Serpent & Dove

“Porcelain skin sagged once more, and raven hair withered back to thin wisps of silver. No longer the beautiful pregnant woman. Again the hag. She winked at me. The gesture was chilling on her haggard face. ‘We must do this again soon, handsome.’

I couldn’t speak. Never before had I seen such black magic—such desecration of the human body. But witches weren’t human. They were vipers. Demons incarnate. And I had almost—”

This is the first time Morgane le Blanc appears in her shapeshifting forms of maiden, mother, and crone. Reid is horrified by her magic, and particularly by his attraction to her maiden form. Morgane’s power, magical abilities, and ruthlessness as the leader of the Dames Blanches are hinted at here. Reid’s association of witches with snakes helps establish the novel’s serpent symbolism, which will complicate as Reid’s views on witches grow more nuanced.

“With each word, the cord between him and the lock pulsed brighter. But—no. I moved before I could reconsider, twisting my forefinger sharply. Pain lanced through my hand. Through clenched teeth, I watched as the cords vanished, returning to the land in a whirl of golden dust. Savage satisfaction stole through me as the lock clicked open in response.

I’d done it.”

Lou hasn’t done magic in a while and is unsure of her capabilities. Mahurin shows that her magic demands a price: one of her fingers or being cruel to her former lover, Bas. She chooses to be kind to Bas even as this harms her. This selflessness is a hallmark of Lou’s character that her reactions to Monsieur Bernard and Estelle later confirm.

“He laughed harder, opening his mouth to dazzle us with his wit once more, but Ansel interrupted, breathing heavily. Sweat matted his unruly hair, and blood flushed his cheeks. ‘Just because something can be said doesn’t mean it should.’”

Jean Luc does not hesitate to harm people—particularly Reid—with his words, nor does he know when to let up. Here, he has been implying that Reid is attracted to Lou while Reid tries to keep his temper. Ansel stands up for Reid, showing his Loyalty Within Friendship and to his captain. Ansel’s statement also foreshadows his silence when he learns that Lou is a witch.

“‘You’re to be my wife.’ Catching up to her in two strides, I reached out to grab her arm, but stopped short of touching her. ‘That means you’ll obey me.’

‘Does it?’ She raised her brows, still grinning. ‘I suppose that means you’ll honor and protect me, then? If we’re adhering to the dusty old rules of your patriarchy?’”

Lou chafes against the Chasseurs’ views of women. Conservative religiosity, she notes, is outdated in its gender roles; she also implies that the Chasseurs are hypocrites, requiring subservience from women without holding up their end of the bargain. However, Reid does vow to protect her in this scene—a sign of his character and an oath he takes seriously.

“For as the Lord God says […] two are better than one… […] For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

A reference to Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, these are among the Archbishop’s words as he forcibly weds Reid and Lou. Although the Archbishop is a hypocrite, his message does play out, with Reid and Lou standing up for each other in the battle with Morgane.

“Everyday of the last two years—every moment, every second—I’d wished her away. Wished I’d been born someone else. Anyone else. I offered him a small smile. ‘I’d trade places with you in an instant, Ansel […].’”

Ansel has confessed that his last name, Diggory, is the name given to all abandoned babies. He and Reid are both orphans. Lou feels sympathy for them, which marks the beginning of her deep friendship with Ansel. It also illustrates how deeply scarred Lou is emotionally: It’s better to have no mother, she suggests, than an abusive one.

“I turned back to face her when I was sure no one hovered outside. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I came to rescue you, of course.’”

Coco, who previously agreed to leave Cesarine, has returned to help Lou. Besides showing her love and friendship, the act underscores that Lou does have allies. Lou is not alone, however much she thinks she is.

“As in water face answerth to face, so the heart of man to man.”

At mass, Lou remembers how Reid described this scriptural verse earlier: As water reflects the face like a mirror, people’s lives—“the way [they] live, the things [they do” (195)—reflect their hearts. This makes Lou wonder how people who plead for God’s mercy can destroy witches. At the same time, she notes her own hypocrisy by hiding among such people. Lou’s reflection on what is in her heart embodies the lesson that the verse offers.

“The characters are from warring kingdoms, but they’re forced to work together when they uncover a plot to destroy the world. They loathe each other initially, but in time, they’re able to set aside their differences and—”

Reid tells Lou the plot of his favorite novel, La Vie Éphémère (“The Fleeting Life”). The book’s premise parallels Mahurin’s: Lou and Reid are from “warring” groups (the Church versus the Dames Blanches), and they too must work together to end the strife. Ironically, their visit to see the theatrical adaptation of the novel results in the burning of Estelle, which estranges them further.

“‘Why?’ I ignored Ansel’s insistent tugs on my arm, heat rising to my face. I knew I should stop talking. I recognized the spark in Jean Luc’s eyes for what it was—an inkling. An instinct. An idea that might soon turn into something more if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. ‘They’re harmless.’”

Lou has gone to find her husband but encounters Jean Luc, who informs her that Reid has gone after some hobgoblins to exterminate them. Her outrage at seeing something “harmless” persecuted highlights her sympathy for the oppressed and clues Jean Luc in to Lou’s identity as a witch. Ansel again acts as friend and protector, trying to pull Lou away from danger.

“Father Orville patted my shoulder. ‘Not to worry, child. It won’t happen again.’ He lifted a feeble hand to show me the syringe. ‘We’ve perfected the dosage this time. I’m sure of it. This injection will soothe his agitation until he joins the Lord.’”

Father Orville’s actions show the hypocrisy of the Church fathers, who have taken an oath to protect the innocent and keep them from harm. Here, he experiments on the debilitated Monsieur Bernard with a paralyzing drug. Father Orville is more interested in fulfilling the Archbishop’s interests than in minimizing Bernard’s suffering.

“‘I won’t go with you.’ I inched, backward, lifting my hands higher to draw her eyes. ‘Please, stop this.’

‘Don’t you understand? This is an honor—’”

Estelle and Lou talk after the performance of La Vie Éphémère after Estelle has knocked Reid silly with a sign. Lou is about to battle Estelle magically, but Reid will intercede. Estelle’s remark that being sacrificed is an honor shows how much Morgane has brainwashed her followers, highlighting the importance of Resisting Dogma.

“‘Yes, you have. They’re everywhere, all over the city. The woman who patched your coat last week might’ve been one, or the maid downstairs who blushes every time you look at her. Your own mother could’ve been one, and you never would’ve known.’ Ansel shook his head, eyes widening. ‘They aren’t all evil, Ansel. Some are kind and caring and good.’

‘No,’ he insisted. ‘They’re wicked.’

‘Aren’t we all? Isn’t that what your own god teaches?’”

As Estelle is tied to the stake, Lou feels compelled to watch. Just before Lou magically assumes Estelle’s pain, she and Ansel discuss witches. Ansel has learned to think of them as evil, while Lou argues for humanity. This speech, along with Lou’s subsequent action, helps Ansel see that witches can be good and solidifies Mahurin’s argument that all people hold aspects of serpent and dove.

“Only God can read the depths of our soul. And I think he understands the power of circumstance—or fear […] I think there are few absolutes in this world. Just because the Church believes Monsieur Bernard will suffer eternally for his mental illness…doesn’t mean he will.”

Reid’s words conflict with his earlier statement that all people not sanctified by the Church deserve to die. He breaks with the Archbishop and argues that God may grant serenity to the suffering Monsieur Bernard. This shows that Reid can think for himself, which fills Lou with hope.

“‘I do need to explain,’ he disagreed. ‘Look, I know we were married under less than ideal circumstances. But Lou, I—I want this to work. I want to be your husband. I know I can’t force you to want the same, but—’

‘I do want the same,’ I whispered.”

After explaining to Célie that he has begun to love Lou, Reid tells Lou why he and Célie were talking privately. While neither Lou nor Reid expresses their love at this point, they decide to work toward unity. As the scene progresses, Lou regrets that she can’t tell Reid the truth.

“‘I read your Bible. As your wife, am I not considered your property? Do you not have the legal right to do whatever you please with me?’ I grimaced, the memory of the Archbishop’s words leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. ‘To lock me in the closet and never think of me again.’

‘I’ve never considered you my property.’

‘The Archbishop does.’

‘The Archbishop is…mistaken.’”

This exchange takes place just before Reid presents Lou with a wedding ring. He and Lou are revisiting an earlier conversation about what a wife is to a husband. His acknowledgment that the Archbishop might be wrong shows Reid’s growth beyond indoctrination, a major theme of the book. They now “marry” again, this time on their own terms and as equals.

“Bile rose in my throat as I took in his paper-thin skin, the white of his hair, the laugh lines around his mouth. Only his milky eyes remained the same. Blind. He gasped and sputtered as blood—red this time, clean and untainted—bloomed from his chest. I fell to my knees beside him, taking his hands in my own. Tears ran freely down my face. ‘I’m so sorry, Bernie.’”

Possessed by Morgane and speaking in her voice, Bernard tries to choke Lou. Reid dispatches him with his Balisarda. As he dies, Bernie turns back into his true self, an innocent man who has “laugh lines around his mouth.” This shows how dangerous Morgane is and how Lou sympathizes with those whom her mother has harmed; they no more deserve their fates than the witches persecuted by the Chasseurs do.

“But there was no understanding in his eyes as he watched my body fall to the floor, as my limbs began to spasm and twitch. There was only shock, anger, and…disgust. Gone was the man who had knelt before me and gently wiped my tears away. Gone was the man who had held me on the rooftop, who had laughed at my jokes and defended my honor and kissed me under the stars. […] Gone was the man who claimed to love me. […] Now, there was only Chasseur.”

Reid has just discovered that Lou is a witch. Instead of helping her, he reacts as a Chasseur, with judgment and disgust. Having previously told Lou he loved her, he now declares she is now no longer his wife and allows Morgane’s witch to plunge a syringe into Lou. This moment is Lou’s lowest moment as she had believed and relied on his love.

“His cheeks flushed with anger, and he shoved me in the chest. ‘Keep telling yourself that. Your pride is going to get her killed. She’s in trouble—’ He shoved me again for emphasis, but I caught his arm and twisted it behind his back, slamming his chest into the wall. He didn’t even flinch. ‘Who cares if the Archbishop lied? You’re better than him, better than this.’”

Reid is reeling from the discovery that both Lou and the Archbishop have lied to him, causing both a crisis of faith and one of identity. Ansel will have none of it and stresses that Lou is in danger and that they must save her. He urges Reid to resist falling back into old strategies of coping and outdated belief systems.

“‘Why?’ I stared at the mother-of-pearl ring on her finger. ‘Why go to all the trouble? Why do you care if Auguste Lyon dies? You’re a witch. You would only benefit from his death.’ My gaze rose slowly to her face. Her red hair. Her widening blue eyes. A memory resurfaced. Lou’s voice echoed in my head. Don’t be ridiculous. Of course witches have sons.”

Reid realizes that Hélène is his mother when he notices the ring on her finger, which matches the one he was left with when he was a baby. This confirms that witches have sons and hints that men may be witches, which is borne out in the novel’s climax.

“Then you are a fool […] Love is nothing but a disease. This desperation you have to be loved—it is a sickness. I can see in your eyes how it consumes you, weakens you. Already it has corrupted your spirit. You long for his love as you long for mine, but you will have neither. You’ve chosen your path […] Of course I do not love you, Louise. You are the daughter of my enemy. You were conceived for a higher purpose, and I will not poison that purpose with love. With your birth, I struck the Church. With your death, I strike the crown. Both soon will fall.”

To Morgane, Lou’s entire existence is merely a means of revenge. It has nothing to do with love, which Morgane sees as a weakness that has damaged Lou’s spirit and her dedication to the Dames Blanches. Morgane’s zealotry is no different than the Archbishop’s. Her dismissal of Lou’s concerns shows how self-centered she is, only desiring absolute power.

“Would my soul remember him? A small part of me prayed I wouldn’t but the rest knew better. I loved him. Deeply. Such a love was not something of just the heart and mind. It wasn’t something to be felt and eventually forgotten, to be touched without it in return touching you. No…this love was something else. Something irrevocable. It was something of the soul.”

In her paralyzed condition, Lou awaits her fate and thinks of Reid. She realizes that while he may not ever forgive her for being a witch, she loves him and will continue to do so in the next life. This harkens to the lovers in La Vie Éphémère, who die fighting—an ending that Reid himself has labeled hopeful.

“I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t think. Moving quickly, I swept a second knife from my bandolier and charged past Morgane. She lifted her hands—fire lashing from her fingertips—but I didn’t feel the flames. The gold light wrapped around my skin, protecting me. But my thoughts scattered. Whatever strength my body had claimed, my mind now forfeited. I stumbled, but the gold cord marked my path. I vaulted over the altar after it.”

Despite not understanding the gift he has been given, Reid acts upon his strange circumstances and follows the “gold cord.” Even Morgane cannot stop him as he instinctively follows the guidance of his love for Lou. Reid kills the Archbishop to save her, symbolically severing his outworn belief in the Church. Hélène will later help Reid realize he has a witch’s powers and that this was a moment in which he embraced his magic.