Alternate Ending To "The High Lord"

Was upset by the ending of the High Lord. Wanted to give Akkarin the respect he deserved. Feel like there's so much unknown and unexplored about him. Would have loved to have read more about his past and the development of his relationship with Sonea. He cuts such a mysterious figure and I didn't want such a beautiful male character to die with no sense of having ever uncovered him. It was my third time reading the trilogy and I almost didn't want to finish it. The story is beautifully crafted and so much has gone into making you trust Akkarin and see him as he is, instead of the villain he is portrayed as in the beginning. You come to understand the depths of his commitment to the people he cares about, from Lorlen to the girl he fell in love with as a slave and then Sonea. He is willing to sacrifice himself to save Kyralia and the danger he unwittingly brought on its people. I just felt like there was such a deeper potential there to recognise him and what he represents, a masculine vision of compassion and love, held within a controlled exterior. I just love his character and have spent the last few days imagining ways to bring him back to life and let him share a little of what makes him such an inspiration or in Sonea's words "What is it about him that inspires such devotion?" I feel like he is every man who has ever given his life for the sake of love. I feel like in the world today, there is so much coldness and harshness and we often forget the fragility and innocence that lies at the heart of the human expression. It is in this vulnerability that our true strength is found. And so for me and any of the readers that love him, here is another opportunity for Akkarin to share the meaning at the core of himself, with the world. And in that symbolise all the men we meet as we pass through this life, with good hearts and beautiful souls, so that their story can be told too. ❤️

Artwork by kir-tat on DeviantArt