I'm glad I thought of starting this series of excerpts from Far From Mortal Realms with the book's Dedication. Now, however, it's time for excerpts more than a few words long.
The first such excerpt comes from Chapter 1. Abe and his daughter Adira, partners in a law practice that helps humans make contracts with the Fair Folk more safely, are discussing the morning's agenda. This passage introduces not only Abe and Adira but an important faerie character. It also gives a few examples of the kind of loopholes the lawyers habitually identify and close.
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“Let’s move on. What’s our schedule for the day?”
Abe looked over at the clock again. “In a little more than half an hour, we have a dedicated gardener on a quest to capture the blue ribbon for his not-yet-prizewinning tomatoes. He’s heard about a previous winner getting an assist from the Fair Folk and wants us to negotiate something similar.”
Adira shook her head, setting her black hair bouncing. “What, didn’t he hear about what happened afterward?”
Abe grimaced and replied, “As I recall, after that fellow’s garden reached his roof in a giant tangle and lifted it free of the walls, he had the plants torn out – twice – and then paid even more for the fae to make them disappear. But perhaps our client is less up to date than we are on fae-related news. At least he has the good sense to hire us to get him reasonable terms. Any thoughts?”
Adira swallowed the final bite of her brownie and said, “We can see whether he grows anything that any of the Fair Folk – hold on, with whom are we negotiating, given how many different parties could provide this service?”
Abe smirked. “Your favorite middleman, or middle-fae I should say, has agreed to shop our client’s offer around.” He ducked as Adira grabbed a muffin and pretended to throw it at him. Adira had little patience for the preferred glamour and habits of the being who styled itself the Viscount of Bloomingshire, though both professional courtesy and simple self-preservation required her to show it the most exquisite politeness.
As he expected, Adira put aside her show of temper and focused on the problem at hand. “So. We can see whether any of . . . the viscount’s contacts would like some of the client’s seeds or seedlings, whether of tomatoes or some other crop. Aren’t tomatoes related to some poisonous plant? That might appeal. Or he could offer to grow some fae plants and provide opportunities for his neighbors to see them. That lets everyone involved show off. Of course, he’d have to make sure not to eat any, nor to let anyone else do so.”
Abe chewed his lip. “We’d have to include a clause saying that whatever plants they provided wouldn’t shape themselves into a faerie ring and transport our gardener or his guests anywhere. And we’ll set reasonable growth limits, and exclude any dangerous or unsightly mutations. Anything else we’ll have to watch out for?”
Adira tossed her head and said, “We’ll give the final language a good going-over, of course, but I think our usual boilerplate will take care of the other hazards. Though I fully expect our dear middle-fae to suggest some of it is unnecessary – say, the clauses that protect us as well as our client.”
“Do you, really, after the dozens of times he’s dealt with us? Would you care to make a small wager?”
Adira waved away the offer, took a sniff of her muffin – carrot and ginger, worth the smelling, if he did say so – and said, “What’s next?”
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I'll include the preorder link with all excerpts, in case that excerpt is the one that intrigues someone enough to follow the link. Here it is.
See you all next excerpt!
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