I tried not to panic. Chess couldn’t just walk through a fence, but they would come for me, or they would warn guards. I’d be free eventually. Besides, Vilo’s relaxed attitude made the whole think look like a date rather than a kidnapping. Hero-napping. Whatever.

“How did you do that?” I whispered. “Get me through that fence?”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Should I?”

He looked around us. His men kept a respectful distance, like mafia henchmen. They guarded the place from afar, sitting on benches or walking along the paths. Only their watchful attitude made them stand out from the rest of the walkers, who strolled along, a little more carefree, in colorful attires that suggested the park mostly attracted wealthy people.

Nobody else paid attention to us. I briefly considered screaming for help, but I decided against it. It would only get me into more trouble.

For the Almighty’s sake, I just wanted to buy butter, and now there’s this guy staring at me as if I should know him! All right, let’s give him what he wants.

I sighed.

“Who are you?”

Vilo offered me his arm with a smile. After a short hesitation, I reluctantly put my hand on his wrist, and he led me on a path that wound between rows of elaborate topiaries.

“When the town criers announced that the Senior Magi were summoning the Great Hero Al, I didn’t remember the old nursery rhyme was based on an actual prophecy. I imagined a big strong man wielding a shiny sword, because that’s the imagery we were fed when we were young.”

There’s a nursery rhyme about the Great Hero Al?

“Nobody expected someone like you,” added Vilo. “Not even King Esthar. Am I right?”

“What makes you think that?”

“He’d never have summoned you on purpose. He wanted a charismatic warrior who could lead his armies, not a resourceful woman who’d go out of her way to save unimportant people.”

What did he just say?

I pulled on his arm, making him face me, and stood on tiptoe to match his height.

“No one’s unimportant!”

Then I remembered where I was, the park, the mafia henchmen, and I let go of his arm in a panic. He smiled.

“I don’t need convincing, Lady Al. But I think King Esthar does. Did he tell you about his current situation?”

“He did tell me why he got me summoned.”

I explained what I’d learned in the morning, the Demon Lord, the recent expansion of Elkodunar over neighboring territories, and how the king feared an attack on Brealia. Vilo listened with an amused look on his face.

“Faur is dangerous all right, but he’s been around for ten years, now. Do you know who wasn’t around ten years ago? Me.”

Yes, but who are you exactly? You wanted me to ask you, so I did, and you’re still not answering the question!

I breathed hard. I didn’t know him, or how far I could push him before he or his men retaliated, but I was tired of being played with.

“Please come to the point, Vilo Jozin! Who are you?”

“The leader of a party King Esthar may be more worried about than the Demon Lord, because unlike Faur, we’re here, not over the mountains. And we’re vocal.”

“How vocal?”

He puffed out his chest.

“I formally created the All One Party last year. We protest regularly in Carastra and Zerta, and we gather more and more people each time. Still, the king won’t meet me or my closest associates.”

“I wonder why.”

If I was King Esthar, a guy gathering protesters every week under my windows would look more like a dangerous lunatic than like a respectable political force.

Vilo must have heard the sarcasm in my voice. He frowned.

“Lady Al, this is no joke. This is about the people of Brealia!”

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Over the past year, he explained, the All One party had set up protests in the main cities of the kingdom, asking for equal rights between nobles and commoners. Vilo pretended he’d pursued this goal all his life, but All One had really taken off during the winter. Due to bad harvests all across the continent, the prices of several basic goods had risen, driving hundreds to walk the streets, asking for public action.

Classic story. It takes an economical emergency for ordinary people to get over their fear of protesting. The French Revolution began that way. But unlike this gentleman, I know how it ended, and it wasn’t pretty.

“I’m surprised King Esthar even lets you walk free,” I commented.

“He wouldn’t if he had a choice. But as you experienced, my natural magic makes me hard to catch.”

To demonstrate his ability, he stepped right through a pillar topped with a statue of a young child carrying an amphora. His figure looked slightly blurry for a second and the stone opposed no resistance.

“Natural magic?” I frowned. “How common is that?”

“Uncommon, but not so rare. And definitely not reserved for nobles, or any special kind of population.”

After I got summoned, Princess Nigella had asked me whether I had magical abilities, but so much had happened in the meantime that I hadn’t given it a second thought. However, Vilo’s demonstration suggested that it could be a thing. Perhaps calling Cherub for help wasn’t the only supernatural feat I was capable of.

This still doesn’t tell me why this man abducted me.

I put my hands on my hips.

“What do you want from me, Vilo?”

“I want you to keep both eyes open. The prophecy was around for centuries, so why did King Esthar choose to summon you now, when the country’s not at war?”

I’ve been wondering, too, but I have no more reason to trust this mad dog of a political leader than to trust the king.

“Are you suggesting it’s not about Faur?”

He smiled.

“Maybe the threat King Esthar wants you to defend him from isn’t some Demon Lord from outside the country. Maybe it’s a man standing next to you right now.”

And maybe you’re just giving yourself more power than you really have.

We’d walked to a grotto where the basalt statue of a dragon watched over a small spring. It reminded me of a question I ought to have asked at the beginning of our discussion.

“What kind of threat are you, Vilo? Did you have anything to do with the dragon’s attack?”

He shook his head.

“Not in a lifetime! That was Kossi, right? He’s been known as a protector of Brealia for as long as I can remember. I have no idea what went through his mind, but of course it wasn’t me! First, I don’t know where to find him, let alone how to make him do anything, and second, his act of madness caused the death of thirty people. I want to grant everyone the same rights, Lady Al, not to get innocent people killed!”

His jaw was clenched and his navy blue eyes had gotten so dark that they looked black. He was sincere.

Besides, you can’t be the people’s leader when they’re dead, can you?

I nodded. “I believe you, Vilo. This is my main concern right now: find out who made Kossi attack the city of Carastra, because whoever did this is the actual danger I intend to fight.”

“And then? What will you do once you stop them?”

“I’ll figure it out later. You have no idea how much I’m dealing with right now.”

He raised his eyebrows and gave me a long curious stare. I gestured at the park around us and sighed.

“There are so many things you take for granted, because they’ve always been around in this world, so no one even thinks I need to learn them! But I do. I have to ask how common natural magic is, or what you call these people with the triangular ears on top of their heads…”

“Tibuns. They’re called Tibuns.”

“Thank you very much.”

We’d followed the spring to its end, where it flowed into a wide river that marked the edge of the park. Boats sailed up and down its stream.

That must be the river Rekario, the one that flows from Lake Mera to the sea.

On the other bank, tall narrow houses were aligned, their front doors facing the river. They reminded me of a postcard from Amsterdam that my parents kept stuck to their fridge with a magnet.

“Your escort is looking for you,” said Vilo. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Al. You might be the hero that we need after all, so please, keep your eyes open and your mind alert. Sooner or later, you’ll have to take sides.”

I shook my head.

“Look, Vilo, if I must choose between hereditary monarchy and democracy, I know where my heart lies. However, in my native world, there have been revolutions, overthrown kings, and I know it’s always a messy, ugly process. Not to mention that new tyrants usually end up replacing the old ones.”

He frowned.

“This is not who I am. Anyway, I’m not asking for your support right now. I just wanted to warn you that King Esthar wasn’t telling you the whole truth.”

“No one ever does.” Not even me. I’m certainly not telling anyone I came into this world with a cheat code named Cherub. “I’m pretty sure you won’t stop at abolishing privileges. You’ll want to be a head of state yourself. So I must warn you, out of my knowledge of my own history, that it may not end well.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Lady Al.” Vilo bowed and handed me a folded piece of paper. “Now, you’ll know how to find me if you need me. The palace is this way. My men will be watching, in case you get in trouble, but Lexas Gardens is a quiet place, as you must have noticed.”

He pointed upstream, to the north, then walked away in the other direction.

The paper contained directions and a password. I put it in my pocket, in case it came in handy later, then I followed the path upstream. A short while later, Chess appeared, running towards me.

“Ma’am! What happened? I’ve been looking for you!”

“I’m fine, Chess, it’s okay. Don’t blame yourself, there was nothing you could do.”

The cadet looked around us. “We’re being watched.”

I nodded. I didn’t see or feel them, but I just knew there were people out there.

“Men from the All One party. Vilo Jozin asked them to keep me safe until you found me.”

Chess clenched their teeth for a second and their emerald eyes glowered at the bushes.

“So that was Vilo Jozin. I knew it! I don’t know anyone else with the same natural power.” Their hand tightened on the hilt of their sword. “What did he do to you?”

Nothing bad, kid. He mostly questioned my loyalty.

I took a step on the path, deliberately looking as relaxed as possible. Part of me felt scared, but I didn’t want it to show.

“He tried to convince me that he didn’t want the power for himself.”

“And you believed him?”

I shrugged.

“No. He’s probably not a bad man, but he’s a leader at heart.”

I smiled at Chess, who looked like they were just waiting for an occasion to get in a fight with Vilo’s men.

“Let’s pretend it didn’t happen, all right? I’m the Great Hero Al, and this conversation was quite enlightening. You didn’t fail in your mission. After all, I see you’re still carrying my butter.”