{"id":31474,"date":"2016-02-19T06:30:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T17:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=31474"},"modified":"2016-02-18T23:17:30","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T10:17:30","slug":"daughter-of-blood-deleted-scene-3-kalan-port-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2016\/02\/19\/daughter-of-blood-deleted-scene-3-kalan-port-farewell\/","title":{"rendered":"Daughter of Blood, Deleted Scene 3 — Kalan & Port Farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"USA\"<\/a>

USA<\/p><\/div>\n

Recently I shared the first of my deleted scenes<\/a> from Daughter of Blood<\/em><\/strong>, which focused on Malian and Raven, directly after the culmination of events in The Gathering Of The Lost<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Last week’s deleted scene<\/a> also featured Malian and Raven.<\/p>\n

This week I’m switching the focus to Kalan—again from a period before the action in Daughter of Blood<\/em><\/strong> begins. Like the Malian and Raven scenes, I found it useful for getting my head into the story, but quickly realised that the Daughter<\/em><\/strong> story would ramp up more effectively if it rejoined Kalan further along his timeline.<\/p>\n

The now standard warning also applies: \u201cAll deleted scenes are at \u201cfirst draft\u201d level only\u2014so very much raw material. Consider yourself duly warned.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Deleted Scene 3: Kalan Approaches Port Farewell<\/span><\/h3>\n

Kalan heard the ocean before he saw it, a distant low roar above the drowsy quiet of the Aralorn hills\u2014a quiet that comprised shimmering heat, the constant hum of insects, and the steady clip of their horses\u2019 hooves on the narrow, dusty road. The heralds had taken a back route, one well known to members of their Guild, to avoid the worst of the traffic and choking dust of the main route into Port Farewell. The day was still stifling though, and Kalan let his bay charger follow the line of the heralds\u2019 grays, keeping to whatever shade the folds of the hills and overhanging trees offered. There were not nearly enough trees, he decided, wiping the sweat clear of his eyes, not for this heat. Beside him, Madder snapped at a horse fly, jerking his head against the leading rein as if to demand what a highly trained Emerian warhorse was doing, carrying a pack saddle and plodding through the Aralorn hills with Kalan\u2019s armor and spare weapons on his back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"UK\/AU\/NZ\"<\/a>

UK\/AU\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSpelling you with Tercel here, lad,\u201d he said to the roan warhorse, while his gloved hand patted the bay\u2019s neck. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a contest of arms to compete in once we reach the Wall of Night, so I can\u2019t afford to have either of you worn down from hard riding.\u201d He knew there would be ships making the sea journey from Port Farewell to Grayharbor, but if he could get passage on a Sea House ship from there to the Derai Wall, then that would spare them all the long road through the Barren Hills. If <\/em>the Sea House mariners would carry a warrior who was not of their own House.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Which is one of the many things I don\u2019t know after being so long away,’ Kalan told himself.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A second fly hummed close and he swatted it away, but the gesture must have caught Jehane Mor\u2019s attention, because she turned in the saddle, her face as dust grimed as his beneath the shade of a traveler\u2019s wide-brimmed leather hat. \u201cWe should see the ocean over the next hill.\u201d <\/em>She mindspoke him, as they had done since leaving Emer\u2014mainly because they could, but also because it kept their conversations private and meant they could ride further apart to avoid the worst of the kicked-up dust.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy first time,\u201d<\/em> Kalan said, although both heralds already knew that. He had never been on a ship before either and might have felt nervous about the journey ahead, if he had allowed himself to dwell on it. But his suppressed uncertainty may have colored his thoughts because Jehane Mor spoke again, her mindtone reassuring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best time of year for sailing. Even around Grayharbor the weather will be stable.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And further north, closer to the Wall? Kalan asked himself\u2014because one thing he did remember was that all Sea House ships carried a weatherworker, while others of their kind stood constant watch on the walls of the Sea Keep, alert for the great storms that swept in off the eastern ocean. The stories told in the Temple of Night also said that long exposure to the storms often sent the weatherworkers mad, especially those that sailed with the ships.<\/span><\/p>\n

The madness would stem from the Swarm\u2019s influence that close to the Wall of Night, Kalan guessed, even if the mountainous barrier and bastion keeps still kept the worst of their enemy\u2019s malignant influence at bay. Except that he couldn\u2019t help remembering the madness that had taken the steward, Nhairin, in Jaransor, and the tales whispered about the great deserts in the south, beyond Ishnapur, and wonder if it really was just the Swarm\u2019s influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Madder snapped at another fly, pulling Kalan\u2019s attention back to the road and the scorching day. Sweat darkened the horses\u2019 coats and soaked the backs and underarms of the heralds\u2019 gray shirts as they rode ahead of him. He could feel the cloth sticking to his own back as well and hoped that whatever inn they put up at would have cool, dim rooms and cold beer. There was a Guild House in Port Farewell, as there was in most major cities in the Southern Realms, but Tarathan and Jehane Mor had told him they would stay in an inn, too, since they were traveling in company with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in the Guild,\u201d <\/em>Jehane Mor had said that morning, as they were breaking camp, \u201cwe observe the protocol of the road: that those who travel in a company do not disband until everyone has taken their separate roads.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Girvase would have approved, and Raher, too, Kalan thought\u2014with a twinge of regret as he recalled how he had broken their Normarch company when he left Caer Argent. He pushed away his last memory of Jarna as well, with her face turned to the wall so she did not have to watch him leave. Better to think about how much easier having experienced travelers like the heralds to help him find a ship and negotiate passage was going to make things in Port Farewell. Heralds were respected, too, and so far less likely to be cheated than a young knight of Emer, traveling on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

A bird sang from one of the roadside trees, on a merry, bell-like note, and although the songster remained invisible, Kalan found its good cheer infectious. He had left close friends and a life he loved behind in Emer, and knew that darkness and danger lay ahead, but right now he was young and strong, and riding through summer in peaceful Aralorn\u2014and very soon now he would see the ocean for the first time. Smiling, he whistled the bright tune back at the bird.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 <\/em>Helen Lowe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently I shared the first of my deleted scenes from Daughter of Blood, which focused on Malian and Raven, directly after the culmination of events in The Gathering Of The Lost. Last week’s deleted scene also featured Malian and Raven. This week I’m switching the focus to Kalan—again from a period before the action in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,30,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-my-books","category-epicfantasy","category-funstuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31474"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31477,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31474\/revisions\/31477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}