As soon as Idris mentioned that name, the shadowy figure stepped into the light to reveal himself. He was a man in his 40s with slicked-back brunette hair and a neatly-trimmed goatee. His eyes possessed a sharp, rugged sternness to them, giving him the aura of a seasoned warrior with decades of combat experience.
“You knew it was me?” the man known as Mordecai said with a serious scowl.
“Of course I do,” Idris said with a rather casual smirk, even against such a stern adversary. “People who want me dead who also happen to use a thornshaft arrow? There’s not many of those out there.” He tossed the arrow that’s held in his hand to the side. “Did my cousin put you up to this? I thought we have an agreement—that if he is to kill me, he’ll do it himself in an honorable duel to the death.
“Now, if I remember correctly, the date for that duel is still a month or so away. Did Edwin finally come to his senses and realize that he’s never going to win and so decided to send you instead to finish me off the old fashioned way? You are a royal guard, for crying out loud. Now, you’ve become nothing more than a common assassin. Oh, how low you’ve stooped.”
“Prince Edwin did not order this,” Mordecai insisted. “In fact, he doesn’t even know I’m here. I came here entirely of my own volition. I aim to slay you myself so that he doesn’t have to when the day of the fateful duel between the two of you arrives.
“Even as of now, as painful as I am to admit, Prince Edwin’s combative skills are not up to your level, despite all that training. If the two of you were to duel, he would almost certainly lose. And yet he will not relinquish the duel, no matter how much I try to convince him otherwise. Therefore, the only way to ensure his survival is for you to die before the duel even begins. I have no other choice.”
“So you’re willing to risk violating that vow—risk tainting its honor—just so you can keep your prince alive? How ridiculous?!” Idris said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “May I remind you that it was Edwin who’d suggested that vow to begin with.”
“That is true. Edwin may lack the skill to defeat you in combat, but he is honorable to a fault,” Mordecai said. “If he wants to kill you, he shall only do so in the most honorable way. However, sometimes, honor is not very practical. Even though he may object to my dishonorable methods, I am fine with it as long as it keeps him safe.”
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“Oh, the son of a wretched witch queen speaking of honor?” Idris jeered. “How utterly ironic.”
“Do not speak of Witch Queen Josephine of Aether!” Mordecai bellowed with rage. “You do not have the right to do so! You are the one who assassinated her!”
“That’s right, I did,” Idris admitted. “I killed her because she killed my mother, her own twin sister. That bitch deserves what’s coming to her.”
“You have no proof of that!” Mordecai rebuked.
“My eyes and ears are proof enough,” Idris snapped, his expression now harsh with severity. “I’d witnessed her confession right as she poisoned my mother. But you wouldn’t have believed me. None of you would have believed the words of a child, even that of a young prince. Not to mention how politically cunning my aunt Josephine was—she would have easily gotten away with it. That is why I killed her—it is for vengeance, plain and simple. And your dear prince Edwin is simply too blinded by motherly love to see what kind of person his mother truly is.”
“Enough!” Mordecai shouted, now drawing another arrow with his bow and aiming it straight at Idris. “Enough of your venomous lies! I shall kill you where you stand!”
Idris scoffed, as though unfazed by that threat. “Go ahead. Kill me if you dare. Release that arrow onto me. Just keep in mind that whatever you’re attempting to do next will be completely against the wishes of your dear Prince Edwin. He will not thank you. Instead, he will simply hate you for going against his explicit order behind his back. He will consider his honor tarnished and it will be all your fault. Keep that in mind when you let that arrow fly towards me.” He pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing his bare chest as if taunting the bow-wielding man to take aim at it. “Go ahead! Do it!”
Mordecai considered Idris’s words, causing him to hesitate for a brief moment as he held his bow taut in a fully-drawn position. Then, right at the last moment, he tilted his aim just a little as he released the arrow—allowing it to soar right into the gourd Idris was holding in his hand, puncturing it.
“This isn’t over,” Mordecai warned with a severe tone. “By the time you and Price Edwin have that duel, I will make sure that he’ll be the one to survive. Mark my words, Queenslayer.”
With that, Mordecai vanished into the shadows. Meanwhile, Idris glanced at his punctured gourd with an expression of saddened disappointment as he watched its inner contents spill out of that hole left by the arrow. To be honest, he’d much rather have Mordecai shoot the arrow at one of the non-lethal areas of his body. A drunkard couldn’t be without their wine, after all. That Mordecai really did like to hit him where it’d hurt him the most, didn’t he? That bastard!
