Nynniaw asked Lane Robins:

I have a question regarding the second Antyre book. What made you decide to close the curtains so suddenly, so to speak? With Maledicte, we see a last scene of her heading for the Explorations with her servant boy and a very clear sense of where their relationship stands, but we can't make no such inference between Janus and Psyke. I think having a bit more would have been nice.

Lane Robins Thank you so much for reading!

There are a couple of reasons at play here. First, Janus and Psyke were in a more complex situation than Mal and Gilly who had discussed their future several times. Maledicte, the book, was more of a romance than Kings and Assassins is. And frankly, they ran away from their problems!

Kings was more of the journey Janus took, seeing where unfettered ambition might lead. The end was more about his personal epiphany, and adjusting his long-held goals. He's looking at a kingdom beset with problems and deciding to help fix them, with Psyke by his side. So his book really ends more on the tone of beginning.

Second, I was hopeful at that time that there would be a third book, so ending Kings where I did would have been less sudden. But alas, it was not to be.

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