The Wicked Library · 9th Story Studios LLC

TWL 1302: “How Will You Woo Her?” by Sabella Dziabczenko

April 1, 2025·31 min·2 clips

Grandmother Hydra defines a human soul to her sea-creature children as 'a horrible thing that gives them a great and grasping hunger that will not let them be once it has been stirred.'

The episode opens with a warning and a promise: this is a horror story made for a mature audience. It also reminds listeners that the darkness is theirs to leave when they want, even if the tale keeps going. The story then sinks toward the sea. A king is haunted by little sister’s song, and that obsession becomes a demand the sea witch can hear. He brings slaves to the shore, and their deaths turn the water scarlet. The sea witch notices, but she does not give him what he wants. Instead, she comes to him in dreams. In those visions, little sister appears with the pearl of her tail and kelp in her hair, already marked by doom. The king grows more frantic. He raves on the shore, tearing at his black hair while the witch keeps her distance. Then he sends for the loveliest mates in his realm. Boats go out under torchlight, and those who resist are cut down. The blood spreads so far that the land seems stained. Brothers, fathers, mothers, and children all carry the cost. Villages burn. The kingdom becomes a field of grief and hunger. At last the final ships are set aflame, and the sound of the dying reaches the sea witch’s deep halls. Only then does she smile and reach out for little sister. Under the water, the fish and crawling things glow a terrible green, and the cold settles in around her. The closing refrain circles back through the ruins. The little maids sleep, the moon shines on the foam, and a silent ruined kingdom lies beneath the waves.

As heard by us

A sea-dark fairy tale where desire pulls a kingdom into ruin.

Sabella Shevchenko's tale turns desire into ruin: a king cannot let go of the woman he wants, and each bargain with the deep only spreads the damage further around him.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a sea-dark fairy tale where longing curdles into doom.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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