Thanks for the review. It’s nice to have some stories that you can read. (Well, I suppose you could relocate/travel to a different country….)
I’ve definitely have made this world rich in context, with the USofA sliding into a theocracy (it’s not fully there in most of these stories). So, it’s an era where priests have more authority than they currently do today. So, I like Father Jordan as a character, simply because I’ve made him a bit richer in the personality. A hypocritical and naughty priest, with a thirst for power and control. Traits that flourish quite nicely in the world I’ve created (and scary in that we’ve got those traits with people in political office today).
Hope (the santa’s preferred nickname) is another interesting character, and he/she shows up in other stories too, usually as a trucker with a colorful backstory. In a bind, I’d definitely trust Hope over Father Jordan any day.
Fitz will continue to feel the guilt over this, it’ll still haunt him, his actions, but it’s slightly easier now. He’ll still try to “make up” for it, as in he’ll be sending Jarred to the elite private school of the area. Also, as a result of this incident, Hope and Rube are able to “recruit” Fitz to help with in the opposing cell-style resistance, despite his persisting homophobia, which Jarred will start to become aware of as he gets older.
Anyways, glad you enjoyed the story! @CloverReef was disappointed on the lack of deaths in this one … but that would’ve messed up some of my stories.