regshoe

I'm glad you enjoyed the re-read too, and I'm looking forward to your audiobook :D

YES, very much agree. I remember from my first read how I thought it felt kind of imbalanced then, so I was very glad to notice these things.

Yes! And there are so many amazingly cute moments near the end, too... aww, there is potential in this ship. :)

And even in fic, this is just the sort of 'Afterwards…' that you put after a fade-to-black sex scene. : D

XD Exactly!

Actually it's very easy to have Aymar and Avoye break up: they already have broken up in the book, and then you just have them not get together again.

Yes, I thought of that too—it could make an interesting starting point for post-canon-divergence fic. Or, even simpler, you can keep the basic events of the plot the same and just say Avoye is Aymar's cousin whom he loves like a sister and that's why he went to such lengths to try and save her.

I actually wouldn't mind reading Laurent/Aymar/Avoye, which is pretty much what the ending of the book does IMO (or at least leaves a large opening for).

Possibly, but—I say, although I'm hardly impartial here—I can't see that making emotional sense for Laurent, who so clearly wants to be the most important person to Aymar (and is jealous of and worried about Avoye). Poor Laurent. Perhaps I'm too sorry for him...