Chapter 16 - Willow
Willow
Cinder nibbled at a pile of fresh green hay I’d picked up from town, shuffling the strands around and creating a mess in the Demon Lord’s new library.
Dain narrowed his eyes from where he silently stood guard across the room, but it was just hay, and I could clean it up if she didn’t finish it all.
I scratched behind the demon bunny’s ears as she tilted her head into my palm.
Since I had so much work to get done, I’d decided to outline the last book in the castle instead of the cafe, but Cinder deserved to play with other bunnies soon. Once I knew what I was going to write, I’d bring her there for sure.
If only outlining was going better. Somehow, the more I learned about this world, the less I understood.
That whole humans siphoning magic from demons thing was really throwing me for a loop and I couldn’t get myself to write a single word.
Sure, I had piles and piles of random ideas, but nothing that made sense or that the fans would go crazy over and talk about for years to come.
At this rate, I wouldn’t even have a solid idea by the deadline, let alone an actual book.
Gran would never feel comfortable retiring then.
I could just see her patting my hand, telling me I needed to give my “real dream” more effort.
I had to finish this book, make it amazing, then continue working as an apothecary.
That was the only way she’d see where my heart really was.
My grandparents and my parents had all been apothecaries. It was in my blood, and I had to make her believe that somehow. Being an apothecary wasn’t an obligation: it was a legacy. One I was proud to continue.
I flipped another book from the Demon Lord’s series open, skimming through it for clues.
No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find anything that would explain the kind demon villagers I’d met or the Demon Lord himself.
They were always described as monsters who would rather burn your town to the ground than talk to you.
Every time a demon appeared in the books, they were doing something evil like attacking villagers or kidnapping people.
It really felt like the hero was doing a good thing. That his actions were right and just, fulfilling his divine mission wonderfully. He was the light that cast out the darkness. He was the chosen one.
I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how that worked with everything else I’d seen since entering the book, and I was getting more and more frustrated staring at a blank page trying to figure it out. I’d even finished the newest book at record speed, but that had just made me even more confused.
“Ugh.” I flopped back onto the couch, hand over my eyes. “If the hero is so amazing, then why is he fighting the Demon Lord? And why does the Demon Lord seem just as nice as the hero when he’s supposed to be the evilest creature in the whole series?”
Dain snorted. I tilted my head to peek over at him, but he was pretending like he didn’t notice me at all, just sitting in front of the open doorway with his spear in hand like he was ready to fight.
But that snort meant he had opinions. Opinions I could very much use right about now, even if it was just to bounce ideas off somebody.
“Something you want to add?” I sat up, turning on the couch to face him.
“Maybe an opinion on the hero? Or the Demon Lord?” My bodyguard just sat there, statue still.
I tossed a pillow at him that he expertly dodged.
“Come on, help me out here. The Demon Lord is the one who wants me to write this book, so you should at least brainstorm with me. Didn’t he tell you to give me whatever I needed? ”
“He did, that’s true.” Dain set his spear to the side and pulled his chair closer to my couch.
“Well, if you really want to know, then I think you’re looking at this all wrong.
I’ve heard you mumbling for hours about this great hero of yours, but he’s obviously the villain.
Why else would he slaughter innocent demons?
He hunts us down to steal our magic, forcing us to hide in this one protected city.
That doesn’t sound very hero-y to me, and yet, you humans wrote thousands of pages about him! ”
He shook his head, obviously disgusted with my entire race.
I picked another pillow up, twirling it in my hands as I considered that.
If the demons weren’t the enemy like the books led me to believe, then why was the hero fighting them?
What was the point of the war? And what role did the Demon Lord really play?
“Okay, so in your version, who’s the Demon Lord then?”
Dain rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. “You’ve visited our town, talked to our people. You know who the Demon Lord is to us. He’s the hero of this terrible story of yours.”
I dropped the pillow, eyes wide. The Demon Lord was the hero? Not just a bad guy for a good reason, but an actual hero? That word meant something in this world. It held power and righteous purpose.
“No way.” I shook my head, holding my hand up. “I mean, I know he’s nice and he’s been good to you, but he’s not the hero. He can’t be.”
“Who says?” Dain tilted his head. “Your human priests? Your government? Your Kings? Who cares about any of that, they’re probably just as evil as the hero.”
My mouth dropped open. If the Demon Lord was the hero, that flipped this entire story on its head.
Again. I mean, he was obviously the hero to the demons, but that didn’t mean he was the hero to everyone.
There were two sides to this story, but somehow, neither side was making much sense.
Which kept leading me back to a plot twist..
.and what bigger plot twist would there be than the Demon Lord being the good guy all along?
The soft crunching of Cinder chewing a giant mouthful of hay mixed with the crackling of the fireplace as my brain kind of broke. Nothing else had gotten me anywhere, so I might as well let the idea play out and see where it led. Maybe it would spark something.
“Okay, so let’s pretend you’re right.” I pulled a pile of blank paper over, nudging Inkheart to wake up. The poor pen had given up on me after hours of debating without actually letting it write anything. “Let’s make a list of suspects.”
The pen hopped up, scritch scratching across the paper.
Suspects? Now we’re talking. Where do you want to start?
I glanced over at Dain who was reading the synopsis on the back of each book before dropping them on the table in disgust. “Let’s start with Dain’s ideas about the priest and the royal family.
If the Demon Lord isn’t the villain, then somebody else must be.
I don’t think it’s the hero since there’s no hint of it in the books, but maybe somebody’s manipulating him. ”
Ohhh, I called it! Poor himbo hero.
“Really?” Dain’s eyes widened as he pulled his chair even closer. “Okay, I’ll help however I can.”
Seeing him eager to join in felt so nice compared to how stand-offish he’d been ever since the Demon Lord had assigned him as my bodyguard. If we were going to be stuck together for a while, then it would be nice if we could find some common ground.
“Inkheart, are you any good at drawing? Let’s make posters for each suspect and pin them up.
” I laid out a few pieces of paper for the magical pen after it nodded.
“Okay, first up is the holy priest who first gave the hero his divine mission. That seems like a classic secret villain based on other stories, but it’s almost so overdone that I feel like it would be disappointing. ”
Dain frowned. “We worship the same gods as the humans, so I doubt a priest would be sending a hero after us. I’m not sure what it would get them.”
“That’s a good point.” I reached over to add the word motive to the papers as Inkheart drew a fairly accurate depiction of what I thought a priest would look like with billowy robes and a holy staff. “Okay, so if the priest doesn’t have a motive, then who else?”
“The King.” Dain curled his lips. “That family wants our resources for themselves, using our magic to fuel their technology.”
That lined up with what we’d heard around town. I nodded, adding the name and motive to the next paper for Inkheart to draw on. Something about it didn’t feel quite right though.
“From what I’ve read, the King is kind of a father-figure to the hero and has actually tried to stop him from finishing the mission a few times.
” I flipped through a few of the books, trying to find the parts I was looking for.
“Ah, yes, right here. The hero has some kind of illness that the King’s healers worked day and night to make a remedy for, but even that didn’t fully heal him.
That’s why the King doesn’t want him putting himself at risk. ”
Inkheart’s feather swayed as it drifted over the pages of the book, apparently reading the passage I pointed out. I hadn’t realized pens could read, but hey, they were magical.
Hmmm.....either this King is ultra sus and using some intense reverse psychology or he actually does love the little himbo. I’m rooting for them.
“Well I’m not.” Dain scoffed. “Even if he’s a nice guy, he’s still the one stealing our land.”
“True, but if we’re adding the King, then we should definitely add the Princess too.
” I wrote Princess on a new sheet of paper for Inkheart.
“She’s the hero’s love interest, but nobody wants them to marry since he’s just a commoner.
If he defeated the Demon Lord, that would really raise his station. ”
Ah yes, the lover. Excellent, excellent.
Inkheart was moving faster than ever as it drew all our suspects out, barely having time for silly commentary. Dain scratched his chin.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head, leaning forward to examine the books. “Wasn’t there another so-called hero before this one? What happened to him?”