Blind Speed Dating #22 (YA)

Title: QUIVER

Genre: YA Fantasy

Word Count: 82,000

Query:

So far, Harmon hasn’t been shot. Most in the kingdom can’t say the same. The king rules by the power of his arrows, shooting at random to maintain his tyrannical control. It wouldn’t be so bad if the arrows had a physical effect, but they don’t. They mess with your mind – they fill you with terror.

Harmon watches the terrorized kingdom in solitude, unable to get close to anyone for fear of revealing the fact that she is not a boy. She has no desire to join the king’s harem. But when a mysterious vigilante shows up, she wonders if perhaps it is possible to leave the kingdom of Tylos behind completely.

In joining up with the vigilante, Trom, Harmon finds herself in danger of giving up her disguise. Their tenuous relationship is riddled with secrets but strengthened by growing respect.

It isn’t until Harmon discovers Trom’s true identity that she realizes her choice: become the victim of a Kupid or become a Kupid’s accomplice. 

QUIVER contains fantasy elements similar to Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING combined with the vigilante concept of ROBIN HOOD and the dramatic irony of TWELFTH NIGHT. Thank you for your time and consideration.

First 250:

“Yeh shouldn’t be here, boy,” Isidor said in a low voice. I jumped as his hand settled on my shoulder. A man wheezed from somewhere behind me. Low murmurs pockmarked the silence of the crowd. Isidor was right, in so many ways.

“Not like we have a choice,” I muttered. Isidor’s hand tightened on my shoulder. I didn’t bother to glance up at his look of disapproval for my treasonous words. My gaze was fixed on the wooden block that sat on the platform before us. The block was worn smooth on the front from where countless chins rested in resignation. The rest of it was black with dried blood; the blood of criminals like me. Poachers.

Someone pushed against me from behind, breaking Isidor’s grip. I shuddered and stepped forward to where the crowd thinned. Panic still coiled around my limbs and stilted my movements, but the edges of a crowd always felt better than the center.

The criminal on the platform strained against the grip of his guards, reaching toward the woman and two boys being dragged forward. Their faces were streaked with tears. Soot blackened their skin and smeared their clothes from when they had been forced to watch as their house burned down only moments before. They lined up in front of three additional chopping blocks set directly across from the man. He screamed and lunged toward them, his eyes wild and desperate. The guards held him fast.