Hey everyone!
I made it through the month. Whew. Wow. What a month it was! It seemed like everything and anything that could happen, did. Amazingly, I managed to crank out 75,017 words in the midst of pure chaos, while playing ML. WOW. That's quite a shock even to me.
While it isn't my usual 100k, I can say that I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I'm also happy to share an excerpt from Nytefrute with any interested readers. (as with a good chunk of my blog-posted fiction, this excerpt has not been edited, so be warned in advance). Thanks for following me through the month--I hope you had a great Nano experience.
See you next year in NaNoland!
~Sara
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| NANOWRIMO 2012 : Novel #1 |
SYNOPSIS
10-year-old Nena Capreka was only searching for food when she entered the Nyte Compound. She was not looking for trouble. She was not looking for Frute. And above all else, she was not looking to die...
Miagra Ugden is a rare Nyte Officer, with the power to kill on contact. It's a touchy subject all around. When she's inadvertently thrust into the role of Nena's caretaker, she finds that this little urchin of an orphan might be just what their world is looking for.
With a name like Gardenia, the title of General is absolutely necessary. Her Nyte Officer Unit is known for their quick coordination and effortless extraction. They've always been a seamless circle, one Nyte's talents flowing straight into the next--until Miagra is dumped into their midst, with a 10-year-old girl along for the ride.
Gardenia is not ready to handle the new headache that is threatening to tear her Unit apart at the seams. When Miagra makes her an offer she can't resist, it will take more than willpower to refuse.
Temptation was never quite so forbidden nor ever so sweetly offered....
NYTEFRUTE EXCERPT
NOTES: Trainers are the High-ranking officers/Warriors, Trained are the officers/individuals beneath them. Gardenia is a Trainer and her Trained is Haruken.
“Gardenia.” Florian inspected his favorite daughter with a sharp eye. He could read more in her stiff posture than he could from the words she wasn’t saying. It had been two long years since he’d last laid eyes on her and yet it seemed as if she hadn’t changed all that much. Instead, it seemed as if the two years had worn on her longer and harder than any of her previous missions and assignments ever had. That worried him as he took in the darkness around her eyes, the faint twitch of her fingers and the tight press of her thin lips. He waited until his aide stepped out, closing the door with the privacy lock, before he circled around the desk to take her by the shoulders.
She allowed the contact, even though she bristled faintly at his touch. He almost smiled, but thought better of it and then dropped his hands, using one to cup her cheek, briefly. “You traveled well?” He inquired, politely.
She turned away from the caress. “I am here for a favor.” She smoothed the front of her uniform. “And I can’t take any other answer than the outcome I need.”
“…ask away.” He prompted.
“I need to request a merciful death.”
Florian blinked. The words hung heavily in the air and he stared at her, searching for some sort of explanation in those pale-white eyes, noting that as she spoke, a rich, white gardenia literally sprung to life right over her left ear. He frowned. This was serious then. He turned back to his desk and began to busy himself with the crystal decanter and the matching square goblets on the silver tray there. “When?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Is this to do with the reason of your return?”
“Yes.”
“Gardenia-”
“I need this to happen.” She interrupted. “Haruken stumbled into something that he wouldn’t have if I hadn’t ordered him there in the first place.”
“Perhaps that is true, but Gardenia-”
“I can’t let him do this. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Rules are law, and even if I want to bend them for you, I simply cannot-”
“He has a little sister almost exactly like that.”
Florian paused. He frowned at her a little longer, for good measure and then handed over a glass of fruity wine. “For the nerves,” he murmured, when she perked a brow. It was a gesture so reminiscent of her late mother that he couldn’t help but smile. “My nerves, if not yours.” He amended.
“Please, father.”
It was a low blow and they both knew it, but he downed the wine anyway. The familiar taste and burn slid down his throat and helped to wash away what little resistance he’d tried to build up. He’d known since he’d spoken to her on the comm. that she would return with some request to challenge them both and a promise that he wouldn’t be able to refuse. “Gardenia,”
“You can do anything with my unit afterwards. I swear it.” She cut in once more. “please, father. He can’t take this and I can’t let him.”
Florian started. He did know that. If the regulation went through, his pig-headed daughter would be sure to take on the duty that her Trained ought to have taken care of and in return for that, it would fall on her record, which would in turn, reflect on his. A pristine, perfect record that had never even heard of a problem.
He sighed. “This is a very difficult thing you ask, daughter.” The use of her title rather than her name, brought her up short, but she did not interrupt this time as he surveyed her over the rim of the square goblet. “I may be able to see to this,” He began.
Relief colored her features at once, before her expression schooled itself into something more neutral. “Thank you, Father. You will not-”
“You haven’t heard all that I’ve had to say.” He cautioned. “I can make this happen, that is not the issue here. The problem is that promise you just swore.”
She straightened at once, head held high. “I said nothing that I was unwilling to follow through with.”
He sighed, heavily. “I should hope not.” He raised the empty glass in salutation. “Welcome back. Do not let me see your face until this has blown over.”
She offered a stiff salute, clicked her booted heels together and was gone with the formal bow of respect from a child to parent.
He watched her retreating figure with a twinge of regret, perched on the edge of his antique desk. She was too much like her mother in ways that he’d never been able to quite understand, and yet, in ways he wasn’t sure that he wanted to argue about. He’d make her little wish come through, but on top of that, he’d also make sure he didn’t burn himself in the process.
She might be his daughter, but he’d put a lifetime into his career. A lifetime that he refused to watch fade away simply because she could not keep herself and a single unit together. The last nasty business had been with the death of that Protector of theirs and the rumors hadn’t stopped flying at all in the past two years since it had been. He did wonder himself, as to whether it was true, that the Porea had actually betrayed them, but he knew better than to ask.
His curiosity would only be satisfied by an official inquiry, which in turn would tell the entire Central City that he did not have it all under control and that he couldn’t manage someone as simple as his own daughter. He turned around to pour himself another glass of wine and swirled it in contemplation as he slid off the desk and circled around to sit back in his chair.
A faint thought niggled at the back of his head and prompted a rather wide smile as his aide reentered the office room.
“…sir?”
“Adelinea.” He smiled, coldly. “Do put Fraiser on the line for me, hm?”
The aide inched forward and reached for his desk comm. She tapped in several keys and codes, swiping her clearance card near the end before she could actually place the call and then handed it over, setting it before him and tapping the final keys to bring the video conference to life on the far wall of the office.
“That will be all.” He intoned.
She bobbed her head quickly, offered a salute and strode out of the office, just as the live feed flickered into view.
Florian smirked. “Fraiser…what an unpleasant surprise…”
