter but never open, and I’m wondering if she’s unable to open them. I move closer, “Silence, are you with us?”

She flings her arms around wildly, and she starts to breathe unsteadily. Then she cries uncontrollably. I scoop her up in my arms and cradle her and rock her. But she kicks and pushes me away from her violently. “Silence, I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“Sir, what is she doing?” One of my men asks now, feeling complete fear.

“She’s panicking from a nightmare. She’s calming herself down. Everyone is back to sleep or back to watch.” I order out and watch everyone turn away from us.

I sit and watch her form settle down, and the presence returns a couple more times. It feels like eternity before her eyes open, and she sits up. I have my canteen available for her, and she nods gratefully as she drinks the rest of the spring water. “Are you good now?”

“Yeah” she croaks out in a barely audible syllable. She is staring at the sky now, and she seems so lost in her thoughts that I allow her to recover from the nightmare. She hasn’t been acting herself, and she’s scared. She’s never been fearful or scared of anything in all the time we have worked together.

“Aela, do you want to talk about it?” I will try again, and hopefully, she can enlighten me in some form on the conflict she’s struggling against.

Her eyes are on me, and I can’t ignore the repulse. I have a moment of pure fear ripple through me before she blurts out, “I would like to. But I CAN’T!”

I recoil from her hostility and focus on what she is saying. She can’t tell me, but she wants to. Something is keeping her from telling me what is wrong. She wakes me up from my thoughts when she stands up and pulls up her bedroll and starts to walk to her horse. I jump up and stand in front of her as she tries to go around me. “General, you need more sleep. You aren’t acting like yourself.”

“I have questions which I need to seek answers, and I fear what will happen if I don’t find them soon. I may not be able to destroy the evil at its core.” She looks lost and desperate in that very moment, and I can only feel sadness, “Sleep isn’t going to be coming easy for me anymore.”

I turn and pick up my bedroll and join the general saddling her horse. I tell the watch to proceed toward Nevar, and we will be there shortly after. Aela doesn’t even pause to allow me time to prepare at all. She jumps on her horse and starts out of our makeshift camp, and I’m barely able to catch up to her.