a huge part of my novel revolves around promises - broken and kept to final breath.
one of the promises (or oaths) Allyn makes is when she becomes a Protector. i wasn't entirely sure what it would entail, but i knew that it had to be simple. that's when the years and years of studying Latin in elementary school came in handy.
EGO sudo protego.
I swear to Protect.
that's all it is. i swear to Protect.
She knelt before the Council.
"Rise, Allyn Brooks, and give your oath," said one of the Council members.
She stood, slightly slouched, her hands clenched in tight fists at her sides. Could she do this and sign away her freedom, her life, to these people? Could she swear, with so few words, to give up her life if the need arose?
Could she?
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and could almost hear James' voice behind her.
"What are your waiting for, Al? I thought you wanted this," he would have said, smirking.
She stood straight. Her voice rang out clear in the silence of the courtyard, "EGO sudo protego."
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
7/14/2012
6/12/2012
Beautiful People // May
This month I'll be using my villain from Oaths (which will be either my Camp NaNo in August or this year's NaNoWriMo novel in November. I haven't decided yet.).
Prologue the First. 15 years previously.
He was young, much to young to be faced with his own death. In a bloody heap, not too far away, on the floor, lay his wife. Dead. He had not moved a muscle when they had killed her. He couldn’t.
It was fear that paralyzed him. Fear of the one person who would kill a woman with no second thoughts. The monster that that person had become chilled him to the core and caused him to shiver violently.
But more than that.
He knew that not fifteen feet away, hidden in a secret room, was his best friend and tiny daughter. He could not allow her to be found. Neither of them could be found.
He took a step forward.
The monster smiled.
Another step.
Forgive me for leaving her, Amelia.
Another step.
Another smile from the monster across the room.
I love you, Allyn.
Two more steps forward.
He raised his little golden throwing knife. His last defense.
The monster held his arms out. He was unarmed.
It would be an easy kill. One knife thrown, caught in the chest by the man across from him. He could do it. For Amelia. For Allyn.
His hand lifted the knife oh-so slowly into the throwing position. His eyes locked on his target.
The monster smiled cruelly, “Do you have what it takes to kill an unarmed man, Valentine? Could you do it?” He took a step towards Valentine - and the knife. “I know I could.”
Two more steps towards his doom.
He was now only a few feet away; he could reach out and touch the blade if he wished.
“I thought it was not your way to kill. Not the way you chose. My way would not hesitate as you are.” He smirked.
The knife wavered.
“Come, old friend,” the monster said smoothly. “Are we really resorting to blows?”
This was it, and Valentine knew. He could not kill him. It was not of the way he chose. He would rather give up his life than break the Vows. Sweat dripped down his face and neck, into the collar of his soft tunic. His eyebrows drew together in a sharp line and his breathing became irregular. “I...can’t,” he breathed out. Then again, stronger, “I can’t kill you.”
The knife was lowered and then dropped to the floor with a metallic clanging.
The monster’s smile was genuine now. “Oh, brother...friend.” He laughed as he bent down and picked up the jeweled knife. “You don’t have what it takes to be in power, Valentine; you never did. But me, I have everything you lacked.”
Valentine’s eyes moved away from the man across from him and rested on his wife’s lifeless body. “Not everything, brother.”
Fury erased all attractiveness in his enemy’s face. “Everything, Valentine, everything.” And then he struck out with knife, burying it deeply in the younger man’s chest.
He sunk to his knees, each breath came to him slower and slower, gradually everything faded to black before his eyes. He called out one last broken sentence to the monster before succumbing to his death, “I loved the boy you were, brother; but not the man you became.”
1. What is their motive? Anger, fear, but mostly jealousy. Ishmael has always been insanely jealous of his younger brother, Valentine. To the point that he killed him.
2. What are they prepared to do to get what they want? Pretty much anything so far.
3. Are they evil to the core, or simply misunderstood? A mixture of both, I think. He longs for and craves power, but deep down he just wants to belong and make his family name great.
4. What was their past like? What about their childhood? Was there one defining moment that made them embrace their evil ways? In the past, Ishmael was part of the Protectors. As one of the best, he was given more power until he was consumed with a lust for more. He was left the Order when they refused to give him more, taking with him several of his closest friends, including Allyn's mother, Amelia. When Amelia left his group of 'Insiders' he turned his back completely on anything that he deemed to be weak. That's when he got really evil.
5. Now that they’re evil, have they turned their back on everyone, or is there still someone in their life that they care for? (Brother? Daughter? Love interest? Mother? Someone who is just as evil as they are?) He was in love with Amelia, but when she realized how far gone he was, Amelia left the Insiders and rejoined the Protectors, which crushed him. Yes. I do realize how much of a run-on sentence that was. :P
6. Do they like hugs? Nope. Not at all.
7. Are they plagued by something? (Nightmares, terrible thoughts?) A little bit of guilt, but not much else.
8. Who are they more similar to: Gollum or Maleficent? In a way, both.
9. If your villain could have their choice of transportation what would it be? Probably some sort of time machine so that he could change everything and make it fit his visions of how it should have been.
10. If you met your villain in the street, how afraid would you be? Are they evil enough to kill their creator? I would be pretty scared. He did kill his own brother, after all.
And, the most important question of all: Does the dark side really have cookies? Of course. Dark chocolate cookies. ;)
Prologue the First. 15 years previously.
He was young, much to young to be faced with his own death. In a bloody heap, not too far away, on the floor, lay his wife. Dead. He had not moved a muscle when they had killed her. He couldn’t.
It was fear that paralyzed him. Fear of the one person who would kill a woman with no second thoughts. The monster that that person had become chilled him to the core and caused him to shiver violently.
But more than that.
He knew that not fifteen feet away, hidden in a secret room, was his best friend and tiny daughter. He could not allow her to be found. Neither of them could be found.
He took a step forward.
The monster smiled.
Another step.
Forgive me for leaving her, Amelia.
Another step.
Another smile from the monster across the room.
I love you, Allyn.
Two more steps forward.
He raised his little golden throwing knife. His last defense.
The monster held his arms out. He was unarmed.
It would be an easy kill. One knife thrown, caught in the chest by the man across from him. He could do it. For Amelia. For Allyn.
His hand lifted the knife oh-so slowly into the throwing position. His eyes locked on his target.
The monster smiled cruelly, “Do you have what it takes to kill an unarmed man, Valentine? Could you do it?” He took a step towards Valentine - and the knife. “I know I could.”
Two more steps towards his doom.
He was now only a few feet away; he could reach out and touch the blade if he wished.
“I thought it was not your way to kill. Not the way you chose. My way would not hesitate as you are.” He smirked.
The knife wavered.
“Come, old friend,” the monster said smoothly. “Are we really resorting to blows?”
This was it, and Valentine knew. He could not kill him. It was not of the way he chose. He would rather give up his life than break the Vows. Sweat dripped down his face and neck, into the collar of his soft tunic. His eyebrows drew together in a sharp line and his breathing became irregular. “I...can’t,” he breathed out. Then again, stronger, “I can’t kill you.”
The knife was lowered and then dropped to the floor with a metallic clanging.
The monster’s smile was genuine now. “Oh, brother...friend.” He laughed as he bent down and picked up the jeweled knife. “You don’t have what it takes to be in power, Valentine; you never did. But me, I have everything you lacked.”
Valentine’s eyes moved away from the man across from him and rested on his wife’s lifeless body. “Not everything, brother.”
Fury erased all attractiveness in his enemy’s face. “Everything, Valentine, everything.” And then he struck out with knife, burying it deeply in the younger man’s chest.
He sunk to his knees, each breath came to him slower and slower, gradually everything faded to black before his eyes. He called out one last broken sentence to the monster before succumbing to his death, “I loved the boy you were, brother; but not the man you became.”
(This is what Ishmael will look like in my book, 15 years after that prologue. He's somewhere around 45-50 years oldish. I think. He's not currently speaking to me.)
1. What is their motive? Anger, fear, but mostly jealousy. Ishmael has always been insanely jealous of his younger brother, Valentine. To the point that he killed him.
2. What are they prepared to do to get what they want? Pretty much anything so far.
3. Are they evil to the core, or simply misunderstood? A mixture of both, I think. He longs for and craves power, but deep down he just wants to belong and make his family name great.
4. What was their past like? What about their childhood? Was there one defining moment that made them embrace their evil ways? In the past, Ishmael was part of the Protectors. As one of the best, he was given more power until he was consumed with a lust for more. He was left the Order when they refused to give him more, taking with him several of his closest friends, including Allyn's mother, Amelia. When Amelia left his group of 'Insiders' he turned his back completely on anything that he deemed to be weak. That's when he got really evil.
5. Now that they’re evil, have they turned their back on everyone, or is there still someone in their life that they care for? (Brother? Daughter? Love interest? Mother? Someone who is just as evil as they are?) He was in love with Amelia, but when she realized how far gone he was, Amelia left the Insiders and rejoined the Protectors, which crushed him. Yes. I do realize how much of a run-on sentence that was. :P
6. Do they like hugs? Nope. Not at all.
7. Are they plagued by something? (Nightmares, terrible thoughts?) A little bit of guilt, but not much else.
8. Who are they more similar to: Gollum or Maleficent? In a way, both.
9. If your villain could have their choice of transportation what would it be? Probably some sort of time machine so that he could change everything and make it fit his visions of how it should have been.
10. If you met your villain in the street, how afraid would you be? Are they evil enough to kill their creator? I would be pretty scared. He did kill his own brother, after all.
And, the most important question of all: Does the dark side really have cookies? Of course. Dark chocolate cookies. ;)
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