Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
Series Metadata
Listing Series
-
Tags
Summary
"They always held their breaths when the soldiers passed by, but so far, no battles had been held anywhere near Doughoregan Manor or any of its quarters. And sometimes a posse set out with the hounds, to hunt down the quarry."
Civil war is tearing apart the land. Again.
For centuries, the Kingdom Vovim to the northwest and the Queendom of Yclau to the southeast have fought each other for the border territory of Mip. Sometimes the Vovimians are lords of the land. Sometimes the people of Yclau are.
The only Mippites whose lives don't change are the slaves. Young Sling knows that his own life's work has already been determined: he is to be a house slave, serving his master's son. But secret meetings in hidden places with his master's son make Sling uncertain of what will happen next.
When news arrives of a proclamation that will allow Sling to leave his hated master, Sling faces a difficult choice: whether to flee to safety or to stay and face the dangers of an unknown future.
"Emancipation" is loosely inspired by events at a border-state manor during and after the American Civil War. This is a Juneteenth holiday story for my readers.
Series
- Part 2 of Life Prison
- Part 1 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
-
Tags
Summary
"'Oh,' said the representative. 'Well. If he turns violent, I suppose you can take care of him yourself. I mean, if the stories about you are true . . .'"
The High Seeker of the Eternal Dungeon visits a foreign prison.
This is a side story in the series, but you can read it without having read the rest of the series.
Series
- Part 39 of The Eternal Dungeon
- Part 4 of Life Prison
- Part 2 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
-
Tags
Summary
"Images came, like flickers of a candle: Dark stones. Dark metal. Faint fire. A spoon in his hand, as someone urged him to eat. A stinking pit that he knew he was duty-bound to fill. A loom nearby that he vaguely remembered he had once known how to work, but which now stood as silent as the rest of his world."
He can't speak. He can barely see. He experiences only fear and the faint whispers of something he had once known.
But an intruder into his secure retreat from danger will pull him into awareness of what stands before him. What stands there is renewed danger . . . and the hope of something more.
Series
- Part 3 of Life Prison
- Part 3 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
-
Tags
Summary
"Sweet blood, Tom, sometimes I wonder at your innocence. Why do you think that your prisoners were sent to prison? It wasn't for lacing daisy chains."
One of them rapes prisoners. The other wants to help prisoners. So why are they talking to each other?
As guards send each other telegraph messages through their prisons' coding offices, strange developments occur in the life prisons of the Magisterial Republic of Mip: hardened prisoners become reformers, idealists dally with danger, and the prison keepers struggle to keep control. The strangeness will only become odder when two guards, who hold very different views on the proper handling of prisoners, strive to find common ground.
Series
- Part 5 of Life Prison
- Part 4 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
-
Tags
Summary
"They had to settle the issue of sex first."
Sentenced to life in prison, Tyrrell didn't have many opportunities for bed-play . . . unless he could count what the guards did to him as "play." So his future seemed brighter when he was paired with a cell-mate he'd been eyeing for a long time with affection and lust.
If only Tyrrell could keep from becoming his cell-mate's latest murder victim . . .
Series
- Part 6 of Life Prison
- Part 5 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner
-
Tags
Summary
"It was like waving a wintergreen stick in the face of a starving man, then slowly sucking it in front of him, smiling smugly."
Having other folks flaunt their winter festival celebrations is bad enough, when you're a prisoner locked down for the rest of your life.
The only thing worse is having a cell-mate who is determined to join the celebrations.
Series
- Part 7 of Life Prison
- Part 6 of Life Prison, Volume 1: side stories to Mercy's Prisoner