The Runaway King

“I had arrived early for my own assassination.”

The opening sentence of The Runaway King introduces the story’s humorous tone, and more specifically the narrator’s characteristic wit. The statement also foreshadows the events of the first chapter, creating anticipation and immediately drawing the reader into the action.

“It was Roden. Once my friend. Then my enemy. Now my assassin.”

This quick-paced description introduces Roden just as Jaron recognizes him in real-time as his attacker in the first chapter. The repetitive grammatical structure of those three short repetitive statements highlights the characters’ history. They create tension by dramatically opposing the past (“friend”) and the present (“assassin”).

“‘I was never missing,’ I said. ‘I always knew exactly where I was.’”

Jaron’s quote highlights two of his main character traits. First, he is very witty, often using humor as a means to deflect his opponents’ verbal or physical attacks, as he does here against King Vargan’s taunts. Secondly, Jaron’s emphasis on the word “missing” also illustrates his characteristic confidence as he implies that, although he deliberately remained in hiding, he was still aware of his identity and duty.