Drown the Lamenting is a short story written for Seanan McGuire's Patreon followers. It is narrated by Elizabeth Ryan.
| “ | Wound it with sighing, girl, kill it with groans; Or get some little knife between thy teeth, |
” |
–William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus | ||
Author Summary[]
Let's return to the Duchy of Ships, for a little, lengthy (novella-length this month) excursion with Elizabeth Ryan. Featuring Captain Pete, lots of cakes, and the untold story of how Diva came to be.
Plot[]
Against her lover Annie's wishes, Elizabeth returns home to accept a seal-skin from her mother and become a selkie. When Liz tries to return to Annie, she finds their home completely gone.
She returns home and learns about being a selkie. A couple months later, she wakes to find the clan gathered: her mother has drowned herself, for sorrow of being separated from the sea. Elizabeth's father assures her that she knew what she was doing and knew all along she wouldn't survive long after giving up her pelt.
Heartbroken yet again, Elizabeth swims into the sea with no particular destination. She happens upon the Duchy of Ships, where she is greeted by a Cetacae woman who directs her to a bakery. There she meets Aldridge, a Roane man who has foreseen that he will become the father of her child. He is gentle with the revelation, and she agrees to marry him and produce a child. They are both clear that she has no romantic interest in men, and that she will leave him once pregnant and not see him again until their daughter reaches her majority. Amphitrite presides over the ceremony.
Even married, Aldridge does not push. He spends a month making Elizabeth cakes and becoming her friend. They have sex once, on a night he foresaw as the best chance to conceive their child, and a month later he tells her that they were successful. Elizabeth is surprised to realize she doesn't want to leave her friend or refuge, but he says doing so will set important future events into motion. Before she swims away, Elizabeth tells him her real name.
Characters[]
- Elizabeth Ryan
- Dorothy Clark
- Elizabeth's father
- Daisy Ryan
- Margaret Ryan
- Maritza
- Rodrick
- Amphitrite/Captain Pete
- Aldridge, son of Eilidh, daughter of Paden, son of Aulay
Mentioned
- Luidaeg/"Annie"
- Tempe
- Colin Dunne
- Verlye
Places[]
Mentioned
Continuity[]
Trivia[]
- Mention of Cu Sidhe and Ci Annwn
- The title quote is a shared with Elizabeth's other story, In Sea-Salt Tears.
- There are a couple places in the story that misspell Aldridge as "Arledge." These are editing errors; "Aldridge" is correct.[1]