Yay! Halfway through NaNo!

Anyone fancy sharing a sentence, or a paragraph or a section or even a whole scene from their NaNo WIP?

I'm prepared to share this bit (written today) taken from what will more than likely be Chapter 1 (although it may change in the next draft). It is unedited so it's RoUGh -



Excerpt:


Four bells from Polinache’s forecastle chimed as Caiabias stepped aboard. The crew doffed hats and the admiral’s steward greeted her and directly conducted her to the admiral’s day cabin.

She’d put on a white silk gown and a chip-straw hat tied under her chin with a navy blue ribbon for the occasion. Keaka had brushed her long red hair until it shone and tied up it in a neat ponytail with a matching ribbon. “Well, miss,” she’d said, “you look as handsome as any fine lady what I’ve ever seen. Fit to go before the king his self, in my opinion.”

That’s pretty much what this occasion was. The admiral, there on the king's orders doing the king’s business, might as well have been the king himself.

The admiral and the Orstian envoy, Mr Hubba, rose from their seats when she entered the cabin.

“Good day, Miss Irden,” Admiral Skewes said, without any hint of warmth. “I do hope you do not mind Mr Hubba being here as well.”

It didn’t matter one whit whether she objected or not. He was there because he was the king’s envoy to Ha Atala. “No,” she said, keeping her voice steady. She hoped she sounded cool and disinterested. “Not at all. Good day to you both.” It was a good thing she’d been trained -- while serving as a midshipman on the Lady May several years previously -- to keep still and appear in control of her emotions when under formal inspection or being called to account by the captain, even though her heart beat a rapid tattoo.

“Do sit down,” the admiral said indicating the chair in front of his desk.

A document roll tied round with a red ribbon lay on the desk just out of her reach.

“I expect you already know why you’re here. My officers, although I have admonished them frequently for it, are still blabbermouths.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Damn, this is unprecedented,” he said. “Mr Hubbba, do the thing. Let's get this over with.”

Mr Hubba grimaced, gave the admiral a sideways look and touched the document roll. “We would like to congratulate you, Miss Irden. On behalf of His Majesty the King, I would like to present you with your commission as a lieutenant in His Majesty’s Navy, if you would accept it of course.”

“Before you do, Miss Irden,” the admiral said, “I wish to make it clear to you, I will not give you any special favour or leniency. You will be treated exactly the same as I treat all the officers under my command.”

“I would expect nothing else, sir,” she said.

The admiral glowered. “I do not recommend you accept it—I cannot. I said so before you took the lieutenant’s exam and I say it again. A ship of war is no place for a woman of breeding. Yes, you served on the Lady May, but I have to say that it does Captain Gale a good deal of credit that nothing of a dire nature befell you. And, yes you were a guest on the Polinache, and I will credit my officers with their gentleman-like behaviour towards you. But you are a provoking creature, Miss Irden. You are a striking young woman—too much of a temptation to men cooped up for weeks at a time at sea. So far you have been lucky. I advise you not tempt fate further. If you accept this commission. There will be no one to guard your honour.”

What did that mean? What was he insinuating? “Might I see the commission, sir, before I make up my mind?”

“The admiral does have a point, Miss Irden,” Mr Hobba said. “But I’m sure matters can be arranged to make things a little less, er-- perilous for you in that respect. Is that not so, Admiral?”

The admiral snorted. “Just give her the damn thing.”

Mr Hobba passed her the documents. She slid the ribbon off and unrolled the papers. The top one, the certificate of commission as a lieutenant signed and sealed by the Admiralty board was all she had been expecting. The paper underneath took her breath away.





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