Serpent & Dove
Soul Ache: Lou
by Mahurin, ShelbyLou awakens to find Reid, her witch hunter husband, watching over her after she collapsed from an unexplained illness. The moonlight reveals his exhaustion, and she notices he had been holding her hand while she slept. Despite this tender moment, Lou is conflicted, recalling how Reid burned Estelle, a witch, at the stake—a death she indirectly caused. Disgusted with herself and Reid, she remembers their irreconcilable roles: a witch and a witch hunter bound in a marriage that can only end in tragedy.
Reid explains that Lou was unconscious for three days, screaming and unresponsive until he arrived. He cared for her diligently, feeding her ice chips and ensuring her comfort. When Lou asks why he did this, Reid avoids emotional vulnerability, focusing instead on her physical recovery. Their conversation grows tense as Lou confronts him about Estelle’s burning, emphasizing that the witch was a person with a name, not just a demon to be executed. Reid dismisses her empathy, insisting witches are inherently evil and deserve their fate.
The tension escalates when Lou provocatively asks Reid if he would burn her at the stake if she were a witch. His hesitant “yes” hangs heavily between them, creating an unspoken question about her true identity. Lou challenges him to ask directly, but Reid avoids the confrontation, leaving the air thick with unresolved tension. She finally tells him to leave, needing space to grapple with her guilt and the moral cost of her survival.
Alone in the bath, Lou reflects on the consequences of her actions. She remembers Estelle’s death and the countless other witches executed by persecution. Though she acted in self-preservation, Lou is haunted by the realization that she betrayed her own kind. The chapter ends with her questioning the price of survival and the inevitability of her conflict with Reid, foreshadowing the tragic path their relationship must take.
FAQs
1. What internal conflict does Lou experience regarding Reid in this chapter, and how does it manifest in her actions?
Answer:
Lou experiences a profound internal conflict between her growing emotional attachment to Reid and her awareness of their fundamentally opposed identities—she as a witch and he as a witch hunter. This tension manifests in her vacillating actions: she tentatively touches his hair, then withdraws in disgust (page 245); she squeezes his hand but later refuses to meet his eyes (page 246). Her anger flares when Reid reduces Estelle to “a witch” rather than acknowledging her humanity (page 247), highlighting Lou’s struggle to reconcile her loyalty to her own kind with her complicated feelings for Reid. The chapter underscores this duality through physical proximity (Reid sleeping near her) contrasted with emotional distance (her silent rage).2. Analyze how the motif of fire serves as a symbolic and literal thread connecting key events in this chapter.
Answer:
Fire operates on multiple levels: literally as the method of Estelle’s execution, and symbolically as a representation of Lou’s guilt, rage, and identity. The “burning” (page 246) triggers Lou’s physical collapse, linking fire to psychological trauma. Reid’s clinical description of the event (“It was a witch,” page 247) contrasts with Lou’s visceral memory of “the agony of the flames” (page 248), emphasizing fire as a divisive symbol—for Reid, it’s justice; for Lou, it’s persecution. The “steaming” bathwater (page 247) becomes a muted echo of the stake’s heat, showing Lou’s attempt to physically and metaphorically immerse herself in the pain she helped inflict. This motif ultimately ties to the central conflict: the inescapable heat of their choices.3. How does Lou’s question to Reid—”What if I were a witch?“—reveal the chapter’s thematic tension between survival and integrity?
Answer:
This pivotal question (page 247) crystallizes Lou’s existential crisis. By posing it, she tests both Reid’s ideological rigidity and the sustainability of her own deception. His blunt “Yes” forces her to confront the lethal stakes of her survival strategy—marrying a witch hunter while hiding her true nature. The loaded silence afterward underscores the unspoken truth between them. Earlier, Lou reflects that survival is her defining trait (page 248), but her guilt over Estelle (“we both deserve the stake”) suggests she’s beginning to weigh moral integrity against self-preservation. The question thus becomes a turning point: will she continue prioritizing survival, or will her conscience demand reckoning?4. Contrast Reid and Lou’s perspectives on witchcraft through their dialogue about Estelle’s execution. What does this reveal about their worldviews?
Answer:
Their exchange (pages 246-247) reveals irreconcilable worldviews. Reid dehumanizes witches as “demons” deserving execution, framing their deaths as protective justice (“They’ll hurt you”). Lou insists on Estelle’s personhood (“She was a witch—and a person”), highlighting empathy and collective identity. Reid’s perspective is institutional—he references the infirmary as proof of witchcraft’s evil—while Lou’s is personal, invoking Estelle’s name and the sensory horror of the burning. This clash exposes the chapter’s central irony: Lou must publicly endorse Reid’s ideology to survive, while privately mourning its victims. Their inability to reconcile these views foreshadows inevitable conflict, as Lou’s dual existence becomes increasingly untenable.5. Evaluate how Lou’s physical state (illness, sweat, bath) mirrors her psychological turmoil in this chapter.
Answer:
Lou’s bodily experiences externalize her inner chaos. Her three-day unconsciousness (page 246) represents a retreat from the moral weight of Estelle’s death, while the “clammy” sweat and damp sheets signal unresolved guilt seeping through. The near-boiling bath (page 248) becomes a purgatorial space—she submerges herself as if to relive Estelle’s suffering (“remembering the agony of the flames”), a form of self-punishment. Notably, Reid’s care (ice chips, fresh sheets) temporarily soothes her physical symptoms but cannot address their root cause: spiritual anguish. This somatic symbolism culminates when Lou’s whispered confession (“We both deserve the stake”) coincides with her immersion, suggesting a baptismal moment of painful clarity.
Quotes
1. “A witch and a witch hunter bound in holy matrimony. There was only one way such a story could end—a stake and a match.”
This quote captures the central tension of Lou and Reid’s relationship, highlighting the inevitable conflict between their identities. It foreshadows the tragic trajectory of their union while revealing Lou’s moment of painful clarity about their doomed dynamic.
2. “She was a witch—and a person. Her name was Estelle, and we burned her.”
Lou’s vehement correction to Reid humanizes the executed witch, challenging the dehumanizing ideology of witch hunters. This moment represents a key turning point where Lou confronts the moral consequences of her actions and Reid’s beliefs.
3. “What if I were a witch, Reid? Would the stake be what I deserve?”
This loaded question represents the chapter’s climactic moment, with Lou testing the limits of Reid’s beliefs against their relationship. The tension in this exchange reveals the fundamental incompatibility they must eventually address.
4. “Because above all else, that is what I did: I survived. But at what cost?”
This introspective moment captures Lou’s existential crisis about her survival instincts. The quote encapsulates the chapter’s theme of moral reckoning as she weighs her self-preservation against her growing guilt over Estelle’s death.