This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors.  Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from 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.  Click the link above or copy & paste this address: www.wewriwa.blogspot.com

***

Curse of Salar by Alexis Duran

Mira, last prince of the royal family of Jahar, Son of Khiros and Leena, Chosen of Ka’atar, Divine Hand of The Spirit of the Armazin Mountain, Living God of the Ashtar, Earik, and Tobald Peoples, bowed down on hands and knees and vomited into the potted Elmar tree on the balcony outside his chambers.

He’d partaken of his usual plum wine and smoked the harrar powder since midday, but that wasn’t why he was sick.  The purging was self-induced; to rid his system of the drugs he knew had been added to his wine.  The drugs were meant to make him slow and confused. Sometimes he didn’t mind these effects, but tonight at the state dinner, representatives from all the regions under the control of the Jahardin and even some from beyond were gathering at the palace to affirm and celebrate Grand Premier Skala in his role as overseer of the Kingdom.  Mira wanted to be sharp in order to watch the ambassadors, lords and ministers interact in this highly ritualized proceeding, as they paid tribute to the usurper and gave insincere homage to the remnants of the royal family of Jahar; Mira and his sister Alandra.

The Grand Premier never bothered to drug Alandra, as she was a loyal member of his entourage.  Mira had not earned such ill-gotten trust.

***

Curse of Salar is an erotic fantasy novella, third in a series set in the world of Salar.  Prince Mira, along with his sister, is the last in the royal line of Jahar, a ruling family of powerful magicians. Mira and Alandra are held as virtual captives in their family’s own palace, kept alive to placate the masses of peasants who are traditional royalists that still believe in the fabled powers of the Jahar. Mira chafes under confinement and dreams of escaping.  Rayn Matisse is a soldier in the rebel army. He has no interest whatsoever in seeing the royals reinstated until he meets Mira and begins to fall under the prince’s magical sway.  Rayn’s people were cursed by the Jahar centuries ago, and though long thought to be a myth, the curse begins to assert it’s powers once again. As assassination and rebellion upset the false calm of the kingdom, Rayn finds himself torn between love and fear of the young man who possesses an uncanny ability to control him.

***

Feel free to leave comments and impressions!