53 pages • 1-hour read
In the Veins of the Drowning
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Themes
Choosing Between Self and Duty
Imogen and Theo have conflicting values at the start of the story. Imogen, who has never had autonomy, yearns to choose a life for herself and satisfy her every desire. Meanwhile, Theo has learned the catastrophic consequences of a king who indulges himself (via his father) and has dedicated himself to a life purely rooted in his duty to his kingdom. This discrepancy in values places their characters at odds for a majority of the story.
Theo’s duty prevents him from agreeing to Imogen’s speedy escape from Seraf. He prioritizes the safety of his kingdom and decides to work discreetly over a span of months to plan Imogen’s rescue to avoid starting a war. However, this decision subjects Imogen to more suffering, which she refuses to do. She goes so far as to attempt a blood bond with Theo while he’s unconscious despite it being “wrong […] treacherous and cruel” (70). Her desire to live, and thus her decision to prioritize herself, is her primary motivator in this moment.
As Theo and Imogen become more acquainted, the line between self and duty becomes more blurred. Theo is “forced […] to make impossible decisions, to do things [he] never thought [he] would” (103). Meanwhile, as Imogen learns more about her ancestry and her connection to Eusia and the nekgya, she is forced to confront her role in the current state of their world and the influence she can have over its future. Rather than remain in blissful ignorance and pursue her own desires, Imogen takes responsibility and becomes an active player rather than a passive participant.
Additionally, Agatha and Lachlan’s relationship is a cautionary tale of what happens when people place duty over all else, especially love. Their relationship has been fractured for over a decade since bowing to the demands of their former king, who forced them to sever their blood bond. Agatha has further sacrificed her sense of self to care for Imogen since coming to Seraf. She intends to accompany Imogen on her search for Eusia when the time comes despite the danger it poses to them both, to which Imogen protests, “You’ve looked after me for so long. You’ve given up so much for me. You should make up for it now” (132). By the end of the novel, Agatha is taken as a sacrifice for Eusia. Though her fate is unknown, there is a possibility that her relationship with Lachlan may never have the chance to be rekindled, further highlighting the importance of balancing desire and duty.
Finding Belonging
Everything about Imogen’s character and her life suggests she is an unmoored character with no real home, and it is this desire for belonging that shapes her motivations throughout the novel. Witnessing Theo and Halla prepare for marriage and children, to deliver on their duty to their kingdoms they call home, is devastating to Imogen and prompts an internal crisis. She knows she should aspire to do the same with someone someday but “could not fathom such a thing in a world where I had no safety, no home. I could not fathom carrying on Nemea’s line” (282). The prospect brings her no sense of purpose, fulfillment, or joy.
In the very first chapter, King Nemea tells Imogen: “Don’t linger in the dark” (13). Though his intention is for her to publicly act on his demands, this subtly introduces Imogen’s internal conflict. She has spent her life hiding in the dark but yearns to find actual belonging somewhere she can be fully herself. This is reaffirmed a few chapters later when Agatha promises Imogen, “Someday […] you will have a full life. A home, if you want one. And you’ll see more than these stones and mountains and sky” (60). Her circumstance echoes classic fables involving a princess locked in a tower, away from the real world, just as she is kept atop a high kingdom away from the sea or any community with which she identifies.
Throughout the novel, anytime a nekgya appears, they chant to her, “Home. Home. Home.” When Imogen visits the Mage Seer Rohana to retrieve the severance draught, Rohana tells her to “return home.” Everything is directing Imogen to a home she’s never known. While she initially thinks of Seraf, she knows the isle has never been home, because “home is where you’re safe […] it’s also a place where you’re wanted” (138). When she learns of her connection to Eusia and the nekgya by extension, Imogen worries that the “home” they speak of is in the sea amongst them. This terrifies Imogen, who has always worried she’s a monster. If home is with the nekgya, it affirms all her greatest fears about herself.
Imogen’s sense of belonging has always been tied heavily to her identity. As she will later say when Theo asks her what her greatest desire is: “I want a home, where it’s quiet and lovely […] Where I’m safe. I want to know others like me, so I feel less alone” (229). Therefore, Imogen wants a home where there are Sirens like her—where she will never feel alone again. By the end of the novel, Imogen will discover that the “home” the nekgya and Rohana have been referring to all along is Anthemoessa, the island where Sirens originate from—the island formerly ruled over by Queen Ligea. With the cliffhanger implying that Imogen will travel to Anthemoessa in the sequel, her search for belonging is coming to fruition.
The Corrupting Pursuit of Power
The corrupting pursuit of power is a more subtle theme that takes shape over the course of the novel and develops prominence toward the end and leading into the sequel. Early in the novel, Imogen is established as starving. She is desperate for belonging and autonomy. The first time she’s put in a position to take it, during her sexual intimacy with Evander, she does. Imogen transforms into a Siren and nearly kills Evander; the second time, she succeeds. These early transformations are not empowering but rather terrifyingly sinister for Imogen. She experiences an uncontrollable loss of self that she doesn’t yet realize is due to the blood bond she shares with Eusia, which has given the water deity control over a portion of her power. These early moments of borderline-evil acts that don’t match Imogen’s intentions hint at the slippery slope that defines the corrupting pursuit of power.
This theme then shifts focus to Evander, who, after learning of Imogen’s identity, plans to use her Siren bond as a route to more power for himself. What initially began as part-influence seeking and part-genuine affection transforms into a lust for power. When Evander looks at Imogen after, it was “so close to the way he had last night […] heated, but a shadow swam through it now. He’d seen the dark thing within [her], and it had changed him. Changed [them]” (34). Evander’s pursuit of power has altered their relationship and eventually leads to Imogen’s killing him in desperate self-defense when he attempts to force a blood bond.
There are several other characters who are corrupted by their pursuit of power: Eusia, King Nemea, the Mage Seer, and Empress Nivala. Rather than stay to attend Halla’s impending wedding to Theo, Empress Nivala sails away with a captive Agatha on board, prioritizing her sacrifice to Eusia in exchange for more power over an important milestone for her own daughter. King Nemea’s pursuit of power caused him to fall in love with Ligea then lose her, suffer the separation of a blood bond for over 20 years, and devote his life to protecting Imogen from the same fate as Ligea. Eusia created the Mage Seers, and eventually the nekgya, because of her ravenous cravings for power, “for recognition in the shadow of her sister” (318). Though the magic ate away at her body, she’s managed to sustain herself at the cost of thousands of mortals and Sirens.
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