The Twisted Throne

Chapter 2: Edris

 "What do you mean, you didn't kill her?" My boss's disembodied voice flooded my head. Her voice was warped, but I could still feel the anger running off it.

I was unable to kill the princess last night, and now I was going to pay. I knelt on the cold, hard floor, and the knees of my pants were slightly damp from the musty environment. I kept my head down, in the same position that I'd taken hundreds of times before. Every boss was the same. No one wanted to reveal their identity, in case I was some sort of spy, and they all demanded my respect. I had to look at the ground while they were speaking only as a precaution. They all wore elaborate disguises that even a skilled agent would have trouble seeing through. Most of the time I didn't mind having to bow, it concealed my identity as well, but today the position was particularly unpleasant. This room was seriously overwhelming. There were many sounds, smells, and surfaces commanding my attention. I swallowed and tried to focus.

"She eluded me, My Lady. " I wasn't scared, but I still had to suppress a tremble.

"Nonsense. You're an assassin, are you not?"

"I am, Your Excellency."

"Then you should have no problem killing a little princess." Her last words felt like venom.

"Perhaps you underestimated her." I knew this was a risky thing to say, but it came out before I could stop myself. I needed to get out of here before I said or did something to get myself in worse trouble than I was already in.

"Excuse me?"

"I-I mean that she has been doing this her whole life. She's probably had lots of training, and-"

"I don't care! It's your job to kill her, and I expect you to get it done! I'll give you fourteen days, and if I have not received word of the girl's death by midnight on the last day, it will be your head on my platter instead!

"Yes, My Lady," I gulped.

I waited until I could no longer hear her footsteps, and then knelt there for an extra minute just to be safe. When I was sure that the coast was clear, I pushed myself up and bolted out of the exit. I ran blindly through the dark alley, until I made it back on to the main road, and slumped against a building. My arm shook as I pressed it to my chest, trying to feel my heartbeat.

No, no, no! This could not happen now!

The sounds of the city were caving in on me, like someone had suddenly turned the world on at max volume. I closed my eyes in an attempt to block out the sun and the flashing signs surrounding me. I put my hands over my ears and fought back the urge to scream. Someone put their hand on my knee.

"Hey, are you okay?" I could barely process the words that came out of their mouth, and I definitely couldn't bring myself to look up.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped.

"Sorry," they removed their hand and sat in front of me. "I saw you collapse, and I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Listen, I know you're trying to be nice, but I don't need help."

"Okay, I'll leave you alone." Before they left, they unrolled my fist and placed two objects in my palm. Then they got up and walked away.

I opened my eyes for a moment, to see what the stranger gave me. To my surprise, it was a pair of rubber earplugs. I shoved them in my ears and started to feel a little better. I looked around for the person who tried to help me, but they were gone. Weird.

I sat there for a little longer trying to clear my head. Now that all the sounds around me had been quieted, I remembered that I had a pair of sunglasses and a small foam dinosaur in my pocket. I dug them out, squeezing the t-rex tightly between my fingers and placing the glasses over my eyes. Much better. I took a couple of deep breaths and stood up. I was still a little overwhelmed, but I was able to make it back to the dilapidated shack that I called home.When I stepped inside, I was hit with the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies. Two of my roommates sat on the floor, a plate of the delicious baked goods sitting between them.

"Cookie?" One offered.

"Thanks" I accepted the cookie and went into my little room.

It was no bigger than a closet, but I was glad to have even some amount of personal space. I shared the house with five other people because it was the only way all of us could afford a place to live. There were only three bedrooms, but since mine was the smallest, I didn't have to share. One of my roommates slept on the couch instead. I didn't know any of them very well. We were all teenagers and young adults who had run away from home, and most of us were wanted criminals.

I bolted all three locks on my door just as a precaution. You could never really be safe enough in this sort of situation. Even though I mostly trusted my roommates, I couldn't be sure. We'd all been ostracized from society for a reason. It didn't hurt to be careful.

Once my safety measures were in place, I ripped off my stiff clothes and put on some soft pants and an old sweater. I sat cross-legged on my bed and began to plan. I leaned over to the wooden board that I had set up like a desk and grabbed my notebook. I hastily scribbled all of the things I already knew and what I needed to learn. I knew that the princess was good at avoiding assassins, and I needed to figure out where her weaknesses were. I continued to jot down my ideas.

---

By the time I came to a halt with my preparations, it was well into the afternoon. Looking at the sun, I guessed that it was nearly six o'clock. I buried my notebook underneath my mattress, and unlatched my door.

I walked into the kitchen to find all of my roommates crowded around our small dining table playing cards. They offered to deal me in, but I shook my head. I would be leaving soon for a little reconnaissance mission, after my stomach stopped growling like a tiger ready to pounce. I couldn't remember when I'd last eaten a proper meal.

I did the best I could with the meager scraps that I could find in the fridge. I wasn't a great cook to begin with, and my current situation didn't make preparing meals any easier. No one that I lived with could go to the market without disguise, and even if we could, we wouldn't. We just didn't have the money.

I sat down on the couch and began to eat. I thought about how my mother would react if she could see me now. She would be horrified.

My family wasn't rich, but we lived comfortably. My father owned his own bakery, and my mother was a scribe. She was able to do her work from home, so that she could care for me, but we were never really close. I spent most of my days outside, only returning when the sun started to set. By then, my father would be home. We'd sit in his study every night, and he'd tell me stories. He made characters out of the people who came into his bakery. They'd go on adventures, but they always had a hot loaf of bread in their pocket.

My mother hated those stories. Late one night, I heard her tell my father, "you're ruining their mind with useless fantasies." He responded, "and you're crushing their dreams with reality. Edris is only a child. They don't need to know about the real world yet." That was it. End of story. My father continued to tell me tales of adventure and wonder, while my mother shook her head with disapproval.

Despite their disagreements, my parents loved each other, and they loved me. I didn't run away because I hated them. I ran away because I didn't want to be like them. I didn't want a boring job with a steady income. I wanted to make a name for myself and go on adventures, just like the characters that I loved so much as a kid. I wanted to be the customer who buys a loaf of bread before fighting a dragon, not the old baker who'd made thousands of identical loaves to give to thousands of different patrons. I wanted to lead an exciting life, so I left.

I was only fourteen years old when I committed my first crime. I had decided to join the army, but I had to be eighteen to enlist, so I created fake documents to prove my age. Although I was given skeptical glances from the officers who signed me up, they couldn't protest what clearly appeared to be an official birth record. I think some people knew that I was too young, but they didn't really care.

I learned quickly, and rose in ranks. Within 2 years, I was second-in-command to the head general. I was quick-witted and good with a bow. I led countless missions, until one night, I snapped. After four months in my position, it had begun to feel mundane. Every morning I would wake in an air conditioned bunker, consult my superiors about the day's tasks, and proceed to give orders to the lowly soldiers who were just crawling out of their tents. I didn't like this kind of power. I didn't really get to do anything exciting.

At midnight, while the rest of the camp slept, I abandoned my post. That was more than a year ago now, but I'm sure that the army would still hang me if I ever got caught. That is, if I'm not already killed for my numerous other crimes.

When I left the army, I truly had nowhere to go. They would come to my parents house as soon as they realized that I'd left, so I couldn't go back there. I decided to make my way towards the capital. Of course there would be a lot of soldiers there, protecting the king, but it was my best idea. As dangerous as it was, at least I would be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other people. It would be nearly impossible to distinguish me from the crowd.

I got my first assassin job just a week after I came to the city. I had stumbled into a dimly lit bar with nothing more than the clothes I was wearing and a bow strapped to my back. I had barely eaten since I left the army, so I needed to find food. I had no money, but a young man agreed to feed and house me if I completed a job for him. As it turns out, he was an assassin who'd had a slight change of heart. He sent me to do his assignments because he no longer wanted to do them himself. He was the one who brought me to my current house. I pretended to be him for two months. Then, his boss got arrested. The man who helped me no longer required my services to avoid death. I realized that I liked being an assassin, so I looked for more jobs.

One thing led to another, and now I'm plotting the death of a princess. It's crazy how times will change. I used to be just a little kid, living in a fantasy, but now I'm eighteen and a wanted criminal. Who knows where the next years will take me.