Epilogue: I Spy

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P0Mv4VN2vnM7KGWHz8ziHFDcvuJ2Ua92Pmmn7H9-iQY/edit?usp=sharing

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Tiana closed the door to her brother’s room, the threads of fate binding them together passing through the solid wood as if it wasn’t there.

They were as strong as they’d ever been, but Tiana took a moment to try and [Strengthen Fate] regardless. She dumped the entirety of her mana pool in moments, to practically no effect, and she frowned. She assumed it was his new [Immutable] skill blocking her skills, which could prove troublesome if he intended to keep it long-term.

Although, after almost two years in the fateweaver compound, she’d learned [Strengthen Fate] and [Weaken Fate] were the least useful of her racial skills. While they could bind the fates of any two things closer together or tear them further apart, they gave no control over how that fate might manifest. Looking at the thick strand of fate from her brother’s room that she knew connected to the princess, she wondered – would they remain in close proximity, becoming allies – or more – for the rest of their lives? Or would they become mortal enemies, hating each other with every fiber of their being? Each could be an equally likely result of a [Strengthened Fate].

No, the true power of a fateweaver came from [See Fate]. The ability to see the ties that might bind, echoes of the past and the future – regardless of anyone’s efforts to hide those connections – was what truly made fateweavers powerful. In politics, everything came down to connections, and the ability to see those connections was unquestionably strong.

But it required a tactical mind to effectively use. Tiana had no doubt the fateweaver race would have been wasted on her brother, the muscle-bound idiot. Even Elise, brilliant as she was with most things, didn’t have the manipulative mind required to properly use what a fateweaver saw.

“What’s wrong?” Tiana asked the intelle in question, who was frowning as they walked to the other side of the healer’s building. Is it something we need to talk about later? she asked in [Dual-Speak].

“Yes…er, I’m just worried,” Elise said, her eyebrows still drawn together. “I’ll tell you later.”

Tiana responded with a nod, making a [Mental Note] to check back with the girl when they had some privacy. She was happy to note that, despite their time apart, the strand of fate binding the two of them together was stronger than it had ever been, second only to Tiana’s strand with Cayden.

They came to another door and took the seats positioned just to the side. It was the room of Delphia, the still-unconscious shaeden who’d evidently become ‘good friends’ with Cayden and Elise. The girl was…a bit of a conundrum, if Tiana were honest. She had the fewest strands of fate that Tiana had ever witnessed, and of those strands she had, only a few had any thickness whatsoever. The result of another fateweaver’s meddling? Or something else? Tiana wasn’t sure, but she was resolved to find out.

Because for all that she’d hated the fateweaver compound and most of the people there, she fully intended to make use of the skills – system granted or otherwise – they had taught her.

Cayden and Elise were both terrible when it came to any sort of social or political intrigue, two skillsets that were essential for anyone looking to interact with the true powers of the world. But that was fine – they didn’t need to be.

Not when they now had a fateweaver [Spy] watching out for them.

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AN: And that's the end of vol 1 of In Clawed Grasp! It took a lot longer than expected or intended, but we eventually got here. As for what's next...I fully intend to continue this story, but I will be going on another hiatus before resuming book 2 (hopefully much shorter than the last hiatus). 

What this means for you: I'll keep patreon billing paused until I resume posting again. I'm not sure of the exact day or schedule of posting once I resume (it won't be once a day, unfortunately), but I'll be sure to let you know and give you warning that billing is resuming when I do.

As for what I'll be doing during the hiatus (as much for accountability for me as to keep you updated):

1. Editing what I have already written and then putting it up on amazon. Unfortunately, this means I'll have to take down the chapters currently up on royalroad and patreon, but I'll give you all a link to download the edited epub before that happens. Hopefully, this'll happen in the next 2 weeks or so.

2. Backlog and posting schedule -- I want to build a larger backlog and be completely sure of my posting schedule before I resume, to establish a sustainable schedule that won't end up in any unscheduled hiatus' like the last one. 

3. Writeathon! Along with building a backlog, I want to get in the habit of diversifying by writing more than just this story, as I think it'll help to keep me from getting stuck in any ruts. And that begins with writeathon on Nov. 1st. Not entirely sure what's coming, but if you're interested, I'll start posting then on royalroad.

4. Finally -- feedback. This one's not as much a task for me as it is for you. Give me any feedback you have, good or bad, about the story up to this point or the direction it's heading. What characters did you like that you want to see more of? What pet peeve did you have that almost made you drop? You can leave it here in the comments or pm me directly, if you like.

...I can't think of anything else, so that seems to be it for now. Thanks so much for reading and supporting! Y'all are awesome!

--Seth