The Courtesy of Kings | ☑ Queenkiller, Kingmaker #2

[AN] Acknowledgements

I would just like to say a deep, especial thank you to everyone who has been so patient; those who followed this story since the days I was still posting A Grace of Crowns. I completed the second draft of AGOC in February 2018 but only started posting The Courtesy of Kings in February 2021. Three years is a long time to wait, and yet some of you are still here, and for that I am simply astounded and honoured.

Newer readers, thank you as well for making it this far! For sitting through the first book and deciding to continue to the next. Nothing makes my day like a sudden votestorm in my notifications (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝) Honestly, I would not have posted the second book on wattpad were it not for the support and dedication of whatever few readers I have.

At least it didn't take me four and a half years to finish the first draft this time? I officially typed the final words of the final chapter of TCOK in April 2023, meaning it took two years less to write—and that despite this first draft being 29K words thicker than that of AGOC's. Hopefully this pattern continues and the third (and final) book will be done in even less time, but—no promises there.

But speaking of the final chapter.

I wouldn't blame anyone for hating this book for that ending alone.

I know it was probably not what most of you wanted. Heck, it wasn't the ending I wanted—or, indeed—that I had actually even planned for. I plotted for something ... less depressing, let's just say. It would have ended on a more hopeful note, at least. But stories have a way of writing itself, and the further I wrote, the further things strayed. Actions have consequences, grand schemes rarely run smoothly, and revolutionary changes never come without cost. It would never have had made sense for everyone to come out unscathed, especially considering how tangled they had become in their own webs ... the kinds of choices they had made ... it never would have made sense for victories to come so quickly ... so as much as I tried and wanted to steer them down the path of happily-ever-after, it just would not have been true to the story. And if there is one thing I try to accomplish in my writing, it is to make it as reflective and true to life as I can, and sometimes the answer is that life just sucks.

So to borrow Kiet's words—forgive me, my loves.

↝ WHAT'S NEXT ↜

Yes, there will be a third book. It has not been plotted yet; give me a break guys, I just finished writing this one (҂◡_◡)

I am, however, not sure whether I'll be posting it on wattpad. This site has always been more geared towards romance-heavy or high-paced-heavy-action stories with themes and prose more appealing to the younger demography, and over the past few years, it has been growing even more skewed towards those genres. This is no hate or shame on that market—it's only to say that the Queenkiller, Kingmaker series fits far from the bill, and I do wonder if the amount of time and effort and dedication I put into posting to the site is better off spent simply writing.

That said, THE COURTESY OF KINGS did get shortlisted for the 2023 Wattys Award for Ongoing Stories, and I was astounded to say the least, considering that only 25 books were included in the category. Any new readers I gain for the Queenkiller series are purely by some stroke of luck as the site's algorithms do me no favours, and its performance doesn't come anywhere close to the other shortlisted books and eventual winners. I know without a doubt that this shortlist award in fact belongs to all my dedicated readers—there are so few of you, so the fact that you got this obscure book onto the shortlist is just astonishing.

So I will be thinking this over before I make any final decisions. In any case, the third book will be posted in my Patreon for patrons to read. I'll also remain on wattpad to post any side projects and stories outside the Queenkiller, Kingmaker trilogy in the meantime.

I also talk about any Book 3-related progress (such as snippets, brainstorming, plotting ideas, WIP maps and other graphics, etc.) on my discord server. So if you want to have a chat about the series and see some behind-the-scenes stuff, bounce some ideas or suggestions etc., you can join through the linked comment or the link on my profile.

As for this book—as always, there will be short stories, bonus content, and other such posts to follow for some time to come. You can see a more detailed list of some upcoming content through the in-line link, and don't forget to add this book to your library or archive to be notified of any future updates. You can also follow my wattpad profile as I also announce any new updates to my followers.

↝ PATREON ↜

If you enjoyed this book and would like to see more of my work, please consider becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/AMPrabeswar so I can continue to write and share my stories with you.

I post writing workshops, behind the scenes work, deleted scenes, short stories, other stories I don't publish on Wattpad, plus many other content and benefits. Patronage starts at $3 a month and can be revoked at any time.