★★★☆☆ Give Sorrow Words, by Seanan McGuire
Simon talks to a therapist and enjoys Christmas undersea
Give Sorrow Words
Seanan McGuire
Simon talks to a therapist and enjoys Christmas undersea
Give Sorrow Words is Seanan McGuire's December 2022 Patreon reward. It is a story in her October Daye series, and continues the recent series of short stories about Simon and August Torquill's settling into their new lives in Saltmist. Here's how she introduced it on Patreon,
And now, Yule in the Undersea, as promised. Simon has started getting help, and he's trying. Saints above and gods below, he's trying.
Give Sorrow Words is the seventh (eighth?) Patreon story set in what I will call the Lorden household (because Lorden/Twycross/Torquill becomes unwieldy). In A Killing Frost Simon Torquill was freed of his entanglements with several horrifying fae women: Eira Rosynhwyr, Amandine, and Oleander (although to be accurate, Oleander had already been dead for several novels at the time) and immediately entered into new, one hopes less horrifying, entanglements, this time with Patrick Twycross and Dianda Lorden and August Torquill. Patrick and Dianda are husband and wife. However, we learned at the time that Patrick's feelings for Simon are more than a purely Platonic friendship. Thus Dianda and Patrick propose marriage to Simon. Simon accepts, and as a result they all ended up in a mariage a trois. August is Simon's daughter with his now former wife Amandine. August, having the choice as to which parent to stay with, separates herself from Amandine and goes with Simon.
All this domestic reshuffling is especially fraught because Dianda is the Duchess (i.e., head of state) of the Duchy of Saltmist, a Fae domain in the Pacific Ocean. Yes, literally in the Pacific. Dianda is a Merrow, i.e. a mermaid, and her home and castle is underwater. This of course complicates life for August and Simon, who are an air-breathers. However, since Patrick is also an air-breather, Saltmist has developed ways to accommodate terrestrial fae.
The first two Lorden household stories, And Deeps Below and Sacrifice Your Tears were told from Simon Torquist's point of view. Their prevailing characteristic was the droopy, depressing tone of Simon's narration. These were followed by Into the Sea and In Safety Rest, which are told from August's point of view. August has her troubles, but she is altogether a happier presence than Simon. With Upon Your Honor we returned to Simon, and he was, if anything droopier than before. That was followed by With Sweet Peace and Like a Dream in which Simon, incredibly, became even more droopy. In Like a Dream Simon's healer Aster told him he needed psychotherapy. This is not something that fae have historically resorted to, so there are few options. Few, but not none. Aster knows of a changeling therapist who takes fae clients. The heading for Give Sorrow Words is this very appropriate Shakespeare quote,
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.
--William Shakespeare, Macbeth
So now Simon is in therapy. Since he's still in Saltmist, i.e., underwater, and his therapist is somewhere on land (San Francisco Bay Area, I think) his therapy sessions are conducted by videoconference. These are painful for Simon but seem to be doing him some good. The story takes place at Yule, and we get to experience a Saltmist Yule celebration.
McGuire promises a standalone universe story for January, so we'll have at least a little break from Simon.