Willow's Point of View

Chapter 3

The mountain air was crisp, verging on chilly, now that I'd taken a break from herb-gathering. I leaned back against a large tree, staring at the blank pages of my journal. Why had I even brought it here? I was done with my book, so I didn't need a journal to write anything in anymore, but having it with me had become so natural. Comforting even.

Was Gran right? Should I try and write another book for the next Tales and Tomes Festival? It was a whole year away, so it wouldn't take up too much of my time if I just brainstormed and outlined the story. It would be a way to occupy my mind while I worked on other things.

I loved the whole process of writing a book. It felt almost magical, coming up with idea after idea, seeing what worked and what didn't, until I eventually had a readable book in front of me. Grandpa would have loved that, so I wished he was still around to see it.

But reading the response from the story gods had hurt more than I'd expected. Honestly, it was like a punch to the gut. I'd just assumed everyone would love my book just as much as I did. I hated this icky feeling in my stomach now, like I'd failed something important.

Maybe I never should have tried in the first place. Writing was supposed to be a fun hobby, not something that could hurt this much.

I pulled the faded piece of paper from the pocket of my work overalls.

"The story speaks, but the heart is silent," I mumbled, reading it for the billionth time. "The heart probably relates to the romance, but what does it mean for a story to speak?"

The story spirits at the library would probably be the best ones to ask, but I hadn't brought myself to even tell Gran what the note said yet, so I couldn't possibly ask them. They were all so nice that they'd probably come up with a good meaning for the message, twisting it into whatever they thought would make me happy.

I wanted to believe that my story was good, but I didn't want to get my hopes up again if that wasn't true. Nobody's story was perfect on the first try, so I needed an honest critique, not overly kind words meant to avoid hurting my feelings. I folded and unfolded the note a few more times, running the soft paper through my fingers.

The messages from the book well were always meant to help, so I just had to figure out what it meant. I felt like my story was good, but something was missing. Something the story gods saw and I didn't. If I could figure that out, I bet I could put this whole writing thing out of my mind for good and focus on what really mattered.

"Can't you just tell me what my problem is?" I asked, wishing they’d been less cryptic.

"For starters, you talk to yourself in public," a familiar voice said.

I jumped to my feet, dropping my journal as I whipped around to see the demon lord of all people. He waltzed up to the tree as if he owned the mountain, dark shadows contrasting the bright noon sun. I'd never seen him outside in the middle of the day like this, not to mention all the dragons flying around him like he was some kind of shepherd and they were his flock.

"Are you stalking me or something?" I asked, heartbeat pounding in my ears. "First my apothecary shop and now here?"

"If I was stalking you, you'd never even see me," he said matter-of-factly. "I can literally blend in with the shadows and you're the most unobservant human I've ever met. You didn't even hear me coming up the path."

I let out a deep sigh as I picked up my journal, brushing the dirt off it. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Preventing a rampage," he said, frowning at the dragons. "These lizards are chaos incarnate."

One of those chaotic dragons decided to land on the demon lord's horns at that very moment, like an adorable purple sidekick. The demon lord swatted at him, snarling obscenities, which only made the whole thing more ridiculous. I snorted, turning it into a cough when the demon lord glared at me.

"What? It was cute," I said, not even bothering to apologize. "You should thank the dragon for making you look good."

Not that he had any trouble doing that on his own, but he was kind of fun to tease.

"If you think they're so cute," he said, smiling grimly, "then you should love that one stealing your stuff."

I glanced behind me just in time to see a dragon flying off with the note the story gods had left me. I must have dropped it when the demon lord showed up.

"Dammit." I rushed over to try and snatch the note away. "Give that back!"

The dragon darted out of reach every time I got close to him, like we were playing a game. If I wasn't careful, he'd burn the note to a crisp. I took a deep breath and looked at the demon lord.

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"Mind helping me out?"

His smile turned devious. "Maybe. If you say please."

It was like he was daring me to say it, to fall on my knees and beg for his help. I'd have refused immediately, but the way his dark eyes roved over me had my throat in a vice grip. Did he realize how attractive that look was?

No. There was no way I could actually like the demon lord. This was just a game and two could play at that.

"Oh dark and terrifying demon lord," I said, "please save my notes from these dragons before all is lost."

He stared at me for a moment longer, dark and intense, before shaking his head. "You really aren't afraid of me, are you?"

"Only in your dreams," I said, nodding at the dragon chewing on my note. "Now can you help me or not?"

Shadows swirled around him, reaching out to the dragon in question. The dragon titled his head, dropping the note in favor of chasing the shadows instead. More dragons joined in, zooming around the demon lord as his shadows zipped around the clearing. They'd obviously played this game before and loved it. Even the demon lord had a little smile on his face as he watched them.

When he caught me looking, his brow furrowed. "What's so important about a scrap of paper anyway?"

I caught the note as it fluttered through the air, stuffing it safely back into my pocket.

"Nothing," I said, grabbing one of the empty herb baskets. "I'm going to go pick herbs. Thanks for your help."

He nodded, following me as I moved to a patch of knee-high feverfern that was a beautiful silvery-green right now. When steeped in tea or ground up into a tonic, the fern boosted a person's immune system and helped lower fevers. It was the most potent at the end of autumn, so we always tried to have a large stock gathered in preparation for winter.

My back twitched as the demon lord's gaze continued to study me, ever watchful and intense. After a few minutes, he knelt beside me and started picking the ferns too. I sighed, letting my shoulders relax. Of course he'd just been watching how to properly deal with the ferns.

I had to get my thoughts under control if we were going to keep running into each other like this.

"It didn't seem like nothing," he said softly, adding the plants to my basket with care. "The paper, I mean."

He really wasn't going to let this go, huh?

"It was the reply from the story gods at the festival," I said, focusing on digging up the delicate roots without damaging them.

"And?"

I yanked a root a little too hard, snapping it in half. "And it's none of your business, that's what."

He didn't respond, just kept adding the herbs to the basket as if I hadn't said anything. My guilt said it all though. He'd done nothing but help me and here I was snapping at him like a jerk. He was even keeping the dragons occupied while we worked too so they didn't nip at the plants or knock over my basket.

"I don't know what the note means," I said softly. "It's been driving me crazy the past few weeks. I wish they'd just tell me if my book was good or not."

He started rearranging the ferns and their roots to fit as many as we could in the basket. "Why don't you ask somebody else then?"

"Like who? Asking friends and family puts them in a tough spot. If it is bad, they'll feel bad saying it, and if it's good, I probably wouldn't believe them anyway. I'd just assume they were sugar coating it."

Or maybe I was just too afraid of what their response would be. An ambiguous answer from the story gods was one thing, but from Gran? I wasn't sure I could deal with that.

"I'm not your friend," the demon lord said, "or your family. Let me read it."

I froze, fingers entrenched in the dirt. He wanted to...read my book? That was ridiculous, why would a demon lord care about my story?

But, if he really didn't care, then maybe that made him the perfect person to read it. He was right: he wasn't my friend or my family. He barely knew me, so he shouldn't feel bad giving me his honest thoughts. It seemed like he was pretty blunt to begin with, not really worrying about who he upset or how. Even if my book was bad, I bet he wouldn't judge me for it. He'd probably just say it sucked and move on.

I brushed my hands off on my overalls, getting them as clean as possible before opening my bag. My manuscript lay inside, all bright white and intimidating. I scrubbed my hands one more time before grabbing it.

"Here," I said, holding the pages out to him with trepidation. "It's the only copy I have, so be careful."

His shadows curled around it as if they were extra hands, pulling it to him. He didn't even look at it before tucking it away and adding the last of the herbs to the basket.

"Really? That's it?" I asked.

"Well, I can't say anything until I read it," he said, exasperation filling his voice. "Unless you expect me to do that now with you staring at me."

"Uh, yeah, I pretty much do."

He stared at me, as if trying to figure out if I was serious or not. Honestly, I wasn't sure either, but the moment I'd handed my story over to him it was like my entire body had filled with anxiety. I wanted to know what he thought as soon as possible, but I was also afraid of knowing it.

What a pickle I'd gotten myself into.

"On second thought, take your time," I said, forcing a smile. "I appreciate it."

He nodded, handing me the basket brimming with herbs. "Anything else you need help with?"

"No, I'm all good," I said, suddenly wanting to get out of here before I did anything embarrassing like sit him down and force him to read. "Just let me know what you think."

I gathered my things up and made my way down the mountain while the demon lord watched me go with a bemused smile on his face.

This was going to be a long few days waiting for him to finish reading. I'd have to busy myself with work until then and hope Gran didn't tease me too much for giving him my story when I'd refused to let anyone else read it.

No, she was definitely going to tease me about that.

Ugh. He better read like the wind.