Taghri's Prize
Page 27
“No, I had to import some from Lakibi. I sent for a full baghlah load, two hundred tons, packed in sawdust. Only about forty tons survived long enough to get here, two days ago, and it’ll all have melted by tomorrow. I told them to make sure to save some for us tonight.”
“I’m glad you did; but I may need it to cool me, rather than the food. Aren’t you hot?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” he said softly, his mouth suddenly dry with anticipation. “Here. Let me help you cool down.” He drew her into his arms, and as she reached up to kiss him, began to unbutton her dress at the back.
She gasped. “Oh… oh, Taghri!”
Her lips sought his once more, and clung to them. She shivered, closing her eyes and moaning softly as his hands gently pulled down her dress, then rose to caress her naked breasts.
That night, and often in the future, they found, as lovers have for millennia, that words are sometimes superfluous.
Author’s Note
A year or so ago, I was pondering the idea of writing another fantasy novel. I mulled over several potential scenarios, plots, and so on, but couldn’t find one that really caught my imagination. Then, one night, I woke up unexpectedly in the small hours of the morning, thinking, “What would the Middle East have been like if Mohammed had never lived, and Islam had never arisen?”
The next morning, I began research into pre-Islamic Arabia and surrounding territories. I had previous exposure to the southern Red Sea area (Yemen, Ethiopia and northern Somalia) in the 1980’s, and I’d been to Morocco, but I didn’t know much about the Persian Gulf. I read as much as I could find about pre-Islamic cultures and systems of belief (which wasn’t very much), and began to develop the plot for this book. I used all three areas and melded them to create my fictional world, rather than rely on only one; and I moved it a millennium or so into the future, to allow the use of relatively primitive firearms. The names of the gods mentioned in this book are all based on those mentioned in pre-Islamic literature, although I’ve no idea of how they were worshipped or whether they had orders of priests or priestesses serving them. I used my imagination.
I had a lot of fun writing this book. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.
* * *
PETER GRANT
Texas, July 2019
About the Author
Peter Grant was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. Between military service, the IT industry and humanitarian involvement, he traveled throughout sub-Saharan Africa before being ordained as a pastor. He later immigrated to the USA, where he worked as a pastor and prison chaplain until an injury forced his retirement. He is now a full-time writer, and married to a pilot from Alaska. They currently live in Texas.
See all of Peter’s books at his Amazon.com author page, or visit him at his blog, Bayou Renaissance Man, where you can also sign up for his mailing list.
Books by Peter Grant
SCIENCE FICTION:
The Maxwell Saga
Take The Star Road
Ride The Rising Tide
Adapt And Overcome
Stand Against The Storm
Stoke The Flames Higher
Venom Strike (forthcoming)
The Laredo War (a trilogy)
War To The Knife
Forge A New Blade
Knife To The Hilt (forthcoming)
Cochrane’s Company (a trilogy)
The Stones Of Silence
An Airless Storm
The Pride Of The Damned
FANTASY:
King’s Champion
Taghri’s Prize
WESTERNS:
The Ames Archives
Brings The Lightning
Rocky Mountain Retribution
Gold On The Hoof (forthcoming)
ANTHOLOGIES:
Forged In Blood (ed. Michael Z. Williamson)
MEMOIR:
Walls, Wire, Bars And Souls