Wow oh wow, thank you, Champions, for all the love you’ve shown Royal Magic with the slew of reviews you’ve left! (I appreciate the feedback, and it helps me a lot!) Please enjoy the first Royal Magic extra: a scene told from an alternate point of view, Ben’s. (There’s actually a lot of new content in this one as for much of the scene Benjimir is apart from Gwendafyn.) I hope you enjoy it, and now let’s continue on with the post!
When you all voted the “Villain turned good guy” as the most wanted hero in the 2018 aptly named “most wanted hero poll,” I sweated a bit. I already had plans for Benjimir (previously a villain) and Gwendafyn to star in their story together, but I really didn’t know how I was going to pull it off, so I kept delaying it. But once “villain turned good guy” won the poll…I knew I couldn’t–or perhaps shouldn’t–wait any longer.
So I’m going to start off the fun by putting Benjimir in the hot seat and say he deserved his multi-year exile and removal of the “Crown Prince” title for his less-than-honorable actions in Red Rope of Fate when he actively tried to separate Tari and Arion. (You Champions seemed to take special offense to it, as Arion in particular never fails to be in the top ten–and usually is in the top six–heroes of my annual hero poll.) So knowing that what he did really was wrong, and that Arion is highly beloved…I was pretty nervous about trying to redeem him.
Thankfully, Benjimir’s saving grace is that the passion and protective instinct he used against Tari and Arion could be (eventually) turned around to work in my advantage by having him do the same for Fyn. You see, even though he didn’t care much for her–personally, anyway–Benjimir was prideful enough (And secretly honorable enough) that he wouldn’t actively sit by and let Gwendafyn’s aunt pick on her. And when he warned off Lorious he unknowingly won big bonus points with Fyn, and that’s the turning point.
Fyn is Benjimir’s redeemer. She sees the real him–she’s intimately familiar with it as she was read into the details about it. And yet she still chooses to reach for him, which in reality is what Benjimir wants more than anything.
So, ironically, you have the hero that is treated like a villain (Fyn) falling for Benjimir because he will stand with her and doesn’t flinch at her magic or large personality, and on the other end you have the villain who is treated like a hero (Benjimir) falling for Gwendafyn because she doesn’t blink an eye at his past or see a problem with his cunning personality. They’re seeking the same thing, but what makes Gwendafyn the hero is that despite what she faces, she never gives in to the temptation to use her strength for selfish or dark purposes. Benjimir is redeemed from his past because now that he has seen Gwendafyn’s love he knows why doing what he did was so wrong. (You can see it in the very public way he takes Lorious out compared to the shady techniques he used on Tari and Arion.)
Hopefully the new extra will give you a little added insight to his character! I hope you enjoy it, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Thanks, Champions, for reading, and an extra big thank you to everyone who reviews!
