Warrior of the Nile | Veronica Scott

Returning one more time for now to my Ancient Egyptian paranormal WARRIOR OF THE NILE, which was just acquired by Carina Press for publication in September 2013. Khenet the warrior of the title, and Lady Tiya have just been through a meeting with the goddess Nepthys and a meeting with Pharaoh. Now they’re sailing down the Nile on their journey but Tiya is unwell. Khenet has brought her on deck to see if fresh air will help matters. Taneb, the captain of the ship River Horse is speaking:

“Bad luck if she dies on my ship.”

“She isn’t going to die,” Khenet said, “She has a headache.”

Taneb mulled the problem over, rubbing the bristles on his chin. “I can offer something to help, an old formula my grandmother used for aches and pains.”

Keeping one hand pressed tightly to her left eye, Tiya moaned before saying, “I’ve tried every foul, vile, nasty concoction the physicians in Thebes could dream up – sawdust mixed with honey, crushed beetle wings, curdled goat’s milk and shredded papyrus buds…nothing helps. The pain and nausea will pass eventually if you both just leave me alone.”

Khenet takes good care of her in this crisis…actually I left out some of the even more unpleasant Egyptian cures for headaches…next week we’ll have an excerpt from something else, since we’re months away from publication on this.

Here’s the unofficial blurb:

The goddess Nepthys informs Pharaoh he must send his best warrior to accompany a young noblewoman on her journey to marry the ruler of an Egyptian province – a man who is experimenting in dangerous black magic. Nepthys plans to use the warrior and the lady to defeat the schemer but the successful outcome of the magical struggle will also mean their deaths. Khenet, the warrior, takes an oath to accomplish his mission, while secretly hoping to find another way to achieve what the goddess wants without either Lady Tiya or himself perishing. And of course it never crosses his mind how much Tiya will come to mean to him on their voyage down the Nile and across Egypt – he despises high born Court ladies. But even when his heart has become involved, can he trust her? Will they survive, while still saving Egypt?

I LOVE and appreciate your comments….

Please go to http://sixsunday.com/ to find all the other great excerpts.

Have been tagged again in this fun meme, this time by my friend Julie Butcher! Here are the rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP

2. Go to line 7.

3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they’re written.

After that I’m supposed to tag seven other authors but as most people I know have been tagged (once or thrice), I’ll just invite anyone reading this post who has a WIP or MS to join the fun on their blog! And let me know….

Here are the next seven lines from WARRIOR OF THE NILE, to which I am currently doing major revisions. (I swear they were the next seven lines in the WORD document but they got scrunched up a bit here on the blog and so are more like 8 or 9 lines!):

Khenet brought two plums out of his cloak pocket and offered one to Tiya. “I definitely think you and I are being followed.”

Accepting his gift, she frowned. “By who? Who knew we were coming? Who would want to stop us?”

Biting into the remaining plum, he swallowed and wiped the juice from his lips. “Robbers most likely. We’re a tempting target. I’ve tried to spread the information we’re under the direct protection of the gods but thieves and bandits don’t tend to believe in anyone’s superstitions other than their own. Once we leave the caravan tomorrow we’ll have to drive hard and fast to Viper Nome, to avoid any pursuers.”

Let’s stay with the caravan. Live life as nomads,” she said, gazing at the campfires, listening to the laughter.“If only we could.”