Afterword - Book 4 - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

Chapter 37: Life's Subtle Changes

(Original Chapter Title: Life's Subtle Changes)

I think by this point it's obvious that Book 4's stepping towards its endgame.

I have no idea if it worked on a single reader, but one thing I tried to do with this chapter was to briefly mislead readers—when I described what Ranthia saw of her savior, I fully intended a moment of expectation that it'd be Lysia and not Amphea.

It was my homage to a cut plotline. Back when I was writing the OG draft, I planned to have the two shield-wielders come head-to-head (indirectly) as candidates for a Sentinel seat. In that plan, Night would have sought Ranthia's thoughts on the suitability of each to a Sentinel—and Ranthia would have inadvertently cost Lysia the opportunity. In a vacuum, I liked the plotline. But it also interfered with other plans and it... didn't actually fit by the time I got to that point.

Ranthia wasn't nursing a grudge against Lysia for her naive speciesism and Night or Ranger Command asking Ranthia "hey, what are your thoughts on the suitability of two women you know but haven't interacted with in many years" was absurd.

Also, I just liked Ranthia's surprise when she meets Sentinel Steel. It is still canon that Lysia was a name on the list, but lost out to Amphea, but that's not entirely relevant.

Also, a confession? In the OG draft I used Sentinel Substantial instead of Sentinel Steel. ...And seriously, what the actual fuck past me—that was not a viable name.

This chapter also introduces a second Sentinel, Pierce! In both the OG draft AND while I was approaching this chapter, I was tempted to spin out a chapter or two of Ranthia training the new kid—showing how she mirrors Hunting, after years spent disparaging how he'd treated her. Buuuut, both times I made the decision that it was better to keep with the overview this chapter provides. I kinda just feel like there's not much point in belaboring the training. We've seen what it looks like, and I don't dislike the look into Ranthia's mindset the paragraphs in here grant.

As to the end of the chapter... well, I don't really think there's anything more than I can say. At times, I need to trust the prose to convey what it should.