Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

May be edited a bit from published version.

I’m Taking excerpts from my new release KYDEN: BADARI GLADIATORS SERIES BOOK ONE.

The excerpt, from the beginning of the book, after Kyden went to investigate an outcry in the gladiators’ assembly room and found two women who say their presence is a mistake. He takes the girls to his cell. As the top gladiator in the Five Systems, he has more of a room than most and a private bathroom. Continuing on from last week, I’ve skipped over a bit of conversation and now Elara asks him,

“Tell me about you.”

Self-defensiveness rose in Kyden immediately, like a force field. Crossing his arms, he leaned back in the chair until the frame creaked in protest. “Nothing much to tell. I have an official bio on the gladiator trideo page.”

“Yes and I’ll look at it again more closely now,” she said. “But I want to know more about the man who rescued me, not the statistics of his fights and kills.”

Kyden shook his head. “There’s no point. This is where I must be and who I am now. The past is over and done with.”

Eyebrows raised, she studied him. “Such a terrible finality in your voice. I’m sorry you have to fight tomorrow now, because you wanted to save us.”

Rolling his shoulders, Kyden was unconcerned by the prospect. “A midweek exhibition is not a big deal. There won’t even be a crowd. I probably won’t even break a sweat and certainly am in no danger. Don’t romanticize my efforts.”

What she would have said next he was never to know because there was a loud disruption in the corridor and the next thing he knew, armed men had broken down his unlocked cell door. Swiftly he placed himself in front of the women, ignoring the blasters pointed at him.

VS: Seems like a good place to stop, right? (Grins wickedly.) More next week.

KYDEN: BADARI GLADIATORS SERIES BOOK ONE by Veronica Scott

Kyden is the top ranked gladiator in the Five Systems but he’s hardly there by choice. Unscrupulous guards faked his death in the lab where he was created and sold him into slavery in the galaxy’s hinterlands. He has no idea where his home is or how many years have passed since he was condemned to a life of endless combat. Kill or be killed is the rule and a Badari never gives up. He’ll fight to stay alive until the Badari goddess sees fit to decree his death.

Elara Vasclavian is the daughter of a senator, as far removed from the life of a gladiator as a noblewoman can be until through the machinations of a political enemy, she ends up in terrible jeopardy. Abducted and given to a group of drunken gladiators for their amusement the night before the games, Elara vows to put up a fight but there’s no real hope of saving herself. Until Kyden steps in, responding to the goddess’s commandment to protect those who are smaller and weaker. And discovers she’s his fated mate.

Rescued, Elara returns to her life of privilege but she can’t forget the man who saved her life. The gulf between their places in the Five Systems is unbridgeable, no matter how much Kyden longs for even a glimpse of her in the arena audience. No matter how much she feels the pull to be by his side. As matters stand, they cannot be together…Or can they?

KYDEN is the first book in a new series, spun off from my ongoing Badari Warriors series. Kyden is a Generation Five Badari whereas the main characters in the long running series are from a later time and are Generation Eight. This new series stands alone and you don’t have to have read any of the other books to enjoy this one. I couldn’t resist the temptation to tell a few other Badari stories, set in the galaxy’s Hinterlands, and who can resist gladiators?

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