The best aspects of this novella are its gods and the demons, no better or worse than any human, who jump between bodies via death with as much oversight as the church can manage. Bujold makes world building look effortless. In her demons, she also finds an excellent balance between definitely-not-a-human-consciousness and too-alien-for-empathy. Her humans too, benefit from a touch more nuance than the cookie-cutter cruel lords, stifling mothers, and wise tutors of medieval fantasy. The novella displays Impressive range for its word count, cramming in everything from a stuffy arranged marriage to a genuinely unsettling brush with an entity beyond human ken.

The simplicity of the story prevents me from rating it any higher but it is clear this little tale is everything Bujold intended it to be.