Sharing an excerpt today from my newly released paranormal romance, set in Ancient Egypt. Here's the story, followed by the excerpt:
Egypt, 1500 BCE
Lady Tiya is bound to the service of the goddess Nephthys, who plans to sacrifice Tiya’s body to protect Egypt from an ancient terror. She embarks to meet her grim fate alone but for the hardened warrior Khenet, who is fated to die at her side. Tiya’s dreams of love and family now seem impossible, and Khenet, who is the last of his line, knows his culture will die with him. Struggling with the high cost of Nephthys’s demands, both resolve to remain loyal.
Neither expects the passion that flowers when Tiya’s quiet courage and ethereal beauty meet Khenet’s firm strength and resolve. On a boat down the Nile, their two lonely souls find in each other a reason to live. But time is short and trust elusive.
Without the willing sacrifice of Tiya and Khenet, a great evil will return to Egypt. How could the gods demand their deaths when they’ve only just begun to live?
This scene comes early in the novel, right after Tiya is designated to be the one to accompany Khenet and they meet the goddess for the first time, in her temple at Thebes:
Khenet
felt a breeze swirl around him, emanating from the closed door. Looking over
his shoulder, he saw the bronze pins holding the bolts on the door to the
innermost sanctum slowly turning. As he watched, one fell to the floor with a
crash, followed a moment later by the other. The door drifted open very
slightly, light blazing through the narrow opening and at the sides.
“The
goddess is present,” said the high priest, clutching his staff so hard his
knuckles went white. “Everyone is dismissed and may leave the inner sanctum,
except for Lady Tiya and Pharaoh’s representative.”
Tiya’s father came to brush a
kiss on her cheek before rejoining his impatient young wife and her brother, and
then they too left. Khenet saw that although Tiya didn’t gaze after them, she
did hastily wipe away a tear.
Murmuring
prayers of praise and thanksgiving, the other priests filed out of the room. Khenet
approached and offered Tiya his help in leaving the dais. “Allow me.”
She
rested her fingers on his hand just long enough to keep her balance before
snatching her hand back.
Marching
up the stairs to the door of the innermost sanctum, Tiya held herself tall and
dignified. He restrained a sigh. If she’s as haughty and rude as all her
kind, this will be a long journey. But the other woman was sure
to drive me to distraction with her interminable weeping, should
Nephthys have selected her.
The
high priest regarded them solemnly. “We go to meet the goddess. Nephthys wishes
to assess both her Daughter and the guardian.”
“I’m
ready,” Khenet said, fists clenched.
Tiya
just nodded.
After
checking to see that everyone else had left the chamber, the priest walked to
the partially open doors and flung the gilded panels wide open. Light streamed out
and Khenet heard the buzzing of wasps, as if he were about to step into a hive
of the angry creatures. Tiya shrank back a little, took a deep breath, and
followed the priest.
Not
knowing what he expected, having been in the innermost sanctum of a temple only
once, as a boy swearing allegiance to Horus, Khenet sized up the room as he
crossed the threshold. A ten foot tall statue of the goddess dominated the
space, with her arms out to the sides, palms up, her proud face carved as if
she were challenging anyone foolish enough to enter her domain. The sculptor
had depicted Nephthys wearing a pleated sheath that barely covered her ample
curves,
and
the entire statue had been covered in gold, which gleamed in the unearthly
light the goddess herself was providing. A rich collar of turquoise, coral and
lapis lay across the statue’s chest, matching earrings affixed to the
shell-like ears. The strong scent of the lotus threatened to choke Khenet.
“The
goddess is present,” whispered the priest, going to his knees, arms crossed
over his chest, head down.
Tiya
muttered a little prayer and knelt, copying the man’s pose.
Khenet
planted his feet well apart, in a fighter’s stance, and remained standing. I’m
here in Pharaoh’s place and he wouldn’t kneel to any goddess. Besides, I
swear no fealty to Nephthys.
“Humility
and obeisance are the safe choices in the presence of the Great Ones.” Where
the statue had been, Nephthys herself now stood on the pedestal in front of them,
taller than Khenet, wrapped in black robes and gray mist. Her black wig was
adorned with golden and emerald beads, crowned with an ebony headdress
proclaiming her name in one stark cartouche. Flickers of red shimmered in the
air surrounding her, bringing the heat of the desert furnace. His ears rang
with a muted buzzing sound as if a hive
full of wasps flew all around the small sanctuary. Nephthys pointed her index
finger at him, two great ruby rings on her hand winking like the fire she could
summon at will.
Khenet
felt sheer stubbornness sweep over him at her words. “I’m here on behalf of
Pharaoh, Great One.” The hidden purple bead on his bracelet burned against
his
skin, the small pain steadying him as he braced for punishment.
But
Nephthys surprised him, throwing her head back and laughing. “I see
Nat-re-Akhte has chosen his minion well. You are strong, well suited to
accomplish the task I assigned to him.”
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