Is this the Lemuria of antiquity, or of times to come? Once
you've ridden the storm clouds of heaven from the edge of time, anything is
possible. Demonic hordes threaten to destroy the very fabric of time itself.
The fate of all humanity rests on the shoulders of Tempus the Black, Favorite
of the Storm God. But even this hero of legend will encounter a challenge he
has never faced before . . . present-day New York City.
Not one of the hundred pillows in Chiara’s bedroom
remained on her bed when the god finally had had enough of the woman who ruled
here as Lemuria’s Evening Star. She lay belly down on marble tiles in a slick
of oil and wine and surrounded by candles he was quenching, one by one, with
his fingers.
His short sword gleamed from the midst of the mess, hair
from her body and her head on its blade. He hadn’t done a protracted ritual for
the god in a very long time, and Lemuria’s rites rang as ancient and primal as
Enlil’s name.
Their tryst had included moments when fear glazed her
round, brown eyes, and moments when he felt certain the god overestimated what
Tempus’ human flesh could give and hers could accept.
Still, he’d never killed a woman unintentionally, and although
she might hurt when passion fled, now she merely lazed, intoxicated, malleable,
sated and unresisting in the middle of the floor.
Once he’d snuffed
the last candle, she reached for a pillow and propped her chin upon it so she
could watch him more easily.
The big bed might have been easier on her, but she and
the god had done things by the book. Still on her belly with the pillow under
her jaw, she said, “You’ll really go with Rath and Mano into their horrid world
tomorrow?”
“You tell me.” He was hunting for his leathers among her
pillows.
“Stay here. With
me. We could recast the lot. You could be free of your god forever, here. Stay,
and you’ll learn of pleasures you never dreamed . . .”
“I’m a fighter, a soldier, a simple mercenary who had the
bad luck to fall in with an insatiable god. It’s been so long, I wouldn’t know
how to do anything else.”
“You could be the first not to succumb to Lemuria’s
legerdemain. Don’t cast a lot, and you’re safe here until you do. We have
strife close at hand, should you crave excitement: all the strife of many
lands. From here you can help all of humanity — ”
“You must have
mistaken me for a politician or a would-be king. I’m not the one to chart any
soul’s course. Not after what I did with mine.”
“What do you
want, then?”
And Faun’s words
came back to him: “Survival, that’s the thing.”
Don’t miss the
rest of the Sacred Band Series!
The Sacred Band
of Stepsons series is Homeric and heroic fiction following the exploits of an
ancient cavalry unit modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. Deftly mixing
history, myth, and fantasy, Morris’ Sacred Band of Stepsons live and die in a
world where gods are real and magic works — sometimes.
Morris’
accursed cavalry commander, Tempus, first appeared Sacred Band first appeared
in the million-selling Thieves’ world shared-universe in 1981. Subsequently,
Janet Morris, first alone and subsequently with her husband Chris Morris, take
the Sacred Band into their own series of novels, set in the fourth century BCE.
Passionate, gritty, lyrical prose and unforgettable characters make this
series. Perseid Press Sacred Band novels includes the “Author’s Cut” of the
Beyond Sanctuary Trilogy and Tempus, as well as the epic novel The Sacred Band,
and The Fish the Fighters and the Song-girl.
Find them at Perseid Press
Best selling
author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and published more than 30 novels,
many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. Most of her fiction
work was in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she also wrote
historical and other novels. Morris either wrote, contributed to, or edited
several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on
nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and
national security topics.
Christopher Crosby
Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as
a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author
Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2
Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses
pseudonyms.
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