Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, 2025
In a post-apocalyptic future where rising seas have forced humanity into underwater cities called SeaCities, Oriana—a twenty-three-year-old settlement woman—travels to SeaCity Oranto to marry Lightkeeper Benton Sully III. She’s one of nine brides chosen for three elite Lightkeepers, though she’s older and less refined than expected for such an honor. Oriana harbors a dangerous secret: a cesarean scar from the son she bore at fifteen, hidden away by her Witchfinder father.
The SeaCities are protected from demonic “Fleshed” creatures by giant Mothers—transformed virgin women tethered underwater who emit a protective holy glow. The First Mother, a 150-foot-tall miracle, has been alive for a century. But Oriana soon learns the truth: the First Mother has been killed by a rocket and is slowly dying. The Lightkeepers plan to transform one of the nine brides into her replacement through brutal experiments.
Oriana reconnects with Natalia, a witch who once saved her life and delivered her baby eight years ago. Natalia reveals she’s been hired by rival SeaCity Floodwatch to ensure the replacement process succeeds—otherwise, the Fleshed demons will rise and devastate the coast. She shows Oriana her son, Verlun, who lives as a “Child of Charity” in SeaCity Oranto, subjected to experiments that connect him to Mami Wata, the water deity the SeaCities call a demon.
Desperate to avoid becoming the next Mother, Oriana asks Verlun to communicate with Mami Wata about alternatives. He reports that the entity wants “hostages or husbands” instead of more enslaved Mothers. Oriana devises a plan: she, along with her fellow brides Betsy and Geraldine, will marry Benton in a ceremony on the First Mother’s forehead, then offer him to Mami Wata.
During the wedding aboard a submarine, as Fleshed creatures attack the vessel, Oriana and the other brides restrain Benton. With Natalia’s help and the protection of a Lightkeeper from Floodwatch, they drug him and eject him into the water. The Fleshed take Benton gently, keeping him alive in the depths as their hostage.
The story ends with Oriana, Betsy, and Geraldine wielding unexpected power as Benton’s wives. They remain in SeaCity Oranto with Verlun and the other exploited children, positioned to challenge the patriarchal system that enslaves women as giant protectors. Oriana rejects her father and embraces her identity as something between the world of Oranto’s religious zealotry and the witchcraft it condemns.
The narrative explores themes of bodily autonomy, religious oppression, and female solidarity in the face of systems that commodify women’s bodies. Through Oriana’s transformation from obedient daughter to rebellious wife, Johnson crafts a dark feminist tale about reclaiming power and forging alliances with the forces patriarchy labels monstrous.
Alaya Dawn Johnson is an award-winning author of speculative fiction for adults and young adults. Her most recent adult novel, Trouble the Saints, was the recipient of the World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her short story collection, Reconstruction, was published by Small Beer Press in January 2021. Her latest YA novel, The Library of Broken Worlds, is a finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin award.