August Torquill is the daughter of Simon Torquill and Amandine and the half-sister of October Daye. She was born in 1824, making her sixteen years old in Heaps of Pearl.[1]
About[]
Appearance[]
August has silvery-red hair, her skin is "pale enough to look sickly"[2], and her eyes are pale Torquill gold verging on white-grey. Toby remarks that August even stands the same way she does.
Personality[]
August has clearly been affected by Amandine, thinking of pixies and changelings as pests and below her. However, she seems genuinely horrified and concerned when she learns what Amandine did to Tybalt and Jazz, and she genuinely adores her father. August also has a strong moral compass as most children of Oberon do, seeing as how she convinced Amandine to release Tybalt and Jazz, and was willing to apologise to Toby for the actions of their mother, even though her main goal was to ask her to look for Simon. She realises that Amandine was never the mother she believed she was, aware that Amandine treats her like a pet, and is exhausted physically and emotionally from the neglect.
August wants to do better and regrets some of her previous actions, hopeful that living away from Amandine will help her. In the short Into the Sea, August tells Helmi “The person I was in my former mother’s company wasn’t always, or even often, a good one. I’ll try to be better now.”[3] Despite how Amandine has treated her, August also values her family, as she had changed her views on October being her sister and has even welcomed the idea of Gillian being her niece.[4]
Being a descendant of Oberon, she also has suicidal bravery, seeing as how she stole a Tuatha changeling from Blind Michael, who was well-known for his cruelty towards Fae children.
Abilities[]
August is Dóchas Sidhe, which makes her an expert blood-worker. She can heal from almost any wound, and she can shift the blood balance of others (not herself, since there is nothing left to shift). Toby comments on how easily August can shift her blood, and compares her to a scalpel[2]. She can also taste people's heritage in the air, just like Toby does. Because of her former Daoine Sidhe heritage, August has more efficiency with illusions, being able to bind Quentin in illusionary ropes that according to Toby wouldn't have been broken by a single dawn and had to be released from by her iron knife.
Because she tended to the farms in Annwn in order to survive being stranded there for almost a century, she also has significant physical strength. However, she relied heavily on brute force in fistfights instead of strategy which left her vulnerable to Toby's counterattacks. She is also a good strategist, having used the geases that have been lain upon the Borderlands employees to enchant them into thinking she worked there, also charming Madden with a geas that made him unable to question her presence at Borderlands.
Her magical signature is "sweet campfire smoke" with "a ribbon of rose. Not Amandine's wild, woody roses: something small, cultivated, sweet, the sort of rose that would grow up in a princess's walled garden.[5]
Biography[]
As a child, August was raised in Amandine's Tower by her parents, Amandine and Simon Torquill. According to Simon, they were sometimes victims to Amandine's whims, even locked out of the tower when she was having one of her "bouts of inexplicable sorrow" [6]. As of 2013, August had been missing for over a century, having disappeared just prior to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which ripped apart both the city and every Faerie demesne in the vicinity.
It is revealed in The Brightest Fell that she bargained with the Luidaeg to find Oberon and bring him home at the cost of her way home, which meant that she couldn't recognize her father or her mother until she succeeded. Because of Amandine's fears and being inspired by the heroism of Sylvester, August decided to follow her bloodline's task and bring Oberon home earlier than it was intended. Believing Oberon was in Mag Mell, she had gone through great lengths to find him, starting off by stealing a Tuatha de Dannan changeling from Blind Michael and evading the Firstbord by tearing portals through reality.
After using the changeling to open a door to Annwn and after that changeling's subsequent death, August remains trapped in Annwn, choosing to settle in a castle until in a twisted sense of irony Chelsea Ames, who at the time was an overpowered changeling, had been forced to open a door to Annwn by Duchess Riordan in an attempt to colonise it.[7] Although Toby foils this plot, this gave August an opening to retreat back to the mortal world.[2]
Using the multiple geases that Arden and Madden used on the human workers at Borderlands Cafe, August tricks them into thinking she worked there, and had lain a geas on Madden to ensure that he wouldn't give up her location.
In the Series[]
Heaps of Pearl[]
August attends the party that Patrick attends with both Amandine and Simon. Although August smiles at Patrick, she is hesitant at attending the party.
Chimes at Midnight[]
August's first physical appearance was in Chimes at Midnight, an unnamed cameo. Toby, in a goblin-fruit induced state, remarks her as a girl with a peasant blouse and red-and-silver hair.
The Winter Long[]
Toby sees her in Simon's memories in The Winter Long, starting from her childhood and ending when she carried a candle into Blind Michael's lands. Toby is envious of August because she was treated fairly more decently than she was before she ran away from the Summerlands, unaware that while August was favoured, she suffered neglect at Amandine's hands.
The Brightest Fell[]
Amandine forced Toby to find her older sister by forcibly transforming and kidnapping Tybalt and Jazz, and by the time she, Quentin and an awakened Simon find August, she is incredibly hostile, unable to recognize Simon save for his magical signature due to the Luidaeg's magic, and even going as so far to forcibly alter the balance of Toby's blood in a struggle until she is close to a merlin. After she uses Toby's trail to locate her house and takes residence there, she also holds Quentin hostage, and this finally forces Toby to use August's healing powers against her and knock her out with a baseball bat. She is forcibly taken to the Luidaeg's apartment, where the sea witch herself chastises her for seeking Oberon too early, despite the goal of the Dóchas Sidhe being to bring Oberon home.
August finally has her memories and her way home restored when Simon asks the Luidaeg to let him assume his daughter's debt to her; but as a result, Simon reverts to his previous evil self and lost the ability to recognize his daughter. Toby then takes Quentin and August back to Amandine's tower through the Luidaeg's back door, but not before shifting Toby further to her fae heritage so she can stomach the inhuman elements of the Summerlands. Toby realises that August inherited most of the negative traits of purebloods, even going so far to label the Pixie colony as pests. When she is finally reunited with her mother, Amandine cruelly reveals that she would exploit a loophole as to how long she'd keep Tybalt and Jasmine. August, horrified at her mother's actions and at Toby's willingness to kill Amandine, encourages her to let Toby's friends go - ironically the only heroic thing August was able to do.
August then visits Toby to apologize for her and her mother's actions and ask Toby to find Simon. Toby refuses to go out immediately and do so, saying she and her friends need a rest, but promises to find him "someday." This fails to satisfy August, and she leaves in a huff after making a veiled threat against Toby.
A Killing Frost[]
Amandine and August appear publicly in Arden's knowe when Simon files for divorce, and is publicly outed as a daughter of a Firstborn when Amandine declares her status in order to prevent the divorce from proceeding. Amandine's treatment has worn heavily on August's mental health, as she has been under her constant gaze, even comparing Amandine to a pet owner rather than a parent. She and Toby are on much more neutral terms, and knowing that Simon truly loves her and despite failing at convincing Simon to give Amandine another chance, she chooses him as the parent she inherits from, an act that sends Amandine into a blind rage. Although she isn't open yet to the idea of Simon remarrying straight after his divorce, she shows maturity in saying that she just wants him to be happy and watches as the Luidaeg marries him to Patrick and Dianda.
Modern Lorden Shorts[]
Into the Sea[]
After choosing Simon in her parents' divorce, August spends her first night and day in Saltmist. While free of Amandine, she is nervous and feels unprepared for the Undersea, and is worried that Dianda and Patrick Lorden will not want her there. August also feels some shame over how she has acted in the past. However, she wants to do better, and is hopeful about her future.
In Safety Rest[]
August quite embraces having Peter as a younger brother and being a "child" who knows nothing of Undersea customs. Peter wants to spend lots of time with her, and she has to reassure him that she is not slighting him when she needs some time to herself.
Upon Your Honor[]
August helps her father process some of his trauma.
With Sweet Peace[]
August finally gets her own personal rooms in Saltmist, equipped with cartography equipment and a magical window showing "any knowe or skerry where [she is] welcome, or any location in the mortal world". She would like to offer to shift Peter's blood so that he isn't so isolated, but does not want to offend Dianda and Patrick with the offer.
August learns some difficult truths about Simon's time with Oleander.
Give Sorrow Words[]
August enjoys being childish with Peter during Saltmist's Yuletide festivities.
When Sorrows Come[]
August attends Toby's wedding, having gotten over most of the tension between Toby. Although Toby is still hesitant in forgiving her, August still wishes Toby well on her wedding and hands her a bouquet before wishing her good luck.
And With Reveling[]
August approaches Toby during the wedding reception, telling her that Bridget appointed her as a chaperone for the teenagers visiting Disneyland. Even though Toby is on alert when she mentions Gillian, August assures Toby that she still cherishes Gillian as a niece.
Sleep No More[]
In Titania's Faerie, August still lives at home with Amandine, Simon, and her younger sister October. She is far more naive and immature since she never went on her quest for Oberon. She enjoys running through the gardens and getting dirty, but is contained by Amandine’s restrictions. Amandine pressures her to watch her diet and dresses her in washed out and unflattering pastels. She has received formal training in her blood magic, though not the full extent of her abilities. She also has night terrors that Toby regularly helps soothe, likely leftovers from her time in Annwn seeping over to this reality.
When they are told that this is a false reality, August resists the idea of setting things back to rights. She likes her life, and her sister, and does not want to break the illusion holding October. Despite this, August restores Simon's memories in order to help him process a passionate greeting from Patrick once the Undersea finally manages to break through the barrier. She sees how miserable Simon is to remember everything that happened with Evening and Oleander and is still not impressed with the "real" world.
When Simon is taken for Titania's Ride, August and Toby work together to complete the ritual to rescue him. After the illusion is broken, August begins visiting the surface more often to spend time with Toby.
Relationships[]
Ahead are significant details from Sleep No More (September 2023). Read at your own risk!
October Daye[]
Toby is August's half-sister. They meet and recognize each other for the first time in The Brightest Fell when Toby finds August in Borderlands Bookshop. Toby drags August quite literally kicking and screaming to the Luidaeg and helps to restore August's way home. August feels remorse for her sister when it is revealed that Amandine held Tybalt and Jasmine hostage to push Toby into finding her, and manages to convince Amandine to release them. August apologises to Toby later, then asks her to find her father when he loses his own way home, however becomes hostile when Toby refuses. Their interaction with each other is more civil during the divorce proceedings, and Toby even understands the same pain August goes through. Their relationship - while strained - has improved fairly as Toby had helped save Simon.
She admits to being jealous about Toby's lot in life, her reputation as a hero and all her friends, when talking to Simon.[8]
August has attended Toby's wedding as well, on much more neutral terms, and even wishes Toby well on her wedding day.
Under Titania's mind control illusion, August and "October" are the best of friends. Amandine conceived October to be August's servant and companion when August eventually has her own household, and the two are devoted to each other. They are closer than Amandine would like, in fact, and have to hide how casual their relationship is with one another while in pureblood company. Simon encouraged their bonding.
Simon Torquill[]
Simon is August's father and the person who loves her the most in all the world. Simon would do anything for August, including selling his soul to Evening Winterrose to bring her back to him. August however chose Simon as her legal parent when she failed to reconcile him with her mother.
Once they retreat to Saltmist, Simon tries to find a balance between treating her as a child, which she quite welcomes, and as the adult that she is. Several times, she calls him out for avoiding hard conversations with his spouses and gives him very thoughtful advice.
Because August never ran away and Simon never had to deal with Oleander, they have a much sweeter relationship in this version of Faerie; it is more like they were before August disappeared. In this world, August calls him "Father" instead of "Papa," likely due to pressure from Amandine.
Amandine[]
Amandine is August's mother. She and August have a somewhat stormy relationship; August feels that Amandine treats her more like an owner than a daughter, and Amandine spent large portions of August's childhood suffering from mental illness, rendering it difficult for her to provide the care her daughter required.
In Titania's illusionary Faerie, and perhaps in their true history as well, Amandine is emotionally abusive. She pressures August to follow a strict diet and does not allow her to play or get dirty or do anything other than be a perfect Amandine-clone. August and October are often relieved when Amandine leaves for a long journey and they are left in their father's care.
Sylvester Torquill[]
Sylvester is August's uncle on her father's side. According to Simon, he inspired August to be a hero. On the other hand, August was the reason Simon kidnapped Rayseline and Luna. The two have not had much cause to interact since August's return.
In the illusion world, August frequently visits Shadowed Hills and seems fond of Sylvester, despite his melancholy.
Peter Lorden[]
Peter has fully embraced his new stepsister.
Patrick Lorden[]
Patrick is August's stepfather. He is kind and welcoming to her after she moves to Undersea.[3]
Dianda Lorden[]
Dianda is August's stepmother. August finds her intimidating. Dianda is frustrated with how land fae culture damaged August emotionally.[3]
Gillian Marks[]
Although August has had no significant interaction with Gillian, August still values Gillian as her niece.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Heaps of Pearl
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Brightest Fell
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Into the Sea
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 And With Reveling
- ↑ The Brightest Fell Ch. 8
- ↑ And Thrice Again
- ↑ Ashes of Honor
- ↑ Like a Dream