This is chapter 16 in E2. A lot of it is similar to the final version, just written differently. Of course, other character perspectives besides Aria’s had to be cut out.
Reminder: My notes will be in italicized red font, and the text from E1 will be in black. E1 refers to edition one, and E2 refers to edition two.
14
The next morning, they prepare to set off. Aria changes into her dark blue travel clothes and cloak. She straps on her sword and knife.
“I would have grabbed your bow and arrows, but I was in a hurry and I had my arms full,” Jayce apologized to her earlier.
“Arrows wouldn’t be much use in this situation anyways,” she responded.
The princess stares at her reflection in the mirror.
Aria still sees the scared young woman who just lost her mother. How she is expected to have a showdown with an evil creature that wants to kill her specifically, she isn’t sure. However, if she doesn’t, then she, Jayce, and Landa will all die, her father will die, and her kingdom will fall.
Not for the first time, she wishes she had never developed mental illness. Anxiety and depression make everything that much more complicated and difficult to handle.
You’re going to fail. The wierling is going to kill you. You may as well stay hidden here forever.
She shakes her head and pushes the voices back down.
“I have to do this for myself. I need to prove to myself that I’m capable of handling this and that life is worth living, even with its struggles.”
It’s interesting reading this alternate version. A lot of the general content survived but was just rewritten.
[cut a few paragraphs out]
The wolves run back toward the western part of the forest. Aria and Jayce ask their horses to trot, and Landa flies close just above them.
I don’t know if saying “western” was my original idea or if it was a mistake. I looked back through some notes, but I’m not sure.
“You sure you’re ready?” Jayce asks her.
“I don’t exactly have a choice,” she says forlornly.
“Remember, no matter what happens, we’re in this together. You won’t be fighting this fight alone.”
“I fear this is one fight I will be in alone.”
She asks Storm to trot a little faster. Jayce knows as well as her that she has to face a wierling by herself even though he and Landa are there.
That doesn’t mean I have to accept it.
A little from Jayce’s perspective that I had to cut out.
[removed a few paragraphs, some being exact matches to what is in E2]
The weeping willow tree looks mostly dead, but new shoots are springing from the branches and on them are purple roses. Some are budding, and some are in full bloom. The little clearing the tree sits in is brighter and more welcoming than the dimly lit, gnarled trees encircling it. Landa lands on the ground. Aria and Jayce dismount.
“The flowers are beautiful,” the princess comments.
“And most of the blooming ones are at the top of the tree like Phase said,” Jayce points out.
“That won’t be a problem for me.” Landa flies up to the crown of the tree.
The phoenix lightly lands on a branch and assesses the flowers around her. She gently breaks one in peak bloom off with her beak and swoops back down to hand the rose to Aria.
“Thanks, Landa.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Alright, we need to run,” Jayce says as he begins to mount Bridgette again. “The faster we escape this place, the better.”
“Jayce.”
The royal guard hears the dread in his girlfriend’s voice. He also realizes that the birds have stopped singing. A deafening silence falls over the area, and he feels the uncomfortable sensation of someone or something behind him eying him as if he is prey. Twenty feet away is a wierling.
“Aria, I know you don’t think you have a choice, but you do. We can run right now. You don’t have to face that thing,” Jayce pleads.
The princess turns to him with an expression of determination underlined with fear. “No. The wierling will just hunt us down and kill us before we can even leave the forest. More may join the chase. This is the only way. I have to do this.”
Jayce takes her hands in his. “Please, I can’t lose you.”
Aria pulls him close and kisses him as if this may be the last time they ever see each other.
“You won’t.”
Wordy and far less elegant than in E2, but the basic ideas were there.
Part 15 Coming Soon!
Copyright © 2018 Lindsay McCafferty
