Happy New Year!  I’d like to say Thank You to all the great readers and writers who’ve participated in Weekend Writing Warriors.  You actually make social networking fun!

I’m sharing from my soon-to-be-released m/m fantasy, Curse of Salar.  Prince Dezra, who is bored sparring with servants who won’t risk harming him, has asked visiting soldier Captain Rayn Nevar to join him in a game of shibar, a type of martial arts where opponents face off with long, pike-like sticks.  I’m picking up right after last week’s snippet, when Rayn accepted the challenge with the caveat that Dezra won’t have him thrown in the dungeon if he “happens to crack a royal rib”.

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“I promise, with all these people as witness.” Dezra threw up his hand to indicate the thirty or so servants, guards, and visitors assembled there. “Though that’s not likely to happen – I’ve been training for ten years.” He said this only out of a sense of fun, because he was excited to face a real challenge. If the captain was skilled at all, he might very well best Dezra.

“With due respect, if your opponents are afraid to hit you, the training must be lacking.” Nevar smiled and strode onto the field, twirling his borrowed shibar. Dezra felt a rush of doubt as he watched the lean, tautly muscled man warm up lightly. While Dezra welcomed a challenge, he didn’t want to be humiliated either. The servants he’d beaten over the years would surely enjoy that.

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On sale now at Loose Id if you pre-order!

Blurb for Masters and Mages 3: Curse of Salar  ~ Release date January 5,2016

In the desert kingdom of Jahar, the rule of mages has been overthrown and the ancient lineage of sorcerer kings wiped out. Prince Dezra and his sister are the last living members of the royal family and are held prisoners in their ancestral palace.

Prince Dezra lives a life of lies and deceit. In order to stay alive, he must pretend to be a drug-addicted wastrel, trusting no one, isolated from even his sister who has chosen to cooperate with the government that executed their parents.

Into his lonely existence comes a man who should be his sworn enemy; Captain Rayn Nevar. Dezra is irresistibly drawn to the rough soldier and his longing for a simple sexual encounter quickly morphs into a dangerous obsession.

Captain Rayn Nevar knows he should stay far away from Prince Dezra, but his desire for the beautiful young man overrides all common sense. Despite the fact that Dezra’s ancestors destroyed Rayn’s family, the captain finds himself in a position of protecting the prince from the many schemers who believe the last of the mages should be annihilated.

When treachery leads to Dezra’s escape, he is at last free to bond with the serpent god Ka’alar and develop his long repressed powers. Only the arrival of a mysterious monk with powers greater than Dezra’s stops the prince from using black sorcery to destroy all who stand in his way, including Rayn.

As Jahar edges toward another war between masters and mages, Rayn must question his devotion to his increasingly deadly lover while Dezra must decide if ultimate power is worth the ultimate sacrifice.

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This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight to ten sentences from a published work or perhaps their current work in progress. Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! I heartily invite you to participate as a reader, writer, or both. It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book. Click here or use the address: http://www.wewriwa.com