TITLE: THE LAST RELIC

AUTHOR: Mikki Tolley

AGE CATEGORY: Young Adult

GENRE: Science Fiction

WORD COUNT: 82,000 words

PITCH:

When a vengeful warlord invades her planet with his cyborg army, Princess Lusi must work with exiled rebels to stop a galactic war and unravel a conspiracy to end her race. FROZEN meets STAR WARS.

FIRST 250 words:

There are secrets, and then there are lies. My parents insisted all their lies were to protect my secret. But their lies to the Empire were nothing compared to the lie they told me.

“Hold still, Lusi.” My mother barely hid her impatience as she tightened her white-knuckled grip on my father’s arm beside her.

I couldn’t help the glare I cut her way. If I was shaking, it was Dr. Goetz’s fault.

“Almost there . . .” Dr. Goetz gently removed the needle-patch from my arm, careful not to smear the fresh swirls of deep purples and golds painted across my skin. It was Luz Fete: my seventeenth birthday and official crowning. In a few minutes, I would leave my suite of rooms to address the Empire and the League of Nine Worlds, revealing myself to the public for the first time.

My parents held their breaths beside me as they stared at the blood-filled pouch in Dr. Goetz’s hands. Behind them, armed guards encircled us, gripping pulse-rifles with bulging muscles and blank expressions. Their hard presence clashed with the delicate white flower arrangements decorating my prep room. And yet they had become a permanent presence in my wing of the palace.

“Relax,” my mother said, noting my focus on the extra security. “No one can get to you in here.”

“I don’t know.” I eyed each security guard. “They’ve been pretty creative in their attempts to reach me lately.”