Afterword - Book 4 - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

Chapter 39: Minor Interlude - Sentinel Solace - The Result of Their Legacies

(Original Chapter Title: N/A)

A glimpse into the mind of a cat: even as I schedule these updates I still waffle over keeping "Result" in the title or changing it to "Fruit". I've talked myself out of using Fruit like a dozen times, at a minimum, yet here I am...

I'd planned to write this chapter back in the OG draft but decided it was running too long (I know) and dropped it.

When I described the chapter to my beta readers, they encouraged me to write it and I'm glad that I did!

Through the woman that becomes Sentinel Solace, we get our first real look at Remus ever since Ranthia left it behind—and things are getting pretty bleak.

Selkie never really got into how bad Remus could be. Sure, we saw hints, but Elaine was... willfully ignorant of many of the horrors. Ranthia was far more willing to confront them, but she also had a strange sort of privilege—Tatius and Pupius shielded her until she was strong enough and wealthy enough that she didn't have to suffer as many did. Gracea had none of that.

The one thing she had was a lifeline that Ranthia had never really intentionally left for children in her situation. Sure, Ranthia had hoped the infrastructure she left behind could help those who had to leave their home for any reason, but she never really considered the idea of temporary visitors. Fortunately for Gracea, the people Ranthia left in charge of her legacy were wholly benevolent (and there is a certain Xaoc-inspiration to shirking the letter of the rule to embrace its truest spirit).

As opposed to the Legion recruiters that eschew rules because they just care about shoving bodies into lines. ...With twenty-four days of training under their belt, which is somehow even worse on Pallos than it is on Earth. It's just not enough time for new classes or any serious weight behind their achievements.

I've tried to show that the shimagu started taking healing resistance Skills early into the war (and if you think of what they'd have to be doing to get them offered, you get to be a bit horrified too!), but readers often seem to miss the memo. I've had more than a few smug comments on RR about how Ranthia and a few [Healers] could somehow break entire shimagu armies instead of, y'know, getting enclosed by enemy ranks and getting cut to ribbons as they ran out of mana. So here's another, even blunter reminder. Markus was speaking from outdated information (and a place of minimal risk; it wasn't like the shimagu were going to keep trying to sent agents into the seat of the Coalition's power with a zero percent success rate).

I don't know if anyone has ever noticed or appreciated it, but I like to use Pallos' sprawling divinity to give subtle hints as to the mindsets people possess. Or, in this case, grows into. Despite being half-raised by adherents to Xaoc, Gracea invokes Herculix at every turn—the human god of Conquest.

And that turns out to be somewhat important.

Gracea's Oath was planned as far back as the OG draft. A twisted version of Elaine's, seemingly in tune with Elaine's own actions (at least as they were documented). Gracea even invented a final line that uncannily mirrored Elaine's own omitted one! Becoming an inspiration is "easy", but you can't control what people do with your legacy once you're gone.

And Night wasn't sentimental enough to stop Elaine's legacy from being weaponized against a true threat.

And yes, for those that missed it: Rani is Tertia's (adopted) daughter. Named after Ranthia, Pyra, and Juvenae. At the risk of minor spoilers, I may (or may not) get into her background a little in the next book, so I'm not going to go too deep here.

I wanted to write this chapter to show what a glimpse of what Remus was truly like, from eyes that weren't Ranthia's. A place where the poor struggle and are exploited. A place where any arrest could lead to military servitude. Remus has given up on relying on unreliable and uncontrollable heroes like Sentinel Grace; instead, they manufacture their icons and seek opportunities to make them shine.

And Sentinel Solace is not a good person.