and the winner of the Koan eARC is...

I want to thank everyone very sincerely for playing along. This was great fun for me, and so interesting to see what you all came up with. I’m going to share the answers with you, but let this serve as a warning to anyone who hasn’t read Ghost or Weregild that there are some major spoilers to follow. There were a ton of great answers to the question What happened to the braid after Malick cut if off? Some of them surprised me, some of them didn’t, but there were plenty to pick from—hilarious, thoughtful, a little bit bizarre, poignant… they ran the gamut. There were many variations on ‘Malick secretly kept it’, though Marleen’s was the one that stood out there: Bitch, please, the answer is so obvious. Malick keeps the braid. Helloooo? Can you say 'FETISH'? Pretty soon, (when Fen's a little more stable), he'll be using it to tie Fen up during sex. Duh. *snicker* She definitely knows Malick. And Fen, as you’ll see when you read chapter two of Koan. Addie, Aaron, Jelena, Russ S., Brandi, Dawn, Jeff and Michelle all gave similar answers, though Marleen gets points for the duhness of hers. ;) To be quite honest, this was the first answer that popped into my head when I asked myself the question, so it’s definitely not wrong. But there were others. Addie kept me entertained this morning as I went through all of hers: There was 1) It was donated to the cancer society of Ada for wigs. And then there was 2) It was used at Immortals’ parties to play ‘Pin the Braid on the Untouchable.” OMG. *falls down* For whatever reason, I started picturing piñatas and all the unfortunate possibilities that come along with them. But then she sucker-punched me with 3) It was kept in a glass case at the Court building in Fen’s honor and as a reminder to all citizens of what the Untouchables suffered. Oooooh. That one hurt. In a good way. Nikki R. thought Shig stole it, though Shig’s so weird, who knows why? Even she doesn’t know. Somehow, I think Joori would agree with that assessment. Speaking of Joori, Erin B. thought he took it and is keeping it hidden away in case he ever has to disguise himself as Jacin. I’m not sure if that’s kinkier than Malick taking it or not. Though Erin also thinks there’s “twin-cest” going on off-screen, so I’m thinking yes. ;) Nikyta almost took it with this one: After Malick cut off Fen's braid, the braid took on a life of its own and started attacking people and causing them to freak out because now they were hearing the ancestors in their heads. It spread like wild-fire. Poor people had no idea what was coming when Malick freed Fen. Sad, sad. I mean, come on! The mental pictures alone are going to keep me chuckling for a week. And then Robin caught me off my guard with this one: Husao took it and dropped it into the remains of Subie along with the amulets. Husao never even crossed my mind, so that one made me sit up and really think about it. And it’s very plausible. It might have been what happened. But then CindyR completely blew me away with her answer, and I think you’ll see why when you read it: After Subie was destroyed, after the Ancestors went home to Wolf, after Malick cut Jacin-rei's braid, after Jacin-rei wasn't dying anymore, after, after... The braid was a symbol, and maybe the way to take power away from a symbol is to ignore it, let it be trampled into the earth. But Morin didn't feel that was right. Didn't Jacin-rei bind Asai's spirit to the earth by stomping his heart into the ground? Maybe for Jacin-rei to be free, the braid must be burned. Well, Morin wasn't going to give the damn thing it's own pyre, but maybe there was a more fitting way. When no one was paying attention, Morin gathered the braid up. When he found his mother, he would put the braid in her hands, send her to the afterlife with the proof that her son was free. She would like that, Morin thought. She had tried to shield her Untouchable son from the Ancestors. She would want to know that he was free of them. That's what Morin would do when they found what was left of her. After he'd ended her tormented existence. After. Because he would be the one to do it. Jacin-rei wasn't able, and Joori was mostly concerned with Jacin-rei. Damn this thing was heavy. How had Jacin-rei been able to move with the braid weighing him down, physically as well as symbolically? Maybe Jacin-rei would be just Jacin now, no longer the ghost. His mother would have liked that, too. I know, right?! That’s it. I mean, tears. Actual honest-to-god tears *sniffle* That’s the one. I wish I could give everyone who entered a copy, but this one has to go to Cindy. Thank you to everyone who played, and thank you so much for your support of this series. I hope the rest of it makes you as happy as you all have made me. xoxo Carole P.S. The random drawing giveaway for Ghost and Weregild continues until Monday. I'll announce the winner when Koan is officially released.