Excerpt from Veronica Scott's HEIRESS OF THE NILE Ancient World Paranormal Romance

 Thanks for having me back as a guest!

I love writing novels set in ancient Egypt and the opportunities for doing research on different topics. This one involved checking into everything from herbal medications of the time to musical instruments to post traumatic stress disorder issues (PTSD). Of course the Egyptians didn't call it that but there are tablets going back 3000 years discussing the issues ancient soldiers had when they returned from war.

The heart of the story is the romance between Lady Pebatma and General Marnamaret of course, aided by the gods and her younger brother, who seeks help for the impoverishedf family from Pharaoh.

Here's the blurb:

1550 BCE

Forced by a vengeful Pharaoh to flee for her life and hide in the poorest section of Thebes, Lady Pebatma has scraped and struggled to support her ailing mother and young brother for the past two years. Now, out of funds with the rent to pay and no possessions left to sell, she begs the goddess Hathor for help. With a new pharaoh taking the throne, surely something can be done…

A powerful general in command of the army and best friend to Pharaoh, Marnamaret has everything a nobleman in Egypt could desire…except for true love. He refuses to settle for less. On a whim, he prays to Hathor to send him the woman of his dreams.

Will the goddess answer these heartfelt petitions? And if she does, will Shai the god of Fate allow the course of two lives to be changed by love? For none can deny Fate….

Author’s Note: This is a connected series. Heiress of the Nile can be read as a standalone. Although it’s my newest novel, the story falls between Priestess of the Nile and Warrior of the Nile timewise and is set in the early days of this Pharaoh’s reign.

DepositPhoto

Here's the excerpt. Pebatma has gone to the temple of Hathor to beg for help as she has no rent money and a kindly priestess takes her into a mysterious garden to chat.

“You’ve been a devoted servant to the Great One, through all your own travails. Not a word of reproach have you offered to her for what your family has suffered. Diligent in your daily prayers, offering what you can, when you can. I’m sorry you never became one of the sacred order yourself, but Shai the God of Fate had other plans. We must all bow to his will of course.”

Wondering how this person could know so much about her, when she’d never spoken a word to anyone at the temple since the day she and her mother were refused entry, Pebatma swallowed hard. “You’re remarkably well informed, my lady.”

With a vague gesture, the other dismissed the remark. “Temple walls have eyes and ears, or so it is said. Why not tell me yourself what troubles you today? What would you ask of Hathor were she standing here?”

Pebatma heard a cow moo in the distance and the faint sounds of a sistrum whirring. Goose bumps rose on her skin and she shivered, unable to take another bite of the roll. She became uneasy about where it was she truly sat right now and to whom she spoke. The priestess was watching her intently  and Pebatma opened her lips to demur but heard herself explaining about her mother’s terrible illness, her own toil at the inn—“Not that I mind honest work of course because we’re blessed to be able to stay together and have a roof” —her worries about her brother, who was to have had a secure and illustrious career in the military until their family’s disaster and now labored as a mere baker’s apprentice—“He eats more than he bakes.” —and found herself weeping over her own crushed dreams for a worthy man of her station and true love.

The priestess listened silently, making encouraging murmurs and finally gathered Pebatma into her arms for a hug as she wept.

It’s like being in my mother’s arms, Pebatma marveled. Yet the other had seemed no more than her own age. Perhaps being in the temple made the woman wise beyond her years. Comforted, she hiccupped and wiped her eyes. “I’m so sorry to burden you with my entire basket of worries.”

“I asked, did I not?” Tapping her toe, the priestess watched her for a moment, her eyes dark and sparkling. “Today is the day, little sister. Change is carried in the breeze from Mother Nile and the god of Fate plays with the lives of others now. Be patient, walk one step at a time and remember in life as in the game of senet one cannot jump to the golden square and claim victory without passing through the challenges first.” She raised one hand, sketching the symbol for Hathor in midair, which glowed turquoise. “Go forth, have faith and be well.”

Pebatma blinked as the glare from the blazing symbol grew blinding. When she opened her eyes, she was outside the temple, standing in the doorway of a shop, having no memory of how she left the priestess. An unaccustomed sensation at her wrist caught her attention and she lifted her arm to stare at an amulet, a faience bead bearing the cartouche of Hathor, on a knotted black-and-red cord. She’d never seen it before but when she touched the bead with a fingertip, the stone was cool and a wave of peace swept through her.

Horns sounded as a squad of soldiers marched past. Pebatma checked the position of the sun and gasped. She was fearfully late and would have to endure a scolding when she got to the inn. How much time had she and the priestess talked? Not overly long, she’d believed. Running her fingers over the new amulet again, she broke into a run and hurried through the maze of back alleys with which she was all too familiar now, heading for work.

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Author Bio and Links: 

USA Today Best Selling Author

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!

 She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the official audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”

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