Mating Net
A short story prequel to Forced Mate
futuristic romance of the Dijinn
By Rowena Beaumont Cherry
May 2004
God-Emperor Djohn-Kronos believes he has a right to any virgin he wants on Tigron, even if she is promised to his twin brother. All he needed to do was to penetrate the forbidden paradise, an island with an enforced security system and surrounded by sea monsters. He would grab Helispeta away from her educators and make her his next Empress.
When Prince Devoron Vitan began his exploratory mission, the Tigron Empire was not at war. Now his father, the late Emperor has been murdered by Devoron's twin brother, the same man who has assumed the throne and refused his own pledged mate, demanding an even younger version.
Uncloaked, Devoron comes to the aide of civilians from the Saurian Dragon's race. He assists in the survivors' transfer to a neutral moon. He knows his brother will view the end of hostilities as an act of mutiny. But he is not like his brother who kills with the wave of his ring. He is good natured, strong and trusted by his followers. All Devoron wanted was to return home and marry his own chosen mate Helispeta.
From her protected environment, Helispeta fears that Devoron will jilt her as Djohn-Kronos jilted her sister, Aurora-Marta. A holographic greeting has her hopeful, but things aren't always as they seem.
MATING NET teases you with background information, a sense of what their world and their society may be like, but you want more. This may be a sensual short, and one that involves the Djinn, but I am more familiar with a beautiful sand-swept world of magical beings and this one has a futuristic world. Took a little getting use to.
Sensuality plays a major role in their lives, but it's not everything. I would have liked to have been introduced to what the non-royal society was like.
What images Rowena conjures up in her short story are powerful ones. A royal who believes he can take what he wants because it is his right. The universal jealousy of royals and the power they have because of rank. Even Helispeta's protected school offered interesting images of young women separated from society so they remain pure for the privileged. Did it capture my attention? Yes, and I would read the novel which this story inspired.
four out of five magnets
--Denise Fleischer, gottawritenetwork.com
December 18, 2005
Copyright Denise Fleischer
