Hero! You’re so dashing!
Hero and the baron charged each other with blades at the ready. I was prepared for an epic clash of wills, but then my Hero’s sword began to glow with an awesome power.
“Exploding Heroic Slash!”
With those words, my Hero unleashed a mighty swing of his blade. The stroke was far too fast to follow. I saw a white line appear across the baron’s body moments before he was engulfed in a terrific explosion. Nothing remained of him. He was reduced to ash in an instant. Meanwhile, I was completely protected from any harm, thanks to an invisible barrier around me.
Moments later, a group of regular palace guards appeared.
“Princess Sherin!”
“You’re safe!”
“What’s all this?”
“What’s going on here?”
“What happened?”
“What is that thing?”
They were understandably confused, so I tried to explain what happened.
“Um, so, there was a bad baron, but he’s a pile of ashes now. He told his men to grab me so he could make my daddy let Uncle Finlaud out. When they tried to get me, my Hero stopped them all. He whooshed his sword around and took every one of them down in the name of justice! It was so cool! That’s why everyone is on the ground. I think they’re dead. My Hero protected me!”
Realization flashed across the faces of a few of the guards, but the majority were probably just confused further by my childish explanation of the events. After all, I was only six or so at the time. Luckily, one of the men who seemed to understand was the one in charge.
“Please come with us, Princess Sherin,” he said. “We must explain this to your father.”
“Do I have to?” I whined.
“Since you were the only witness to what took place, I believe your father will ask for you,” he replied firmly. “Please accompany us.”
In hindsight, the way the guard captain handled it was absolutely the right move. If he’d tried to force the issue, Hero might have diced him up. Being calm and gentle was the way to go. Perhaps he was used to dealing with children.
The guards led me straight to the throne room, and Hero Bear followed behind me. I wonder if he sensed my nervousness. Queen Grimwood hadn’t told me about all of the abilities my stuffed bear had when she gave it to me, so all of this came as quite a shock. Even so, I still felt safer with Hero than with the guards. After all, he’d just defeated over a dozen armed men single-handedly, and made it look easy. I was apprehensive about meeting with my father, but having my Hero there was reassuring.
Just before we arrived at the throne room, one of the guards ran ahead, and gave my father a brief report about the situation. Of course, I didn’t realize that at the time, but as soon as we entered, I understood. I figured it out, because father was absolutely furious. Nobles and royals are usually quite skilled at hiding their emotions, and father was no exception. However, even with the limited time I’d spent with him, I knew that the fake smile plastered on his face was concealing a burning anger. Inwardly, I hoped that a stern lecture was the worst that would come of the situation.
“So, Sherin, please explain in great detail how you ended up in a corridor surrounded by the corpses of armed men, and please don’t leave out anything about the creature acting as your bodyguard.” He was the picture of calm as he spoke, drawing upon every bit of his restraint, but his tone wavered ever so slightly, revealing the seething anger beneath his facade.
If we had been in private, he certainly would have yelled. Here in the throne room, he had to maintain his royal decorum, so the rage stayed hidden beneath a meticulously maintained mask of grace. Faced with that, I carefully explained what happened. I began with how I escaped the nursery, and then explained everything after that. Father interjected questions here and there, which I answered to the best of my ability. Once the tale was completed, he heaved an exasperated sigh.
“I shall have to think very carefully about how to punish you for this,” he said. “You must learn just how dangerous the world is.”
I reflexively tensed up. The punishments I received as a child were always fairly minor, but I still dreaded them at the time. Sensing that, my Hero stepped forward.
“Sire, if the purpose of a punishment is to ensure a lesson is learned, then hasn’t that objective already been accomplished?” the bear reasoned. “Surely after what happened, the princess understands that being kept in the nursery is for her own protection. During this latest episode, she experienced firsthand how cruel the world can be. She was quite fortunate to have brought along the Hero Bear doll. Without it she could have been taken hostage, or worse. I think she has learned the lesson well. In any case, the real villains here were the ones who tried to abduct her, and they have all been dealt with.”
With his adorable plush exterior, many adults wouldn’t have taken Hero seriously, but father knew better than to look down on him. “What you say does make some sense. Are you a vassal of Queen Grimwood?”
“I am bound only to that doll there,” my Hero replied. “It is true that Her Majesty was responsible for my creation, but my primary role is to protect the adorable girl who holds that doll.”
“I see. Was there no way you could have spared a few of the assailants? I’m glad you protected my daughter, but there isn’t anyone left to interrogate.”
Later, I learned that my father was at quite a loss without a body to examine. The true identity of the culprit eluded him until a certain noble matching the description of my would-be kidnapper was reported missing.
“It’s unfortunate, but in a situation like that, when being forced to protect a charge against multiple attackers, the best strategy is to kill quickly,” said my Hero Bear. “In most situations, dead men will not get back up and continue to menace your charge. That is why I showed no mercy. If your men had arrived sooner, I could have spared a few, but once their leader was the only one left, justice compelled me to put an end to him, vile as he was.”
Father nodded in understanding. I doubt he would have left that baron alive in that situation. My father was talented with a sword, though not as impressive as my Hero. Even so, father would have ended the baron just the same. The thought somehow made me happy. He wasn’t mad at me; father was angry for my sake. It showed how much he cared, which he couldn’t do very often. There were always servants around watching our interactions, so I rarely got to see his feelings on display.
“Th-Thank you for getting upset on my behalf, father,” I said. “I understand why you’re angry, so I’ll make an effort to stay out of trouble going forward. I love you.”
It wasn’t a lie, but I also didn’t promise not to sneak out of the nursery again. If anything, I vowed to avoid being caught. Without realizing it, I also used the three magic words that melted any father’s heart when he heard them from his daughter. Faced with that, father finally relented.
Unfortunately, I was still returned to the nursery, where the nurses and attendants gave me a lecture. The life-size version of my Hero disappeared sometime during the tongue-lashing. But I knew he’d return to protect me again if I needed it. After all, that’s just what heroes did...