Weekend Writing Warriors #SnippetSunday I Can't Help You

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up below with your name, blog and email and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Your post needs to be live between 12:00 noon on Saturday 11/19/16 and 09:00 AM on Sunday 11/20/16. Visit the other participants on the list and read, critique and comment on their 8sunday posts.

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It's NaNoWriMo, and my very first time participating in it, so of course you will be getting excerpts from my WIP, a novella, Stolen Secrets! If you have been following Book II of my Illuminati series, The Tree of Life, you will know that I just introduced a minor character, Prince Mukhtar,  who appears in both Book I, The Book of Life, and Book 11, of the Illuminati Series. He is also the hero of a Romance Fantasy Novella I am writing for NaNoWriMo, a little spinoff adventure! In it, Isis has sent him to retrieve a chalice to be used in a ceremony that will break the spell the jinni, Ornias (from my short horror story) has cast upon the Ring of Solomon, before their mortal enemy, Set, can get his hands on it. The heroine, Lady Isabella Valentine, has been hired to retrieve the same artifact from an anonymous benefactor,  who has sent a helper, David Khoury, to assist her on the archaeological dig. Prince Mukhtar wishes to change hr mind. Here’s a bit from where I left off last week . . . (*Note: It's NaNo, so may be a bit rough in spots.)

            She took the drawing, happy to distract herself from the intensity of his stare, the penetrating azure gaze that both took her breath away and made her want to gasp in gulps of air to fuel the manic beating of her heart at his nearness.  Then, recognition made her take in a slow, deep breath, as she willed herself to remain outwardly calm. She looked up and said, “May I ask why you are seeking this?”
        “So you are familiar with the piece,” he said as fact and not a question, and the small smile he bestowed upon her matched the warmth in his voice as if she had just passed some test at which he had hoped she would excel.
         “Yes, of course. Most in my field would recognize The Chalice of Isis. But you didn’t answer my question,” she persisted.
           “I have a buyer with bottomless pockets, of course. And do you know where it is located?” he asked, small dimples appearing in his cheeks.
            “I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Isabella said, handing him back the sketch.

I hope you liked the snippet I posted for Elizabeth this week while she's busy with NaNo! She gave me popcorn, so she can do whatever she wants as far as I'm concerned. I love popcorn!  Be sure to visit the other fine Weekend Writing Warriors and #Snippet Sunday Authors for more great reads!