Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Chapter 18: Ariminum Issues

(Original Chapter Title: Ariminum Issues)

It's Tertia time!

I've got some cut content to share here for you all:

Originally, Ranthia was going to bring up wanting to know how Tertia and her wife met, after she asked about Tertia's brothers. But it also made the scene feel like it ran long and, honestly, I kind of hesitated to 'waste' the space on backstory for side characters. "Will readers care enough about this?" is, unfortunately, a valid question—no matter how much I agree with the sentiment of writing for yourself, not an audience. Endless detail is possible, but judgment calls on what to cut and what to include have to happen.

Mind you, I still might find space to include this in the future as I edit, but I'll still share the story here.

Tertia would probably consider herself to be pan, by our modern labels. Once she was ready to claim her family business, she needed to get married, but she never intended to search for love. By putting herself out there, she was truly soliciting offers for what would benefit her business the most. Her now-wife, on the other hand, was very much only interested in women—yet her father didn't care. He intended to marry her off to a man, because it fit his worldview.

The girl was cunning though. When she learned about Tertia, she smudged Tertia's name and left the Hyrria part visible. Her father—owner of a modest wagon-making business—jumped at the idea of matching his daughter to a far more prominent family and arranged for a meeting between her and the inheritor of the Hyrria family.

Tertia wasn't entirely surprised when a younger woman arrived (sure, most of her suitors were men, but it wasn't like she was picky). She was surprised when the young woman announced that she was attracted to Tertia and would do everything in her power to win her heart—because it was the best chance she had at happiness.

The idea of another young woman trying to reach for what she truly wanted and escape the judgment of others meant something to Tertia—it was what she had spent her entire life doing (if for very different reasons). The two worked together to come up with a business plan that would allow the Hyrria family to profit off of a tangential—but ultimately unrelated—business acquisition.

Less than a year later, they were wed. Tertia's new father-in-law is a tad incensed about two women marrying, but he's also thrilled to have some connection to a far more prominent family. And he's the kind of man whose greed means more to him than his worldview.

(And yes, Tertia's wife's name is coming in the prose, so I didn't want to stick it here.)

Ranthia isn't quite as bad as she was when she was first rescued, but she's still trying to adapt to life without Black Crow's talons digging into her flesh without end. Mind [Healers] aren't a thing in Remus, so the best thing she can do is to keep herself busy. Ocean understands her situation well enough that he sees the same solution. And so she gets assigned... um, to basically make Ranger Team 1 redundant.

Not that they care, Ranger Team 1's more of a cushy gig for VIPs that manage to make it into the Rangers.

But it means a lot to Ranthia, she can get a bit drunk on the notion of helping others. We see this fairly swiftly with the street kids. Even if Ranthia's attempts to help them are a bit clumsy. Had the kid tried to hoard the coin, it could have invited disaster to him and those near him. And even the camping supplies she sneakily gifted them (with reckless disregard about whether anything she discarded might have meant something to the kids) might have caused them some problems. But she is genuinely trying to minimize the harm her help can bring, which is something that a lot of people who try to 'help' forget.

They can't be there forever. And truly helping someone isn't to expect accolades or accommodations to be made for them.

A long-term solution isn't something that Ranthia's ready to offer, but she does promise herself to keep it in mind and seek one out.

Honestly, I still get sentimental at Ranthia's reunion with Sunrise. It's hard to call them close friends—which is entirely on Ranthia—but it means so much to Ranthia to see her again. In some ways, the time apart means even more, because Sunrise knew her as an Adventurer—it's a deeper connection to an important piece of her past.

But it's also a little bittersweet. Ranthia hadn't seen the woman in twelve years. And seeing Sunrise age so much makes Ranthia feel the loss of her own aging far, far more acutely.

Being young forever sounds nice, but watching your friends age...

Ranthia's own immortality won't be as easy of a road as a certain other story's.