A reader recently mentioned that she enjoyed the Sicarius interview and would love to see more extras. Since writing new material might take time away from working on EE5, maybe I could find some cut scenes to post? Well, ask and ye shall receive.
This is a short snippet I found in the EE2 scrap pile with the title of “Maldy tries to take advantage” (No, no, not in that way.). It was originally part of the scene where the team is riding up to the hidden lake, and Amaranthe and Sicarius are in the back of the lorry, cleaning their weapons and discussing events. It breaks off at the end when the glowing-eyed cougar is about to attack.
~
Maldynado stepped into the lorry bed and eyed their cleaning kits. “Anyone want to scrub my weapons?”
“No,” Amaranthe said.
“But you’re a natural at that sort of thing,” Maldynado said. “I like the way you’ve laid everything out in perfectly parallel lines.”
“I prefer a tidy area.” She glanced at Sicarius. His weapons were spread out just as neatly.
“Hm.” Maldynado slid his rapier free of its sheath. “It’d be unfortunate if someone dirtied your area by carelessly leaving a grimy old sword next to your shiny clean weapons.”
He set his blade on the edge of her towel. Smudges marred the surface and something gummy stuck to the forte. Amaranthe’s fingers twitched toward it.
Maldynado nudged it so it was out of alignment with the others. “Just in case you finish yours and—”
Sicarius’s hand blurred, and the point of the rapier appeared at Maldynado’s chest. Sicarius still sat cross-legged, relaxed and calm except for the outstretched arm holding the sword.
Eyes bulging, Maldynado did not move.
“Tend to it yourself,” Sicarius said.
Maldynado stepped back, arms wide. “I will. It was a joke.”
“It was not. You were trying to take advantage of her.”
“I was not. I mean, I was, but not in a mean way. In a friendly way.”
In a lazy way, Amaranthe thought, though not with rancor. She would have cleaned it as a favor, then reminded Maldynado later that he owed her a favor. She remained silent, not sure whether she should agree with Sicarius or tell him she would prefer to handle the men in her own way. It seemed a weakness to let him stand up for her—and she hardly needed that when it came to Maldynado’s innocuous joshing—but she did not want to squabble with him in front of the others.
“She is not your chum; she’s your employer. Act like it.” Sicarius flipped the sword and extended the hilt to Maldynado.
Maldynado grabbed the rapier, jammed it into its scabbard, and threw up his hands. “Whatever you two say.” He pointed a finger at Amaranthe. “You do realize it’s going to be hard for us to set you up with that pretty warrior-caste newspaper fellow as long as you have a viper coiled around your arm.”
Though Sicarius did not move, Amaranthe felt the air grow frostier around him. She waved Maldynado back and tried to soften the tension with a smile. “Thank you, Maldynado, I’ll consider your advice.”
He sniffed and climbed back into the cab.
Amaranthe reassembled the pistol. “That’s why people don’t tease you, you know.” She measured powder to load the weapon, grimacing when the swaying of the lorry made her spill some. “If they dare, you threaten them or give them the Death Stare of Doom.”
“You can lead men or befriend them, not both,” Sicarius said.
She rammed a ball home. “While I value your counsel, you must know I’m not one to create artificial distance around myself. Leading through—”
~
Thanks for reading. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to writing Book 5!
As always, thank you for the lovely goodies 🙂 It was a wonderful read! I’m a personal fan of the “Death Stare of Doom”!
Keep up the great work; can’t wait for book 5!!!
Oh, I just love love love this. Sicarius, protective. Maldy, preying on Am’s OCD. Oh just love it.
I’m glad that scene was cut. It made Maldynado seem a bit more of a jerk than the fun loving character we usually see.
The viper line did seem way out of character for him.
Out of curiosity, Lindsay, what made you cut this scene from your final draft?
It’s been over a year, so I don’t remember exactly, though the whole Deret Mancrest thread ended up being moved to Book 3, so I removed most of the references to him in Book 2.
Thanks! It’s neat to see how stories change and what authors decide is worth keeping (or not).
I just read it in the same way that Amaranthe thinks about having a tiger on a leash. It didn’t seem particularly ~rude~ ooc for Mal to me, but perhaps a bit braver than he normally is towards Sicarius.
I had the exact same reaction, Mana! It just made Maldynado seem like so much more of a jerk than we’re used to.
Excellent! I hope that once you’re done with all fifteen, um, I mean six, Emperor’s Edge books you’ll release an unabridged omnibus for us uber-fans 😀
Lovely! Great way to use those scenes and bits that didn’t make it into the final cut. Kind of like the ‘deleted scenes’ on special edition DVDs. I’m looking forward to more of these. I think many authors tend to want to overstuff their novels, and don’t realize that deleted material can always be resurrected as bonus material… or even spun off as a short story or another book.
I want to know what favor she would have wrangled out of him later! 😛
I am soooooooooo curious to read his point of view and see how aware he is of Sicarius’ reactions when he mentions Deret.
My one issue with the scene is that I can’t imagine Sicarius using the word “chum” outside of quoting someone else.
That was Great!!!
Very fun!
Thanks for sharing it!
Hm. I didn’t get the “jerk” vibe from this. I was actually wondering why Maldynado didn’t ever try this, why Amaranthe never commented to Sicarius why nobody ever teased him, and when Maldynado started focusing on Amaranthe as his employer (as he says to Deret in book 3).
Granted, I also wonder why Amaranthe’s evidently forgotten “At what stage in this plan will you start wearing clothes?” (from book 1), but I daresay the embarrassment factor encourages her forgetfulness there. 🙂
And my random 2 pence…if you cut the “chum” to say “She’s your employer; act like it,” I think it would convey the same thing without the “non-Sicarius” vibe.
Though, with Sicarius’s rather narrow view of how to lead others, it’ll be fun to see what he thinks his own place in the group is, when we see his POV. He acts sorta like a first officer, I think.
I don’t think Amaranthe has forgotten her “clothing” from book 1. In the short story Assassin’s Curse she talks about it. I think she just doesn’t bring it up.
I also, totally agree with you on the Sicarius team position. He seems to place himself next in line but I also get the vibe he feels above and beyond the group. Not so much a part of it as an extension of it.
In book 3 and a lot in book 4, I get the feeling Maldynado likes Amaranthe a bit more than the Employer/Employee “chum” relationship we usually see in the books. I get the feeling more than Sespian and Sicarius love her.
“I was actually wondering why Maldynado didn’t ever try this”
Or why NONE of them have tried it! Perhaps Sicarius threatened them all individually. >:D
Also, I think the vocab change works really well!
First officer, teehee. Now Amaranthe is going to start calling him Number 1.
Lindsey – thank you so much for posting. Every little bit helps.
I have gone back to the start of book 1 to assuage my EE cravings.
I don’t think Mal was being a jerk. It seems completely in character – in his mind Amaranethe loves cleaning and he doesn’t so it is a perfect fit. I can even see him present this as him doing her a favour.
Maldynado seems colder than his usual self in this snippet and I can see, how it would have stuck out (sorely?) in EE2, but as a standalone snippet it works fine. 🙂
Of course, let’s face it:
Lindsay, you didn’t write great books, you write great drugs! 😉
I only does covered The Emperor’s Edge series about two weeks ago and I finished book 4 about a fortnight ago, this made a wonderful change from hitting my nails and waiting for book 5.
Thotoughly enjoyed this, I can’t wait to read more 🙂
Thanks for reading, Rhiannon! Now I better get back to working on 5, so your nails won’t have to stand up to further abuse. 🙂
I’ve been wondering exactly wut happened at Amaranthes birthday party. =D
Do you have a deleted scene for that?
(Did Maldynado really buy her an eye patch?)
Haha, no, I don’t, but you’re not the first to ask. I may have to go back and do a short story based around the party someday. Or maybe someone will do a fan-fiction… 😉
I’ve never written a fanfic before now. Its harder than I thought it’d be. D=
Challenge accepted! 😉
(really hope that html worked)
Drat. I was trying to add this guy:
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4nq77Odkm1rq0u56.jpg