Page 1 of Over the Emerald Valley
CHAPTER1
Egypt, 1312, BCE
Temaj
“What?Why would the pharaoh send soldiers to Sikait?” Temaj blinked sleep from his eyes and sat up on the lounge. He’d been napping in the shade of the harem’s courtyard when his friend Seli woke him to share the news. “I’m a mess. When?”
“Calm down. They won’t arrive for several days.” Seli settled next to him, arranging the flowing orange silk of her skirts over her tucked legs. “And you’re not a mess. You look very pretty snoozing the afternoon away like you’ve nothing better to do.”
“I have nothing better to do. Unless you count Ottah.” Temaj wrinkled his nose. “But I’ve yet to grow that desperate.”
Seli’s sweet laughter made him grin. “Ottah has had a thing for you since you arrived. How much longer will you hold out?”
The dogged palace guard was handsome enough but rude. And if Temaj was going to fuck a man in uniform… “I’d rather fuck a soldier.”
“They’re sending an army general.” She bumped their shoulders together.
Ooh, Temaj could picture him already, heavily muscled and rugged. “Even better.”
Rapid footsteps came from within. Qeb burst outside with the exuberance his youth afforded him. “Did you hear?”
“I’ve just told him, silly.” Seli leaned back against the satin cushion and closed her kohl-lined lids.
Qeb flopped onto his own lounge. “This could mean one of us has a chance to get out of this unbearable desert.”
“You want to get out already?” Temaj liked the palace and even their master, the viceroy. He was a peculiar fellow, but not unkind. Why risk leaving a fair master when the next one could easily be worse?
“Of course, don’t you?” asked Qeb. “There’s nothing to do here. No diners, no pubs, no gaming dens, and hardly any men worth entertaining.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said Seli without opening her eyes.
Temaj agreed with Seli, as he often did. Qeb was new to the mining town of Sikait and not easily impressed. He must be from one of the big cities. Thebes or Memphis perhaps.
“I don’t wish to leave,” said Temaj. “But I would like to bed an army general. Think of the stories a man like that would have.”
Qeb shrugged. “I don’t need to hear him talk to make him see stars. Are generals rich enough to own concubines?”
“No idea.” Temaj traced his fingers over the jewels that decorated his neck. He needed no riches. But a break in the tedium of day-to-day life, that he would welcome with open arms…and open legs if the opportunity arose.
“What are you going to wear?” asked Qeb.
“I don’t know yet. I’ve only just gotten the news, same as you.”
“I’m thinking my best gold tunic. It’s classic. You can’t go wrong with gold. And perhaps red accents. Rubies. Definitely rubies.”
As Qeb chattered, Temaj thought of his own wardrobe: extensive, beautiful, but nothing he hadn’t already worn ten times over. And although he and Qeb would be rivals for the general’s attention, Temaj wouldn’t mind another friend among the harem. Visitors came and went, but he and Qeb had to live together.
“Could I borrow something of yours?” Temaj offered a hopeful smile. Digging through their clothes might be fun.
Qeb tightened his brows, green eyes sharp.
Temaj hurried to add, “I have a lovely pair of ruby earrings that would go well with the outfit you’re planning. You’re welcome to them.”
Qeb’s expression softened. Temaj didn’t blame him for being wary. A lot could go wrong between members of a harem.
“Deal.” Qeb spit daintily into his palm and held it out.
Temaj did the same. They clasped wrists, and a tentative friendship began.
