Serpent & Dove
“Serpent & Dove” by Shelby Mahurin is a YA fantasy novel set in a French-inspired world where witches are hunted by the Church. The story follows Louise “Lou” le Blanc, a witch who has renounced magic and hides in the city of Cesarine, and Reid Diggory, a devout witch hunter. After a chance encounter forces them into an arranged marriage, their opposing loyalties and beliefs create tension. As Lou’s secrets threaten to unravel, the pair must navigate betrayal, forbidden romance, and a brewing war between witches and the Church. The novel explores themes of identity, prejudice, and the clash between duty and desire, blending fantasy, romance, and adventure.
Wicked Are the Ways of Women: Reid
byMahurin, Shelby
The chapter opens with Reid, a former holy man turned Chasseur, detecting the acrid scent of magic in the air—a smell he associates with witches and loathes deeply. Armed with his Balisarda knife, he and his comrade Jean Luc discreetly blend into a crowd of revelers, anticipating an attack. The witches’ growing restlessness has prompted the Chasseurs to station both uniformed and undercover agents throughout the area. Reid’s tension is palpable as he scans the crowd, knowing the danger is imminent but unseen by the oblivious civilians around him.
A father and his young daughter approach Reid, seeking reassurance as the girl complains of a headache—a subtle sign of the witches’ influence. Reid’s sharp warning to evacuate is interrupted by a piercing scream, triggering panic. The crowd erupts into chaos as people flee, colliding in their desperation. Reid assists an elderly woman, only to realize too late that she is a witch in disguise, leaving behind a charred odor. The scene underscores the witches’ deceptive nature and the insidious threat they pose, even in plain sight.
The witches reveal themselves, gliding through the chaos with eerie calm, using their magic to manipulate bystanders like puppets. Reid watches in horror as they advance toward the royal family’s carriage, protected by a human shield of ensnared victims. The witches’ uncharacteristically bold display suggests a larger, more sinister plan at work. Reid climbs a building for a better vantage point, his physical exertion mirroring his mental struggle to grasp the witches’ strategy. The chapter highlights the witches’ terrifying power and the Chasseurs’ desperate race to counter it.
As Reid reaches the rooftop, he spots a mischievous girl who flees with a taunting gesture, momentarily distracting him. Below, the streets descend into further chaos, with shopkeepers barricading doors and trampled victims screaming for help. The witches’ laughter echoes amid the pandemonium, their cruelty on full display. The chapter ends with Reid grappling with the scale of the threat, realizing the Chasseurs may have underestimated the witches’ cunning. The tension builds toward a climactic confrontation, leaving the reader anticipating the next twist in this deadly game of cat and mouse.
FAQs
1. How does Reid perceive and react to the presence of witches in the chapter?
Answer:
Reid exhibits a visceral hatred and heightened sensitivity toward witches, particularly through his reaction to their magical scent. The text describes the smell as “sweet and herbal, yet sharp—too sharp,” which chokes and taunts him (page 29). His immediate response is to draw his Balisarda knife and alert his fellow Chasseurs, demonstrating his trained vigilance and readiness to combat witchcraft. Reid’s loathing is further emphasized when he observes the witches’ cruel manipulation of civilians, reinforcing his belief in their inherent wickedness (pages 31-32). His reactions align with his role as a protector, though his initial sharpness with civilians hints at a struggle to balance authority with empathy.2. What strategic anomaly does Reid notice about the witches’ attack, and why is it significant?
Answer:
Reid observes that the witches are acting uncharacteristically boldly by attacking openly in public, which contradicts their usual covert operations (page 32). This “showmanship” unsettles him, prompting him to question whether the Chasseurs have “lost sight of the bigger picture.” The significance lies in the tactical implications: such brazen behavior suggests either a shift in the witches’ strategy (e.g., a diversion or declaration of power) or a trap. This moment foreshadows deeper conflict and hints that Reid’s understanding of the witches’ motives may be incomplete or flawed.3. Analyze the portrayal of witchcraft’s consequences in this chapter. How does it shape the narrative’s tension?
Answer:
The chapter depicts witchcraft’s effects as grotesquely varied and psychologically horrifying, from memory loss to cannibalistic urges (page 32). These consequences serve multiple narrative purposes: (1) they justify the Chasseurs’ militant stance, as the witches’ magic causes irreversible harm; (2) they amplify tension by showing civilians as helpless pawns (e.g., the puppeteered human shield); and (3) they blur moral lines—while the witches are villains, their victims’ fates seem worse than death. This duality heightens stakes and complicates Reid’s black-and-white worldview, suggesting future moral dilemmas.4. How does the chapter use sensory details to immerse the reader in Reid’s perspective?
Answer:
Sensory details anchor Reid’s hostility and hyper-awareness. Olfactory imagery dominates—the “acrid” smell of magic “burns” his throat (page 29), while the old witch leaves a “cloying, charred odor” (page 31). Auditory cues like “piercing screams” and “unnatural laughter” (page 31) amplify chaos, and tactile descriptions (e.g., the Balisarda’s weight, the sandstone wall’s pitted texture during his climb) ground his physicality. These details immerse readers in Reid’s heightened state of alert, making his dread and urgency palpable.5. What does the encounter with the mustachioed girl on the rooftop suggest about potential future conflicts?
Answer:
The girl’s brief appearance (page 33) introduces intrigue and possible subversion. Her irreverence (flipping Reid off) and agility contrast with the witches’ sinister grandeur, hinting she may belong to a different faction or possess rogue magic. Her escape also underscores Reid’s limitations—despite his skill, he prioritizes the larger threat over pursuing her. This encounter plants seeds for future confrontations: she could become an ally, a rival, or a symbol of the complexity Reid overlooks in his single-minded mission.
Quotes
1. “I loathed the smell of magic.”
This opening line establishes Reid’s visceral hatred for witchcraft and sets the tone for his fanatical devotion as a Chasseur. The sensory description (“burned all the way down my throat”) makes his revulsion palpable, introducing the central conflict between witches and their hunters.
2. “Each case different. Each more disturbing than the last.”
This summation of witches’ victims underscores the chapter’s horror elements and justifies the Chasseurs’ brutal methods. The clinical listing of atrocities (missing eyes, cannibalistic urges, phantom lovers) demonstrates how magic warps reality in unpredictable, terrifying ways.
3. “Unless we’d lost sight of the bigger picture.”
A pivotal moment where Reid questions the witches’ uncharacteristic boldness. This hint of doubt in his rigid worldview foreshadows potential complexity in the witch-Chasseur dynamic, suggesting the attack may be a diversion for a larger scheme.
4. “She clutched her hat with one hand and raised her middle finger with the other.”
This vivid action introduces the mysterious rooftop girl with rebellious flair. The contrast between her irreverence and Reid’s solemn duty (“the little heathen wasn’t my concern”) creates immediate tension, hinting at future confrontations between these opposing forces.
5. “Puppeteers.”
This single-word sentence crystallizes the chapter’s most chilling image: witches manipulating humans like marionettes. The dehumanizing metaphor reinforces Reid’s worldview while showcasing the witches’ terrifying power during the attack, making their threat feel viscerally real.