Ireth
Myth Weaver
In my novel WINTER'S QUEEN, I opted to have the villain, Fiachra, slain not by the heroes, but by a supporting character named Loegaire, who has a lot of reason to hate Fiachra. Despite my justifications (listed below), I'm wondering if people will be put off by this. My beta reader has already remarked on it as "strange".
1. Prior to the events of the story, Fiachra betrayed Loegaire's secret romance with Fiachra's sister to the King of their court; this resulted in the king cursing Loegaire with sterility, ruining Loegaire's greatest dream of having a child and basically messing him up for the next seventeen years.
2. Moments before his death, Fiachra is in the midst of trying to assassinate the king and usurp the throne. Loegaire kills Fiachra immediately in defense of the king, and the heroes opt to help the king, stopping his bleeding and stitching up his wound. This is consistent with their characterization, as they don't use violence unless others use it against them first. Also, I thought it would be an interesting idea to have them save the king rather than kill the main villain. This works in their favor, as it ultimately results in the king deciding to let the heroes leave his realm in peace, thereby repaying the life-debt they gained by helping him. Any other course of action would have screwed them over further.
3. Loegaire doesn't strike the killing blow with any knowledge that it's Fiachra he's killing, as Fiachra is masked by illusions. For all Loegaire (or anyone else) knows, he's simply protecting his king from danger, like any other loyal guardsman or soldier would do. This exonerates him of any implications of murder stemming from the grudge. Only when Fiachra is dead does the illusion fade and reveal his identity.
I'm still of the opinion that this is the most logical conclusion to the story, but I'm interested in hearing what you guys have to say. Who knows, something might change my mind.
1. Prior to the events of the story, Fiachra betrayed Loegaire's secret romance with Fiachra's sister to the King of their court; this resulted in the king cursing Loegaire with sterility, ruining Loegaire's greatest dream of having a child and basically messing him up for the next seventeen years.
2. Moments before his death, Fiachra is in the midst of trying to assassinate the king and usurp the throne. Loegaire kills Fiachra immediately in defense of the king, and the heroes opt to help the king, stopping his bleeding and stitching up his wound. This is consistent with their characterization, as they don't use violence unless others use it against them first. Also, I thought it would be an interesting idea to have them save the king rather than kill the main villain. This works in their favor, as it ultimately results in the king deciding to let the heroes leave his realm in peace, thereby repaying the life-debt they gained by helping him. Any other course of action would have screwed them over further.
3. Loegaire doesn't strike the killing blow with any knowledge that it's Fiachra he's killing, as Fiachra is masked by illusions. For all Loegaire (or anyone else) knows, he's simply protecting his king from danger, like any other loyal guardsman or soldier would do. This exonerates him of any implications of murder stemming from the grudge. Only when Fiachra is dead does the illusion fade and reveal his identity.
I'm still of the opinion that this is the most logical conclusion to the story, but I'm interested in hearing what you guys have to say. Who knows, something might change my mind.