Title: THE INDIGO CITY
Genre: NA Low Fantasy
Word Count: 71k
Query:
For five years Aric has hidden in the decrepit
Indigo City avoiding the totalitarian rule sweeping the South. Now Nivarn, the
leader of the political regime, has finally arrived on his door step and it’s
her final stop. There’s nowhere else to hide.
The people begin to rebel but Aric knows better
than to join in; he was born to a family of activists and witnessed the
execution of his parents and older brother.
Nivarn is reusing an old tactic against her
adversaries: she’s holding a one-day amnesty and offering a clean slate to
anyone who enrols in her Foundation. After that, you’re her enemy by default.
Aric is doubtful. It could be a lie to reel in
ex-activists, but with his history he stands little chance of surviving outside
of the amnesty. He considers chancing it. But just to make sure, he decides to
dig around in his past in hope of finding out whether the Foundation is as
promised. Instead, he finds more. His brother may have discovered something
potentially damaging about Nivarn.
Now Aric has the option to reveal a secret that
can bring her down... but only if the truth doesn't bring him down first.
First 250:
The guy had already caught me looking his way;
the opportunity to avoid him gone. People shuffled along the roads, blocking
off whole streets so that the cars had nowhere to go, and here he was, coming
at me with wide, eager eyes.
‘No,’ I said, turning the front wheel of my
bike.
‘Hey, wait a sec, please.’
I pretended not to hear him over the honking of
car horns.
‘Hold up a minute, hear me out, this is about
you, man, about your city, about where you live. Are you a supporter? Do you
support Nivarn?’
Ignoring his last question was too hard. ‘No.’
‘Then come on…’ He shoved the flyer at me.
I took it then studied his black t-shirt; a
shoddy spray-painted mess with the blotched letters Z and F. I shook my head.
Their homemade uniforms just kept getting worse.
The protester held up his handful of leaflets,
reading one out to me, ‘Join Ziggy Freeman and Help Keep Nivarn Out.’
‘Oh yeah?’ I snorted. ‘How’s he gonna do that?’
‘Through us, man, the power of the people. We
can do this. We can all work together - look, we’re taking our signed petition
to Central tonight. We can do this, and if you’re not against her you’re with
her, right? So join us,’ he said.
‘No.’
‘Then at least sign the petition.’
I looked over the flyer. ‘No,’ I said, letting
it float to the ground.
