Serpent & Dove

Reid and Célie go out to a patio. Lou is about to follow them when she’s stopped by the Archbishop. He tells her to let Reid enjoy “this small pleasure away from your corruption” (283). Enraged, she calls him a liar and hypocrite and says that she’ll see him in hell. She goes through a kitchen to escape him and finds herself spying on Reid and Célie in a snowy garden. Célie tells Reid they should appeal to the king for an annulment since Lou is everything he hates. While Reid admits he doesn’t love Lou yet, he reveals he soon might. Célie runs away crying. Reid sees Lou just as she’s about to flee and explains that he’d like to make their relationship work. She surprises him by saying she’d like that also and admits that she heard everything. He asks her to promise that they’ll have no more secrets, and she tells him she’ll try.

Back inside, they join the party and Lou convinces Reid to dance with her. She feels a profound sexual attraction to him, and he suggests they head home. They find Coco flirting with Beauregard; she’ll be staying with him. Before Lou leaves, Coco reminds her that Reid is a witch-hunter and that their romance is inevitably doomed. Their exchange turns testy and they part. Reid and Lou almost kiss in the carriage, but he pulls away. She knows falling in love with Reid is dangerous, but she wishes it could end positively.

Reid sleeps on the floor, full of tension, as Lou tosses and turns in the bed. Finally, she invites him to join her. He does, full of sexual thoughts. Lou turns the conversation to his upbringing, his life as a Chasseur, his friendship with Jean Luc, and his love affair with Célie. She then asks about witch-hunting. Lou clarifies that witches don’t channel magic from hell as the Archbishop says, but from their ancestors. He wonders why witches only produce girls, but Lou corrects him again: Although witches have sons, their magic only passes to their daughters. As the wind picks up, they cuddle. Teasing her, Reid reiterates that he won’t touch her until she asks. She tries to push him out of the bed, but he tells her he’s not leaving. Annoyed but too proud to admit her attraction, she falls asleep next to him.

Since it’s Saint Nicolas Day, Lou and Reid are going to the festival to celebrate and buy presents. In the town, they admire the decorations, including an advertisement for the Ye Olde Sisters’ theatrical production that will honor the Archbishop the next morning. After assuring Reid she won’t run away, Lou parts with him, agreeing to meet at Pan’s an hour later.

Lou goes to buy Reid a dagger at a blacksmith she knows. Abe, the smithy, isn’t pleased to see her since she exposed Andre and Grue. The Chasseurs have questioned Abe and it’s been bad for business. She offers to buy the dagger and he says he must retrieve it. She waits for him to find it, but it takes a long time. Feeling duped, she’s about to leave the shop when she finds herself locked in. Andre and Grue enter, seeking revenge. She fights them, but Grue grabs her and tilts her neck back to slash her throat. Andre suggests cutting out her heart instead. Using magic, Lou throws the hot coals of the fire toward them. As they are caught off guard, she slashes Andre’s throat and then Grue’s. People arrive at the door, including Reid. She manages to dilute the smell of magic with water, which hisses in the embers and leaves a charred scent. She pumps the bellows of the forge to produce black smoke as Reid kicks in the door. Terrified, Lou collapses in his arms and recounts the incident without mentioning her use of magic. Then she passionately kisses him.