Continuing on with my paranormal romance set in ancient Egypt…Nima and Kamin have been captured by a caravan master who plans to sell them to the pursuing enemy. Nima challenges the man to a game of senet, with her life and Kamin’s as the stakes and a blood oath between herself and the caravan master that they’ll each honor the outcome. Ptahnetamun, the caravan master, brings out a gameboard and they play, with Kamin, all the caravan workers and many of the caravan passengers watching. I thought you might like a glimpse of the game.
Based on my research and my consolidation of the differing views, painted sticks rather than dice were thrown to determine the number of spaces moved by a pawn. My sticks are black-and-white and earlier in the book I explained the points scoring system. Each player has five pawns. I actually played this game between Nima and her opponent several times to make sure I’d gotten the moves and counts right!
…it seemed the audience admired both the gaming and the cheating skills on display and was content to accept the outcome. The betting odds evened out, although still slightly favoring the caravan master to win.
Thunder rumbled as Ptahnetamun marched his fourth pawn off the board. His fifth was ten squares back, and Nima passed him by. There was an audible gasp from the crowd as she threw four white sides, sending her next-to-last pawn to safety. Now the game sat with one pawn belonging to each player still on the board. The wily caravan master was a few squares closer to claiming victory, but Nima was gaining on him, until finally both pawns sat crowded on square twenty-six, the House of Happiness, one of the few spaces that could be so shared.
“Yet only one of us will have happiness within their grasp this night,” Ptahnetamun said.
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The story:
Egypt, 1500 BCE
Nima’s beauty and skill as a dancer leads an infatuated enemy to kidnap her after destroying an Egyptian border town. However, she’s not the only hostage in the enemy camp: Kamin, an Egyptian soldier on a secret mission for Pharaoh, has been taken as well. Working together to escape, the two of them embark on a desperate quest across the desert to carry word of the enemy’s invasion plans to Pharaoh’s people.
As they flee for their lives, these two strangers thrown together by misfortune have to trust in each other to survive. Nima suspects Kamin is more than the simple soldier he seems, but she finds it hard to resist the effect he has on her heart. Kamin has a duty to his Pharaoh to see his mission completed, but this clever and courageous dancer is claiming more of his loyalty and love by the moment. Kamin starts to worry, if it comes to a choice between saving Egypt or saving Nima’s life…what will he do?
Aided by the Egyptian god Horus and the Snake Goddess Renenutet, beset by the enemy’s black magic, can Nima and Kamin evade the enemy and reach the safety of the Nile in time to foil the planned attack?
Can there ever be a happy future together for the humble dancer and the brave Egyptian soldier who is so much more than he seems?
DANCER OF THE NILE, an Amazon Best Seller, is AVAILABLE on Amazon Barnes & Noble All Romance eBooks iTunes Smashwords
Hum he seems pretty confident.
Lovely scene and great imagery, I could feel the tension!
Terrific scene, I love the details about the game!
You are a wonder, Veronica. The reader believes because of your research and splendid writing. Breathless ’til the reveal next week, I hope.
beautiful excerpt Veronica. I can’t picture them playing the game. Just lovely!
How great that you actually played the game. I read just a bit about it years ago and would love to see it in action. Lovely scene here; I get the feeling Nima is pretty confident but still just a bit nervous. 😀
The last line was fantastic. And I loved the history lesson. Great job!
What a cool glimpse into the game! I’d love to play it sometime too! The last line was perfect. Well done, Veronica! 🙂
Excellent, Veronica! I liked this especially, “… …it seemed the audience admired both the gaming and the cheating skills on display…” Nice last line, too!
Your research is awesome and you tested it out –wish alll authors would be so meticulous — I liked the cheating line also
Nicely done! Even though I don’t know the game, you described it well for the reader to catch on and feel the tension building between the players. Hope we find the outcome next week!
History Sleuth’s Milk Carton Murders
Fascninating build up of tension.
Is this dry thunder or is a flash flood something to worry about?
Dry thunder, possibly one of the gods, watching the game 🙂
Nice tension. Enjoyed your snippet.
Let’s hope she wins—let’s hope he keeps his word!
I’ve read about senet before—my imagination always translates it into backgammon on a Chinese Checkers board, but I know that’s completely wrong!
Actually that’s pretty close! Yes, Nima made Ptahnetamun swear a blood oath in public so….he’d have a lot to lose if he broke his oath. He was so very confident LOL.
Wonderful imagery! What an interesting game. I don’t know anything about the game, but you explained it well with your descriptions. Well done!
Sounds like an interesting game. You’ve done a great job explaining it, and I bet you had some fun doing the research for this (I would have anyway 😉 )
Perfect last line!
She’s gonna win! She’d better win! Right, Veronica? You wouldn’t let her lose this nailbiter?
Ohhh, you tease us again!;) Great snippet.
Well described–I could feel the tension even if I don’t completely understand the game from this snippet alone. Makes me hope she wins!
Love this. Can’t wait to read the book in its entirety. The language of the characters is what gets me — your words are a time machine Veronica!!
I love all the details and drama contained in such a short snippet. I hope she’s able to finagle a win.
Beautiful description. You can tell that you did a lot of research. I like that you actually played the game to get the moves down. It shows. Great job!
Nice way to build tension, Terrific description. Great 8.