2019/07: The Prisoner of Limnos -- Lois McMaster Bujold

... even demons mourned, and had a long time to do so. Grief, guilt, regret… not everything they learned how to do from their human riders was a boon. He did not press. [loc. 1775]

Penric (and Desdemona, the ten-souled demon whose host he is) are in Orbas, reluctant to return to Penric's duties in Orbas while the delectable Nikys seems oblivious to Pen's intentions. Then Nikys' mother is abducted, and Penric and Desdemona vow to rescue her.

The alternation of Pen's and Nikys' narratives gives depth to this otherwise slight story: Nikys is concerned that she would be marrying Desdemona as well as Penric, while Penric wishes that hosting the souls of ten dead women would give him some advantage in dealing with a single living female. There is also a delightful relationship between Nikys' brother Adelis' fiancee, Tanar, and her eunuch factotum Bosha. And there are the gods, who in this world are real.

I do like the world of the five gods, and I like Penric and Desdemona, but I'd like a bit more meat in the next story.