Press Gnome
Page 13
Vanya yawned upon her throne. "This whole invasion was much more fun when I thought it real. If it was all fake, I'm bored now. Go back to your hall, councilors."
"We surrender and will dissolve the Assembly at once, of course," Unok said, now sounding a little desperate.
"You'll do no such thing. Somebody has to do all the boring parts of running this city. Be on your way," Vanya said, making an idle shooing gesture with one hand.
Guards escorted an increasingly unhappy-looking Unok from the hall.
"All fake."
"Isn't that something?”
“Pretty alright though, isn’t it?”
“Better than it being real.”
“The girls are real though, right?”
The peasants followed shortly thereafter, still chattering amongst themselves as if they'd just seen something grand.
39
The mechanical press whirred as it came to life. The re-installation had gone well, the Assembly had given it up without too much of a fight. Cosmo had decided to let the magical press continue to run free. It had a habit of finding good stories and he thought that Pipopolis was better with it free, than without it. The populace remained fearful of a free press, but they ran a special edition on their new free-range press and suddenly people seemed to like it just a little bit more.
It had been two weeks since the illusionary army attacked the city and the paper was back in the original building, although they'd kept the new name. The Assembly hadn't been happy about it, but given how "taken" they'd been by the supposed lies of the paper, the public had lost a lot of respect for them. They council might not have been dissolved, but it was weakened.
The queen never really expressed her approval of what they'd done, but the fact that she was helping the paper to grow said enough.
The city's armories were doing more business as increasing numbers of people took an interest in adventuring. A very old industry of the city was returning and bringing jobs and wealth with it.
It was the dawn of the evil queen Vanya.
It was the era of fake news.
It was a time when anything was possible.
<<<<>>>>
Afterword
If you have read this far I presume you have finished the book, thank you for that. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you are a fan of comedic fantasy I think my influences are quite obvious, not that there are all that many options. It has always been a genre I enjoyed and felt was under-represented, and having now taken a swing at writing it I can understand why.
Writing any book is a challenge, when you try to toss in a bit of meaning and a bit of comedy it is even more so. I truly have no idea if there is an audience for this sort of thin, if it is something that readers will want more of. If you do, please leave a review or tell anyone about the book that you think might have an interest. There are other stories in Pipopolis that I would love to tell if you, the audience, wish them to be told.
I’m also happy to speak with fans directly, you can reach me at skylerwood@protonmail.com