NaNoWriMo

This is an excerpt from the novel I'm writing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You can find me on nanowrimo.org under the name Eleanor Damaschke. :)This draft is the very first, and still rather rough, but I'm pleased with how it's turning out so far.

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In, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4. The breathing helped. She didn't hear him coming, but then he was a master of woodcraft, and she was not. She Sensed him, though, and the approach of his intense life fire pulled her attention away from herself.

"Father," she greeted quietly, and opened her eyes. There is was, smiling faintly as he watched her. Of all the elves in the Queen's court, Jyra's favorite was her father. Even if he hadn't been her father, she thought he would have been her favorite. He was strong and skilled and brave, and he understood her. That was the important part.

"Jyra. I'm sorry today didn't turn out the way you wanted it to." He took a step forward and reached over his shoulder to pull an ebony bow from the sheath on his back. She could see he carried two now, rather than one. There were also two knives at his belt. "This is for you. It used to belong to your Aunt Mira before she took up magecraft. Since today is your coming of age, it's yours now." He handed her the bow, its string loose against the dark wood. An intricate ivy pattern was carved into the wood, and as she looked at it, the vines seemed to stir gently, as in a breeze. Perhaps Aunt Mira had taken up magecraft earlier than her father remembered.

Reverently, she strung the bow and set her hand on the grip. The grip had been carved for a different hand than hers, and she wondered if a skilled craftsman might be able to size it for her. The string was taut, and much harder to draw than her old yew longbow. This carved, curving beauty would take work to master, as all good things did.

"This is for you, too." Her father undid his belt, and slid the second knife from his hip, offering it to her. "I made it for you. In case you ever decided to join me in woodcraft." It was a hunting knife, heavy in her hand. These were not the tools of a mage. These were the tools of a hunter. Jyra felt proud and a little sad - she had no intention of becoming a hunter.

"Thank you, Father." It was good. It helped.

"Now, I think we should go back to the palace. Your disappearance has upset the Chamberlain."

"Something is always upsetting the Chamberlain," Jyra retorted, but she threaded the knife onto her belt, and took the bow sheath from her father, unstringing her new bow and settling it across her back.

Play! Dance! The wind was back. She smiled this time, and inhaled deeply, feeling the air currents tug at her clothes. She still wasn't in the mood for dancing, but she didn't ignore the wind this time.

Leaf play, she suggested, and the wind took her suggestion enthusiastically, darting ahead to swirl fallen leaves off the ground in a little whirlwind.

"It's like watching Mira all over again," her father observed. "Only her knack was with water. It was… unsettling, sometimes." It wasn't often that she saw her father look so chagrined, but that was the expression he wore now, and it was difficult not to laugh.

"I promise not to use it for mischief." Jyra grinned up at her father, and the nobleman smiled back, pleased.

It wasn't long before the palace walls came into sight. For someone who was unused to them, they would have been quite impressive. Forest giants, growing so close together that their trunks almost touched. Only a few gaps were large enough to admit an adult elf, and these were closely watched by the guards in the branches above. Jyra's connection to the Stream allowed her to Sense the haze of protective enchantments connecting each massive tree to its neighbors, uniting them in defense of the palace. Not for the first time, she wondered who had thought of this first, and whether that mage had cast the enchantments for his own protection, or that of the royal family.

Jyra followed her father through one of the larger gaps into the palace grounds, and a guard stood out on a thick limb above them, grinning.

"Better luck next time, princess," he called with a friendly wave. "Looks like you need a new hiding place."

"I wasn't hiding." She'd meant to be defensive, but a laugh crept into her words in spite of her intentions, and Jyra smiled. The guards all knew her well, and even if she didn't know them all by name, she knew them by sight, and counted them among her friends.

Ahead, the palace loomed over them, a structure of living wood and stone, of thick ivy, deep moss, and smooth quartz. Water flowed freely over the pebbly causeways kept clear for them, wind swirled between the trees through every room and chamber. The only room with an actual roof was the library, and even there, the walls were primarily built of branches woven together to form shelves and cubby holes for their books and scrolls. The elven palace was an extension of the forest in many ways, and though it was often rather damp in the winter months, enchantments kept the grounds warm and the trees ever green, even when the world around was covered in white.

Out of habit, Jyra turned toward the path that would take her to her room by way of the kitchen, but her father redirected her with a hand on her shoulder. At first, she wondered why. Then she saw his reason, standing between to sapling pines like a statue of alabaster. The queen was imposing, though not as tall as she appeared from a distance. At the moment, her face was folded into a gentle frown, as though she had encountered a particularly difficult riddle, and was trying to solve it.

"Jyra. You really must stop disappearing like that. The Chamberlain has been more than usually distracting in his efforts to find you."

The young elf sighed and lowered her gaze repentantly. "Yes, Mother."

As though conjured by the use of this title, the Chamberlain appeared at the queen's shoulder. He was thin, pale, and wraith-like as he rubbed his bony hands together.

"Ah, Princess Jyra. I'm so glad to see you returned safely. Thank you, Lord Airon." The Chamberlain nodded to Jyra's father, who inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.

"Chamberlain, now that the princess is returned, I trust all is in order?" The queen looked at her companion, who bowed, nearly groveling.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Everything is ready."

"Excellent. Jyra, please come with me." The queen extended a hand to her daughter, smiling now. Jyra hesitated a moment. Situations that put her alone with her mother very rarely ended well, especially recently, as she'd gotten older. The princess didn't always see eye to eye with her mother.