Beneath Ceaseless Skies #382, May 18, 2023

“The Whisper of That Blood” by Maria Haskins

“Only Kings and Doves” by M.S. Dean

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two stories narrated by the daughters of mothers taken away by oppressive authorities appear in this issue.

In “The Whisper of That Blood” by Maria Haskins, the narrator and her mother run away from witch hunters. The mother’s infant son threatens to give away their hiding place, so she abandons him. The hunters catch them anyway. The mother tells her daughter to cooperate with the authorities, so the narrator is allowed to live when her mother is burned. Years later, the narrator returns to the place where they left her brother, with plans in mind.

The story ends at this point, so the ensuing climax is left to the reader’s imagination. The work is more likely to be appreciated for its somber mood and evocative setting than its plot.

In “Only Kings and Doves” by M.S. Dean, the narrator’s leg is badly bitten by a wild dog, but her mother saves her life and limb by using the medical skills she learned before she became a refugee from a conquered land. Openly critical of the tyrannical ruler who overran her native land, she is captured and taken prisoner in the immense tower of the monarch. The narrator, undergoing a strange transformation, follows a series of complex instructions to find her mother and exact revenge.

The most interesting aspect of this story is the gigantic, labyrinthine stronghold of the tyrant. This makes the narrator’s ascent of it a remarkable odyssey. The transformation is predictable from the start of the narrative, although the way it plays out at the end is more original.

Victoria Silverwolf thinks the title of the first story would fit the second story well.