The two scenes I’m sharing today were the last two to be deleted before the release of The Queen of the Night. While both were very emotionally tied to my narrative, they ultimately got cut because they dragged the pacing and other scenes conveyed this information better. So I hope you enjoy this peek at the deleted scenes from The Queen of the Night.

Deleted Scene #1

Tellen scrubbed his hands and face free of the dirt and grime from the battle. Then he removed his shirt and scoured it on the rocks to clean the wolf blood from it, leaving it to dry on the branch of a bush nearby.

Tellen gave Reina one last look, then morphed into the black wolf so he could keep watch. She’d been incredible in the fight. Her form was fluid and feral, making it beautiful to watch. She handled her weapons with an ease that only came from consistent practice. Whoever her teacher was, they’d been a master. However, he suspected she’d had multiple teachers, one of whom had been the dragon, Cadaras. Whatever the case may be, her skills were formidable.

The Guardian looked up at the cloudless above. Did the Great King bring her to him? For the last two thousand years, Tellen had searched among the people of this land, but not one woman ever sparked feelings of attraction within him. At one point, he thought Fallon might be a possibility until he discovered how vindictive and bullheaded she could be.

After his siblings found their spouses and started their families, Tellen renewed his search for his partner, seeking the companionship he’d always craved. To make up for his lack, he created his own family when some of his followers exhibited greater power than others. Thus the Pathfinders were born, and he thought he’d found what he was looking for.

After Serene and Aros both married and had children, he realized he’d missed something. He needed to know what being loved and loving in return felt like. To have a wife and eventually children of his own.

Watching Reina sleep on her pile of leaves, he knew she was different. No one had ever made his Earthspark jump the way it did every time he touched her. The more Tellen studied her, the more qualities he found to admire. Reina was brave, as the skirmish with the wolves proved. She was also kind, as he’d seen with the slaves from the North. Maybe with time, if he allowed himself to hope, his dream of having a companion and a family could be a reality.

Deleted Scene #2

Blame

Fallon’s shoulders bunched as she stalked between the undergrowth in the forest surrounding Peroma. Evidence of Tellen’s crash landing among the monolithic pines over the summer was still present around the clearing. Snapped trees stood like broken twigs from the dragon’s crushing weight. And this was where the eastern king had set up his command base.

 “What do you mean we lost over half our men?” The king was gesticulating wildly.

The captain giving the report twisted his hands clasped anxiously behind him. “I mean just that, Your Majesty. The skin-changers are stronger than we expected, even with that Guardian disabled. We’ve slain over a hundred and fifty of them, and they’ve killed over two thousand of our men.”

The king backhanded the soldier before him, knocking the man flat.

“Get out there and fight,” the king snarled. “Bring me the heads of all those Pathfinders who remain.”

The captain staggered away as fast as he could. Fallon would let Teague handle that man. Her target was the king. If she eliminated him, the rest of the attack would disintegrate.

Fallon’s black tail twitched as she hid in the shadows, waiting. Once the king was distracted, the black panther pounced. Her claws extended as Fallon pounded the floor of the forest. The king’s guards saw her long before their worthless king. They moved to protect their monarch, and Fallon had to change directions in midair to avoid a guard’s keen blade.

A snarl escaped her as the soldiers advanced. Fallon leaped onto the nearest soldier and silenced him with a quick bite to his throat. The others gave way before her as she down three more soldiers.

A horse whinnied, and the king escaped with two of his guards, a folded piece of parchment clutched in his hand. The rest of the soldiers barred her way. Her tail twitched again.

The filthy king was riding away into the forest. If he got away, Fallon might not be able to pursue him. She needed to return and ensure Teague still stood on his feet. Her brother had a habit of bringing himself to the brink of death. She couldn’t revive her brother like Tellen if Teague had bitten off more than he could handle. Healing was not her gift, but prowess in battle was.

Without warning, Fallon lunged at one of the men and swiped his legs out from under him. One of the soldiers took a pole ax and rammed her side. Fallon turned, and the man went quiet within seconds.

Soon all that moved around her were squirrels jumping in the boughs. Fallon transformed and wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. A twinge of regret sniffed at her boots as she looked upon the lifeless forms. Most of these men likely had families who would never see them again.

Fallon’s fists clenched. The easterners’ deaths were upon their king’s head, not hers. She wouldn’t have attacked them if they hadn’t invaded her home. That cowardly king was to blame. His greed, or whatever it was that motivated this attack was the root cause of all this death.

Are you any less to blame? A snide voice asked her.

Falling Fallon paused. Her mental walls shot up. Of course, this wasn’t her fault. She didn’t willingly allow these people to cross into Tellen’s domain.

You were the one who chose to enlist Fiora’s help. You knew you couldn’t trust her, yet you ignored all those warnings.

“Silence!” Fallon demanded.

The snide voice continued. Your brother nearly died because Fiora gained access to your mind. Tellen’s medallion is lost, and so is his affection for you.

“Stop it!” Fallon cried, startling some birds.

Spinning on her heel, Fallon retraced her path to Peroma, forcing her legs to go as fast and as far as she could before stumbling to her knees as her lungs protested. The turrets of Peroma loomed above the trees. She prayed that Teague still lived.

If he’s dead, it’s your fault.

Racing down the causeway to escape that pernicious voice, Fallon leaped over broken statues of fallen Pathfinders. She and Teague would have to rebuild them with Tellen and add many more for those who perished today. However, when she entered the courtyard, her feet skidded to a halt.

Broken catapults lay scattered among the fractured masonry. However, it was the bodies that made her stop. The easterners’ blue coats were prevalent among the dead, but it was the bodies of her fellow Pathfinders and their families that brought her to her knees. Little Sari lay a few paces away, clutching her ever-present bouquet of bloodroot blossoms never to pick fresh ones again. Her mother rested beside her, shielding the little girl from the horrors of battle.

Your fault.

This is Reina’s fault, Fallon retorted. She’s the one who attracted the attention of the easterners.

Rising up on shaky legs, Fallon shuffled inside what was once an impenetrable fortress. More bodies lay scattered over the stone mosaic of Tellen’s wolf, with far too many belonging to Pathfinders.

Though she’d been absent for this attack, the loss of her family cut Fallon deep. That little voice remained silent as she picked her way through the wreckage. Doubt crept up that she was to blame. Those soldiers would have never gained access if she hadn’t gone to Fiora.

Her eagerness to be rid of Reina made her blind insensible to the dangers that lurked in the shadows. Fiora and Saul’s desire to make the slave girl pay for trapping Cadaras and stealing back the tribesmen was dangerous. She’d known that, yet she’d played right into their hands, becoming a pawn in a game with devastating consequences. Fallon’s jealous heart had jumped at the idea of getting rid of Reina. However, the destruction of Peroma wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal.

A tear slid down Fallon’s cheek. What had she done? When Fiora’s pernicious presence invaded her mind last night, the Fire Guardian seized control of her body. Fallon lost her sense of who she was or what she was doing. The Pathfinder was a passenger in her own body. 

Unable to stop herself as the Fire Witch forced her to prick Tellen with one of Reina’s darts to keep him asleep as she stole the medallion. Then Fallon was to go to the balcony where a Paradise python sat astride one of Fiora’s newest creations, a Nightshade bird.

Once the python had Tellen’s medallion, he gave her a sly salute and took off. Fiora’s presence vanished just as Fallon heard a scuffle in the hallway. Running to investigate, Fallon saw two demons standing over Teague, his chest soaked in blood. 

She unsheathed her knives and tore after Fiora’s minions. Before she could strike, they twisted into smoke and burst out a window. They must have been here as backups to make sure she handed over the medallion. And now Teague lay dying on the floor.

Fallon’s hands flew to Teague’s bleeding chest. Her twin brother had to live. She needed him to help her fix this.

Her scream had awakened Tellen, and he’d staggered out of his rooms on wobbly legs. Lucky for her, Tellen’s body counteracted the dart’s serum quicker than expected. Otherwise, her brother would have been dead.

Before Reina’s last extraction, Fallon had swiped the thief’s fresh batch of darts for ones she’d made herself, knowing their quality was inferior. She’d wanted to sabotage the extraction and hopefully allow the mercenaries to capture Reina, but Tellen hadn’t left with the other pack members like he was supposed to. Fallon’s plan failed, and she became desperate enough to turn to Fiora.

Fallon did her best to blink away those images as 

Teague limped into view with several other Pathfinders behind him. How many of them still lived?

Teague ran to Fallon and embraced her, stepping around a white marble statue of Quintus, a Pathfinder centuries ago who could shift into a giant ice bear.

“You live,” Teague choked out. “You were gone so long I feared you didn’t survive your quest for the easterners’ king.”

“I killed most of his guards. The king escaped before I could stop him.”

Teague hugged her tighter. “I’m just glad to see you alive with so many of the pack moving onto Elysium.”

Fallon willed herself to keep silent. If she were to speak her thoughts out loud, it just might make them true.

“How many members of the pack have you found?” Fallon asked as they broke apart.

“Fifty-three,” he said. There could be more, but the catapults of the easterners took out the entire north wing, and we haven’t broken through the rubble.

“Any word from Tellen?” Fallon asked, trying to find some hope in this situation.

“None,” Teague said, worry creasing his brow. “I was sure he’d turn up in the Dreamscape last night. He never did.”

Fallon tried to swallow as she looked at her fruit tree shield ring. She had to hope that Tellen was OK. Maybe he’d found Reina, and the two of them were having a joyful reunion.

The thought twisted her middle. The two could enjoy a happy ending that would never be hers. After what she’d done, Fallon didn’t deserve to be happy. She’d betrayed the man she most admired and ruined any chance either of them had at happiness. She’d also allowed invaders to enter her home, killing the Pathfinders and their families.

The thought was enough to break her hard exterior. She’d be stuck with this guilt for the rest of her immortal existence if she admitted that this was her fault.

“Come on, Fal. Let’s give our pack the burial they deserve. We’ll send the spirits to those who don’t become Sentinels to the Great King and wait for our turn at Elysium.”

Teague clapped her on the shoulder and, together with Dridan, Nicodemus, Berengard, and the rest, set about creating burial boxes for the Pathfinders for whom love, family, and honor still shone brightly.

Fallon lost herself in giving her fellow Pathfinders their final rites in the catacombs beneath Peroma. Once done, the Pathfinders hauled the easterners into the forest for a funeral pyre almost as tall as the pines that guarded Peroma’s gates.

As she watched the inferno, Fallon looked across the flames to the statue Tellen sculpted in honor of her father, Tulio Demetrius, in his tiger form. Tulio’s sculpture was one of the few still intact after the attack. His memorial stared at her with disappointment and shame. Her father had given his life to protect his family, only to have his daughter destroy it all.

You can still make amends, his voice seemed to drift across the ages. Love, family, and honor can still be what lives in your heart.

Fallon brought her eyes to the heavens.

If I can fix this, Help help me find Reina, given she’s still alive, and Tellen. The world and what remains of the pack still need them.

A gentle breeze drifted by, filling her mind. Be swift.