Page 23 of Myths and Manuscripts
“What are you doing,” Willow whispered, leaning close so nobody would overhear. “I said I need the hero, not some macho show of force.”
I ignored her, focusing on the soldier in front of me. “You have one chance of redeeming yourself. Kidnap the hero and bring him to me. Alive.”
The soldier slammed his fist against his chest, bowing low in fealty. “I will not fail you again.”
“Wait a minute, that’s not what I meant at all.” Willow shook her head, reaching for the soldier’s arm. “I’m sure you have a family and friends who will worry about you if you do that. You’d be going on a suicide mission.”
“I’m stronger than you think.” The demon raised his head and met my gaze straight on. “And I’m honored to be trusted with this mission.”
Willow sighed deeply before glaring at me. “Do something about this. You can’t just let him die over a silly scratch that’ll heal in a few days.”
My chest tightened. Willow might not really be my consort, but the world was about to believe she was. I couldn’t let anyone think hurting her was a way they could get to me. It was my fault she was stuck in here and I’d be damned if I let her get hurt again because of it. If I couldn’t get her out right away, then I had to protect her. Maybe the soldier could come in handy anotherway...
“Fine, if my consort wants you to live, then you’ll live for her. From now on, you’ll be her bodyguard. Your life will protect hers. Don’t let anyone harm her again.”
“As you command.” The soldier bowed so low his forehead slammed against the ground before finally standing up. “Looks like I have a new job! The protector of the Demon Lord’s Consort!”
A few demons dared to walk up to him, patting him on the back and congratulating him like he’d won some big prize. Willow even joined in, chatting with them as comfortably as when I first saw her outside. It was like she had an innate ability to put people at ease and talk like they were old friends. They even started handing her gifts like bread, jam, and vegetables. They all seemed thrilled to meet my consort. It was such a joke, but seeing them welcome her like that warmed my heart a little.
This wasn’t what I’d expected when I walked outside, but she was safe, and the town had seen my leadership in person. That had to be good enough for now.
As I turned to leave, a small demon with antlers bowed to me. “Thank you for saving me, My Lord.”
“I don’t remember doing anything of the kind.” I frowned as a few more villagers bowed, saying the same thing. Apparently they thought I’d saved most of the town, rescuing them from humans, but that had to be wrong. I was the villain, not a savior. Plus, I never even left my castle.
Willow moved beside the demon child, wiping smudges of ash off his cheeks. “I’m glad you’re safe. Who brought you here?”
The boy’s eyes lit up. “The Demon Lord sent his most trusted generals to rescue me after I got snatched up by humans!”
“His generals, huh?” Willow frowned, moving closer to me to whisper. “Do you think those are the big fights in the previous books? Could the generals be rescuing captured demons to growthis village of yours?”
“Of course not,” I scoffed. “They’re pillaging towns and destroying armies. They’re not saving children.” Except, there did seem to be a lot of demons here all thanking me for saving their lives. “No, if that was true, it would be in the previous books, right? They couldn’t skew it so far as to make saving children seem like an evil deed, right?”
Willow shrugged. “Maybe they’re doing both. Pillaging and saving? There’s always two sides to a story, after all. I need to see both sides if I’m going to write the ending.” She glanced back at me, her eyes softening. “Don’t you want to know too?”
More than I thought I would. Before, all I’d wanted was to live up to the author’s expectation of me. To be the villain I was always meant to be. But if there was something missing, I had to know what it was. Maybe it would finally explain why I was so disconnected from my role. If it helped make the ending memorable, I’d do whatever it took. Even meet the hero if Willow required it.
Chapter 10
Willow
The villagers had given us so many gifts from fresh vegetables still covered in dirt to giant pieces of unidentifiable meat, all bundled up in my arms as we walked back inside the castle. Most of the food looked pretty normal: carrots, potatoes, and things like that. I’d expected demon veggies to be a bit more...peculiar. Honestly, I’d expected the entire village to be stranger. Everyone seemed so normal, besides the horns and animalistic features of course.
From what I remembered of the book series,I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life, but Now I Have to Stop the Demon Lord and His Entire Army!was all about a hero saving humanity from an evil demon overlord trying to take over the world. It was a classic plot, but done really well, full of heart with a fun writing style. But what I’d read didn’t match with what I’d just seen. The demons seemed kind so far, nothing like the aggressive and violent beasts they’d been in the books.
Well, one of them had attacked me on sight, but it was only a scratch. If this really was the world of those books, his spear should have ended me, but this scratch was no worse than I’d gotten in the past while picking herbs on the mountain. Plus, the healing salve had already stopped the throbbing, numbing the pain enough that it was barely noticeable.
“I really need to read the last book in your series because I’m obviously missing something big here.” I glanced at the Demon Lord. “Let’s head back to the library and scour the whole series for details. Something just isn’t adding up and I need to know why. Was there foreshadowing for this kind of village? Or is it a product of us being here and there’s no deeper meaning to the story?”
“About that...” He stopped abruptly, falling behind me a few steps. “You know I intended to take us both out of the book earlier, right?”
“Well yeah, but it didn’t work for some reason.” I turned around, pinning him with a stare. “Wait, why didn’t it work?”
His purple eyes darkened as he looked away from me, cast in the shadows of the sconces. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” I clutched the food to my chest, accidentally smushing the bread a little. “But the library knows, right? I’m assuming that’s how I got in here to begin with at least.”
“Yeah.” His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath before finally meeting my gaze. “But the library doesn’t always know how its magic works now that wild magic is mixed in. You’re not a character from a story, you’re a person, and I don’t think the library knows how that works yet.” He stepped closer, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I promise we’ll get you out of here. Nyssa’s already working on it, and I’ll do everything I can to assist. You will not be stuck here for long.”
