Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 40 (Patreon)

Chapter 40: Heart and Home

(Original Chapter Title: What Goes Up, Heart and Home (as in two separate chapters))

I supposed this is rightfully a chapter I could have omitted and summarized.

If I wanted Ranthia to murder me.

There's not much of the OG draft's What Goes Up here. It carried through Avyna agreeing to stow things, then the original Heart and Home began with them heading out to go shopping together.

This is a chapter that didn't change much, despite the restructuring. Substantively nothing changed from the OG draft to the (hopefully) final version of the chapter, just a fair bit of polish and some minor corrections (I'd had Avyna as an inscriptionist in the OG draft, but enchanter works better).

We finally have confirmation that, yes, it was (as far as the author is concerned, at least) intentional that Ranthia had been a bit blasé that Ranthia had been showing off entirely too much of her Skillset in public! Ranthia had stayed so on edge in Remus that, especially with her new happiness, she over-corrected in Coalition City. She relaxed her guard a bit too far—and she finally consciously realized it.

No harm done, right? (Maybe?)

The shopping date was overall a fun scene to write that meant the world to Ranthia. She got to see new sides of Avyna and there was an incredible amount of brazen handholding (honestly, they were in public!).

One detail that couldn't make it into the prose though was related to that final shop. It was a branch of a famous elven store, and the only reason Ranthia was able to enter was because Avyna was clutching to her. Non-elves that tried to enter would find themselves in a small shop that sold nothing of value at high prices. High-tier Spatial hijinks were at play, but Ranthia lacked any frame of reference to notice—aside from the obvious fact that the shop was much, much larger than it appeared. Quite plainly, Coalition City is prepared for elves of higher standing than the cycling level-seekers that tend to end up there.

The chapter is a bit gratuitous, but Ranthia deserves a bit of indulgence after everything. Feelings are escalating quickly, which leaves Ranthia struggling to stop herself before she goes too deep, too fast.

Yet all too soon, her role in the war will resume.