Bellor smelled of damp earth, chimney smoke, and distrust.
Maybe I was imagining that last part.
Although, considering how many people were watching us from doors and windows as Caelum and I walked down the main street, probably not.
We had arrived shortly after dawn. Bellor was close enough to the border that its walls were a necessity: thick stone, watchtowers, and soldiers stationed along the battlements even at this hour.
News of the twelve demons had reached the town long before we did.
“This is uncomfortable,” I muttered, adjusting my staff over my shoulder.
Caelum kept walking.
“It will probably get worse.”
I glanced at him.
“You always know exactly how to reassure me.”
“That was not my intention.”
Of course it wasn’t.
Two soldiers led us to a small military post beside the eastern wall.
That was where I saw them.
Horns.
Tails.
Features anyone would immediately recognize as demonic.
But I didn’t see enemy soldiers.
I saw an elderly woman wrapped in a blanket. A man with his arm bandaged. Two children sharing some bread beside a wall. A woman kept one of them pressed against her side, one hand resting on his head while her eyes followed every human soldier who passed nearby.
Twelve demons.
Twelve civilians.
One of the officers approached us.
He looked a little over thirty, with dark hair, several days of stubble, and the exhausted expression of someone who hadn’t slept nearly enough.
“Director Veyr,” he greeted with a slight bow of his head.
Then he looked at me.
“Heroine Nellie.”
“Captain Aeron Vale, I assume.”
“Aeron Vale.”
So this was the man who had decided to get himself into trouble for twelve strangers.
“I heard what you did,” I said.
Vale glanced toward the demons.
“I did my job.”
“According to some people, you did quite a bit more than that.”
His expression barely changed.
“They were civilians.”
I waited.
He didn’t add anything.
“That’s it?”
Vale looked at me as though the question itself were strange.
“That should be enough.”
Ah.
Yes.
I liked him.
Caelum stepped in before I could tell him that.
“Have there been any further incidents?”
“Not since yesterday,” Vale replied, “but the situation is still tense.”
I looked toward the street.
Several townspeople had gathered at a distance. Some simply watched. Others spoke quietly among themselves.
Not all of them looked angry.
Many looked afraid.
“They still think they might be scouts?” I asked.
Vale exhaled slowly.
“Some do.”
“Do they have any proof?”
“No. But Bellor lost people in border clashes less than ten years ago.”
My expression changed.
Vale lowered his voice slightly.
“To you, they’re twelve civilians displaced by the Rupture. To some people here, they’re twelve demons who suddenly appeared beside their homes without explanation.”
I looked at the townspeople again.
I still didn’t like it.
But I understood it a little better now.
That was much more annoying.
It was easier to be angry when I could simply decide the other person was an idiot.
A horn sounded from atop the wall.
The human soldiers reacted immediately.
Several hands dropped toward weapon hilts.
The demon civilians tensed as well.
The eastern gate opened.
Several riders entered first, followed by a formation of demon soldiers in dark armor.
And at the front...
“Oh.”
Orbit.
But this wasn’t the Orbit who smiled while making Morgause embarrassed.
He wore full armor, a sword at his side, and a serious expression.
A general.
Orbit dismounted and approached as Vale did the same.
They stopped several steps apart.
“Captain Aeron Vale,” Orbit greeted him.
“General Orbit.”
Neither smiled.
I was standing almost directly between the two groups.
I glanced behind me.
Caelum had conveniently remained several steps back.
Smart coward.
Orbit looked over the civilians.
“Can everyone travel?”
Vale pointed toward the injured man.
“He’ll need assistance. The others can walk.”
“We brought a wagon.”
“Good.”
That was it.
No threats.
No speeches.
For a few seconds, I thought everything might actually go smoothly.
Big mistake.
“Heroine!”
I turned.
A middle-aged man had stepped forward from the crowd.
“You’re one of the Five Heroines, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Vale moved toward him.
“Go back with the others.”
“I only want to ask her something.”
His eyes fixed on me.
“Why are you helping them?”
The murmuring around us faded.
“Because they’re civilians,” I replied.
The man pointed toward the demons.
“They’re demons.”
“Yes. I noticed.”
Caelum cleared his throat behind me.
Right.
Diplomacy.
I took a breath.
The man clenched his jaw.
“Weren’t you summoned to protect us from them?”
I opened my mouth.
Then he added,
“My brother died at the border.”
My answer disappeared.
He no longer looked angry.
He looked hurt.
“Demons killed him,” he continued. “So tell me, Heroine. Why should I be happy to see soldiers protecting them?”
Several pairs of eyes settled on me.
Human.
Demon.
Orbit remained silent.
I remembered what Caelum had told me.
I wasn’t there only as Nellie.
“I don’t think you have to be happy about it,” I finally said.
The man frowned.
“I’m not going to tell you to forget your brother. And I’m not going to pretend I understand what you lost.”
I looked toward the twelve civilians.
“But they didn’t kill your brother.”
“They’re not our people.”
“No,” I admitted. “But they’re still people.”
There was no applause.
He didn’t suddenly change his mind.
“It’s easy to say that when it wasn’t your family.”
“Yes,” I replied.
That seemed to surprise him.
“It probably is.”
We stared at each other for a few seconds.
Finally, he stepped back.
Not convinced.
But not looking for a fight either.
For now, that was enough.
The transfer began.
And it turned out to be surprisingly boring.
Names.
Injuries.
Documents.
Supplies.
Two demon soldiers helped the injured man into the wagon. The elderly woman followed. Then the children.
The woman who had kept her son close all morning passed Vale and stopped.
“Thank you for protecting my son,” she said quietly.
Vale looked at the boy.
“Take him home.”
She nodded.
That was all.
No speeches about peace.
No handshakes.
Just a mother taking her child home.
And, for some reason, that felt more important.
Orbit approached once the last civilian was ready.
“Miss Nellie.”
“General Orbit.”
“Her Majesty will be pleased when she receives my report.”
I smiled.
“Because everyone made it back alive?”
“Naturally,” he replied with complete seriousness.
He paused.
One corner of his mouth rose slightly.
“Primarily because of that.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Orbit.”
“I said nothing.”
There he was.
The real Orbit.
His smile disappeared as he looked back toward Bellor.
“What you did today will be remembered.”
That sounded considerably less encouraging.
“I only said a few words.”
Orbit looked at me.
“Exactly.”
The escort departed shortly afterward.
I thought that would be the end of it.
I was wrong.
Caelum and I had been traveling back for less than an hour when a messenger caught up to us and handed him a small folded sheet of paper.
Caelum read it.
Then he looked at me.
I didn’t like that look.
“What?”
“News of the exchange has already reached other border posts.”
“That was fast.”
“Yes.”
His tone erased my smile.
“What are they saying?”
He handed me the paper.
I read it.
It didn’t say that twelve civilians had made it home safely.
It didn’t say Aeron Vale had prevented a tragedy.
It said that one of the Legendary Heroines had personally intervened to defend demons.
That she maintained contact with officials of the Demon Queen’s kingdom.
That she had publicly spoken in defense of their civilians.
I folded the paper.
“That isn’t what happened.”
“It is part of what happened,” Caelum replied.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
I looked at the road stretching ahead of us.
I had helped protect twelve people.
That was what had happened.
But the story was already changing.
A Heroine defended demons.
A Heroine spoke to their generals as though they were acquaintances.
A Heroine seemed far too comfortable standing on their side.
Morgause had warned me that our decisions could mean completely different things to other people.
I was starting to understand just how much.
For the first time since deciding I was going to marry the Demon Queen, the problem no longer seemed to be getting Morgause to say yes.
It was figuring out what the rest of the world would do when she finally did.