Hello, everyone!
I know I haven't posted anything in a few months, and it was because I was, honestly, too lazy to keep up with this.
But I've been busy, and I have an excerpt from my current novel-in-progress, which, as of right now, is titled Sleeping Thorn, though I am thinking about changing it. If you have any ideas for the title, please list it in the comments!
This novel, a Sleeping Beauty retelling, is about an adolescent girl named Penelope, though she's constantly called Penny, that is a trained assassin. Right, when she decided she doesn't want to kill anyone else, her family makes a deal with her- if she did one last offer, they would let her do whatever she wants. However, she finds out this offer will take six months to accomplish-and her victim is going to be the Prince of the kingdom. The death they want for him is grueling; a paralyzing poison that makes the drinker look dead. They wanted the prince to be buried alive until he slowly dies. She has to participate in the Bride Search, but by the end, when she has a chance to poison the prince, she starts to question if she truly wanted to do this.
Here's the excerpt!
I am a killer.
I’ve killed dozens of people, and the blood of their relatives are on my hands, too.
And as far as I was concerned, I was done with killing.
No one understands what I go through as a trained assassin.
They think I have no conscious. They think I’m an emotionless monster.
In some ways, I am.
But I still feel guilt.
Still feel remorse.
“Penny, you’ve got to keep this up! You can’t just… become an assassin, then give up.” my brother, Alexander, scolded as I sighed, leaning back into my plush office chair.
I still didn’t know why I bought it. It was an impulse buy. I saw the black silk-covered chair, and something in me decided I was worthy of such a gift.
“Penelope!” Alex snapped, causing me to look at him. “Are you paying any attention to me?”
I shrugged, a few strands of blonde hair falling into my vision. “What’s the point if you’re just repeating the same things over and over?”
“You know what, Penny?” he began. “You’re being selfish.”
His insult felt like a physical slap to the face. I sagged as though he had actually hit me.
“How does not wanting to kill innocents make me selfish?!” I shrieked, standing up.
“That’s the thing, Pen. They aren’t innocent.” he snarked. “That’s why you’re needed. To get rid of the problems.”
I groaned with frustration. For the last month, since I made my decision, my whole family has been giving me these talks.
Alex gripped my shoulders, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough for me to see it as a warning.
I didn’t expect what he said next.
“Take one last offer, okay?” he asked. “Then you can be finished.”
I frowned. “Then, afterward, you’re going to be demanding I do ‘this one last offer’ over and over again.”
He looked me dead in the eye, and his crystal blue eyes, that were so remarkably similar to mine, reflected pain that wasn’t supposed to be there.
“I swear, Penny, just this one victim, then you can become a… I don’t know… a fashion designer if you want!”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You have no proof.”
His eyes begged me to listen, my brain begged me to just say no.
There was no question which one I would listen to.
“Listen, Alex, I understand what you’re saying… but my answer is no.”
The corner of his lips turned down, but his expression told me he expected it.
Huh. He wasn’t so dumb after all.
“Pen, you may say that now… but both I and Dad agreed that if you take this offer, we won’t ask anything of you ever again.”
Out of habit, I almost asked, What does Mom think?
I mentally slapped myself. She’s not here anymore. She left you. She forced you to fend for yourself.
Even as I tried to convince myself, I couldn’t hate Mom.
Instead, I stated, “Ever again?”
He smiled slightly. “You could move out of the kingdom and no one would stop you. In fact, we’d even help you leave.”
I forced a grin. “That desperate to get rid of me, huh?”
He shook his head, though his smile was growing larger as though he knew he had already won me over.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “How long will this take?”
He hesitated. “Depends.”
“Okay… what’s your estimate?”
Alex cringed, and I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.
“How long, Alex?!” I demanded.
He bit his lip, and I looked away in disgust.
Then he finally answered.
“Six months, give or take.”
I whirled back around, gaping at him.
“Six months?” I asked.
He nodded, already turning away to leave the room.
I grabbed his arm before he could. “Who is this person anyway?”
He stared at me for a second, then, pulling my hand off his arm, fled my office.
“Coward,” I muttered under my breath, chagrined that I had agreed to quickly without knowing the details.
This set my plans back half a year.
And I really believed for a golden minute that I would just sneak into someone’s house and be back by dinner.
I tapped my fingers against the smooth leather armrest of my chair, unsure what steps to take.
Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I snuck out of my office to Dad’s, right across the hall from mine.
Thank you for reading the excerpt from Sleeping Thorn. I don't know when this book will be finished, but it will be soon. I'll post the free link to the Document on My Random Blog when it's finished.
The Random Blogger,
Dawn.
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