The excerpt is PG but the book is spicy.
Today I'm joining other authors here #BookHooks My selection is The Temple of fyre a fantasy romance. I'l sure other authors will have great books to show off. find them here, http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com
Blurb:
Sold by her family to the priestesses of the Temple of Fyre, Ria soon masters using each of the four fyrestones, white, yellow, orange and scarlet. Her curiosity leads her to the archives and there, she learns things that disturb her. There are no men serving as priests but in the past there were. Men are kept in the harras where the priestesses visit. On the day of her testing she is ordered to perform a task she dislikes and refuses to destroy a town. Many of the priestesses fall into unconsciousness. Melera, the chief priestess, beats and banishes Ria for the carrion crows to consume.
Ari was abandoned as a child and found by two elderly firestone miners. He has pursued this and is the best of the finders. He goes to the temple to sell the stones he has gleaned. On leaving, Ria attempts to steal the fyrestone he has worn since the day he was found. He thinks she is a boy and a thief and he takes her to his room at the inn. On discovering her identity, he refuses to turn her over to the priestesses and they leave town. They are searching for the fabled blue fyrestones. They also learn to use them they must be bonded physically, emotionally and spiritually. Can they learn to master the blue stones and defeat Malera so they can rule the temple with love and understanding?
Excerpt:
Ria stuffed the
scroll she’d taken from the shelves beneath her caftan and tightened the sash
to make sure the cylinder holding the rolled papyrus remained hidden. Beads of
perspiration covered her forehead. She rubbed the sleeve of her robe over her
face. The night air held sultry remnants of the heat of the day. Usually, the
thick walls of the temple complex kept the rooms and corridors cool. Tonight
was different. The usual night breezes were absent so the heat remained.
Perhaps the approaching solstice was the cause?
Or, maybe her
fear of discovery caused her heart to thump against her chest and her muscles
to tighten into confining bands? She was in a place where she had no right to
be without the presence of one of the priestesses. Acolytes were forbidden full
access to the scrolls found in the scriptorium. She drew a deep breath. She’d
acted out of necessity. The scroll beneath her caftan was one she’d discovered
during another of her night searches. She wasn’t permitted to read this one,
but she had and the words had stirred questions her tutors had refused to
address.
On the morrow,
her ability to control the flames of the fyrestones would be tested. She would
be ordered to call flames from a pair of scarlet crystals and blend her blaze
with those raised by the priestesses of the circle. Then, the chief priestess
would assign her a task. Ria believed the things she’d read in this particular
scroll would help her during the ordeal. The test was not without risk. One
slip and the flames she sought to control could turn her into a living torch.
She crept to the
scriptorium door and peered into the hall. With senses alert, she listened and
searched the shadows cast by the flickering torches on the white plaster of the
walls. Sensing no one was nearby, she scurried along the corridor toward the
living quarters of the priestesses and acolytes. With luck, she would reach her
room without being discovered.
Her hand pressed
against the scroll she wanted to read again. The words of this particular one
were vastly different from the lessons she’d been taught by the priestesses.
Had they lied? Were the ways to use the fyrestones described in these writings
true, or were they only a fable invented by some ancient scribe?
There were other
scrolls that told tales that seemed unreal. The aged priestess in charge of the
scriptorium had laughed when Ria had asked about dragons with eyes the color of
the scarlet fyrestones. The old woman had scoffed when Ria had showed her
passages describing wands wielded by wizards that sent lashes of bright or dark
flames to control people.
There was no one
she could ask if this scroll contained truths. Questions weren’t encouraged.
Still, she wanted to believe what she’d read in this scroll about the uses of
the stones, for they told of helping the people and that appealed to her.
Ria sighed.
Since the day she’d been bought from the slavers by the chief priestess, her
life, though interesting had been lonely. Not for her the crowded classrooms,
or the dormitory where she could form friendships with the other acolytes. She
had her own chamber and a private bathing room. During her lessons, she’d been
the only student. Even her meals had been taken with the priestesses, not the
other acolytes.
Why had she been kept isolated from the other acolytes? What make her so
different? Like Ria, most of the others had been brought to Rosti by the
slavers. At twenty, she was a year or two younger than most of the young women
who had entered the temple with her.
She’d learned to
call fire from every color of the crystals and learned how to blend the flames
to form sheets of fire. She could impose maps and pictures on the sheets and
knew the ways of sending spears of flame to various places. From the tiny
flames of the white, to yellow, orange, and scarlet fyrestones, her progress
had been steady.
A peal of
laughter made her stiffen. She ducked into a shadowed alcove. After the evening
meal, acolytes were to be in their rooms, not wandering in the halls. A pair of
senior priestesses, their orange robes gleaming in the light from the hall
torches, appeared. The women hurried past Ria’s hiding place and entered the
harras.
Ria trailed
behind them. The noises from the studs’ quarters stirred her curiosity. The men
seldom left the harras, except for exercise in the garden, or when they were
summoned to the room of one of the priestesses. Until Ria passed her final
test, she wasn’t allowed into the rooms where the men were kept. Several times,
she had spied on the studs, but only during the day and never in the evening
when the priestesses visited. She paused beside the beaded curtain and peered
inside.
Her eyes
widened. Most of the men were nude or scantily clad. Priestesses reclined on
low couches. Studs offered beverages and finger foods. Ria watched as one of
the men fondled a priestess’ breasts. Another man swayed to the sound of a
flute. He held his organ in his hand. Ria felt a stirring low in her belly. Her
breath caught in her throat.
Malera’s husky
laughter rolled toward Ria. Before the chief priestess could discover her, Ria
ducked into the hall leading to her chamber. When she reached the doorway, she
carefully parted the beaded curtain and slipped into the room. If she’d been
caught, Malera would have been furious. The chief priestess’ temper outbursts
often ended in an injury for the culprit.
Ria sank on the
bed. The scene in the harras filled her thoughts and stirred her curiosity.
What would have happened next? Though she’d been betrothed before her clan had
sold her to the slavers, he had died and the women hadn’t yet instructed her on
the ways of a woman and a man.
A frown wrinkled
her brow. The lessons of her teachers arose. Acolytes were forbidden to
interact with men, except for official business. A priestess was permitted
encounters, but she must never allow a man’s organ to enter her body. Such a
surrender would destroy her ability to control the flames she drew from the
fyrestones.
Memories of her
first training session with the chief priestess had been a series of commands.
Once again, Ria had heard Malera’s throaty voice raised in warning.
A priestess is
not permitted to bear a child. To give birth means the loss of power. She must
find a daughter among the acolytes. For that reason, I called you from the
plains before your clan brought you to the marriage bed. If I hadn’t, your
talent would have been lost. When my days as chief priestess end, you will take
my place. Though you are not of my body, you are the child of my spirit.
At first, those
words had brought Ria pleasure and a sense of smugness. If all the acolytes in
the temple, she was special. Lately, she’d begin to question her mentor’s
motives. Ria remembered no call. All she knew was her betrothed had died
suddenly, and the next day, her clan had sold her. Had Malera sent the slavers?
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4 comments:
Like that it's spelled Fyre -- nice touch!
You said the excerpt was PG, but I'm not so sure of that. With all that talk of fire, the excerpt seemed pretty hot.
Ed, Cute
Fabulous scene.
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