Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Aela’s POV

Lana’s hand tightens on me, and I quickly hide my nervousness. I keep repeating to myself that he is delegated to our biggest ally right now. I can not show him I am weak. Lana removes her hands from me and straightens tall.

The Lion’s Prince towers over her, but she keeps he head raised to meet his. I follow suit. The prince doesn’t show any emotion and bows a quick greeting to the Queen.

“Queen Lana, I presume. Let me introduce myself. I am Crowned Prince Lucas of Turmac and Duke of Rigemoth. I am here representing the interests of Turmac with our combined futures.” He says loudly.

Lana nods, “I am Queen Lana of Redland. This is my niece, Crowned Princess AmAela, and also our Commanding General.”

What? I almost moved my hand to my mouth to see if I said anything out loud. Commanding General? She never gave me that title before.

“I believe she is speechless, Queen Lana.” The mellow laugh is warm, and it's unnerving because I know he knows my mate. He knows I’m mated.

“We haven’t had a reason for a Commanding General, but during these talks, she will be representing our military power.” Lana says so full of pride. “But let's get out of this hot sun. Please forgive us for not having the most luxurious accommodations for you, but we hope you enjoy your stay with us.”

He nods his head, “I understand the predicament this visit has left you. I will not hide. I am here to spy on the status of your rebuilding. I will not be critical of your lodgings and resources, knowing just a few months ago, the country had been rebounded.”

His eyes met mine, and he almost made my heart stop. I can feel the judgmental and scrutinizing on my very being. He looks aways just when I feel like squirming from the attention.

He offers Lana his arm, and she leads him through the capital towards the palace while he asks questions about the rebuilding effort. I find myself wanting to hide in the back and allow his full entourage to get in front of me.

Ethan whispers behind me, “Silence, you okay?”

“Yeah.” I whisper back softly. I still can feel my heart beating in my breast. I never would have imagined the man in the tavern would be the exiled prince.

Ethan comes up and strokes my back with his hand. He rubs the tension out of my muscle until I can steady my breathing. “Silence, this isn’t like you. Can we trust him, this prince?”

“We have no reason not to trust him. Turmac had been some of our greatest allies even before the attack. They benefit from our prosperity just as much as we do from theirs.” I say regaining my royal demeanor again.

Ethan nods, but I know he just watched me almost hyperventilating and having a full panic attack from just an introduction with the man. I can’t only imagine what will happen if he chooses to speak to me by myself. “On second thought, Ethan, you are my personal guard, right?”

“Yes.” Ethan says skeptically.

“If the Prince wants to speak to me secretly and alone, do not try to get between us.” Ethan starts to protest, but I hold my finger up to my lips to keep him quiet. “He met with Delmar when we were traveling before. He was the Crowned Prince. They had some kind of arrangement or partnership, but I wasn’t privy to know. I do not believe it will harm Redland, but that’s why I panicked.”

Ethan nods his head. “I understand. He probably knows Delmar would be an enemy if any harm came to you, but you shouldn’t be telling people he worked with someone like Delmar.”

“Yeah. Even Lana hasn’t brought him up since I had to tell her he didn’t tell me anything about him and her relationship when she first returned.” I say and then nudge Ethan to follow me.

By then everyone was walking a good distance in front of us. I greeted the people who waved at me as I walked by. Several asked if the strange looking people were the guests we were waiting for.

I also got to hear news about several of our livestock pregnant and expecting more soon. Everyone was full of life, and I knew I needed to keep my head on the reasons why we were working so hard. That night, we had a feast to celebrate. The following day, we spent the entire day in meetings. I met with people, not the prince, thankfully. Lana and the Prince were discussing more of the trade and treaty. I sat with several members of the Turmac army. After a full day of discussions and we had been dismissed to another feast, one of the Turmac’s stopped me.

“It is truly refreshing to see a General so in tune with their own people.” He said with a fatherly smile. “I believe you will outshine your mother.”

“Thank you for the compliment. It's my job to serve my people the best I can. I learned its best to think about them first.” I smile brightly the way I should as a princess.

“Definitely better than Cortan.” One of the men grumbles. He thought I didn’t catch in. I recognized Cortan from my travels in the deserts. He had a secret agency that convicted anyone using magic without authorization. He wanted to control everyone.

“Why did Cortan not join in these meetings?” I ask curiously.

“Because he’s dead. The Exiled Prince has taken over the army in his stead. He just had more pressing matters with the treaties than with military discussions.” They smiled politely.

“I completely understood.” I smiled back at them and left the room.

Now, I get it. The prince wanted me out of the room when he discussed the treaties without me. Giving the excuse he had issues with the military, he would want my opinion just to get me away from my aunt.

During the feast, he arrives right before my aunt, but his eyes meet mine. He scans the rest of the room and seems disappointed. At that moment, Lana enters the room, and everyone finds their seats. The prince never looks at me again, and he gets deep into a conversation with the Queen and several of her council members. After the last course has been served, the Queen apologizes and excuses herself from the room. I never saw her do that, but then it's been several hours, and her body is still healing. I get up and walk out into a courtyard with construction supplies littered around. I have to keep myself from crying, looking at the evidence of the wreckage. I think I heard Ethan call me back and turn around and hold myself from the shock of The Prince standing right behind me.

“Forgive, Ms. Shadow. I didn’t mean to spook you.” The Prince bows lowly more than I’ve seen him do to anyone else.

“I’m shocked you haven’t forced yourself to me.” I say, crossing my arms.

He looked at me a little, shocked, “I almost feared I would have to, but your aunt scares me. She seems to be overly protective of you. Anyways, your guard said you were expecting me to speak privately with you. Trying to get your aunt away from you and not alert her to our meeting was starting to grow tiresome. ”

“You’ve been with her more than me.” I say accusingly.

He chuckles, “She wouldn’t let me out of her sight when you are not around. It took feeding her a natural laxative all day to get her to take a break. My time is limited. I need you to get a message to our mutual friend.”

“You are out of luck. We separated when I ran off to start a rebellion. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.” I say with a laugh although I miss him greatly, I just didn’t want to show my sadness.

The Prince shakes his head with confusion, “He called you Nadar. You can’t be separated. It drives anyone mad when they aren’t with their better half. Unless. Did you reject him?”

“No.” I say quickly, scrunching my eyebrows up. “Nor did he reje- He had rejected me. He disconnected from me when he was in our dungeon before the Hou Ndour attack. He spoke words I didn’t know. It was when I still had my wolf suppressed with a collar.”

“So, you didn’t feel the insanity of rejection. That’s a relief for you. But even if he might not be connected to you in the same way as a Nadar should. Can you pass this message to him?” The Prince hands me a sheet of paper. A part wants to read it, but another part doesn’t want to be between my mate and the prince.

“I can’t help you.” I say, shaking my head and pushing the paper away.

“Do you still have his cloak? The enchantments, if I remember, are strong, and he has something that always allows him to store tools and items. Not to mention, the cloak itself can materialize out of thin air. He has to have those items somewhere. Find a box or an envelope and check it every day I’m here for a return answer. Please, it's life or death. I need to get this message to him.” The Prince says when we hear Ethan cough and he disappears from in front of me. Similar to how he arrives and leaves in the tavern.

I palm the message into my pocket and see Ethan standing guard near us. “You should try it. Could make you feel better.”