I’m continuing this week with Sleeping Shaman, which is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty that will be out on Tuesday! Protagonist Nyah has taken a job as a maid and is so preoccupied with how she and her sick sister will make ends meet, that she ends up throwing a bucket of water on Domnhall, a man she traveled with in book 1 when she was with the barbarians.
Last week, he asked he naively asked her why she was working as a maid. This week picks up right after that.
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“I went by your inn, looking for you, but they said you’d left.” He frowned. “If you need money, you need only ask.”
I shook my head and said, “Egwu and Brand already gave us so much. I dinnae want to be reliant on you as well.”
“Then at least have dinner with me tonight.” He flashed me a smile that caused butterflies to sprout in my stomach, and I mentally tried to squash them.
“I can’t. Payton and Dar are expecting me at home when I finish here.”
“They can come too.”
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And the rest of this scene:
His smile widened. “I’ll send a cart for you. Where are you staying?”
Despite my reservations, I smiled back and told him where our lodgings were.
“Wonderful.” He kissed my hand, just as Lord Hankes returned with his butler and a fresh tunic. “I’m so glad to see you again, m’lady. Until tonight!”
The butler led him away to change. I hurried to my next tasks in the kitchens, trying not to laugh at the expression on Lord Hankes’ face when Domhnall kissed my hand.
Several of the household staff looked at me in awe and envy as I emptied out the little water that remained in my bucket.
“How do you know the Earl of Peithwyr?” one of the girls asked me.
“Who?”
“The earl,” she repeated. “That man you spilled the water on.”
“He’s the Earl of Peithwyr, for now,” another girl explained. “And he’ll become the next Duke of Cruithain, steward to the king, just as his da before him.”
My jaw dropped. Domhnall was nearly as powerful as Brand. Why hadn’t he told me that? What else had they kept from me?
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About Sleeping Shaman, available now for preorder from Amazon:
The desert holds many secrets. Will death be one of them?
Nyah thought she’d fit in better in the capital rather than in her tiny village, but life in the big city is tougher than she anticipated. When she stumbles across a familiar face, she gladly jumps at the chance for a new adventure with her barbarian friends. They’re headed to Egwu’s home country where they hope his scholar father can translate Heartsbane, the book that holds the cure for Prince Brandulfur’s debilitating curse.
Their plans change as soon as they arrive and discover that Egwu’s family is missing, most likely cursed as well. And meanwhile time is running out for Brand, who grows weaker every day.
Nyah vows to save her friend by solving the mystery of Egwu’s missing family, but she didn’t anticipate all the obstacles in her way: a deadly rivalry between two families, a clash of powerful cultures, and a budding romance that seems destined for heartbreak. She’ll need all her wits to outsmart her opponent—that is, if she can even figure out who it is.
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Heartsbane Saga – fairy tales retold in a world of Vikings!
Book .5: “The Maiden in the Tower” – Carys has resigned herself to a life of servitude, locked away in a tower, until a chance encounter with a stranger leaves her daring to hope for more.
Book 1: Captive and the Cursed – When Nyah’s sister is kidnapped by barbarians, Nyah offers herself in her place. But she soon learns the barbarians aren’t what she expected, especially their cursed leader.