Love in Dark Settings

The prince was told that he must find himself. But what if finding oneself means losing one's love?

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"I thought that he would return once his wounds were healed. I would never have left him if I had known this would happen."

No weapons, no allies, and no guarantees that he will survive the test.

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He was weaponless. Or rather, not quite weaponless, for he knew what he was capable of doing with his body, but he bore no blade, nor any whip, nor any lead pipe with which to stun his victim, nor any rope with which to strangle the victim . . . The number of potential weapons he had deliberately laid aside was frighteningly high.

Egon had a position that won him respect, friends who raised his spirits, and lovers who gave him pleasure. Then a man came into his life who would take all that away from him. If Egon was lucky.

Note: This is an expanded version of my 2003 novella; Chapter Five is new.

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Halvar leaned forward; his eyes were the color of an arctic sky. "I am not a fool, Egon," he said softly, "so do not treat me as such."

It had seemed for a while that the plan would work: a bold conspiracy by a group of idealistic prisoners and sympathetic guards to stop abuse at Mercy Prison. Then betrayal occurs, and Tyrrell finds himself in a new life prison, with new rules to be learned. No longer is he in a position of leadership; now he is surrounded by men who question his most fundamental values.

He has new allies as well: fellow prisoners who like what they see in him, a healer who refuses to accept current conditions, and guards who may or may not provide the help that the prisoners desperately need. But Hell's messenger, Death, visits Compassion Prison, keeping his face hidden until it is almost too late for Tyrrell to recognize his touch.

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"'Sentenced to sixty lashes of the leaded whip. Sentence commuted to a transfer to Compassion Life Prison.'" Keeper raised his eyebrows. "That's the first time I've ever heard a transfer to this prison described as a commutation. We'll assume that that particular phrasing was meant as a joke."

Michael is an ex-prostitute, which means that nobody in polite society wants anything to do with him. He believes that the only way to help other male prostitutes is to make their working conditions bearable. His friend Janus is an upper-class gentleman who believes that his duty to the gods requires him to fight against sexual immorality. Now Michael wants Janus to help him run a house of prostitution.

Male friendship and gay love intertwine in this multicultural historical fantasy series based on the Edwardian Era, a time when society seemed as stable as ever, though it was about to be turned topsy-turvy.

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He could not recognize most of the items before him, which he instinctively knew was a bad sign.

In the queendom of Yclau lies an underground royal prison that embraces the worst of the past and the best of the future. The Eternal Dungeon is old-fashioned in its equipment and ahead of its time in its treatment of prisoners, seeking to put their best welfare above all else. Torture is part of the process of assisting the prisoners.

The High Seeker, Layle Smith, embodies this contradictory institution: a man of deadly impulses, the head torturer binds himself strictly by the dungeon's code of conduct. His efforts to maintain this delicate balance are altered, though, by the introduction into his life of Elsdon Taylor, a vulnerable prisoner who is coming to terms with his own darkness.

This historical fantasy series explores dark aspects of erotic life and includes themes of gay love. But the series goes far beyond that by considering the deeper issues faced by all those who find that their friendships and desires are in conflict with their duties.

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"Do you have any questions?" the Seeker asked. "About the routine of the dungeon? The times you will be fed? The questions you will be asked? The instruments of torture I use?"

When fan fiction writers have had way too much caffeine.

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You will note that several reply buttons in this questionnaire have been disabled. The buttons are present because a volunteer (since dismissed) made the error of feeding historical data on real-life slavery into the computer.

He'd abducted him, bedded him, and taught him every position he knew. So why wasn't the fool grateful?

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I tried to cheer him by telling him that I'd decided not to share him with anyone, but that only made him sob louder.

If you fall in love with one of the damned, should you join him in his damnation?

As a child hearing the song of his beloved mother is woken from deep sleep, so I felt myself drawn back from my darkness by the stern sound of my master's voice.

A security guard in a small town walks into the wrong bar.

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He couldn't remember later why he began talking about bondage.