Page 73 of Myths and Manuscripts
“I can do that!” Leo beamed at him before wandering off holding the map up on the back of the pamphlet.
After three wrong turns, Thorne sighed. “Dain, could you go with him?”
“Of course, my lord.” He nodded and followed after Leo with more pep in his step than I’d expect.
Maybe he was excited for the contest too. The whole festival seemed to be brimming with anticipation as people whispered their theories about the final book. But nobody, not a single person, was guessing my ending for it.
I’d convinced myself that losing this competition would be fine since nobody would know about my story except for the author’s family, but now that all these other people wereinvolved too? I wished I was anywhere but here. Thorne and the others had worked so hard on the story with me though. I couldn’t abandon them now.
This story was about more than just my feelings. It was about them, and I had to fight for that. Even if it meant people hating my ideas and probably saying that straight to my face.
I cringed. Whoever thought of this festival was horrible. The whole concept was gut-wrenching and should have come with a huge warning label! I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the emotional rollercoaster that was sure to come.
“Let’s go,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Time to face the music.”
Thorne’s lips pulled into a grin, and he took my hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss. “That’s my girl. Here I was thinking you might want to leave, but you really are done running, aren’t you?”
My breath caught in my chest and words completely failed me. He continually flipped my world upside-down with things like that. Kissing the back of my hand like I was some kind of princess. I felt myself smiling as I tugged him along, so happy he was by my side. I never would have been able to stand my ground without him. He’d believed in me so much that somewhere along the way, I’d started believing in myself too.
I was a good writer and my story was exactly what fans of this series needed to read. They might not know it yet, but this ending was beautiful, and I wanted to share it with them.
The authors’ corner was more of a big open area than a corner, with five giant booths set up. Most of them had dashing images of the hero and Demon Lord fighting their final battle. It was all light versus dark everywhere I looked until my gaze landed on the one empty booth with something a little different. The artwork on mine had them holding hands.
I agreed with the symbolism of that, but the artwork was sobright and tranquil compared to the other booths that it barely looked like they were from the same series. Mine felt almost like a slice of life comedy instead of the epic fantasy it was supposed to be. This was definitely going to confuse people...
One of the other authors walked away from their booth, smiling as she made her way over to me. “Hey, I’m Ava Knightly. Now that you’re here, I think they’re going to start letting fans in soon.”
“Thanks.”
I managed to squeak out a single word before my throat tightened and my mouth went dry. Ava Knightly was famous! Her books lined my shelves and I wished I had one for her to sign right now. How could I be standing here next to an author like her expecting anyone to choose my book?? I glanced around the room, recognizing the other authors too. It was like a who’s who of epic fantasy writers and then me, a no-name romance writer.
My palms started to sweat. Ava was still talking, chatting about something I hadn’t really caught. I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, can you say that again?”
“I was just saying it’s brave of you to write a story so original for this competition.” She read through the synopsis on a nearby poster. “It isn’t like any of ours, and especially nothing like readers will expect.”
“I’m doomed, aren’t I?” I laughed a little, feeling the weight of my decisions fully on my shoulders. “It’s a good story though, I swear. The artwork might not look like it, but the classic epic fantasy tropes are there. Big battles, tough decisions, all of it. It just questions who’s the real villain of the series because it’s definitely not the Demon Lord. He’s way too much of a softie for that, I mean, he loves pie and hates upsetting people he doesn’t even know.” I glanced over at Thorne who had a small smile on his face that made me want to hide under a table. I was ramblingin front of one of my personal heroes! I turned back to her, my face hot. “Sorry. This is the Demon Lord right here, if you wanted to meet him.”
Her smile froze like her mind was racing with what polite thing she could respond with and had nothing. That’s probably the reaction I should expect from everyone, either that or straight up laughing at me. But I had to get them to see Thorne for who he really was somehow. Before I could, Ava got pulled away by some fans and the crowd started piling in.
My shoulders drooped. “Well, that could have gone better.”
“Maybe, but it could have gone worse too.” Thorne’s shadows curled around me as if they were giving me an out if I wanted to disappear. “Tell me what you need and I’ll do it.”
His gaze held mine, as if telling me that offer covered more than just convincing fans my story was the best. I had a feeling he’d run away if I asked or douse the entire room in shadows. Whatever would make this experience better for me. My heartbeat slowed and I leaned against his side for a moment, drinking that dark intensity of his in.
“Let’s show them who we really are.” I gave him a determined smile before turning to the fans milling about, eying our table before passing by. “Hello everyone. I’m Willow and this is Thorne, the Demon Lord you’ve all heard about. I wrote this book for him and the other story spirits who’ve come to life with the help of a wonderful magical library named Misty, so I’d appreciate if you took the time to listen.”
A few people stopped by our booth, but they mostly seemed to think Thorne was a cosplayer I’d hired and that story about the library was some kind of gimmick. At least they were looking at the story I guess. I talked with more and more people over the next hour and even got a few to drop their voting stones in the jar on my table. They glowed with a soft blue light that eased my spirit. Even though the other jars were filling up far faster thanmine, a few people at least thought my idea was good.
We were probably still going to lose, but at least I’d go down swinging this time. Thorne did his best to be the grumpy and adorable demon I knew everyone would fall for eventually if they gave him a chance. He glared at some, thanked a few others, and even laughed once. His gaze kept wandering back to me between people and he’d give me a smile that he seemed to reserve just for me.
That smile sent butterflies racing through my stomach every time, like it was a private little moment just for us even though we were surrounded by people.
Eventually, a sea of people dressed like Leo started overtaking the area, which probably meant the cosplay contest had ended. I welcomed as many as I could to our booth and a few dropped their voting stones in, but most laughed and pointed at the image of Leo with ears and a tail. When Dain led a very depressed looking hero over by us, I could pretty much guess what had happened.
“So you lost, huh?” I patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry. I probably should have warned you about looking different than people thought you would.”
“But I’m the hero!” His eyes were misty like this was hitting him harder than I’d expected. “Just because I look different doesn’t change that. I’m still me and nobody, not eventhat guy, can be a better hero than me.” He gestured vaguely at one of the shiniest heroes of the bunch. “I just don’t get it.”
