Chapter 17 Summary: Another Grave

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Célie emerging from the trees in a disguise: fitted trousers, knee-high boots, Jean Luc's deep-blue Chasseur shirt, a feathered cavalier hat, and a neatly trimmed false beard. Beau bursts into laughter and tells her she looks like an idiot. Célie defends herself, insisting she needs precautions because Jean Luc has spies throughout the kingdom and her father will eventually search for her. She points out that Cosette and Louise wear trousers, but Beau counters that they don't wear beards. Coco pushes Beau away, and the group settles into their plan: Beau and Célie will search nearby villages for black pearls while Reid and Coco remain behind to guard Nicholina, whose hands are bound and coated in Coco's blood so she can't use her magic.

As they wait through several villages, Nicholina torments Reid relentlessly. She taunts him about needing to relieve herself, then shifts to crueler territory, claiming that Lou fought and screamed his name in her final moments and that she savored Lou's death. Reid spirals into guilt, repeating to himself that it's his fault. He carries Lou's golden ring with the mother-of-pearl stone in his pocket, planning to return it to her and marry her properly on the beach at L'Eau Mélancolique. Coco tries to shield him from Nicholina's barbs, but the damage is done.

Beau and Célie return empty-handed from their searches. Coco decides they must search Anchois, the last village before L'Eau Mélancolique. She splits the group: she'll take Nicholina and Beau to the dock, while Reid and Célie search the market. Coco warns Nicholina that if she causes a scene, the villagers will burn her as the notorious witch whose face she wears.

In the market, Célie is distracted by the sights—scrying stones, a flute player, dancing maidens—and repeatedly tries to steer Reid toward a confiserie selling calisson almond candy and then toward a group of gamblers. Reid refuses both. Frustrated, Célie grabs her satchel, and its contents spill across the snow. As they kneel to gather the items, Reid finds a cylindrical glass syringe. He recognizes it as a hemlock injection, a poison the priests called Devil's Flower.

Célie admits Jean Luc gave it to her when she told him she was leaving. She insists it was only a precaution and that she never planned to use it on Reid or anyone else. Reid points out that the poison would incapacitate anyone, witch or human, and asks if she's really that afraid of them. Célie's anger flares. She explains that a witch murdered her sister Filippa and locked her in a coffin with Filippa's remains. She can still feel her sister's flesh on her skin, can still smell her. She's terrified of the dark, of sleep, of dreams, and can hardly breathe even when awake. She packed the weapon because Reid is a witch now, and she can't bring herself not to protect herself.

She tells Reid she won't live in another grave—that he's moved on, and it's time for her to do the same. Reid, ashamed of his earlier anger, returns the syringe. Célie seizes it and vows that when she next sees Morgane, she will stab the needle into her heart.

Key Events

Célie arrives in disguise wearing Jean Luc's clothes and a false beard; Beau mocks her, and she defends her precautions.
The group splits: Beau and Célie search villages for black pearls while Reid and Coco guard Nicholina.
Nicholina psychologically tortures Reid, claiming Lou screamed his name and that she savored Lou's death.
Reid reveals he carries Lou's ring and plans to marry her at L'Eau Mélancolique.
The pearl searches fail, and the group moves to Anchois, the last village before their destination.
Coco takes Nicholina and Beau to the dock; Reid and Célie search the market.
Célie tries to buy candy and gamble; Reid refuses both.
Reid discovers a hemlock syringe hidden in Célie's satchel.
Célie confesses her trauma: a witch murdered her sister Filippa and locked her in a coffin with the remains.
Célie declares she won't live in another grave and vows to use the syringe on Morgane.

Character Development

Reid spends this chapter caught between guilt and resolve. Nicholina's taunts about Lou's death hit him exactly where he's most vulnerable, and his internal refrain—that it's his fault—shows how deeply he blames himself for Lou's fate. Yet his plan to marry Lou at L'Eau Mélancolique reveals his determination to make things right. His confrontation with Célie also shows growth: he starts angry and accusatory, but when she explains her trauma, his anger withers into shame. He recognizes that no words can heal what she's suffered, and he returns the syringe rather than confiscating it.

Célie emerges as a more complex figure than the polite lady she often presents. Her disguise, her insistence on gambling, and her outburst at Reid all hint at a desire for freedom and agency. But the discovery of the syringe exposes her raw wound: she's been traumatized by Filippa's murder and her imprisonment in the coffin. Her declaration that she won't live in another grave is both literal and metaphorical—she refuses to be trapped by fear again. Her vow to kill Morgane shows a hardening resolve, a shift from victim to someone prepared to fight back.

Nicholina is a study in cruelty. She uses Lou's voice and face to torment Reid, twisting his grief into self-blame. Her taunts are calculated and precise, aimed at the wounds she knows will hurt most.

Coco continues to act as the group's pragmatic protector. She shields Reid from Nicholina's worst barbs, threatens Nicholina into compliance, and pushes the group forward toward their goal.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The grave metaphor. The chapter's title, Another Grave, echoes Célie's line about not living in another grave. For Célie, the grave is both the literal coffin she was trapped in with Filippa's remains and the psychological prison of fear she's been living in since. Her refusal to live in another grave is a declaration of survival and agency.

Disguise and deception. Célie's false beard is a comic surface disguise, but the chapter's deeper deception is her hidden syringe. She presents herself as a cooperative ally while secretly carrying a weapon against the very people she travels with. The contrast between her visible disguise and her hidden one underscores the theme of trust and betrayal.

Psychological torture. Nicholina's taunts are a form of warfare. She doesn't need physical weapons; she uses Lou's voice and memory to wound Reid, amplifying his guilt and grief. Her claim that she savored Lou's death is designed to make Reid relive his failure to save her.

Guilt and self-blame. Reid's internal refrain—that Lou's death is his fault—shows how guilt can consume a person. Even as he plans to marry Lou, he's haunted by the belief that he failed her.

Poison as weapon. The hemlock syringe represents both fear and resolve. For Célie, it's a tool of self-protection against witches; for Reid, it's a reminder that she sees him as a threat. The poison's dual nature—protective for Célie, threatening for Reid—mirrors the witch-versus-human conflict that divides them.

Moving on vs. holding on. Célie tells Reid he's moved on and that she must do the same. But Reid is literally holding onto Lou's ring, planning a future with her. The chapter sets up a tension between those who can move forward and those who are anchored to the past.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter deepens the emotional stakes of the quest for black pearls. It reveals the extent of Célie's trauma and her determination to confront Morgane, setting up a personal vendetta that will likely drive her actions in the chapters ahead. It also exposes the fractures within the group: Célie's fear of Reid as a witch, Reid's guilt over Lou, and Coco's protective pragmatism. Nicholina's psychological torture raises the question of whether Lou can truly be saved, while Reid's plan to marry her at L'Eau Mélancolique gives him a concrete goal to hold onto. The chapter's title, Another Grave, ties Célie's past trauma to her present resolve, making her vow against Morgane feel both personal and inevitable.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Célie bring the hemlock syringe, and what does her explanation reveal about her character?

Célie brings the syringe as a precaution against witches, driven by the trauma of her sister Filippa's murder and her imprisonment in a coffin with Filippa's remains. Her explanation reveals that she's still deeply afraid—of the dark, of sleep, of dreams—and that she sees Reid's transformation into a witch as a threat. Her decision to hide the weapon shows both her fear and her determination to protect herself, even at the cost of trust.

2. How does Nicholina's psychological torture affect Reid, and what does his reaction reveal about his guilt?

Nicholina uses Lou's voice and face to torment Reid, claiming Lou fought and screamed his name in her final moments and that she savored Lou's death. Reid's internal refrain—that it's his fault—reveals the depth of his guilt over failing to save Lou. His inability to respond to Nicholina's taunts shows how vulnerable he is to this kind of attack, and his plan to marry Lou at L'Eau Mélancolique suggests he's trying to atone for his perceived failure.

3. What does the chapter's title, Another Grave, signify, and how does it connect to Célie's arc?

The title refers to Célie's declaration that she won't live in another grave. The first grave was the coffin she was trapped in with Filippa's remains; the