'HeartTheft' Preview Chapter

First off - the Illicit Alliance chapter isn't far off, it will as usual be posting at the beginning of the month, in a few days. It needs editing.

This is a bit of a rare glimpse into the birth stages of a new novel. Sorry for sounding dramatic, but I can't honestly think what else to call it. As of right now, this character concept sketch and this one test chapter are the only content I've created for this - now very certain- future novel. Rather like 'Dying Confession' and 'The Wayward Inn' were for Heretic and Kindred, this is the very beginning of the creation phase of a new story. I have a mental outline and a lot of ideas I can't share with y'all without getting too spoilery, obviously. I think I've actually got quite a lot for this new story compared to my usual amount of planning. But I guess you get better at this sort of thing the more you do it, just like anything else.

This chapter is NOT the first chapter from this book, it is just the first scene / first interaction I really had a firm idea of for these two. If you're the type who really prefers to read your stories in order, maybe give this one a pass.  This is meant to get me into the mindset of the characters, and give you all a glimpse of what's to come.

The setup for these two is thus -

Isidor (Male, Akita) is a young Templar (the Organization Johannes Cuthbert is a part of) hoping to prove himself to his Bishop by tracking down and arresting an infamous thief, known primarily for purloining relics and art from private Pedigree collections. Recently, the Church was robbed of a holy relic called the Heart of Faith, a stone tablet dating back over a thousand years that is considered one of the surviving founding 'documents' of The Faith, the Amurescan religion. The Church is certain this particular thief, whom they have no name for but for you readers, is the lovely Darcy up there (Non-Binary, Serval) is in possession of said tablet, or at least knows where it is. And thus, Isidor is intent on tracking them down.

The problem is, Darcy is a bit of a master of disguise and for some reason despite not being canine, seems to know precisely how to blend into Pedigree society and continually evade the law, the Church, and more particularly Isidor. The hunt is on!

Because I don't particularly feel like playing a game of 'will they or won't they' with my readers, I generally just lay out what to expect in a story from the get-go. If you'd rather not know, stop reading now.  Otherwise -

The vibe of this one is a very 'catch me if you can' Enemies to Lovers story, with loads of personal trauma to unpack, as well as religious deconstruction, explorations of gender and sexuality as it relates to gender and religion, and - I feel like this might be the dicey one for some folk - internalized homophobia and self-harm. 

Like most of my books, this will be a standalone story, but will set place in my established Red Lantern universe. You don't need to know the other stories to read it, and this one will be more disconnected than the others.  Very few cameos from RL characters you already know. I have all of one planned and I probably won't expand that, but we'll see.

Please let me know how you feel about this chapter if you end up reading it.  I have a lot of time while I finish IA to plan and think over this one, and I intend to use it.