I’m really happy with how Bond Proof: The Apprentice, Volume 7 is turning out. Yes, Volume 7, not Volume 6. When I was drafting this volume it passed 200,000 words and kept growing. I could slash and burn or divide. I went with divide. In 1st Quarter 2019, two (2) volumes of the Twelve Systems Chronicles will be released.
The Nightingale: The Apprentice, Volume 6.
Bond Proof: The Apprentice, Volume 7.
My last sneak peak was from what is now The Nightingale, that centers on Lilian and Lucius returning to Fortuna and the hull launch. This one is from Bond Proof.
* the following passage has not been copy-edited. All typos and grammatical errors are mine.
I am the sum of my ancestors. Lilian steps from the transport and into the shadow of Serengeti Headquarters. The thirty-six-storey tower encompasses an entire city block, the Blooded Dagger entrance centered on the northern face and oriented toward the source of the Great Crevasse beyond the towers of the city.
I am the foundation of my family. She knows she is being foolish, but the notion of the monthly Vistrite operations review without Seigneur Solomon has her heartsore. The review the month after the battle was an abbreviated affair that she did not attend, committed to the Despoiler investigations.
Honor is my blade and shield. Eyes pricking, she eases to the back of the riser carriage, swallowing against the lump in her throat. It is not like her to be so overset, but the fallen seigneur was a warrior she admired greatly, and she holds no such sentiments for his successor.
Honor knows not fear. It was inevitable that Seigneur Jurian would be named Vistrite seigneur. He is milord’s kinsman and has spent his life in service of the Crevasses and Vistrite. There could be no other choice. As of this sevenday, the warrior has left the Metricelli Deuce Crevasse in the care of another and relocated to Crevasse City and Serengeti Headquarters.
Honor endures. The riser halts on the thirty-fifth storey. She must show the new Vistrite seigneur all respect and courtesy. She must reveal naught of the pain it will cause her to view him in what was Seigneur Solomon’s office and at the head of the table during the Vistrite operational review.
Honor acts and duty commands. She passes under the Blooded Dagger Cartouche and turns for the scarlet door. The plush bench is not empty. A lovely blonde, with a sun-kissed complexion, pale blue eyes, and a perfect figure encased in a severe black suit is waiting. Her ankles crossed in perfect decorum but in a manner that displays dainty feet in heels that make Lilian’s arches ache in sympathy. “Rebecca, what do you here?”
“Waiting for eighth bell. Did you not know? Seigneur Trevelyan has the southern office.”
Seigneur Trevelyan has what once was Seigneur Solomon’s office. Milord has the eastern corner of the suite, Seigneur Marco the one on the western side. Lilian drops down next to Rebecca, her heart racing. “What of Seigneur Jurian?”
“Beyond Seigneur Marco.”
Seigneur Hadrian’s former office.
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EG Manetti 
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