This is my first time doing Sweet Saturday Sample but it sounds super fun! Basically, it's like a weekly mini-blog hop. You can hop from blog to blog to read different excerpts of authors' work. Isn't that cool? Go to
Sweet Saturday Sample to see the list of everyone participating!
So mine is from my WIP (work in progress), the prequel to Feudlings. It's tentatively called
The Spark of a Feudling. Here thou art - tell me what you think (but keep in mind this is VERY rough. I wrote it...and posted it. There was no re-reading or editing done).
Ada
gasped. The goblets slipped from her numb fingers and crashed to the
floor, shattering into hundreds of shards at her feet. As if from a
distance she felt the wine soaking her slippers.
William's
head jerked up and he jumped away from Harriett, his maid of
all people. “Ada! Ada, I can explain--”
Ada
turned and ran.
She
picked up her skirts and raced back down the hall. William called her
name behind her, but she didn't slow. She reached the stairs and
hurtled down them, shoving people out of her way as she went. Tears
threatened at the back of her eyelids, tears of humiliation and pain,
but she refused to let them fall.
As she
passed a window, a movement in the pasture caught her eye, and she
lengthened her stride.
“Stop
her! Ada, wait!” William called. He was at the top of the stairs
now, but three more steps and she'd be out of his view. Bystanders
gaped in shock, but no one moved fast enough to apprehend her.
She hit
the main floor and sprinted for the wide front doors. Shoving them
open, she didn't even bother to shut them as she raced down the
marble steps, her wet slippered feet slipping and sliding. Taking the
stairs two at a time, she hit the circular drive and ran across it,
straight for the pasture.
Behind
her, she could hear them still. William wasn't alone now—more men
called her name, joining in the search. But she was an Edren
sorcerer. Faster than all of them combined, probably, even in her wet
slippers and heavy skirts.
She
skidded to a stop at the fence. Only then did she feel the rain
soaking her hair, her dress, hiding her tears. Lightning split the
sky and thunder crashed and somewhere from beyond the realm of
rational thought, she mused that such a storm was fitting.
She
flung herself over the fence.
Maiden
stood motionless in the middle of the field, watching Ada come. All
the other animals hid, terrified, in the barn, but not this horse. In
her silent stance, she mocked the storm and all its fury. Ada held
out her hand, finally slowing to a walk as she neared close enough
that the big horse could hear her. Murmuring sounds that had no
meaning, she begged with her heart. I need your help.
Behind
her, light spilled from the front doors as men emerged with lanterns
held high. “She must have come this way! Search the barn!” she
heard Bertram yell.
She
glanced over her shoulder. William stood in the circular drive, his
eyes wild and desperate as he turned round and round looking for her.
But no one would think to look in the pasture with the beast they
were all afraid of.
Maiden
tossed her head once, pawing at the ground and snorting. “I will
not let them hurt you. I will protect you, I promise.” Ada
whispered. Charity would laugh at that—she was forever teasing Ada
about her need to protect everyone.
Maiden
lowered her head.
Without
another thought, Ada launched herself onto the giant horse's back. If
not for her magic, it would have been impossible, and she sent a
silent, grateful prayer heavenward that she had been born a
sorceress. Winding her fists in Maiden's mane, she leaned low as the
big horse leaped forward.
Her
hooves beat upon the ground, rivaling the thunder that shook the sky.
Ada knew the instant the men heard the ground cracking under Maiden's
feet. As one, they all turned toward the pasture, staring in shock as
the giant horse bore down on them. Most of them scrambled back, but
William did not move, eyes wide.
The
fence loomed before them, and if Ada had had time, she would have
been frightened, but there was no time. She saw the fence, and then
they were leaping over it, easily, as if it were mere sticks on the
ground. Her feet landed hard on the other side, within arms reach of
William, and then the big horse whirled and raced down the dirt path.
Ada
glanced over her shoulder. William sprang to action, yelling at
someone to bring him a horse. But they would never catch her. His
father had said Maiden was the fastest horse in the country, and they
all knew that.
“Take
me home, Maiden.”
