Paul was your typical waste of skin cruising through life. If you asked his mother to describe him, she would tell you he was intelligent, hansom, and the biggest underachiever she had ever met. Paul was going absolutely nowhere. He filled his days with a dead end job and his evenings with television and marijuana. That was, of course, before THEY came looking for the “Guardian”.

A willing pupil for a dangerous game. A January - June romance, or let's keep it in the family. A power meeting with the Slavers Guild. Explaining to Daphne her new position in life. Nikolai's night ride is abbreviated. A last night in the palace is bittersweet. Tyra meets Kim in the garden and explains.

A Queen exchanges roles. A large woman submits and then tells all. A homecoming with an edge. Meetings with Ron and Tisa. Kim does what she does best, investigates. A scholar finds a new home and a new dream. Fay's first mother-daughter chat with Tyra. A ride with Father and Der uncovers an old mystery amidst death.

A meeting with the family and a secret is kept. A tryst is discovered and a deal is struck. The Slavers Guild takes action and a rescue is arranged. A serum dart finds the wrong target.

Tyra finds a way to forget about Ketrick — for the moment. A royal wedding. A close friend dies, but leaves a great gift behind. A old face leads a new investigation, as Tyra prepares for the greatest shock of her female life.

Ketrick becomes a consort. Learning to be a lady. Merton emerges into a very new world. Ketrick makes a surprising admission. Will Ann's lack of imagination doom her to slavery?

A decisive meeting at in a pleasant glade where Thermin discovers his true nature. The clean-up in Batuk starts poorly. A reunion in Eagles ends with a change of perspective. (Violence, blood, and serum girls)

The High Priest is shown a long-lost edict. The right to a consort is tested. Ketrick's time in Batuk begins to show results. Thermin and Tyra come to uneasy alliance.

Lady Gina meets her just reward. A test of loyalty for Captain Malchor, and Tyra learns a lesson about being a woman. A sick Librarian may be more than he looks. A new plot is formed, and a warrior must die.

Queen Dana's coronation leaves the new queen vulnerable. Malchor's dreams for Dana place Tyra's freedom in jeopardy. A deal is struck in blood, but will it be enough?

A final encounter with Dana. Ketrick and Tyra in a last stand at Alexander's castle. A fitting end for Heydar. Marco hunts for Tyra with a crossbow. Angel makes a surprising revelation. (Much violence)

Teaser: The adventures of the ladies of the Eerie Saloon continue. A mystery is revealed. Laura tries to adjust to her new condition. And two more transformations occur.

* * * * *

Eerie Saloon: Seasons of Change - Autumn
By Ellie Dauber and Chris Leeson (c)2005
Part 2 - November

Sunday, November 5, 1871

Milt Quinlan walked directly to the bar. "Good afternoon, Shamus. Do you mind if I talk to Jane for a few minutes?"

"I don't see why not," Shamus said. "We isn't exactly swamped with customers right now. Sit yuirself down someplace, and I'll be sending her over to ye."

Lady Dana requires Ketrick's services and seals her fate. Tyra is forced to betray a friend who never was. Another Lord is killed and the valley teeters on the edge as the plot unfolds.

A girl is unhappy, or Angel turns jealous. A meeting with Marco and Drago Giovanni in the tavern. Wanda uncovers a secret. Drago takes a girl home to Paolo's castle. An unpleasant encounter with Alanna Borodin. Drago sends Tyra to the guards, or a spear is bent. Plans are made, or hanging cats by the tails. A lesson on Batuk for the new aristocracy.

Tyra confides in her sister. Tyra learns a few lessons about herself during her stay at the slave camp for serum girls. Tyra learns a dance. When a girl goes too far and must be rebuked. Tisa's plan for Tyra, or a brand from a woman's hand makes all the difference. What could happen when a 300 year-old man brols a virgin. A bitter lesson learned.

This is a very short story I'd written a while ago that just started with the image of two odd figures climbing out of a mud hole. I began theorizing what they would be doing there and where they were going next. The following story is the result of that bit of daydreaming. :)

Out of the Mud

Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown

Tyra meets her former love-slave and makes a decision. Frightened at her changes, and appalled at her sister's plans for her, Tyra forms a daring strategy to stay free at the cost of part of herself. Tyra's changes become complete, and she discovers what a being a sister means. Still, can a woman with the slave gene ever truly adjust to the world around her?

Zhor is a planet where the mysterious Overlords rule, where men and women live for centuries and are permitted to be themselves. There, a young warrior's love and dreams are shattered when he wakes up one morning as a serum girl, a beautiful woman with the DNA of one of Zhor's finest slaves. Her old life destroyed, she must not only fight to hold onto her identity as she is forced to make a new life as a woman, but also to keep her freedom, not easy when her body insists that she would be happiest branded and collared.

Just a quick add on to the previous 3 chapters. More to come later.

DD

Omnibus edition of this week's releases of Game Theory.

I've now caught up - that is, this release is only about three thousand words behind where I've written up to, but I'm busy clacketing away to stay ahead... :-}

P.S. I've been increasingly unsure if my genre-tagging is accurate, and have fallen into the dilemma of certain aspects of the plot that maybe should be signposted in the tags but haven't been, largely because they only emerged - even in my own mind - as the story progressed. (But also, in some cases, because to do so would be a massive spoiler. :-}) But I do worry that the tagging may no longer accurate and would welcome feedback on this.

P.P.S. <geek>I switched to Scrivener partway through this week's work, and with it to a different way of exporting to HTML. You should only be able to see the join if you view source. :-)</geek>

Omnibus edition of this week's releases.

Synopsis: The captured Therobelin comes face to face with the warrior goddess Crystalia, who forces him to confront his true feelings about the state of the world he has sworn to protect. (Part 3)