Blood & Honey
“Blood & Honey” by Shelby Mahurin is the second installment in the “Serpent & Dove” trilogy, a young adult fantasy-romance series. Following a near-fatal encounter with the Dames Blanches, protagonists Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel become fugitives, fleeing from coven, kingdom, and church. The narrative revolves around their journey to secure allies while navigating escalating dangers, including deadly witches and internal conflicts. The book shifts tone from the first installment, focusing more on tension and survival than romance. Key themes include loyalty, sacrifice, and the struggle between destiny and choice. The novel ends on a cliffhanger, setting up the trilogy’s conclusion. With 528 pages, it expands the dark, magical world of Belterra while deepening character arcs and conflicts.
Proper Knights: Reid
byMahurin, Shelby
The chapter opens with Reid awakening in a disoriented and drugged state, struggling to focus on the face of Auguste, who stands over him. Reid’s limbs feel unnaturally heavy, and his wrists burn with pain. Auguste forces a bitter substance down his throat, causing Reid to vomit repeatedly. As his senses gradually sharpen, Reid recognizes Auguste’s wolf-like features and realizes he and Madame Labelle have been injected with a drug, likely hemlock, meant to subdue them. The scene is tense, with Chasseurs surrounding them, blades drawn, emphasizing their captivity and Auguste’s control.
Auguste reveals his disdain for Reid, mocking him for being a witch and taunting him about his parentage. Madame Labelle, bound and injured, attempts to reason with Auguste, reminding him that Reid is his son, but her pleas are ignored. Auguste’s cruel demeanor is further highlighted as he discusses the necessity of maintaining appearances for the kingdom, even as he revels in the death of a hypocritical figure. The power dynamics are stark, with Auguste exerting dominance and Reid struggling to maintain defiance despite his weakened state.
Reid’s sarcastic retorts and grim humor underscore his resilience, even as Auguste threatens him. The tension escalates when Auguste demands information about Lou’s whereabouts, promising Reid a quick death if he cooperates. Reid refuses, leading Auguste to describe a gruesome torture method involving rats, symbolizing his willingness to inflict extreme suffering to achieve his goals. The psychological torment is palpable, with Reid’s laughter and defiance contrasting sharply with Auguste’s cold, calculated cruelty.
The chapter concludes with Reid’s silent resistance, refusing to give Auguste the satisfaction of breaking him. The standoff between father and son underscores the themes of power, betrayal, and survival. Auguste’s ruthlessness and Reid’s unwavering defiance set the stage for further conflict, leaving the reader anticipating the next confrontation. The chapter masterfully blends physical and psychological tension, painting a vivid picture of a world where loyalty and identity are constantly tested.
FAQs
1. What methods does Auguste use to subdue Reid and Madame Labelle, and what does this reveal about his character?
Answer:
Auguste employs physical restraints, hemlock injections, and psychological torture to control Reid and Madame Labelle. He binds Madame Labelle’s wrists painfully behind her chair and uses Chasseurs to hold blades at their throats. The hemlock injections cause severe physical distress, including vomiting and disorientation. This cruelty reveals Auguste as a calculating, sadistic ruler who values control over human dignity. His comparison of Reid to a trapped rat (threatening torture) further demonstrates his manipulative nature and willingness to dehumanize others to achieve his goals, mirroring the very witch-hunting tactics he ostensibly opposes.2. How does Reid’s experience being drugged create irony in this chapter?
Answer:
The irony lies in Reid—formerly a witch hunter—experiencing the same dehumanizing treatment he once inflicted on witches. The text explicitly notes this reversal: “How many times had I drugged a witch? How many times had I worn his exact expression?” This moment forces Reid to confront his past actions from the victim’s perspective. The hemlock injection (typically used on witches) underscores his newfound identity as both hunter and hunted, challenging the moral absolutism of his previous beliefs while exposing the hypocrisy of the system he served.3. Analyze the significance of Madame Labelle’s defiance toward Auguste despite her vulnerable position.
Answer:
Madame Labelle’s sarcastic remarks (“After birthing a man’s child… I assumed formalities would cease”) and demands for Reid’s dignity (“He isn’t an animal”) serve as moral resistance against Auguste’s tyranny. Her defiance is remarkable given her dislocated shoulders and blood loss, highlighting her courage and maternal protectiveness. By echoing Auguste’s insults about hypocrisy while restrained, she exposes his double standards. This dynamic suggests that even under extreme oppression, verbal resistance and truth-telling remain powerful tools—a theme reinforced when Auguste ignores her, revealing his fear of acknowledging uncomfortable truths.4. How does the chapter use physical sensations to convey Reid’s psychological state?
Answer:
The narrative immerses readers in Reid’s disorientation through visceral details: the “black fire” burning his wrists, the “copper” taste of blood, eyelids moving with “enormous effort,” and the room “swimming.” These sensory descriptions mirror his fractured identity crisis—his body betraying him as both witch and Chasseur. The repeated vomiting symbolizes his rejection of his past beliefs, while the heaviness of his limbs reflects the burden of his revelations. Notably, his senses sharpen as his hatred cuts through the drug haze, suggesting clarity emerges through emotional extremes rather than physical comfort.5. What does Auguste’s rat analogy reveal about his philosophy of power?
Answer:
Auguste’s rat allegory (where a trapped rodent escapes by burrowing through a man’s stomach) illustrates his ruthless social Darwinism. He believes survival justifies any atrocity and that fear is the ultimate motivator—a worldview he tries to impose on Reid. The analogy also reflects his self-image: like the “resourceful” rat, he sees himself as pragmatic, even as he inflicts suffering. However, his need to explain the metaphor betrays insecurity. By contrast, Reid’s silent defiance and Madame Labelle’s principled resistance challenge this philosophy, suggesting morality cannot be reduced to mere survival instincts.
Quotes
1. “Like I was a witch.”
This simple yet powerful statement captures Reid’s horrified realization of his own dehumanization at the hands of Auguste. The irony is profound as Reid, formerly a witch hunter, now experiences the same brutal treatment he once inflicted on others.
2. “After birthing a man’s child—and all that predicates such a happy occasion—I assumed formalities would cease. An egregious mistake.”
Madame Labelle’s sarcastic retort highlights the hypocrisy of Auguste’s power plays and the cruel informality of their situation. This quote showcases the tension between personal history and political posturing in their dynamic.
3. “I would like to see… your body… react to hemlock… Your Majesty.”
Reid’s defiant response to Auguste’s cruelty demonstrates his resilience despite his weakened state. The broken delivery makes the threat more impactful, showing his refusal to submit even under torture.
4. “They’re intelligent, rats. Resourceful. They value their own survival. Perhaps you should heed their good instinct.”
Auguste’s chilling metaphor about rats reveals his ruthless worldview and serves as a threat to Reid. This quote exemplifies the king’s manipulative tactics and the life-or-death stakes of their confrontation.
5. “It burrows through the man’s stomach, Reid Diggory. It bites and claws through skin and flesh and bone to escape the heat. It kills the man, so it might survive.”
This gruesome analogy perfectly encapsulates Auguste’s philosophy of ruthless self-preservation at any cost. The vivid imagery makes this one of the chapter’s most memorable and disturbing moments, foreshadowing potential violence to come.