The final excerpt from WARRIOR OF THE NILE, which is being released tomorrow, September 16th! Thanks for all the support along the way…the majority who voted wanted a cliffhanger so that’s more or less what I’m providing today (but remember this is a romance so HEA is guaranteed LOL). Next week I’ll start doing a few weeks from my best selling new SciFi Romance ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE and then we’ll go back to the Nile with the next book, DANCER.)
Khenet and the goddess Nephthys (hidden in Tiya’s body, while Tiya’s ka [soul] is temporarily banished) wait to enter the city that has been their destination. Nephthys is angry over several things Khenet and Tiya have done on the journey….
“While we wait, mortal, let me assure you, I’ll be allowing my daughter to waken as we share this body. I’ll let her ka watch all that is done to you, before she herself dies, ” Nephthys-Tiya said as she fanned herself with languid motions.
“Why do you hate us so? She’s your descendant and we’re both loyal Egyptians.”
“Appealing to my softer side, pleading for mercy at this late hour?” Nephthys-Tiya was contemptuous.
Through clenched jaw, he made one more attempt to save Tiya, “Not for myself, but surely you could spare her life!”
“Humans are but tools to accomplish the goal, pawns to play in the game,” the goddess said.
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And the blurb for WARRIOR OF THE NILE:
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?
Ouch! Perfect way to leave us hanging right before RELEASE DAY! Congratulations, Veronica – it’ll be your next bestseller for sure! 🙂
Sounds gloomy for Tiya.
Will there be an eleventh hour reprieve?
Congrats and best of luck with the release.
Yep, that’s a good cliffhanger. Love the accompanying picture, too. I’ve said it before, and you’re likely sick of hearing it, but CONGRATS on the release.
She isn’t very nice is she! Lol! I am enjoying the way you write her contemptuous attitude.
Nasty S.O.B but wait, there’s more, right, Veronica. You are a wonder. Happy dance for you and your career.
Ah, so they are playing games with them. I say Khenet should lop of Nephthys’ head with a sword or something. What’s the worst that could happen? Oh wait, that would kill Tiya wouldn’t it. Sigh. Yep, cliffhanger.
History Sleuth’s Writings No snippet for me this week, I’ve got veggies to process. Just hopping to a few on breaks.
Yay! Happy almost release day! Thanks for sharing another fab 8 with us!
Yeah, I’d call that a cliffhanger for sure!
That’s one cold goddess! It’s going to be difficult to extricate Tiya from this situation.
“Humans are but tools to accomplish the goal, pawns to play in the game,” the goddess said.
Damn straight! I’ve really enjoyed these excerpts, Veronica, this looks like a great story!
What interests me here is that even though the goddess is angry, Khenet doesn’t seem to be much afraid of her. I know he’s not the whimpering type, but it says a lot that he simply speaks right up despite facing an angry *goddess*. Nice 8 🙂
Thanks for all the good wishes, and I’m happy that people are enjoying the cliffhanger I picked. (There are several in the novel but of course if you have the whole book you can just keep reading LOL.) In fairness to Nephthys, she really does feel as if the task she’s trying to accomplish is of supreme importance to all Egypt and the Egyptian gods as well…but she doesn’t think much of individual humans. And as for Khenet, remember way back in the first excerpt or so, he told Pharaoh he couldn’t swear allegiance to Nephthys, so he’s never been exactly a fan of hers! ANYWAY, thanks for sharing my excitement today, can’t WAIT for the book to be *out*. and then DANCER next month (which isn’t a connected story but set in the same time frame)…
What a wonderful goddess to serve! (dripping sarcasm there). I have faith that somehow Khenet will save the day (and himself and Tia) w/o upsetting the goddess tooooo much. Great parting snippet to post before release – AND tons of good fortune to you tomorrow. Good luck and congrats.
Excellent job here! I’m totally digging the tension and conflict here and empathizing with the poor humans!
Cliffhangers…they get me every time! Another wonderful excerpt from a fantastic story! Happy almost-release day!!! 😀
Gulp! You’re kind for making us wait just one more day after that cliffhanger, lol. 🙂
Release Day! Yay, Veronica–enjoy tomorrow! Nice snippet–good way to bring us to the book! I’m in, baby!
What a cliffhanger! Since I haven’t been around since the beginning, I’m wondering how Nephthys can be a goddess while her daughter is mortal. You’ve certainly piqued my interest. Good move for the day before your release. Good luck with that tomorrow and in the weeks to come!
Nice cliff hanger ending!
Glad this should arrive on my iPad tomorrow.
Based on the other snippets, I thought Nephthys was a fairly remote force. But seeing her take a personal interest in the heros doing what they were asked and making it as painful as possible really makes me hate her. Nicely played!
And have a wonderful release day tomorrow!
Wow, she’s cold. She doesn’t think much of us does she? Great cliff hanger. And I love the picture!
Hip hip hooray for release day!!! So exciting! Wow, Nephthys is a bit of a bitch! I hope Khenet comes up with a plan…
What a bee-yotch! Best wishes for a fabulous release tomorrow!
Yay! Congrats on the new release!!!
Congratulations, Veronica! Great 8 today.
Please tell me She gets hers . . . never mind—I want to read it!
Not so friendly a goddess, or at all grateful for Tiya’s willingness to sacrifice. Pretty rude, even if her ‘pawns’ weren’t doing exactly what she wanted.
It’s my first time reading your work, but I’m totally intrigued! Good luck with the launch!
A great cliffhanger indeed.
Not liking the goddess much. Nice excerpt.
happy almost release day. The goddess sounds like a real witch and not in a good way. nice 8
Ugh! Nephthys is so nasty. You’ve done a great job writing her as a cold and elitist entity! Good job, Veronica! Best wishes on the launch! 🙂
I wonder what they did to make Nephthys so angry and where will she hide if she kills Tiya?
You’ve set up a nice cliffhanger here. I’d be curious to see how the two of them make it out of this mess.
I was going to say the Goddess sounds evil, but then thought better about it. She sounds like a Goddess- worried about her own things and careless for the pawns (humans) in the game. Congratulations on the release!!
Ooo! Love the way the goddess views mortals! Fantastic snippet! Congrats on your latest release!! 😀
I am a huge fan of Ancient Egypt (so much so that I have quite a bit of it tattooed upon my arms), so it’s wonderful to see people writing about it. I feel like it’s so often overlooked in comparison to the Greek and Roman gods! I can’t wait to read this.