Beauty from Embers Cut Scene

Sometimes a writer needs to eliminate scenes from a novel. This could be for various reasons.  The scene could be repetitive, hinder the story pacing, be filled with too much backstory, or a multitude of other problems.

The following scene probably won’t make the final cut of Beauty from Embers, but I still like it as it brings up many of our old friends from Beauty from Ashes. It contains mild spoilers for book one.

Happy Reading!

 Acadia recognized the little tea house sitting squat between larger buildings. Even though Capital city was much more advanced than anywhere else she’d ever lived, the people still valued tradition. Clara’s tea house was a testament to that.

The building had singles and a slanted downward roof, painted a pastel green with pink shutters. Acadia slipped inside the sparkling bead curtain that passed for a doorway.

Curls of floral smoke and spices wafted against her face. Acadia took a moment to breathe it in. Already she felt more relaxed, like she’d left some of her troubles outside the door.

Has and Eril stood from their squat table and rose to greet her. Acadia smiled as Has enveloped her in a bear hug and Eril patted her shoulder affectionately.

Once the greetings were out of the way, they settled back on the soft silken pillows, sitting cross-legged on the knee-high table on the floor.

Acadia took in the appearance of her two friends. Has was quite muscular for a man pushing sixty. His broad shoulders had filled out since he’d left Gehenna. He no longer had that hunched in look. In Eiren he was able to eat well. Soft tufts of white hair gathered at the sides of his head above his ears and his smile was broad and wide.

Eril was also letting his hair grow and he had more of it. As a young man of twenty-three, his black hair was combed neatly to the side, and slicked back with something. Acadia didn’t want to know what. 

His bright green eyes burned with intelligence and life. He was still slim but had lost the frantic nervousness that seemed to define him in Gehenna.

He’s really coming into his own here, Acadia thought ruefully. She could still remember how nervous and jittery he could be. How he’d always think the worst. They used to rival each other in how quickly their thoughts could turn dark with pessimism.

I’ve lost my worst-case-scenario buddy now, though. Acadia mused. Eril wasn’t always looking at the glass half empty any more.

Helping the former Gehennians adapt to life in Eiren had really given him a sense of purpose. His ability to plan and strategize gave him an intuitive sense of what other people were going to need, often long before they realized it themselves.

“So.” Has rubbed his thick calloused hands together. “What are we drinking before we call this meeting to order?”

“You’ll drink what I bring you, Has Bofield,” Clara spoke up from behind the counter. “You haven’t been coming here for months on end for nothing. I’ve got a right sense of what you and the lady like by now.”

Clara plunked a tray down on their table. Steam wafted from a shining bronze kettle and Acadia inhaled appreciatively. Chukchuk tea. Clara’s was always the best. In addition, the plucky proprietress had included three clay teacups, fresh rosemary biscuits and a pot filled with fresh honeycomb, oozing fresh liquid honey.

Acadia’s mouth watered, even though she’d only had lunch a short while ago. There was a reason that Clara’s tea house had become their go-to location for their monthly meetings.

After Clara had bustled away about her business and everyone had stuffed themselves with a biscuit, Has brushed the crumbs from his shirt and licked his fingers.

Eril cleared his throat. “We called this meeting to do our monthly check up. How’s everyone doing?”

“Great!” Has boomed. “The Eirenians and I have made some good progress in our cultivation of jarlwheat. It looks like the herbal ties we developed have worked even better than expected at keeping pests away. We’re expecting a large enough harvest to cover all the losses of last season. The farmers have all pulled together now and we’ll not have any food shortages, even with a growing population. Even if we do end up taking in refugees from Dardak.”

“The cultural integration of former Gehennians has exceeded my expectations. We’ve been fully welcomed into Eiren and the people are adapting to our new life here. I’ve finally got Rynski to give up bathing in the public fountain—”

Has let out a guffaw and Eril frowned.

“With that hurdle out of the way, most of the glaring cultural differences have been resolved.”

“Can’t blame him after all those years starved for water in Gehenna. I’ve a mind to take a dip in the fountains now and then myself.”

“Please don’t.” Eril leveled a glare at him. “It could undo all the progress we’ve made. There’s plenty of bathing you can do by the lakeside.”

“It was a joke, Eril,” Acadia chided.

Eril huffed. “With Has, one can never be sure. He likes to take a literal interpretation of things.”

“Nothing wrong with being concrete.” Has grinned.

Acadia sighed and it had the unintended effect of drawing both their stares to her. “What?” she asked.

“You’ve been strangely quiet, Acadia,” Eril said. “How are things at the castle?”

“Fine.” She traced a drop of condensation down the handle of her mug. “The Eirenian government has been more than accommodating. People are settling in, finding jobs, building houses, falling in love. There’s no bloodshed at all. It almost seems like everything is going too well. I keep waiting for the hammer to fall.”

“Now who’s the pessimistic one?” Eril teased.

A clanging rang out in the street and the three friends turned to watch a procession moving through the market. People were shouting. Voices raised to an angry harsh tremor.

“Not our people. Not our fight.” Chanted over and over.

Has frowned. “Any word on the separatists up in the castle?”

Acadia bit into a biscuit and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. She swallowed, brushing the crumbs from her lips. “No one’s talking about them much. So far, all they’ve done is make a lot of noise. It’s unclear how many Eirenians really support them and how much of it is simply polite tolerance.”

“They seem to have sprouted up over night,” Eril said. “A few months ago there was nothing like this.”

“It is troubling,” Acadia agreed. “Especially in Eiren. No one’s ever seen anything like this before. It makes me wonder if Lucien could somehow be involved.”

“We haven’t seen hide or hair of him after his defeat in Gehenna.”

“But we know he still has a decently large faction supporting him. Maybe more now. That along with an unknown quantity of trividium that he possesses is troubling enough. And now that diplomatic tension between Dardak and Avathys and discontent within Eiren’s capital. It bears his mark.”

“And what mark is that?”

“Discord, disunity, strife, take your pick.” Acadia propped her chin in her palm.

Has nodded. “He’s surely at work somewhere in Elorah. And whatever he’s up to is bound to be no good.”

“But where?” Eril said. “I’d rather not have an enemy like Lucien at my back.”

Acadia resisted the urge to scratch her knuckles. The smoke rash had completely healed from her skin, but she still had the temptation to scratch anytime she felt nervous. She settled for pressing her warm mug between her hands. The soothing herbs calmed her. Chukchuk tea was her favorite. Acadia swallowed a mouthful of the honeyed liquid.

Eril sloshed the tea in his cup and looked at Acadia in earnest. “Do you think Lucien has anything to do with the tension between Dardak and Avathys?”

Has grunted. “Anything’s possible with that ’un.”

“Sewing chaos from the shadows is just like him,” Acadia agreed. “But until we have some hard evidence, we’re just speculating. Eiren can’t intervene in the politics of two other sovereign nations. Not unless they invite us into the fray.”

“Mayhap, they’ll be doin’ just that,” Has said. “There’ll be ambassadors from Dardak up at the palace. I saw their vehicles entering Capital City earlier today.”

Acadia tapped her fingers against her cup. “Maybe I’ll learn more at dinner.” But inwardly her spirit cringed. All she wanted was quiet night alone with Arnion. Was that too much to ask? The political affairs of Elorah, bickering between other countries, Lucien potentially on the rise again.

It was like she couldn’t catch a break. The whole world seemed to be working against giving her any time with her prince. Her eyes felt heavy and she breathed out.

Relax, Acadia. You have time. You have all the time in the world.

But it didn’t feel that way.

If there was one lesson she learned in Gehenna, it was that everything could change in the blink of an eye.