Fondour

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 heavier in her mind. She didn’t need to just be clean. She needed to be royally clean.

Not that she knew what for. The last time the king had invited her to dine with him, it had been so he ...

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 chunk of meat. She worked the edges to widen the hole, bits of shell exploding off her heavy iron scissors.

“You wanna try?” Nori held the cluster of barnacles out to Nyima. It had ...

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, closing the distance between them and leaving the noodles grasping at nothing. As she raised her massive spatula high in the air, Archie had to choose between pulling the noodles back in ...

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.”

“I mean, he’s tested me, but he’s just trying to teach me.”

Julienne had grown used to Orzo’s trials. The Head Chef often removed ingredients or added un...

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 stenches, the air was pure bliss. As a gondola carried the students through Toral, Julienne let the smells wash over him. 

There was the pleasantly pungent aroma of cheese as they passed...

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. He was breathing far too heavily. His footsteps were loud, his legs didn’t want to move, and the sound of blood rushing in his ears kept him from properly hearing the voices.

Breat...

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 scanned their faces, searching. Every noble from Donelin to Montsier must have been waiting in the courtyard. Everyone but his parents.

The carriage came to a stop as it skidded across the c...

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 toll was far worse. He hated the idleness of it. Getting to spend a night in Duke Frolletti’s luxurious kitchen had helped to settle a bit of anxiety, but Julienne’s stomach had started i...

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.

The sailors of Khaldeer had gotten used to the blockade. It felt as much a part of the cove as the rocks that jutted out into the sea. But this new Harper ship, twice as big, had the sailor...

Chapter 20 - The Angel of the Docks

“Ship coming in!”

“Ship coming in!”

The call echoed through the harbor, accompanied by the ringtingting of 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 drowning in the crashing waves.

“It’s a pretty good one,” Shiso called out from above. “A balinger. I’m not seeing any big catches, but it looks like t...

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.

Oliver feigned great offense, throwing his arms out and launching himself back against the seat. His head hit the wall with a resounding bonk! followed by the pitiful ...

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 open and the Chefs broke into a chorus. “Chef Julienne,” they said at once.

“Aunt,” Uncle Julienne said.

“Great Aunt,” Julienne said.

“Hello, everyone...

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 fresh bread battled.

Unlike the Academy, the Monastery still served as the main kitchen for most of its graduates as they fed the masses. Nearly twenty Chefs worked in the kitchen—this being ju...

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! Archie! Rudder guard!”

Archie put the length of the quarterstaff low behind him like a rudder, waiting to twist and unleash his power. Nori countered by letting her quarterstaff wait ...

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 combat training, she had added another blonde braid tight against her scalp. “You can dispel it or you can block it. Archie, if you would, attack me with your noodle whip.”

Arc...

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 week of working at Buart’s, but he couldn’t help but feel like he had just been caught changing clothes.

Hawthorn didn’t understand the fuss. He just shrugged. “You guys w...

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 been three hundred people kneeling, Archie, Barley, and Sutton in the middle of them all. The Khalyans mimed scooping from the ground into their mouth, bowed toward the Monaste...

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 held the nation’s capital, Boseki. Naturally, Kiham’s prosperity meant that it also served as the home for the primary branch of the Harper family—not that Nori had outed herself as a ...

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 octopus, finishing it off. She hoped that the sooner she cleaned off her plate, the sooner the next course would arrive, the sooner the dinner would be over. Plus eating some real...

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 roommate had brought a dress, some blush, and a little tin of hair powder that smelled of cloves, nutmeg, and rose petals, all of which she put on Nori.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever se...

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 such a beaut!”

In fact, Nori had. And presently did. In that same harbor, other ships had colored sails, chiseled mastheads, and wood of one color. Sauter’s had ...

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 which were made for even ground. 

Massive crowds of people made crossing the street a physical test. Merchants yelled out prices as they hocked their wares. Mothers yelled out their children...

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 wood throughout the year,” Buart told Archie and Barley as they tied bundles of wood together with rope and threw them over the backs of the yaks. “We save most of it for w...

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 looked at Barley, who barely contained a laugh as he shook his head. “Well, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Archie squinted to try to see better as they walked past the wall. The circle...

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 seating seemed luxurious. Each bench seated two or three people, had handrails and a carved wooden back, and a cushioned seat and back covered in blue and red carpets with serpentine dragons ...

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 the exterior wall. Kitchens lined the interior, their heat being pumped out into the yard to provide warmth to the gardens.

The bedrooms were built for two beds and not much else, prompting a...

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 and flattest valley. The plains of Khaldeer. Protected from the weather by the surrounding mountains, protected from invaders by narrow mountain roads, and with a warm-water port, the v...

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 goats and horses perking up and the flames of the lanterns dancing and casting strange shadows. Sutton scooted closer to the lantern.

Barley leaned over to look out of a window. His fa...

Book 2 - Chapter 1 - A New Journey

Book 2 - The Summer of Legends

Archie 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 a vertical climb, it must have been a mountain. And so that’s what he had always called them.

He would never make such a mistake again.

The mountain range dividing The P...

[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 willing to pay for my writing has just taken me to a new level of joy and motivation. It's only a month into 2025, I know, but so far I h...