QK Round 1: A Seer in King Arthur's Court vs. Cryptopolis
Title: The Pendragon's SonEntry Nickname: A Seer in King Arthur's CourtWord count: 98KGenre: YA Fantasy
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Prince Vael struggles to stop his misguided half-brother from killing their father and igniting a countrywide war.
A grim prophecy predicts Vael’s father, King Arthur and half-brother, Mordred die at the other’s sword in a battle that will destroy the once-peaceful Camelot. None dare oppose fate—save for Vael, a sorcerer who is determined to shield his family and his kingdom. But he has never left the protection of his mentor, Merlin, and attempting to alter fate is a fool’s errand.
Though the brothers were once close, Mordred’s mind has been warped by his mother—a vengeful sorceress who despises Arthur. Consumed by her lies, Mordred breaks ties with Vael and helps steal the legendary Excalibur, leaving the kingdom without its holy protection. As Vael struggles to recover the sword and save his half-brother, the prophecy nears its fulfillment. If Vael cannot unite his broken family, he will have to assemble an army to defend all he loves and fight a man he has grown to trust—his own brother.
First 250 words:As I hurried down the castle’s vast stone corridor to meet my half-brother for the first time, his name echoed around me, whispered like a curse: Mordred.
Though likely no one else in Camelot shared my outlook, that haunted name sparked a surge of hope in me. Finally. Finally. I had a brother. Family. Surely he would not shun me as the others had. Surely he would understand what it meant to be an outcast in one’s own family. I had to see him.
I approached the vaulted doorway of the Great Hall. Straightening, I walked toward the raised dais, careful to keep my pace steady, though my legs urged me forward. A prince must always be calm and collected. My muscles strained, but I reined in my eagerness. The dais seemed so far away.
Knights and soldiers filled the hall as I passed. Most paid me no heed, too absorbed in gossiping about my brother.
“How is that bastard still alive?” one said, wringing his hands.
“Vermin never did die easy,” an armoured knight said with a sneer.
I bit my tongue, not for the first time this day. The hall had witnessed many such words since the news of Mordred’s arrival, and all over an unfounded—and unreliable—prophecy made decades ago. My steps clipped the stones, leaving the speakers behind. My brother was still a prince—the son of Queen Morgan LeFay of the Orkneys. How did they dare to speak thusly?
VERSUS
Title: Catacomb Saints
Entry Nickname: Cryptopolis Word count: 77,000Genre: YA Fantasy
Query
For sixteen-year-old Davi, the darkness has never mattered. A petty pickpocket by night and a worthless burden on society by day, she has only ever wanted to be left alone to live what little life her society affords people like her. Trouble is, this time out, Davi's stolen something that isn’t supposed to exist—from a man who isn’t even supposed to be alive. The Bone Key might be a treasure worth a thousand kingdoms, but as far as Davi is concerned, the only thing the eerie metal relic is worth is saving her own life.
Thrust into the heart of a centuries old civil war between two great kingdoms, Davi must navigate the unfamiliar world of hired assassins, deadly artifacts, political intrigue and nebulous legend if she has even a prayer of not only returning the thing, but making it out alive. But the longer she has the Key, the more she learns about it—and herself, the more she understands that getting rid the relic is the very last thing she could ever do. If she is to survive, Davi must not only uncover the truth behind the Bone Key’s past, but her own. Who said being a teenager was ever easy.
A starving pickpocket, a shadowy civil war, and a wholly unexpected mission from the past.
First 250:
It wasn’t much—home. If you could even call it that, but it had three walls, a rough concrete ledge for sleeping, and it was all I had. And for someone who could count on the tip of her newly missing little finger the number of possessions she could lawfully lay claim to—that actually meant something. Around here, people had lost more trying to hold on to far less.
“Davi?”
I had neither the time nor the patience for the kid right now. I ignored her and shuffled backwards, my raw fingertip just brushing the soft leather of my newly acquired prize.
I weighed the purse in my hand. I sure as hell hoped what was inside was worth it. Of course, like most things I managed to steal off the spoiled brats up in the Summer Market, it probably wasn’t. Bedsides, losing the Red’s—unlike the tip of my pinky had taken far longer than expected. Now all I wanted was to sleep. Well, to eat and sleep, and yet I knew only one of those was likely to happen tonight.
Like a roach to crumb, the enquiry came again and I exhaled, tossing the pouch to my side and rubbing my still bleeding stump of a finger.
“What is it, Serri?” I demanded.
Below the fractured lip of my concrete ledge the familiar tangle of dirty blonde hair fidgeted. Like a pixie-sized plague, no matter what I said or did, Serri always came back.
“Davi?” Serri said, her voice as narrow as a shaft of distant sunlight.
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Prince Vael struggles to stop his misguided half-brother from killing their father and igniting a countrywide war.
A grim prophecy predicts Vael’s father, King Arthur and half-brother, Mordred die at the other’s sword in a battle that will destroy the once-peaceful Camelot. None dare oppose fate—save for Vael, a sorcerer who is determined to shield his family and his kingdom. But he has never left the protection of his mentor, Merlin, and attempting to alter fate is a fool’s errand.
Though the brothers were once close, Mordred’s mind has been warped by his mother—a vengeful sorceress who despises Arthur. Consumed by her lies, Mordred breaks ties with Vael and helps steal the legendary Excalibur, leaving the kingdom without its holy protection. As Vael struggles to recover the sword and save his half-brother, the prophecy nears its fulfillment. If Vael cannot unite his broken family, he will have to assemble an army to defend all he loves and fight a man he has grown to trust—his own brother.
First 250 words:As I hurried down the castle’s vast stone corridor to meet my half-brother for the first time, his name echoed around me, whispered like a curse: Mordred.
Though likely no one else in Camelot shared my outlook, that haunted name sparked a surge of hope in me. Finally. Finally. I had a brother. Family. Surely he would not shun me as the others had. Surely he would understand what it meant to be an outcast in one’s own family. I had to see him.
I approached the vaulted doorway of the Great Hall. Straightening, I walked toward the raised dais, careful to keep my pace steady, though my legs urged me forward. A prince must always be calm and collected. My muscles strained, but I reined in my eagerness. The dais seemed so far away.
Knights and soldiers filled the hall as I passed. Most paid me no heed, too absorbed in gossiping about my brother.
“How is that bastard still alive?” one said, wringing his hands.
“Vermin never did die easy,” an armoured knight said with a sneer.
I bit my tongue, not for the first time this day. The hall had witnessed many such words since the news of Mordred’s arrival, and all over an unfounded—and unreliable—prophecy made decades ago. My steps clipped the stones, leaving the speakers behind. My brother was still a prince—the son of Queen Morgan LeFay of the Orkneys. How did they dare to speak thusly?
VERSUS
Title: Catacomb Saints
Entry Nickname: Cryptopolis Word count: 77,000Genre: YA Fantasy
Query
For sixteen-year-old Davi, the darkness has never mattered. A petty pickpocket by night and a worthless burden on society by day, she has only ever wanted to be left alone to live what little life her society affords people like her. Trouble is, this time out, Davi's stolen something that isn’t supposed to exist—from a man who isn’t even supposed to be alive. The Bone Key might be a treasure worth a thousand kingdoms, but as far as Davi is concerned, the only thing the eerie metal relic is worth is saving her own life.
Thrust into the heart of a centuries old civil war between two great kingdoms, Davi must navigate the unfamiliar world of hired assassins, deadly artifacts, political intrigue and nebulous legend if she has even a prayer of not only returning the thing, but making it out alive. But the longer she has the Key, the more she learns about it—and herself, the more she understands that getting rid the relic is the very last thing she could ever do. If she is to survive, Davi must not only uncover the truth behind the Bone Key’s past, but her own. Who said being a teenager was ever easy.
A starving pickpocket, a shadowy civil war, and a wholly unexpected mission from the past.
First 250:
It wasn’t much—home. If you could even call it that, but it had three walls, a rough concrete ledge for sleeping, and it was all I had. And for someone who could count on the tip of her newly missing little finger the number of possessions she could lawfully lay claim to—that actually meant something. Around here, people had lost more trying to hold on to far less.
“Davi?”
I had neither the time nor the patience for the kid right now. I ignored her and shuffled backwards, my raw fingertip just brushing the soft leather of my newly acquired prize.
I weighed the purse in my hand. I sure as hell hoped what was inside was worth it. Of course, like most things I managed to steal off the spoiled brats up in the Summer Market, it probably wasn’t. Bedsides, losing the Red’s—unlike the tip of my pinky had taken far longer than expected. Now all I wanted was to sleep. Well, to eat and sleep, and yet I knew only one of those was likely to happen tonight.
Like a roach to crumb, the enquiry came again and I exhaled, tossing the pouch to my side and rubbing my still bleeding stump of a finger.
“What is it, Serri?” I demanded.
Below the fractured lip of my concrete ledge the familiar tangle of dirty blonde hair fidgeted. Like a pixie-sized plague, no matter what I said or did, Serri always came back.
“Davi?” Serri said, her voice as narrow as a shaft of distant sunlight.
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