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I am the sea witch. I am the tide you fear and the turning you can't deny. I am the sound of the waves running over your bones on the beach, little man, and I am not amused at finding you on my doorstep.

–Luidaeg, Once Broken Faith

Luidaeg, also known as Antigone of Albany, Annie, and The Lady of the Lake, is the eldest Firstborn child of Oberon and Maeve. She is the mother of the Roane and the Selkies, as well as the aunt and friend of October Daye. She first appears in Rosemary and Rue.

About[]

Appearance[]

She appears as a girl about 19 or 20 with curly black pigtails, freckled skin with minor acne scarring that shifts to a mother-of-pearl tone, eyes that shift between a forgettable blue and drift glass green of the Roane, slightly pointed ears, and a sad smile.[1] She prefers comfortable clothing like jeans and sundresses, with sea colors and decorations, and frequently wears overalls with or without a tank top underneath. She is excellent at disguising her Firstborn power and most fae wouldn't even realize that this appearance is not her true form.

As the sea-witch, her eyes shift between Roane-green, blue to separate her from the children who had survived, and fully black, dark and as deep water. Her skin is pale and rough with the suggestion of scales, and hair dark and heavy with each strand razor edged.

Personality[]

The Luidaeg enjoys acts of human rebellion such as mortal cursing, drinking, and smoking marijuana[1]. She is temperamental and her moods blow in and out like storms. However, she is also very lonely; most people only interact with her in order to make requests, and between that and her inability to lie she is unable to get close to anybody. She likely doesn't have any friends or even companions before Toby comes along. Toby and Quentin recognize this in her and make a point to visit socially: playing chess, feeding seagulls, and just talking.[2] Genuine friendship grows between them. Much of her grumpiness and sarcasm are coping mechanisms against her geas,[3] as they are the only way she can imply untruths. Some of her maternal instinct bleeds through her interactions with Toby, such as feeding her to aid in her recovery and saving Gillian's life with no price attached but as a kind action from aunt to niece.

Abilities and Limitations[]

The Luidaeg is the monster that fae parents influenced by Titania tell their children about to make them behave. She is bound to follow strict rules, though few know them:

  • She cannot lie to anyone except her descendants - the Roane and Selkies. Selkies are included because since they are wearing the skins of the Roane, they are technically her children.
  • She cannot refuse any request made of her, question or bargain, though she may demand any price. However, she can't take on a request that directly causes conflict with someone she already bargained with.
  • She cannot harm any of Titania's descendants or defend herself from them, although she can aid Maeve or Oberon's descendants against those of Titania's line as long as the former demands it.

As a Firstborn, she has immense powers. She can create skerries and co-create entire realms; she can mix potions and cast spells with minimal limits, especially when they fulfill a request; she can access the Old Roads and disguise herself so effectively that most fae do not recognize her power.

Family[]

She is mother to the Roane, with three children and a multitude of grandchildren.[4] She is also the creator of the Selkies. Her grief at the loss of the Roane makes her despise the Selkies, even as she enjoys hiding among them as Cousin Annie and feeling like a normal person. She attends all of their skin-changing ceremonies to keep track of who has her children's pelts.[1] Although the hatred of the Selkies is very present, the Luidaeg does care for them even if they aren't her children and had been willing to put off the Convocation of Consequences for as long as she could if it weren't for Titania cursing her, even bonding with the Selkie kin. She even despised goblin-fruit because it had wreaked havoc on the Selkie community.

Property[]

She currently lives in San Francisco, in what appears outwardly to be an apartment near the ocean. Although the neighborhood is in the "bad" part of town, her human neighbors experience remarkably low crime rates and relative safety from disasters; Toby theorizes that they are rewarded for acting as a buffer between the Luidaeg and the rest of the mortal world. Most of the time she deliberately glamours the apartment to look filthy and damp for visitors, but in truth it is decorated beautifully in nautical themes. It is set in a skerry that connects to to the Summerlands, though few know the way to her fae back door.

She lived for a time at the Mill Rose Inn, where she had a picturesque view of the seaside.[1]

Biography[]

Early Days of Faerie[]

The Luidaeg's birth name is Antigone and she grew up in Albany, now known as Scotland.[5] She is the First of the Firstborn, Oberon's eldest child and daughter of Maeve. She loved her parents deeply, though her father was often absent because he spent half the year with his second wife Titania. Oberon called her "his little princess of the sea."[citation needed] When she was young, she was closest to her sisters Black Annis and Gentle Annie; together they tended the younger children and went exploring through the lands, until men and fae set out to kill them all. Antigone, oldest and most powerful, is bitter to have been one of the survivors.[6]

Titania's children, too, set out to kill Maeve's Firstborn, and neither Oberon or Titania tried to stop them.[6] Titania's eldest, Eira, held a particular hatred for Antigone. Eira tricked merlins into attacking the Roane, killing a majority of them and stealing their skins in a desperate attempt to become like the Fae. The children of the merlins who killed the Roane, knowing how badly Antigone would exact their vengeance upon them and their descendants, turned on their parents and killed them, stealing the skins and returning them to Antigone, who used the children and the pelts to create the Selkies.[7] She both loved and hated them, and being their "Firstborn" she is able to lie to them.

Eira convinced Titania that Antigone would try to seek revenge, so Titania set the restrictions upon Antigone to "protect" Eira and Titania's other descendants. When Maeve learned of this, she exacted her own revenge on behalf of her daughter, though that has yet to be revealed.[3]

At some point, the Luidaeg created a skerry in the San Francisco area of the Summerlands, but Eira polluted it with her magic and claimed a piece of the land to become Goldengreen.[8]

In the Series[]

500s-600s: The Fixed Stars and Sun Sets Weeping[]

Now called Nimue, she took the side of the merlins during the war between changelings and Firstborn, turning traitor to her own family to ensure the merlins' victory; she had seen through prophecy the changeling genocide that would occur should they lose. She became known as Vivianne, the Lady of the Lake, and engineered the downfall of Camelot to protect Faerie.[9][10]

1500s[]

When Maeve was lost, Oberon was so grief-stricken that he sent Antigone to the ocean. She took up the title Luidaeg after Oberon, Maeve, and Titania disappeared, agreeing with her siblings to distance themselves from their descendants and stop interfering in Faerie. [citation needed]

1700s[]

The Luidaeg was one of the guests in Amandine and Simon's wedding in her Cousin Annie guise. She toasted their marriage, telling Simon to take care of Amandine and keep her head straight.[11][12]

1900s[]

After August's disappearance, Simon unwittingly broke this promise and left Amandine to go mad in an attempt to find August, and the Luidaeg never forgave him, calling him failure every time, despite being forced by August to trade her way home for a candle to locate Oberon.[11]

1950s: Never Shines the Sun[]

The Luidaeg made contact with October when she was seven years old and teetering on the edge of humanity due to Amandine's influence. Knowing that Toby would be in danger, the Luidaeg contacted Sylvester and encouraged him to make the Changeling's Choice for Toby before Amandine turned her completely human. Even though she was aware that Amandine was suffering from August's disappearance, this resulted in the Firstborn sisters being alienated from each other.[13] Around this time, Evening had also bound her in a geas that prevented her from saying her name or revealing what she was planning to anyone who asked.

Around the beginning of the decade, Devin managed to stop Luidaeg from getting burned at the stake. She has been in his debt ever since.[6]

1970s-1990s: In Sea-Salt Tears[]

As Annie, Luidaeg visits Roan Rathad to witness the passing of a Selkie skin. She strikes up a friendship with Elizabeth Ryan, which eventually turns into a love affair. The two move in together and live a quiet life together, until Elizabeth accepts a skin. Luidaeg breaks off their relationship and the two are never reconciled.[1]

2009: Rosemary and Rue[]

When Toby arrives at Home, gravely injured and suffering from iron poisoning, Devin called in a favor from Luidaeg. She heals Toby and fulfills an old debt to Devin.[14] Later, when Toby is suffering under Evening Winterrose's curse, Luna Torquill advises her to seek out Luidaeg for advice. Unfortunately, Luidaeg is unable to lift the binding since it was cemented when Toby rode Winter's blood.

Toby trades the Summer Roads Key for information: Toby may ask four questions, and in return Luidaeg gets one question and the key. She tells Toby what a Hope Chest is, why she healed Toby, and that Devin did not have her health in mind when he asked Luidaeg to heal her. Toby does not ask her fourth question, leaving the Luidaeg in her debt and unable to kill her.[6]

A Local Habitation[]

Toby calls her to inform her she's leaving town on a task for Sylvester Torquill.[15] She calls again several days later to ask the Luidaeg how to summon the night-haunts; answering Toby's question clears the debt between them. Toby offers herself willingly to the Luidaeg to kill her, but she chastises her and requests she spend time with her.

An Artificial Night[]

Toby asks the Luidaeg for passage to Blind Michael's Realm. The Luidaeg uses Toby's blood to create a Babylon candle and regresses Toby's age so she can take the Children's Road. Quentin visits next, and the Luidaeg sends him after Toby with the price that he can only return with Toby.

After Toby rescues the children from Blind Michael, she sends them to the Luidaeg through a portal. The Luidaeg meets May and is furious to learn that Toby went on her quest with knowledge of her imminent death. Later, when Toby needs to reclaim Karen and Katie from Blind Michael, the Luidaeg sets her on the Rose Road and and sends Tybalt to help. Toby bargains herself into Blind Michael's keeping, but the Luidaeg leads her rescue by gathering Toby's friends and invoking the Ballad of Tam Lin. She wards all the rescued children from sight until their parents can glamour them and take them home, and though she grumbles, she helps more than is strictly required.

Katie and Karen are still held captive, so the Luidaeg advises Toby to kill Blind Michael and sets her on the Blood Road. Afterward, the Luidaeg confirms that iron and silver together are the only way to kill a Firstborn.

Late Eclipses[]

The Luidaeg wants to help Toby, but she is tied by geasa that prevent her from revealing certain information. Only once Toby discovers her family history for herself can the Luidaeg explain that she is Toby's aunt. She remarks ruefully in a misguided way, Amandine tried to protect Toby from Faerie by shifting her to human, but she never revealed she was the one who warned Sylvester.

One Salt Sea[]

The Luidaeg calls in Toby’s debts and orders Toby to prevent a war between Saltmist and the Kingdom of the Mists. The Duchess’s sons have been kidnapped and the Luidaeg wants Toby to find them. She advises and aids Toby throughout the quest, giving her charms to visit Saltmist and search for Gillian. When they follow the trail to Muir Woods, the Luidaeg convinces the ancient knowe to open by telling it that Arden lives. She cannot participate in the showdown between Toby and Rayseline, however, because of the binding that prevents her from harming the children of Titania. The Luidaeg looks after Gillian during the rescue and erases all memories of Faerie.

Afterward, she takes Toby to the Selkie community and gives Elizabeth Ryan to pass on Connor's and Margie's pelts to the next generation. She gives Liz a one-year deadline until she will call in the Selkies' debts. Both she and Toby grieve for their losses.

Ashes of Honor[]

The Luidaeg provides Toby with a charm that will allow her to track Chelsea Ames's magic, then lends Toby and Quentin her car. She is traumatised when it is revealed that Chelsea is a Tuatha changeling powerful enough to rip holes through Faerie same as the one whom August stole from Blind Michael, remarking that Amandine had been one of the Fae who helped seal those rips through reality.

She is furious when she discovers Toby lost the tracking charm in Annwn.

Chimes at Midnight[]

When Toby comes to her looking for ways to overthrow the Queen in the Mists, the Luidaeg cannot give her direct advice but advises her to look into King Gilad's history. The Luidaeg curses the Queen's guards who are watching her home, though they likely did not know they were spying on the sea witch, just one of Toby's allies. When Toby becomes addicted to goblin fruit, the Luidaeg uses her own blood--and the accompanying memories--to give Toby some relief while she looks for Amandine.

The Winter Long[]

Once again, the Luidaeg is limited in the help she can give Toby by the geasa upon her. Toby discovers that the bindings were placed by Eira, who kills the Luidaeg for accidentally revealing information. Toby brings the Luidaeg back to life and stashes her in the Court of Cats to recover. Now that Toby knows about Eira, the Luidaeg can give her a bit more information but is still somewhat limited. She joins Toby in the confrontation against Eira, who had worked around Titania's binding by having her assist a child of Oberon, then dragged her sister onto the Thorn Roads. Although able to fight back for a moment, she is weakened, but because Eira cannot harm a child of Oberon, Toby uses this to hit her with an elf-shot-tainted knife, and they both leave her there.

A Red-Rose Chain[]

While the Luidaeg doesn't appear physically, she does provide assistance to Toby, encouraging her to bring Walther due to his ties to the Yates royal family, and confirming that Evening did create elf-shot, and made it unneccessarily fatal to changelings.

Once Broken Faith[]

When the High King and Queen summon a conclave of fae nobles to determine the fate of the elf-shot cure, the Luidaeg attends to represent the interests of the Firstborn. She brings along Karen Brown, who has been compelled by Eira to speak on her behalf, and is gentle toward the terrified girl. The Luidaeg backs Toby's statements about the events in Silences. When Toby, and later Tybalt, are injured, she helps heal them for a price.

Dreams and Slumbers[]

Arden bargains with the Luidaeg - in exchange for a potion that would wake Nolan up from the potion concealed in his elf-shot, Arden would stay Queen of the Mists and physically unable to abdicate until either the Luidaeg says so or when she has an heir ready to take the throne.

The Brightest Fell[]

The Luidaeg is revealed to have been integral to August Torquill's disappearance: August came to her seeking a Babylon candle, and the price was to lose her way home until she found Oberon. The Luidaeg passively blocks Toby's progress on her quest, only giving information for questions directly and correctly asked of her, likely due to the geasa upon her. She is relatively cruel when exacting prices to help Simon, compared to the prices she has asked of Toby in the past.

Toby leaves both Poppy and Officer Thornton in the Luidaeg's safekeeping. The Luidaeg grumbles but allows it. She is surprised that Toby and Quentin finds August, and regrets not warning Toby that August had trained Amandine to use her magic offensively. While she warns Toby that she won't trade her way home for a "spoilt brat", she is forced to instill August's debts onto Simon when he requests it, feeling devastated that she was forced to do it. She then berates August for forcing her to grant her a favour.

Night and Silence[]

Toby brings Janet to the Luidaeg for safekeeping, and though the Luidaeg is loathe to let in the woman who destroyed the balance of Faerie when she interrupted Maeve's Last Ride, but she does so for Toby's sake. She cannot help Toby search for Gillian because Toby is already too deep into her debt; the magic will not allow the Luidaeg to let Toby dig herself deeper until she pays some of it off. When Gillian is rescued, Toby has Tybalt deliver her to the Luidaeg, who gives Firtha's Selkie pelt to Gillian to save her life; for this, she does not charge any debt, and she comforts her niece, reminding her of the debt with the Selkies. She also explains that she couldn't be the one to cure elf-shot because Titania's binding ensured that she couldn't undermine Eira's work.

Suffer a Sea-Change[]

The Luidaeg helps Gillian adjust to being a Selkie by taking her to the Ryan clan. She allows Janet, as Gillian's mother, to come along under a geas of secrecy. There, the Luidaeg gives Liz Ryan the eighteen Lost Pelts in exchange for the Ryan clan teaching Gillian how to be a Selkie.

The Unkindest Tide[]

The Luidaeg tells Toby and her allies about the destruction of the Roane tells them to prepare for the upcoming Convocation of Selkies where she will use Toby's Dochas Sidhe bloodworking abilities to bring back the Roane, calling upon a majority of the debts Toby owes. She ensures that Dianda and Arden will be informed as well.

On Beltane, the first of May, the Luidaeg and her chosen allies sail to the Duchy of Ships; the Luidaeg grows grumpier by the moment. Upon arriving, the Luidaeg announces herself as Firstborn rather than Cousin Annie, shocking the gathered Selkies, and feels remorse for lying to Diva, aware that despite the stormy history between her and her mother, she genuinely loved Diva. She embraces Captain Pete, her sister and Firstborn of the Merrow, who will allow the convocation to take place if the Luidaeg provides fae ointment and a promise of safety to those gathered.

The Luidaeg declares the Convocation open and, when some Selkies argue that she showed favoritism by giving the Ryan clan the Lost Pelts, bitterly declares stealing of Selkie skins permissible for the duration of the Convocation, until it is time to bind them to their owners as Roane. Afterward, she tries to spends some time alone but Toby asks for help visiting Saltmist to rescue Peter Lorden. The Luidaeg demands in exchange a day's worth of Toby's blood and the return of Simon Torquill. She also agrees, reluctantly, to sail after Pete to ask her to intercede on the arrested Dianda's behalf. When they all reconvene, Pete and the Luidaeg together realize that their sister Eira is likely influencing the Saltmist insurrection. Pete exiles the Luidaeg from the Duchy of Ships, effective upon the end of the convocation, as lip-service punishment for causing trouble in her territory.

The time comes to bind the Selkie skins to the Roane. Toby and her allies plead with the Luidaeg to reconsider, but the Luidaeg cannot break a promise and she said she would see the return of the Roane. Toby realizes a loophole, and suggests that they divide up the Selkie skins in a way that creates new Roane without utterly ending the Selkies. The Luidaeg agrees, and they are able to multiply the number of skins. Toby uses the Luidaeg's and Gillian's power to seal the majority of Selkie skins to their owners, making them Roane; the remaining Selkies have seven years before the same will be done to them.

A Killing Frost[]

The Luidaeg summons Toby to her home by calling in a debt from Arden Windermere. Although Toby understands why she didn't go to her directly, she berates her for not having faith in her, and even warns her that Karen's oneiromancy isn't accurate when Toby sidelined Tybalt. The Luidaeg strategizes with Toby on how to retrieve Simon, then provides a shortcut through the Summerlands via her personal skerry to send Toby to Goldengreen. With Toby's permission, the Luidaeg turns her into a sea otter to access the knowe, and changes herself into an Octopus a la Ursula. When they find that Simon has transformed Goldengreen's residents into trees, the Luidaeg sets about turning them back.

Later, after Toby has retrieved Simon, she persuades the Luidaeg to transfer Simon's debt, and lost way home, over to her, angrily lashing out at Simon when he protests. The Luidaeg unhappily complies, remarking how the curse had affected August, Simon and Toby each. As they all deal with the fallout of Toby forgetting herself, Officer Thornton joins them and reveals himself to be Oberon. He and the Luidaeg remain at her home to catch up in a tearful reunion, providing Walther with her blood to aid in treating May from the specialised elf-shot Simon used and requesting she be left alone with Oberon for the timebeing.

Later, the Luidaeg attends the divorce proceedings of Amandine and Simon, knocking down Amandine's protests, then proceeds to berate her when Amandine snaps, taking satisfaction that Amandine is finally paying for the consequences of her actions. She then presides over the marriage between the newly single Simon, Patrick, and Dianda, referring to Simon as 'beloved failure' and granting him the rest he deserved.

When Sorrows Come[]

It is revealed that the Luidaeg denied the first request to awaken Rayseline.

The Luidaeg attends Toby's wedding alongside her father Oberon, also being the officiator of it. She helps Nessa, a Gwragedd Anwwn in service to High King Aethlin restore her cosmetic illusions to dull down her fatal beauty. When anyone realises who Oberon is, the Luidaeg erases their memories.

Be the Serpent[]

The Luidaeg attends Raysel's trial and allowed her to be awoken. Dean, Gillian and Toby agree that she would be willing to flood Arden's knowe if Luna dared confront her, an observation she finds amusing. She was unaware that Raysel had requested that Toby claim offense against her, nor that she, Tybalt and Dianda had a backup plan if Luna tried to protest.

When Cassandra and Karen experience visions involving their family, she is quick to provide Toby aid. When Toby is hit with an infectious form of a Llangefni screen, she breaks the enchantment set upon her. Upon Toby's revelations of Jessica's blood memory of her killer before her death, she implores to Oberon that she reveals the truth to her - that Stacy was a geased form of Titania.

The Luidaeg had been unaware that Cassandra and Karen were Titania's descendants, and remarked that had she known, she wouldn't have offered to protect or train them. As both Mitch, Nolan, Walther and Jin are hit with a Llangefni screen upon Stacy's revelation as Titania and her subsequent murder attempt of her family, she aids Jin in her molting process, then bargains with Mitch, Nolan and Walther (Mitch for the custody of his children, Nolan to deny the crown upon abdication two times, and Walther to not knowingly unmake any of the Luidaeg's works) in exchange to remove the Llangefni screens.

She offers assistance to Toby against Titania's crusade, as limited as it is, and witnesses Toby unbind Titania, killing Stacy's consciousness in the process. She unfortunately has to force Oberon to help his granddaughter in rebinding Titania when he attempts to back out of his promise, and visually confirms that Toby can break the binding Titania placed on her. Although she's aware of a way out, she refuses as she believes that her services as the sea witch are still required. She then departs with Oberon, promising to remind him of his screw ups.

Sleep No More/The Innocent Sleep[]

Titania transforms the Luidaeg into a tree and traps her on the Thorn Road to keep her out of the way. Ginevra and Tybalt located the Summer Roads Key to find her, and Ginevra takes a bespelled October onto the Thorn Road in search of the Luidaeg. They locate her, October frees her, and the Luidaeg takes them to confront "Blind Michael" and Acacia. Then they go to Home, remove the spell on "Devin," and rest until it is time to break Titania's Ride.

They are intercepted by the False Queen's soldiers and imprisoned in the dungeons, where they are reunited with the also-detained Tybalt, Simon, and August. The Luidaeg, knowing she will not die from only iron, picks the locks to the cell so they can all escape.

They locate the gathering Ride, where Quentin and Simon have both been tapped as sacrifices. The Luidaeg takes charge of the incantations and declares herself Quentin's "mentor and friend" when it comes time to rescue him.

Relationships[]

October Daye[]

The Luidaeg knows about Toby's existence from her birth, and agrees for Amandine's sake to stay away from her niece. She breaks that promise when Toby is seven years old, greeting her on the playground, and is shocked to realize that Amandine has been shifting Toby's blood toward human. The Luidaeg long knew that she needed a Dochas Sidhe to help her restore the Roane, and she knew that what Amandine was doing would make one of the last few nieces she genuinely cherishes more vulnerable to Faerie, so she gets Sylvester to intercede and give Toby the Changeling's Choice, likely knowing that Toby would choose Faerie. Amandine is furious.[13]

As Toby develops into a hero, the two frequently trade debts back and forth, though Toby almost perpetually owes the Luidaeg for complex favors. They have saved each other from dying multiple times. The Luidaeg frequently threatens to kill Toby, and she cannot lie, but the threats have less urgency as time goes on (although Toby having literally come back from the dead might be a loophole she can work around). The Luidaeg is genuinely fond of Toby as her niece, and counts saving Gillian a matter of family rather than of debt. Toby is one of the very few people who knows the Luidaeg's true name and phone number, and can call her via magic used on her cell phone.

Quentin Sollys[]

Quentin first bargains with the Luidaeg to rescue Toby from Blind Michael's lands, but afterward they become friends and he frequently hangs out at her house. The Luidaeg is uncharacteristically fond of him, ruffling his hair and choosing to sit next to him on car rides.[7] Toby theorizes that the Luidaeg is so fond of him because, growing up in Toronto, he didn't develop the same innate fear of the Luidaeg that most West Coast fae do. As such, even though he knows that she has done terrible things, he can enjoy her company with a pure appreciation similar to the Selkie's relationship to "Cousin Annie."

Elizabeth Ryan[]

Liz first knew the Luidaeg as "Cousin Annie," a distantly related member of the Selkie clans. They fell in love and Liz moved in with "Annie" for some time. Their relationship was destroyed when Liz inherited a Selkie pelt; the Luidaeg begged her not to accept the pelt but did not explain why, and when Liz became a Selkie she finally learned the full history of the Selkies and the Roane. The Luidaeg could not bear to be with someone who wore the pelt of one of her murdered children, and disappeared from Liz's life completely. Then Liz became the leader of the Ryan Clan and met the Luidaeg in her true persona. Since then, the two have had a complicated and bitter relationship. Liz needed an heir, so she had a child with a Roane man as penance to the Luidaeg, that her child might be born with Roane magic. Diva is in part Liz's apology towards the Luidaeg, and it is shown that the Luidaeg does care for Diva despite her issues with Liz. The Luidaeg regularly visits the clan in her Cousin Annie guise and Liz does not reveal her identity to the clan, but is bitter whenever they have to talk one-on-one.[1] Liz agrees to train Gillian in the ways of the Selkies in exchange for the Lost Pelts, but also presumably as part of her apology to the Luidaeg.[16] When the Selkie convocation occurs, other clans accuse the Luidaeg of showing favoritism to the Ryan clan due to her relationship with Liz.[4]

Eira Rosynhwyr[]

Both Eira and the Luidaeg despise one another. Eira hates the Luidaeg and uses manipulation to make the Luidaeg miserable. Eira convinced a group of merlins to commit genocide against the Roane, forcing the Luidaeg to create the Selkies or lose her children and grandchildren forever. Then Eira asked Titania for protection from retaliation, so Titania put the geases on the Luidaeg that include not being able to harm any of Titania's descendants, which in turn forced Maeve to retaliate against Eira and Titania somehow.

In the modern day, the Luidaeg knows that Evening is not truly dead and must word her conversations with Toby carefully. When Toby finds a loophole in the geas, Eira kills her but Toby immediately resurrects her. Once Toby figures it out, she helps Toby when Eira, as Evening, tries to take over Shadowed Hills. The Luidaeg pulls Eira on the Thorn Road to fight, and ensures Toby can follow them. The resulting battle ends with Eira elf-shot and abandoned on the Road.[3] The Luidaeg notes that her own death would've been worth if it she killed Eira.

The Luidaeg ruefully remarked that she hoped to have been friends with Eira had she not been Titania's daughter.

Amphitrite[]

Amphitritie, also called Pete, is the Luidaeg's half-sister and the only daughter of Titania that the Luidaeg is fond of, mostly because Amphitrite rejects Titania's warlike ideals and was discriminated against by her other siblings descended from Titania. She and Maeve's other Firstborn essentially took the nautical Amphitrite in as one of their own before they realised she was Titania's daughter. The Luidaeg chooses the Duchy of Ships, her sister's domain, for the Selkie convocation because she knows it will be safe. Amphitrite is genuinely disappointed when she must banish the Luidaeg for breaking peace in the Duchy.[4]

Simon Torquill[]

The Luidaeg holds contempt for Simon after he had abandoned Amandine when August had disappeared, frequently calling him failure. By the time August is retrieved, she is remorseful for having to take his way home in exchange for August's, and even made bringing him back a debt for Toby to pay for. After Oberon returns, the Luidaeg's relationship with Simon had improved as she leaps in Simon's defence when Amandine tries to force the marriage to keep going, even affectionately calling him beloved failure when she married him to Patrick and Dianda.

Amandine[]

The Luidaeg's relationship with her youngest sister is strained. Although it was loving at one point to where she even made a toast at Amandine and Simon's wedding, she understood that Amandine wasn't stable and was spoiled amongst the Firstborn, where she had enabled her for almost her entire life. Their relationship suffered when the Luidaeg encouraged Sylvester to initiate the Choice for Toby before Amandine could shift her fully human, and was further strained when she helped Arden with Simon and Amandine's divorce ceremony.

Gillian Marks[]

The Luidaeg is technically Gillian's Firstborn by proxy. Gillian, unlike Toby, never had much exposure to Faerie and referred to the Luidaeg by her given name, something even Toby is afraid of doing. Because the Luidaeg cares deeply for her niece, she was willing to drape Gillian in her youngest daughter's skin to save her and strike a bargain with Liz in order to help Gillian adjust to being a Selkie before the Convocation of Consequences. Tybalt notes that Gillian would've been the only Selkie at the time that the Luidaeg would've loved genuinely.

The Luidaeg cares for Toby enough that she warns Gillian not to do anything that could make her look like an easy target for Toby.

Diva Ryan[]

Despite her issues with Liz, the Luidaeg cares deeply for her daughter Diva, whom Liz conceived with a surviving son of Aulay's line as an apology to her for choosing a Selkie skin over her. Nevertheless, she threatened to harm Diva as a warning to the Selkies who didn't comply.

Devin[]

Devin believes the Luidaeg to be in his debt because he saved her from burning at the stake some years ago.[17] Later, the Luidaeg reveals that she was never in mortal danger, remarking that growing back skin that had been burnt off would've been a pain, and only let Devin believe it so that he would be careful about asking boons of her and accidentally squaring up their accounts.[18]

Arden Windermere[]

Through unclear events (presumably the Luidaeg waking Nolan[19], possibly other favors as well), Arden became sufficiently indebted to the Luidaeg that the sea witch can call upon her to portal guests around.[18] The Luidaeg also told Arden that she cannot step aside from the throne until the Luidaeg tells her so, although she will not try to influence how Arden rules as long as the country has a stable ruler ship.[19] The Luidaeg did allow Arden to cede the throne prematurely when she has an heir old enough to take the crown.

Oberon[]

As the First of the Firstborn, the Luidaeg is Oberon's eldest child. She has a close bond with her father and despite being forced to strike a deal, was willing to curse first August Torquill, then Simon Torquill, then October Daye to find him and bring him home. When Toby brings Oberon back home, he and the Luidaeg have a tearful reunion.

She is aware of Oberon's negligence and has to explain to him what he did wrong after Titania's crusade in Muir Woods.

Trivia[]

Word of God[]

  • The Luidaeg is the most challenging character for McGuire to write because she can't lie. She can state things that later prove untrue, but she cannot say something while knowing it is untrue, including statements about the future, e.g. she can’t say “this mug will be broken” unless she’s intending to immediately break it. "And that means that her dialogue has to be navigated very, very carefully at all times."[20]
    • She may be able to speak untruths facetiously, when not directly answering a question, but it's not an exact science.[21]
    • When singing, the geas still applies: "If she were in a musical, her song would be completely honest.  But at karaoke, where the lyrics are on the screen, she just can’t sing something other than what’s written there."[22]
    • She cannot even lie to herself.[23]
  • The Luidaeg's longevity means she views time differently than we do. A ten year span is inconsequential. She has trouble feeling urgency for anything shorter than five or six years. This makes it hard to inject urgency into her character actions.[20]
  • "We’re not going to see the Luidaeg interacting with the Roane unless Toby is there, which innately changes that interaction [...] but it is happening, and it will probably get documented in one of the short stories."[20]
  • McGuire originally didn't expect the Luidaeg to be such an important character.[20]
  • The Luidaeg's favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors include Phish Food, Festivus, Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz, Cherry Garcia, Honey I’m Home, and Bourbon Brown Butter.[24][25]
  • The Luidaeg has seen The Labyrinth. "She liked Jareth’s pants very much, and does not appreciate Sarah’s approach to contracts."[26]
  • The Luidaeg learned needlework in the olden days, and she still enjoys doing delicate embroidery of absolutely filthy swear words.[27]
  • The Luidaeg likes that her electrical tape hair ties make people wince. Seanan McGuire stated that if electrical tape is used the right way, then it won't stick to people's hair.[28]

Quotes[]

  • “Good. Be careful out there. Don’t go into the dark alone; don’t let their eyes fool you. Remember what you’re looking for. Don’t trust what the blood tells you. Always look back.”[15]
  • “Oh—Toby?” Her tone was almost hesitant. That was a first. “Yeah.” “I owe you an answer. Come back alive.” “I will, don’t worry.” “I get to be the one that kills you.” The connection cut off with a snap. I grinned, replacing the receiver in its cradle.[15]
  • “You were that stupid by yourself? Wonderful. Amandine’s line is going to die out all on its own. I won’t have to lift a finger.”
  • "I wish I could sit here and argue about your deluded ideals of friendship, but I can't. The hour is far too late."[7]
  • “The Luidaeg is the daughter of Oberon and Maeve, which technically makes her my aunt. Maybe that's why she hasn't killed me yet, although it's just as likely to be the fact that I amuse her. May says we're reenacting the Princess Bride, one "I'll most likely kill you in the morning" at a time.” - Toby[29]
  • “I am the sea witch. I am the tide you fear and the turning you can't deny. I am the sound of the waves running over your bones on the beach, little man, and I am not amused at finding you on my doorstep.”[5]
  • “I wouldn’t,” said the Luidaeg. “Love is love. It’s rarer in Faerie than it used to be—rarer than it should be, if you ask me. If you can find it, you should cling to it, and never let anything interfere. Besides, he has a nice ass.” Her lips quirked in a weirdly mischievous smile.[3]
  • “This is my fault. I know it's my fault. I should never have let you get so comfortable. You started thinking of me as harmless. I'm safe. I'm the monster at the end of the book, the one that you run to when the bigger monsters start threatening to eat you, but that's not right, Toby, that's not right, you forget yourself. You forget me. I am the scariest thing that has ever gone bump in the night. I am what you knew, at the bottom of your unformed child's heart, was lurking in the back of your closet. And what I'm telling you, right here and right now, is that you need to leave, because I'm afraid of what will happen if you don't."[3]
  • "You're the hero of the realm here, Toby. I'm just the sea witch. You're supposed to leave me slumbering in my watery cavern until you need a handy deus ex machina."[30]
  • "You seem to have forgotten the essential fact that I. Will. Fuck. You. Up."[30]
  • “They asked and she said ‘yes.’ She has to say ‘yes.’ That’s why she hates us for asking. She gives and she gives and she gives, and we built a world on the idea that thanking her for what she’s already given is against the rules. We built a world on never being grateful, because we were entitled to everything we got. She’s the one who bottled the moon. She’s the one who refined the stars. She’s the one we have to talk to. But there will be costs. There are always costs. There have to be. It’s the only way we ever thank her. With our tears.” - Cassandra[19]

External References[]

References[]

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