The Prisoner of Limnos – Lois McMaster Bujold

This story picks up right at the end of Mira’s Last Dance. Penric is still hanging around Orbas, even though he’s been summoned back to Adria. But Nikys is still in Orbas, and she hasn’t actually jilted him yet. Word comes that Nikys’ mother has been taken prisoner, and she instantly comes to Pen for help. They’re off on a mad trip back into Cedonia to rescue her mother.

The view keeps switching between Pen and Nikys, so you get some great conversations about their relationship, and Nikys even manages a conversation with Desdemona (Pen’s demon). It’s such a satisfying story to end out this mini sequence within these novellas.   With a fun caper thrown in for good measure.