Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli: Summary and Study Guide

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

Quick Facts

Short Summary

Rebel Witch picks up where Crimson Moth left off. Rune Winters, the witch known as the Crimson Moth, is engaged to Prince Soren Nord as part of witch queen Cressida Roseblood's scheme to secure an army and retake the New Republic. Gideon Sharpe, the witch hunter who once hunted Rune, arrives at Larkmont Palace with orders to assassinate her. Their confrontation reignites their forbidden connection, but Cressida's curse—a brand that inflicts agony whenever Gideon touches Rune skin-to-skin—stands between them. As Rune discovers she is the missing Roseblood heir and Cressida's half-sister, she and Gideon must navigate betrayal, sacrifice, and the search for a third path beyond both the Republic's witch purging and Cressida's tyranny. The novel culminates in Rune's self-sacrifice, her resurrection through Seraphine's revelation as the Ancient Wisdom, and the founding of a new government where witches and non-witches rule together.

Full Summary

Part One: The Assassination Attempt

The novel opens with Gideon Sharpe infiltrating Larkmont Palace in a stolen guard uniform during a private recital in Prince Soren's ballroom. His target is Rune Winters, who stands beside Soren in a golden dress, having accepted Soren's marriage proposal on the condition that he provide Cressida an army to wage war on the New Republic. Gideon carries kill orders to prevent this alliance. When the recital begins, Rune flees the ballroom, overwhelmed by grief as the last song written by her deceased best friend, Alex Sharpe, plays. Gideon corners her in a powder room, but hesitates when he sees her crying. Their confrontation turns bitter, and Rune knees him and takes his gun. Cressida Roseblood enters, finding Gideon on the floor.

Cressida has Gideon manacled and uses blood magic to immobilize him. She reveals she preserved her sisters' bodies and plans a resurrection spell requiring a close kin sacrifice, claiming a concealed long-lost sibling exists. She activates a spell in the brand she carved into his chest, causing agony until he begs for death. Rune, hearing Gideon's screams, decides to use Soren's attraction to her to manipulate him into sealing the alliance with Cressida that night.

Rune later finds Gideon half-clothed with a bloody spellmark across his chest, under the control of Ava, a scar artist who has bound him with a Binder spell. When Ava orders Gideon to kill Rune, Rune shoots and kills Ava, breaking the spell. She uses blood magic to hide them from searching guards, and they escape through the palace grounds. Gideon leaves Larkmont, but not before learning of Cressida's resurrection plan.

Part Two: The Truce and the Voyage

Gideon returns to Caelis, where he learns from Harrow that the Commander is sending someone more qualified to eliminate the Crimson Moth. He resolves to finish the mission himself. He tracks Rune to a bridal shop, where she holds him at gunpoint and proposes a truce: if he smuggles her into the New Republic and hands over the sibyl he holds hostage, she will break off her engagement to Soren. Gideon accepts, secretly planning to arrest her upon arrival.

They board the Arcadia, a passenger ship that bars witch hunters, posing as newlyweds. During the voyage, Gideon learns a spy on the ship has orders to kill Rune. He also discovers that Cressida's curse—the brand on his chest—inflicts excruciating pain whenever he touches Rune skin-to-skin. The curse was designed to keep him away from his true love.

Part Three: The Revelation

Rune and Gideon arrive in the New Republic, where Rune plans to find the missing Roseblood heir before Cressida does. Gideon, under orders from the new Good Commander Noah Creed, plans to deliver Rune and the heir to the Blood Guard. They work together to rescue Meadow, the sibyl Aurelia's daughter, from a guarded house. During the rescue, Gideon admits he kissed Abbie but wished she were Rune. They kiss, and Gideon's brand burns painfully, revealing the curse.

Rune and Aurelia perform a summoning spell at a circle of stones, hoping to summon the missing Roseblood heir. The spell fails, but Gideon, watching from a distance, realizes with horror that Rune is the missing heir—the daughter of Queen Winoa and half-sister to Cressida.

Part Four: Escape and Return

Gideon faces a moral dilemma: deliver Rune to Noah and face her death, or let her go and face his own execution. He chooses to let her escape, drawing the Blood Guard away from the harbor so she can sail away on Alex's boat, Dawn's Aria. He is arrested and sentenced to public execution for sympathizing with witches.

Rune, sailing toward the Continent, discovers Gideon's note and a silver coin on the boat, realizing he sacrificed himself to save her. She decides to return. Sneaking into Larkmont, she finds Cressida's spell book and learns the True Love's Curse can only be broken by the true love's blood spilled in a sacrificial act. Cressida discovers her and whips her nearly to death. Seraphine intervenes, revealing that Rune is Cressida's sister.

Part Five: War and Sacrifice

Cressida's army takes the capital. Rune, imprisoned, kills Prince Soren in self-defense when he attempts to assault her. She rescues Harrow from prison and learns Gideon is being held at the Rookery. She reunites with Gideon at Wintersea, and they flee together after Laila gives them a fifteen-second head start.

At the Wentholt summer home, Rune and Gideon recover. Rune reveals she is Cressida's sister, and Gideon realizes his curse is broken—touching her causes no pain. She asks him to sail away with her, but he refuses, insisting they should stay and fight for their home.

Part Six: The Final Confrontation

The group learns that Analise and Elowyn's bodies are hidden at the Crossroads, and Cressida plans to travel there to renew a fading preservation spell. Rune, Gideon, and Seraphine ride ahead. At the Crossroads, they are ambushed—Cressida has forced Harrow to set a trap. Rune decides to sacrifice herself with the Everlasting spell, convincing Gideon to shoot her. He fires a bullet into her heart.

Cressida's attacks on Gideon rebound off him, deflected by an enchantment Rune had cast. Seraphine reveals she is Wisdom, an Ancient, and uses Cressida's blood to transfer Cressida's life force into Rune, reviving her. Cressida's body burns to ash, and the three former witch queens are destroyed. Seraphine joins her six sisters, vanishing like stars at dawn.

Epilogue

Three months later, Rune stands at the windows of Wintersea House, anxious about the celebration in her honor. She has been elected as a parliamentarian in Cascadia's House of Commons, where thirteen officials were elected—six witches and seven non-witches. Gideon convinces her to descend to the ballroom, promising they will swim together after the guests leave.

Main Characters

• Rune Winters — The protagonist, a witch who operates as the Crimson Moth. She becomes engaged to Prince Soren to secure an army for Cressida, and is ultimately revealed to be Cressida's half-sister and the missing Roseblood heir. Read more

• Gideon Sharpe — A witch hunter and Blood Guard officer sent to assassinate Rune. He falls in love with her, is cursed by Cressida to feel pain when touching Rune skin-to-skin, and ultimately sacrifices his standing to protect her. Read more

• Cressida Roseblood — The witch queen and main antagonist who seeks to resurrect her dead sisters through a kin sacrifice, using Rune's life to do so. Read more

• Prince Soren Nord — Rune's fiancé whose army Cressida needs. He becomes possessive and violent toward Rune and is killed by her in self-defense. Read more

• Seraphine — Rune's mentor and friend, revealed to be the Ancient Wisdom who delivered Rune as a baby, hid her identity, and ultimately sacrifices Cressida's life to revive Rune. Read more

• Harrow — The spymaster who works with Gideon and later the Blood Guard. Her backstory involves being sold into indenture and losing an ear. She helps Rune escape prison. Read more

Themes

• Self-sacrifice as the highest form of love — The novel repeatedly frames giving up one's life, safety, or future for another person as the ultimate expression of love. Read more

• Hidden lineage and the redefinition of self — Rune's discovery that she is the missing Roseblood heir forces a reckoning with her identity. Read more

• Love versus duty in a time of revolution — Characters repeatedly face impossible choices between personal feelings and obligations to causes, countries, and families. Read more

• Trust between former enemies — The novel explores whether trust can be built between people on opposite sides of a violent conflict. Read more

• The search for a third path beyond tyranny and persecution — The book rejects both the New Republic's witch purging and Cressida's authoritarian rule. Read more

Symbols

• The Crimson Moth — Rune's secret identity, marked by moth-shaped scars on her calf and a crimson moth spell signature. Read more

• Cressida's Brand and the True Love's Curse — The brand Cressida carved into Gideon's chest carries a curse that causes excruciating pain whenever he touches Rune skin-to-skin. Read more

• Dawn's Aria — Alex's sailboat, which Rune uses to escape the New Republic and later sails toward freedom. Read more

• Alex's Ring — The ring Alex gave Rune, which she wears throughout the story and ultimately hands to Gideon. Read more

Ending Overview

The novel ends with Rune's resurrection and the destruction of the three witch queens. Seraphine, revealed as the Ancient Wisdom, transfers Cressida's life force into Rune, reviving her. The epilogue shows Rune three months later, elected as a parliamentarian in the new House of Commons, where six witches and seven non-witches govern together. Read the full ending explained

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

| 35 | Gideon surrenders; talks his way out of Blood Guard custody. | [Read]( /books/rebel-