{"product_id":"2940154651759","title":"The Consultation (The Eternal Dungeon: Transformation #4)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"'I can see why this place would suit you. Your conscience need no longer bother you.'\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe has come from the Eternal Dungeon to offer his services to another prison's head torturer. The only trouble is that the head torturer likes him too much.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeparated from his love-mate and forced to serve in a prison whose practices violate the ethical code that he has long obeyed, the High Seeker of the Eternal Dungeon finds himself surrounded by temptation: the bodies of prisoners, stripped to provide pleasure for their torturers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen the greatest temptation of all arrives. This one, the High Seeker realizes, he may need to surrender to, for the sake of his ethical code.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis suspenseful novella (short novel) can be read on its own or as the fourth and final story in the \"Transformation\" volume of The Eternal Dungeon, an award-winning speculative fiction series set in a nineteenth-century prison where the psychologists wield whips. Friendship, family, gay love, and rebellion are intertwining plotlines in the series.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Powerful, tender love, against the backdrop of a brilliantly imagined dungeon of horrors, unbound by any ethical code. You get more than a whole novel's worth of character, plot twists and world-building.\" —Yingtai\/Justine (customer review)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEXCERPT\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLayle's hand ran up the ice above the prisoner's chest. The ice curved, following the line of the prisoner's body as though the body wore tight clothing. Layle stepped back, frowning. \"How long has the torture lasted?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Sixteen months. That's right, isn't it?\" Master Aeden raised his voice, and the prisoner shifted his eyes toward the speaker. Otherwise, there was no movement of the eyes to indicate surprise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLayle felt a coldness enter his stomach and a wave of heat enter him further down. It was a combination he was used to, so he paid it no mind. \"Why?\" he asked quietly. \"The prisoner can't even confess his crime to you – you've sealed his mouth.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Why should we want to hear his confession? We already know what he's done.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I see,\" Layle said in a voice he could not strip of bitterness. \"So this is like the rapes you taught me to perform as a boy. It doesn't matter that the prisoner has given his confession; you will continue his pain for a while longer, in order to demonstrate your power over him.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was aware, even as he spoke, that he was acting in an unprofessional manner, criticizing a colleague in front of a prisoner. He could not stop himself. This was how it had been in the old days, when he and his master had halted periodically in their work to argue with raised voices over the proper method by which to proceed, while the prisoner writhed between them, awaiting his fate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaster Aeden was looking at him with an expression that would have been unreadable, had Layle not been who he was. As it was, he could sense clearly the mixture of anger and pain that his master was successfully hiding from the rest of the world. \"You are mistaken,\" Master Aeden said softly. \"This prisoner was searched and confessed before his arrival here. This is a punishment dungeon.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLayle turned his gaze swiftly back to the prisoner. The prisoner followed him with his eyes, the remainder of his body immobile.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSixteen months?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSweet blood, that was only the beginning. Layle felt his chest grow tight, all the pleasurable warmth below forgotten. He had known this was happening in Vovim. He should not be surprised. He should not feel the pain anew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis prisoner before him was the fruit of Layle Smith's tireless efforts to extend prison reform into his native land. As the result of international pressure that Layle had orchestrated upon Vovim, the King of Vovim had agreed to lift the traditional death sentence for some of the lesser crimes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd here was what the King had given the prisoners instead. Lifelong torture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLayle was shivering. Master Aeden, without comment, dropped his cloak back upon Layle's shoulders.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusk Peterson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47103628902640,"sku":"2940154651759","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940154651759_p0.jpg?v=1764072778","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940154651759","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}