I suppose I was only in my sixth year or so at the time. It happened while I was exploring the castle after another daring escape from the nursery. In my arms was my dearest possession, an adorable stuffed bear I’d received from the queen of the forest. This soft toy was wearing a heroic suit of armor, complete with a red cape. The armor was merely for decoration, though. Just like the sword it was holding, the armor was just as soft and cuddly as the bear itself. The forest queen called it a “Hero Bear,” so I did too. Actually, I usually just called it “Hero” for short. I was quite fond of referring to it as “my Hero” in conversation, so within a few days of my receiving it, all of my attendants knew what I meant when I said those words.
Anyway, this wasn’t my first adventure in the castle. In fact, I received my Hero during one such adventure. On that occasion, I wanted to see the rumored fairy queen of the forest, who was supposedly very cute. The rumors were absolutely correct: She was quite adorable. Not only that, but she sensed a sort of kinship with me, and gave me my Hero as a present. She said it would protect me, but at the time, I had no idea what that truly meant.
In this instance, I escaped with no particular purpose in mind. I just wanted to free myself from the confines of the nursery. Luckily, my younger brothers provided ample distractions for the people who took care of us, even without any intervention on my part. I slipped out of the nursery during the commotion and left to explore the palace. After all, without a specific goal in mind, I had no choice but to look for something interesting.
“Oho, is that Princess Sherin? What are you doing outside of the nursery?”
Unfortunately, instead of finding anything of interest, I ran into a troublesome person almost immediately. I’d met him before once, but didn’t remember his name. This man was a baron or some such; I remembered that my uncle had once introduced us, but that was about it. He was somewhat short, and a little overweight. His gray hair only covered the sides of his head, since he was balding pretty badly. There was a little mustache, styled into two points beneath his nose, and he wore clothes befitting his status as a small-time noble. Worst of all, he wasn’t alone. Over a dozen armed men stood with him.
“I’ve elected to take a bit of a walk to familiarize myself with the palace today,” I declared. Even then, I understood that the best way to get away with doing something you’re not supposed to be doing was to pretend you had every right to do it. I may have curtsied as I replied, so as not to be rude, but I really didn’t owe some baron an explanation anyway.
“Oho? Without any guards or attendants? How careless of you. Seize her!” he ordered with a smug smile on his lips.
A jolt of fear ran through me. From his tone, and that twisted smile, this wasn’t just someone hoping to return me to the nursery. I could tell there was something more sinister going on. As the armed men surged forward to surround me, I hugged my Hero tightly, and screamed.
“Take care not to harm her!” the baron ordered his men. “We need her alive to force the king to release Duke Finlaud! That little forest wench isn’t around this time, we can’t lose this chance!”
Then I heard the dull ring of a sword slicing through flesh, and a corresponding groan, followed by a thud. When I opened my eyes, I could hardly believe it.
“Hero!”
Before me was a life-sized version of my Hero: an adorable brown bear clad in armor, adorned with a red cape—but he was bigger than any of the men. The sword he held was wet with the blood of a man who was sprawled out on the floor. It was my first time witnessing such violence, but rather than feeling scared, I was excited. My heart pounded in my chest.
“Villains! How dare you gang up on a defenseless girl?! The sword of justice cries for your punishment!” the true Hero admonished the crowd of men as he brandished his sword!
He sounded so cool! I was smitten anew. I still held the toy version in my arms, but this was the real thing in front of me. My Hero.
“What in the— D-Don’t worry! We still have the numbers. It’ll all be over once we have the girl!” the baron sputtered. He didn’t sound so convincing, though, as he stepped backward.
“Vile fiend! You speak so casually of wrongdoing in the presence of justice? I will vanquish your evil and subvert your horrid plans here and now!”
He’s so cool! Get him, Hero!
Hero Bear swung his sword in a wide arc to drive back the crowd in front of him. When the men in front of him backed away, he veered over to his right and ran his blade through a man positioned near the wall. The next moment, he leaped to the other side of the room and cleaved through another man near the opposite wall. Now there were only enemies in front of us and behind. The baron noticed this too.
“Close in! Take her from behind!” he bellowed, waving his hands to signal to his men. From my position, he looked like a drunk orchestra conductor.
The people behind me did as instructed...or rather, they tried to. Hero jumped into the air and did a backward flip before elegantly swinging his sword. With a single stroke, he felled three of the attackers; then he spun around and finished off the rest of the people behind me with a few quick strikes. His bladework was masterful, far more skilled than any I’d ever seen—although most of the swordplay I’d witnessed before that was from the safety of my father’s lap during military training, so there wasn’t much for me to compare it to at that point. But Hero was certainly more skilled than the men around us. Compared to him, they were hardly moving. Before the baron and his men could react, Hero turned to face the men in front of me, then flung himself forward. He feinted toward one man, but ran another through. I could see the fear growing in their eyes as panic set in. They were no match for my Hero.
The baron panicked as well.
“A-ta-ta-ta-ta-tack together!” he shrieked. “There’s only one enemy! Use your numbers!”
He pointed a pudgy finger as he sputtered out orders, but my Hero didn’t let up. With only the men in front of me remaining, he was free to put his all into attacking, without having to worry about enemies to the rear. Even when the soldiers attacked together, he just swung his sword in a wide arc to throw them into disarray. Those that pulled back were no longer able to attack, and those that didn’t were cut down. Just like that, my Hero steadily reduced the enemy numbers, until finally only the baron remained.
“Defend yourself, villainous cur!” my Hero challenged him. “Or are you the cowardly kind who can only hide behind his men and bark orders? Draw your blade, and I’ll cut you down where you stand!”
The baron stood there trembling with his mouth hanging open. His noble pride was already in tatters, but now he was being insulted even further. In his fury, he took up a nearby weapon from the ground. “I’ll just have to do it myself,” he grunted. “I won’t let this chance pass me by.”
“I commend your resolve at least. Prepare yourself.”