Nominated for Best Romantic Science Fiction / Futuristic (2011) by The Romance Reviews
Warning: Not suited for readers under 18 due to sexual content and some violence.
A dystopian fantasy
Warning: Not suited for readers under 18 due to sexual content and some violence.
- - - - -
A hundred years after the world devolved into chaos and the gods returned to save humanity, thirteen-year-old Mallory of Settlement 20 is blessed with fertility by the goddess Asherah. Mal goes from poverty and hunger to live in Red City as a pampered and protected chalice. Her totem, sign of divine favor, is a firebird.
Until she's eighteen, Mal trains to suppress her emotions, to detach from the world so she can serve it. Unfortunately the world isn't detached from Mal. Her firebird totem has a special significance that puts her at the center of a power struggle between two kings.
When Mal starts to fall for King Edmund, a daring ruler willing to flaunt Red City's law for the good of his people, she battles to deny her feelings. Love is the only luxury denied to a chalice - the one thing that could shatter Mal's world and destroy her and Edmund both.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
One king wants to love her
One king wants to kill her
And shapeshifters stole her baby's soul!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Excerpt:
It was dehumanizing, this pantomime. What had Garrick had called it? The "getting of" ensouled heirs. So cold. So matter-of-fact. So cynical. Edmund was more at ease with the Empani. But then, that's what Empanii were all about. And besides, he reminded himself, this exercise was not for his comfort but for the good of Allel.
To celebrate the end of Mallory's quarantine, Counselor had arranged this evening on the turret deck overlooking the bay. In addition to the usual courtiers and bureaucrats, she'd invited the Beekeeper, the woman who ran the vineyard, the couple who ran the south croplands, and the director and actors from last night's play.
The cheerfulness was almost unbearable. As the lift doors opened, guests strained their necks hoping to see Mallory. It was only Steve and Dix, decidedly less exalted, but Counselor's honeybee earbobs bounced madly as she welcomed the engineer and architect.
One of the actors smiled at Edmund with sympathetic encouragement. He had the good grace not to leer, but only just.
The doors to the turret lift opened again, and this time a hush fell over the gathering. The guest of honor was absolutely stunning. She wore a simple sheath of sparkling orange-red material that clung to her breasts and fell loosely to her ankles. Her arms and shoulders were bare. Edmund sensed the swell of pride and gratitude among his fellow Allels. This was their brood queen, and she was marvelous in their eyes.
He pictured her crawling to him across the stage during the Rites, naked, her slender fingers, nails red as pomegranate seeds, clasping his feet, then his thighs. He had the urge to run his hands over her shoulders to feel the muscle tone beneath her soft skin.
Her only visible tat was the band of roses, but he knew about the talon. Who in the Concord Cities didn't? Surprising how glad he was that Garrick's mark - any man's mark - was out of sight. He liked seeing her one piece of jewelry, the gold bracelet from Allel.
She had set her hair free of its braided cage. It was an ornament too, shimmering white and gold and hovering about her like mist coming in off the Pacific. Surely some god had given her that hair.
Until she's eighteen, Mal trains to suppress her emotions, to detach from the world so she can serve it. Unfortunately the world isn't detached from Mal. Her firebird totem has a special significance that puts her at the center of a power struggle between two kings.
When Mal starts to fall for King Edmund, a daring ruler willing to flaunt Red City's law for the good of his people, she battles to deny her feelings. Love is the only luxury denied to a chalice - the one thing that could shatter Mal's world and destroy her and Edmund both.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
One king wants to love her
One king wants to kill her
And shapeshifters stole her baby's soul!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Excerpt:
It was dehumanizing, this pantomime. What had Garrick had called it? The "getting of" ensouled heirs. So cold. So matter-of-fact. So cynical. Edmund was more at ease with the Empani. But then, that's what Empanii were all about. And besides, he reminded himself, this exercise was not for his comfort but for the good of Allel.
To celebrate the end of Mallory's quarantine, Counselor had arranged this evening on the turret deck overlooking the bay. In addition to the usual courtiers and bureaucrats, she'd invited the Beekeeper, the woman who ran the vineyard, the couple who ran the south croplands, and the director and actors from last night's play.
The cheerfulness was almost unbearable. As the lift doors opened, guests strained their necks hoping to see Mallory. It was only Steve and Dix, decidedly less exalted, but Counselor's honeybee earbobs bounced madly as she welcomed the engineer and architect.
One of the actors smiled at Edmund with sympathetic encouragement. He had the good grace not to leer, but only just.
The doors to the turret lift opened again, and this time a hush fell over the gathering. The guest of honor was absolutely stunning. She wore a simple sheath of sparkling orange-red material that clung to her breasts and fell loosely to her ankles. Her arms and shoulders were bare. Edmund sensed the swell of pride and gratitude among his fellow Allels. This was their brood queen, and she was marvelous in their eyes.
He pictured her crawling to him across the stage during the Rites, naked, her slender fingers, nails red as pomegranate seeds, clasping his feet, then his thighs. He had the urge to run his hands over her shoulders to feel the muscle tone beneath her soft skin.
Her only visible tat was the band of roses, but he knew about the talon. Who in the Concord Cities didn't? Surprising how glad he was that Garrick's mark - any man's mark - was out of sight. He liked seeing her one piece of jewelry, the gold bracelet from Allel.
She had set her hair free of its braided cage. It was an ornament too, shimmering white and gold and hovering about her like mist coming in off the Pacific. Surely some god had given her that hair.
