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Chapter 29 - From the Slums to the Palace
The more Nori brushed, the dirtier she felt. When she had been covered in grime, that had just been the way of life. But once she removed the splotches from her tan skin, the clean parts served to highlight the dirty ones. With each scratch of the bristly brush, her destination weighed heavier and h...
Chapter 28 - Orphan
“Okay, take your kitchen shears and cut along the top of the shell. Just let it chip off. Don’t go all the way. Don’t hit the meat.”Nori demonstrated as she spoke, taking a cluster of acorn barnacles that looked like three volcanoes stuck into a ball, the recesses of each section holding a c...
Chapter 27 - Seeking Harmony
Archie’s feet slid across the dirt as he dug in and squatted, solidifying his base. With a powerful step forward, he unleashed a mass of noodles that made a warbling sound as they stretched and extended toward his target. He was fast. Faster than ever.But not fast enough.Picea dashed forward, clos...
Chapter 26 - Draining
“He does not like you,” Brûlée told Julienne during their second week of lessons.Julienne watched as Orzo grabbed Yarrow’s shoulder and laughed over some inside joke.“He’s been nice to me,” Julienne argued.“No. He’s acted nice. His nice toward you is not like his nice toward us.”...
Chapter 25 - Roasting
Julienne missed many things about Ambrosia City, but he did not miss its air. Everything was so packed together, forcing a hundred otherwise pleasant aromas condense into one overwhelming, unidentifiable smell.But in Toral, where lawns separated buildings and the old mossy stone absorbed any stenche...
Chapter 24 - Grating
Julienne softened his footsteps as he neared the quarters where he had grown up. He heard voices coming from an anteroom, wondering if they belonged to his parents. There were two, a man and a woman, but he couldn’t make out the intricacies of his voice. He needed to get closer.His feet grew heavy...
Chapter 23 - Bubbling
The welcome at Toral’s gates had been enough for Julienne. Unfortunately, it had not been enough for the people of Toral.Trumpets blared as a well-organized crowd of lords and ladies bowed and curtsied in their fancy dresses. Chefs stood in three rows of a dozen each to welcome Julienne. He scanne...
Chapter 22 - Stewing
“So, Julienne,” Mindy started as the carriage hurtled past the countless vineyards and chateaux of Labrusca. “Are you excited to be going home?”Julienne stretched his neck to one side and rubbed his shoulder. A day and a half in the carriage had taken a physical toll on him, but the mental t...
Chapter 21 - A Parade of Stags
The air grew stale in the harbor. The wind dared not blow. Even the waves subsided, crashing on the rocks beyond the cove but not willing to rock the Harper ship. A dozen large ships and three dozen more little fishing vessels waited out in the open ocean, the Harper blockade refusing to let them in...
Chapter 20 - The Angel of the Docks
“Ship coming in!”“Ship coming in!”The call echoed through the harbor, accompanied by the ringtingtingof a little bell. Nori pushed off Sauter’s boat and swam over to the wooden ladder. She tossed a palm-sized barnacle up to the dock.“What’s it look like?” she yelled, her voice drowni...
Chapter 19 - The Legend of the Charmant Truffle
“So what’s the deal with this truffle, anyway?” Yarrow asked as the carriage bumped along. They had to clear the Roots before giving the horses a full course of movemash.Oliver shifted around and cleared his throat. “Well, you see—”“—I was asking Julienne,” Yarrow interrupted.Olive...
Chapter 18 - The Queen of the Cafe
“Attention!”Julienne snapped up at the call. Every Chef stood at attention. Even Uncle Julienne. It didn’t matter that he was technically Executive Chef. It didn’t matter if something was burning. When Great Aunt Julienne entered, everyone stood up straight and waited.The kitchen doors swung...
Chapter 17 - Learning to Chill
A thousand smells filled the kitchen. Mint, rosemary, thyme, and something lemony that Picea identified as a mint leaf called lemon balm. Turnips, parsnips, onions, all serving as a complement to the savory smell of bone broth. From separate corners of the kitchen, the smells of gutted fish and fres...
Chapter 16 - Rough
The impact of the quarterstaffs sent a stinging jolt up Archie’s arm. Even as the aggressor, each hit hurt. First he felt it in his knuckles, then his elbow, then his shoulder. Soon, his entire arm tingled with a thousand ant bites.“Control the center line!” Picea barked. “Nori! Low guard! A...
Chapter 15 - Initial Assessments
“There’s only one rule in fighting. If you die, you lose.”Picea paced back and forth in the training ground of the yard. The Academy crew plus Hawthorn stood at attention in a line.“Two ways to mitigate the damage of an essence attack,” Picea continued. Perhaps inspired by the upcoming com...
Chapter 14 - Change of Plans
“You’re not going to be able to meet the Bhante,” Hawthorn said as he barged into Archie’s room.Sutton shrieked and dropped a book. Archie jumped—more at Sutton’s reaction than Hawthorn’s entrance.“What’re you doing here?!” Archie asked. He had warmed up to Hawthorn over their we...
Chapter 13 - Enlightenment
“Am I supposed to achieve inner peace or something?”Barley glared at Archie. Archie didn’t know Barley knew how to glare.“You said you wanted to experience our culture,” Barley whispered. “The only way to do that is to submit yourself.”Archie looked around the plaza. There had to have ...
Chapter 12 - Once a Harper...
“So Nori,” Shiso chatted while they worked. “What was it like growing up on Kiham?”Kiham was the prize island of Uroko. Situated in the midst of the Urokan archipelago, Kiham had the benefit of shallow waters and temperate weather. On top of producing many of Uroko’s ground crops, it also ...
Chapter 11 - Judge of Character
“As I was saying, on my thirtieth birthday, before I was king, I visited Ambrosia City and had the privilege of being served by Colby. He made a special dish, just for me, that he called…the Kingmaker.”King Tritsun flashed his hands in the air for dramatic effect.Nori took her fifth bite of oc...
Chapter 10 - The Commoner King
Nori hadn’t brought a dress to Khala, just her Chef jacket, cold weather clothes, and some rags to sleep in. So when she needed to get dressed for a dinner with the king of Khala, she stared in solemn sadness at her unsuitable clothes.Luckily, she had Blanche. Her more dinner-party-inclined roomma...
Chapter 9 - Preserverance
“Here she comes, right on time! The Pruh-zerv-er-ance!” Sauter hollered.“Do you mean the perseverance?” Nori asked in an attempted correction.“Nope!”While Nori watched the distant Harper ship, Sauter cheered and welcomed the arrival of his ship.“Lookadat, Nori! You ain’t ever seen su...
Chapter 8 - A Distance Away
As the ground sloped down to the harbor, the chaos of the city ramped up. Ramshackle buildings, always under construction and repairs, were crammed together so tight that only children could navigate most alleys. Roads were made of mismatched clay bricks, cobblestone, and wooden planks, none of whic...
Chapter 7 - Raw Meat
After washing up, brushing the undercoat out of a yak, washing up, chopping wood, and washing up again, Archie’s hands still smelled like yak dung.It didn’t have the knockout quality of the pig pens near Sain, but beneath the earthy smell of grass, a pungent undercurrent lingered.“We stockpile...
Chapter 6 - Yappin' and Yakkin'
“What’s that?” Archie pointed at a compact array of dirt disks stuck to a stone wall. Near the monastery, none of the buildings had the disks, but the farther out Hawthorn led them, the more the disks appeared.“You don’t know?” Hawthorn asked, his mouth open in his typical grin. He looke...
Chapter 5 - The Muscle of the Monastery
The next morning, Archie and company met downstairs to eat breakfast. They didn’t feel comfortable helping themselves to the kitchens of the Monastery, so they sat in the great public dining area with a hundred other people.Compared to the long, backless benches of the Academy, the Monastery’s s...
Chapter 4 - Settling In
Archie’s headache lasted through the night. If the layout of the monastery weren’t so simple, he’d have gotten lost getting to his room. Whereas the ground floor was open to the public, the upper floors were for the Chefs. The single hallway made a square around the courtyard, bedrooms lining ...
Chapter 3 - Arriving in Khaldeer
As the road wound between two mountains, the first signs of Khaldeer started to show. Inns welcomed newcomers. Temples gave departures one last place to pray for safe travel. Barracks stood ready to lock down the narrow passage in times of war.Down a bend, the land opened up into Khala’s largest a...
Chapter 2 - The Legend of the Wendigo
“Hold on, hold on. I don’t like having my back to the open.” Blanche picked up her bedroll and situated herself between Archie and Barley. She pulled her blankets up to her chin and grinned. “Okay, I’m ready.”A cool breeze weaved its way through the dark stable, the hay rustling and the ...
Book 2 - Chapter 1 - A New Journey
Book 2 - The Summer of LegendsArchie had always called the hills between Sain and Ambrosia City ‘mountains.’ And why shouldn’t he? They stood hundreds of feet tall, the largest thing he had ever seen in his life. They hosted entire forests and rose in steps and had cliff faces. If it required ...
[AN: Patreon stuff, book 2 blurb, book 1 thoughts, AMA]
And that's The Academy of Ambrosia.I have a lot of thoughts. I'll try to section them out so you can scroll through and decide which ramblings are worth your time.First topic: You.Thank you so much for your support. The confidence and excitement that I've received from having people will...
