Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24: Hitting Words

(Original Chapter Title: N/A)

How many people caught on to Ranthia not really (getting a chance to) speak before Serondes called her on it?

I'll come out and admit it: Ran's being an unreliable narrator again, but I'll discuss that in an upcoming chapter.

One of my favorite things to do where I find appropriate moments is to give a little insight into the relationship Ranthia has with Xaoc. For as stiff as she can be with her faith, she's also got a certain willingness to joke around with Him. She's protective of His words, but more often He responds with emotions or a sense of His actions. It's hard to put a clear label on their relationship dynamic though. They're not buddies or father-and-daughter or quite master-and-servant. Ranthia's subservient and faithful (for all her fretting about how chaotic she truly is), but she's also somewhat unguarded with Xaoc in a way she seldom is otherwise, even in her own thoughts.

The elven trio was always over the top and while I might argue that Ranthia's a bit more world-savvy than Elaine was at this point, they're still far enough beyond her expectations that it causes problems. Aegion was absolutely showboating with his absurd signal though.

The meat of the chapter is, of course, the elves learning about Sentinel Dawn, and Ranthia 'learning' (I mean, with her recall with names...) Dawn's name.

I've had more than a few people say Awarthril shouldn't have reacted so poorly to the news, but I disagree. The woman all but confessed that she'd been tempted to abscond with Dawn when she found out the young woman was a potential solution to THE thing that drove her quest—immortality for Kiyaya. Per her own admission she had kind of just slacked off (comparatively) ever since she parted ways with Dawn, only to find out that Dawn's own people she had been so excited to return to had... basically let her die.

The emotional surge is intense, even if the loss of her better sense was short-lived.

She should have known that she couldn't entrust her solution to anyone else.

Ran's enamor with the elves as a whole has received damage for the first time, but she's worldly enough to put the blame on the trio directly rather than hold their species responsible for a few individuals. ...In large part because of her obsession with one elf in particular.