Seranfyll Excerpt #2
Rain didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. Snevil discouraged it, and he threatened to whip them often. He never actually did it, but no one wanted to try his patience. As the market day drew to an end, the slave trader only managed to sell a couple of boys and one girl. Winter was coming, after all, and the harvest season was over. No one wanted to feed extra slaves through the cold days ahead. They would buy more in the spring, when it was time to start planting again. But right after the harvest, like now, it was always the slowest time for slave traders. The little man grumbled and ordered his men to start loading the slaves into his cart.
“Oh my dear, now did you hear of Clumsy Captain Cotton? He sailed a knot in Haley’s Loch before he hit the bottom!”
Everyone stopped and looked around curiously for the source of the boisterous singing. Rain strained to see what was making all the noise, and she wrinkled her brow when only one man strolled into the town square. He was a young man and richly dressed with an extravagant white cloak about his shoulders and a wide-brimmed hat with a very tall feather in the side of it. A dazzling sword hung from his belt, looking more like jewelry than weaponry. The splendid mare he rode upon was the color of new fallen snow, and her gold bridle glittered in the sunlight.
“Upon return, he took the stern of the Lady Kipper,” he sang on. “Her motley crew that day did rue Ol’ Cotton as their skipper!”
Rain stared at him. Not only did he sing so badly and loudly, he also rode backwards on his horse! Waving a glass bottle around in his unsteady hand, he sang at the tip top of his lungs, though Rain couldn’t understand they rest of his words since they starting slipping into one another.
The townspeople laughed and pointed at him.
“Who is that? What a silly fellow,” someone said.
“Why that’s Lord Domrey Seranfyll!” another replied. “Have you ever seen anyone so ridiculous?”
“Well, he can certainly afford to be ridiculous. He’s only the richest man in the province now.”
“I knew he was strange. But I’ve never seen him drunk before!”
“You haven’t? I’ve never seen him sober.”
Lord Domrey obliviously continued his slippery and senseless song as his horse sidled up next to Snevil’s cart. The mare snorted and rolled its eyes, making Rain look twice.
The rider turned in her direction and hiccoughed. “Ay? Who are you?” he asked.
Rain said nothing. She wasn’t sure how to respond, or even if she should.
He leaned towards her, squinting. The alcohol from his foul breath nearly knocked her over. “You are organic, aren’t you? Or am I talking to a statue again?”
Snevil ran to the horse’s other side. “Beggin’ yer pardon, young Master. But let me introduce meeself. I am Snevil, yer humble servant.”
Lord Domrey looked down at the slave trader. “Snevil?” he repeated, followed by a hiccough. “That’s a funny name. It sounds like you’re a sick and serious fellow.”
Snevil snickered. “I’m about to close up for today, m’ Lord. But if you happen to see any lass or lad servant here that you’d like to purchase, I’ll be happy to stay open a little longer.”
“Servants?” Lord Domrey repeated. He swung his leg around and slipped from the horse, his boot heels landing on the ground with a clomp! “I don’t want servants. I want guests! Don’t you know that today is my birthday?” He jabbed an unsteady finger into Snevil’s weak little chest four times with his last four words.
“And many happy returns, m’ Lord,” the slave trader said. “As a birthday present, I’ll give you a discount.”
Lord Domrey swept around to the back of the cart. He pointed the same unsteady finger at each of the slaves as he counted, which he bungled twice. After the third time, he said, “My good Snevil. Am I correct when I say that you have ten children for sale?”
“Right you are, sir. A sharp young man, m’ Lord is. Wise beyond his years.”
Lord Domrey grinned at the compliment. He raised the bottle to his lips, but when he discovered it empty, he tossed it aside. “Right then. I’ll take the lot.”
Rain gasped, and others started to whisper. Who’d ever heard of someone buying ten slaves all at once?
(Ages 10+) Rain has never chosen her own name. Nor has she met a polite apple tree, been caught in a house’s security spell, or ridden a horse . . . winged or not. What she does know is that, after having been a slave for all thirteen years of her common life, she’s free and has nowhere to go.
That all changes when she’s taken in by the peculiar Domrey Seranfyll, who was drunk when he purchased Rain’s freedom and doesn’t remember doing so. Some say he’s part devil and spent time overseas learning the dark arts—not the sorts of things one hopes for in a housemate. And the longer Rain keeps company with Lord Seranfyll, the more magic and mayhem she gets tangled into, all the while discovering that being free can be far more exciting, and dangerous, than she ever imagined.
(~ 85,000 words or roughly equal to 330 print pages)
That all changes when she’s taken in by the peculiar Domrey Seranfyll, who was drunk when he purchased Rain’s freedom and doesn’t remember doing so. Some say he’s part devil and spent time overseas learning the dark arts—not the sorts of things one hopes for in a housemate. And the longer Rain keeps company with Lord Seranfyll, the more magic and mayhem she gets tangled into, all the while discovering that being free can be far more exciting, and dangerous, than she ever imagined.
(~ 85,000 words or roughly equal to 330 print pages)
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Genre - Middle Grade Fantasy
Rating – PG
More details about the author
Website http://www.christinadaley.com
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