★★☆☆☆ Simon needs a hug, or *something*

 

Upon Your Honor

Seanan McGuire

Upon Your Honor is Seanan McGuire's August 2022 Patreon reward. It's a short story (31 pages in PDF form) set in the October Daye world. 

Here is how McGuire introduces Upon Your Honor on Patreon: 

(The picture accompanying this month's story post has nothing to do with the story itself, but seemed fitting: this is the pre-order pin for Be the Serpent, and will be available from participating independent bookstores.) 

And we're back, with another trip to the Undersea, where Simon is really, really demonstrating that Faerie needs therapists.  Content warnings for this month's story: mentions of past abuse, awkward attempts to deal with trauma, minor injury, assumption that said injury may have been self-inflicted, panic attacks.

Simon needs a hug.

Upon Your Honor is the Fifth 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 Rosenhwyr, 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.

As  McGuire's introduction suggests, we're back to Simon this month, and he is, if anything droopier than before. Eira, Amandine, and Oleander damaged Simon, perhaps permanently.

Patreon link