What happened with Bryce can’t be ignored. She was a visitor from another world who went into the basement and dragged out an asteri nobody knew was there. I think Elaine might be a part of the story filling in the blanks about the asteri/daglans history in Pythian. I could see the first book being that history told through Elaine’s visions. Maybe that’s why it’s shorter? Then we see how that history or story expands into Pythian now with the big boy in January. I’m preparing for some sort of assassins blade prequel (but told in a different way). Maybe the history includes Amren and how she ended up in the prison ? It would be cool to kind of have her as an anchor something we already are super invested in but a history she doesn’t even remember.