THE MALTESE DREAMER
The Maltese Dreamer is available from Amazon and XinXii Stores. Click or paste the links below:
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Amazon UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the%20maltese%20dreamer
You will find a book review on the Love of the Goddess blog http://loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com/p/product-review.html
Thank you!
contact the author at themaltesedreamer@gmail.com
XinXii.com : http://www.xinxii.com/en/the-maltese-dreamer-p-345787.html
Amazon UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the%20maltese%20dreamer
You will find a book review on the Love of the Goddess blog http://loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com/p/product-review.html
Thank you!
contact the author at themaltesedreamer@gmail.com
exerpts:
“I cannot ask more than you have already given, but please, Lady, please, may I hold you?” Dirt and blood were caked on his slung arm;
Nuriya wanted to check the wound. There was a bruise across his cheek, and his eyes showed shock from what he had seen in the night. “I need you,” he pleaded.
She opened her arms to him. Ilobaal held her and spoke her name over and over like a prayer. He smelled of sweat and smoke and blood. Her aloofness began to evaporate. She was a fool to think that she could reject him, that she could accept a life that was not this--this breath, these arms. Ilobaal could have died! Her relief made her giddy . . .
***
Hawk had been lingering in the entryway, fretting over the women as the sun set but loathe to enter the domain of the dead. The moment he heard Nuriya’s scream he lit a torch and raced into the darkened cavern. Echoes reverberated around him and he could not tell from where the sounds came. “Where are you?”he shouted, jabbing his torch, slashing skulls and skeletons with frantic light, his own voice echoing and mystifying him further. After an agonizing time of waiting for the echoes to cease, he heard the muffled sound of
Korba’s voice.
Hawk reached the overlook to the central chamber and raised his torch high, casting bizarre shadows over the walls. “Here, Hawk,” Korba pitched her voice low but it carried easily to his ears. He could barely make out the healer kneeling over a shape on the
ground. “Nuriya!”he shouted, echoes exploding once more. Miraculously, he found his winding way to the floor of the chamber, his torch illuminating Nuriya’s convulsing body.“Demons!” he hissed . . .
***
Nuriya wanted to check the wound. There was a bruise across his cheek, and his eyes showed shock from what he had seen in the night. “I need you,” he pleaded.
She opened her arms to him. Ilobaal held her and spoke her name over and over like a prayer. He smelled of sweat and smoke and blood. Her aloofness began to evaporate. She was a fool to think that she could reject him, that she could accept a life that was not this--this breath, these arms. Ilobaal could have died! Her relief made her giddy . . .
***
Hawk had been lingering in the entryway, fretting over the women as the sun set but loathe to enter the domain of the dead. The moment he heard Nuriya’s scream he lit a torch and raced into the darkened cavern. Echoes reverberated around him and he could not tell from where the sounds came. “Where are you?”he shouted, jabbing his torch, slashing skulls and skeletons with frantic light, his own voice echoing and mystifying him further. After an agonizing time of waiting for the echoes to cease, he heard the muffled sound of
Korba’s voice.
Hawk reached the overlook to the central chamber and raised his torch high, casting bizarre shadows over the walls. “Here, Hawk,” Korba pitched her voice low but it carried easily to his ears. He could barely make out the healer kneeling over a shape on the
ground. “Nuriya!”he shouted, echoes exploding once more. Miraculously, he found his winding way to the floor of the chamber, his torch illuminating Nuriya’s convulsing body.“Demons!” he hissed . . .
***
|
*** Below and before her, visible through the archway, was a cavernous chamber. No natural cave was this; even in the dim light, Nuriya could make out trilithion marked doorways, pitted altars, columns painted red, and circular windows opening into yet other spaces. The chamber was so improbable--here under the earth--and so beautiful, it made her weep. Korba stepped to Nuriya’s side, blocking the light. Then she moved behind her daughter to look over her shoulder. “What do you think?” “It is as you said,” Nuriya marveled. |
***
Nothing could have prepared her for the grandeur of the Magistrate’s residence. From outside it was similar to the other buildings of quarried limestone, but what a marvel it held within. Arched interior doorways hung with embroidered drapery, elaborate torch sconces lined the walls and hanging lamps dangled overhead. There were chests of cedar with latches of gold and a table of African ebony. Carved ivory plaques were set at intervals along the walls, telling a story. Adnan took Nuriya into a courtyard lined with potted plants. The floor was a tile mosaic of ships under full sail. How could such splendor be here, on tiny Malta?
Nothing could have prepared her for the grandeur of the Magistrate’s residence. From outside it was similar to the other buildings of quarried limestone, but what a marvel it held within. Arched interior doorways hung with embroidered drapery, elaborate torch sconces lined the walls and hanging lamps dangled overhead. There were chests of cedar with latches of gold and a table of African ebony. Carved ivory plaques were set at intervals along the walls, telling a story. Adnan took Nuriya into a courtyard lined with potted plants. The floor was a tile mosaic of ships under full sail. How could such splendor be here, on tiny Malta?
THE MALTESE DREAMER
