Afterword - Book 1 - Chapter 50 (Patreon)

Chapter 50: Love & Leadership

(Original Chapter Title: Of Love and Leadership)

Y'know, I didn't expect everyone to glom on to the rings being foreshadowing. Which in retrospect was OBVIOUSLY very silly and stupid. My beta readers even had strange ideas about them being more literally cursed in ways that I'm not sure are even possible in BtDEM.

But yes, everyone saw (something like) this coming.

I actually really like Hexara as a character—I just don't like what her relationship with Ranthia would become. They want too different of things out of life and, unfortunately, Ranthia has a nasty self-sacrificing streak that would make it worse. I'd actually gamed out what their future would have been like together. Ranthia would have given up everything for Hexara. And it would have brewed bitterness. Hexara was enamored with Ranthia as a heroine out of a bard's tale, but she was also adverse to risk. Some of the spark would have been lost without Ranthia out 'saving the world' as an Adventurer or as a Ranger. They would have loved each other, but neither of them would have been truly happy—especially as Ranthia would have really struggled with a civilian career path. Good odds Ranthia would have ended up taking over Fausteo's Musical Theater someday though, absent a better path—which was kind of neat.

There've been a LOT of negative and hateful comments about Hexara and I expect I'll see more as the RR chapter goes up, but I don't think that's fair. If you re-read Chapter 39 (Ranger Convocation) you might note that it was Ranthia that proposed doing the rotation, Hexara hadn't talked her into it. This is another moment where Ranthia—especially Ranthia in pain—is an unreliable narrator. Hexara had talked Ranthia into going the Ranger route, but things got serious there suddenly after they were forced apart by the Academy. Yet Ranthia chose to take another two years (though, yes, it's dubious if she had a choice at that point). From Hexara's POV—absent the insight we've seen from Ranthia's thoughts since—Ranthia chose being a Ranger over them being together. ...And it's kind of reasonable to expect that to be a trend.

And no, Hexara isn't a gold digger. Her wife's sudden fortunes were just how they met and got to know each other. It was the stuff that Ranthia was too focused on her misery to relay that showed how Hexara fell in love with this other woman.

Hexara was always focused on appearances first and foremost. This was why she was hesitant about Ranthia using 'Hexy,' since Ranthia knew her when she was young. When Ranthia tried the word, it made Hexara feel like she was that awkward teenager that thought her entire life was tied up in some guy all over again. It's why she, initially, felt so drawn to Ranthia—of course she should be with the [Sexy] heroine that saved her life and gave her a fresh start! And it's why she chose to marry someone who could be there alongside her instead of the woman that would be absent more often than not.

Alas.

Ranthia was having a rough time of things, but imho, she didn't do awfully with her debriefing. Sure, she dropped decorum more than once, but I doubt Ranger Command is exactly unused to that. Having Ocean in her corner counted for a lot too.

But yes, here we have confirmation that she forgot that a Sentinel had been dispatched (nothing like showing up to wreckage and having to ask locals to find out wtf is going on) and very nearly got a Sentinel dispatched against her too. But for the Shimagu War, she probably would have had an unpleasant encounter.

Ah well, I'm sure the pale super powerful being at your door right before you go to bed—telling you to gear up—is nothing.