Chapter 22: Summary, Analysis, and Study Notes
⚠️ 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 in Kirkwall, Orkney, in December 1594, with Alison confined to a dungeon while her trial remains suspended pending the arrival of her lawyer. Her jailer, Mr. Addis, is tasked with keeping her awake by any means necessary. His methods include throwing buckets of snow over her, rattling a stick against the bars, flooding the cell with candlelight, and waking her as many as twenty times a night to force her to pace. The sleep deprivation pushes Alison into a hallucinatory state between dreaming and waking, where the cell bars appear to transform into dripping water or hissing black snakes, and the rats develop human faces. She glimpses her mother, Solveig, and members of the Triskele she has not thought of in years.
Andrew Couper, a lawyer from Edinburgh who grew up in Orkney, arrives at the cell. He is appalled by Alison's conditions—the slop Mr. Addis has been feeding her, the floor slick with urine, mud, and rat droppings. He insists the door be opened and gives Alison bread wrapped in linen, gently helping her sit up to eat. Couper is youthful and healthy, with clean nails that contrast sharply with Alison's torn, dirty hands. He mentions his wife and three daughters, with a fourth child on the way, and expresses relief at being home in Orkney.
Alison asks about the payment for his services, having believed her husband William arranged it through an anonymous benefactor among the rebels—possibly one of the udallers like Jacob McVeigh or Peter Gauldry. Couper reveals instead that he was paid by a man named Solveig, which startles Alison, who wonders whether this could be the Solveig from the Triskele.
Couper asks Alison to honestly describe her role in the charge. She insists she is innocent and never gave a charm to Mr. Paplay. She recounts curing Thomas of smallpox and the encounter in St. Magnus Cathedral, where John Stewart asked for a charm to take a life. When Couper asks whether Stewart said the charm was for the earl, Alison admits he did not, but describes the look exchanged between Stewart and Thomas Paplay, and how they pressed her even after she lied that such a charm could only be performed by someone who has not seen death. She also recounts her arrest, the interview with Father Colville, and the pricking of her body, showing Couper the unhealed marks and the sore on her tongue where the needle was plunged. She tells him Thomas Paplay is dead and named her as his accomplice.
Couper proposes a defense strategy: present Alison to the court as a woman of healing, concerned for others' welfare and gifted in aiding recovery. He plans to call witnesses from Gunn to testify to her good character, arguing that the Kirkwall gallery may not know of her healing efforts. Alison is doubtful, recalling the friends and neighbors she saw in the courtroom during the hearing and fearing they will not testify. Couper remains confident.
Before leaving, Couper raises a procedural concern: the court has not appointed a notary to record the dittays (formal charges). He says this must be rectified because the Privy Council in Edinburgh requires a transcript, and he will remind the bishops of this legal requirement. Alison, who knows little of legal process, trusts her husband William's word on the matter.
The chapter closes with Alison's private doubt. Couper's confidence comes too easily, she reflects. He grew up in Orkney but has lived away for a long time. He does not know John Stewart, or what Stewart is capable of.
Key Events
- Alison endures systematic sleep deprivation at the hands of Mr. Addis, leading to hallucinations
- Andrew Couper arrives and is horrified by Alison's cell conditions, providing her bread
- Couper reveals he was paid by a man named Solveig, not an anonymous rebel benefactor
- Alison recounts her full account: the smallpox cure, John Stewart's request for a death charm, her arrest, Father Colville's interview, and the body pricking
- Couper outlines a defense strategy centered on Alison's reputation as a healer with character witnesses from Gunn
- Couper identifies the missing notary and transcript as a legal problem for the Privy Council
- Alison privately doubts Couper's confidence, noting he does not understand John Stewart
Character Development
Alison is physically and psychologically degraded by her imprisonment, yet her account of events remains consistent and detailed. She is lucid enough to correct Couper's assumptions (Stewart never said the charm was for the earl) and perceptive enough to doubt the reliability of her would-be witnesses. Her fear of never seeing her family again as a free woman is the emotional core of the chapter.
Andrew Couper emerges as a competent, compassionate professional—appalled by Alison's treatment, attentive to legal procedure, and genuinely invested in her defense. Yet his confidence reads as naive to Alison, who knows the local power dynamics better than he does. His Orkney roots are real but distant; he has been away long enough to have forgotten what John Stewart is capable of.
Mr. Addis is a minor but chilling presence—lazy in his cruelty, keeping a pail of snow by his chair to douse Alison whenever she dozes. His casual brutality underscores the institutional indifference to Alison's suffering.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Sleep deprivation as torture: The chapter makes explicit that Alison's sleeplessness is a deliberate method of breaking her will, producing hallucinations that blur the line between reality and nightmare. The bars that become snakes and the rats with human faces symbolize how the prison itself is eroding Alison's grip on reality.
Healing versus harming: Couper's defense strategy hinges on reframing Alison's identity from spaewife (a term with dangerous connotations) to healer. The chapter explores how the same knowledge can be read as benevolent or malevolent depending on who is telling the story.
Orkney cultural identity: The tartan cloak detail—Orkney does not wear tartan—serves as a reminder that Orkney sits between Scotland and Scandinavia, belonging fully to neither. Couper's return home is complicated by his long absence; he is both insider and outsider.
Legal procedure as protection: The missing notary and transcript represent the thin line between arbitrary local power and the rule of law. Couper's insistence on procedure is his best weapon, but Alison's doubt suggests procedure may not be enough against John Stewart.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is the first extended legal strategy session of the novel, establishing the defense's approach and the obstacles it faces. It deepens the mystery around Solveig—the name of Alison's benefactor—and ties the Triskele more closely to the present-day plot. It also crystallizes the central tension of the trial: Alison's innocence is clear to the reader, but the machinery of accusation, driven by John Stewart's influence, may not care about the truth. The chapter ends on a note of foreboding that carries into the next phase of the trial.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Alison doubt that witnesses from Gunn will testify on her behalf?
Alison recalls seeing her friends and neighbors in the courtroom during the first hearing and is not confident they will speak for her. She also remembers John Stewart watching her carefully in that courtroom, suggesting the witnesses may be intimidated or influenced by Stewart's power. Her doubt contrasts sharply with Couper's confidence, highlighting the gap between legal theory and local reality.
2. What is the significance of Couper being paid by a man named Solveig?
Alison expected the payment to come from an anonymous benefactor among the rebels—possibly an udaller like Jacob McVeigh or Peter Gauldry. The name Solveig startles her because it may refer to Solveig from the Triskele, the group from her past. This revelation suggests the Triskele's influence extends into the present, and that Alison's defense may be connected to forces she does not fully understand.
3. How does the chapter use sleep deprivation to develop Alison's character?
The sleep deprivation pushes Alison into a hallucinatory state where the boundaries between dreaming and waking collapse. Yet even in this degraded condition, she remains coherent and precise when recounting her story to Couper—correcting his assumptions and providing specific details about the charm, the cathedral encounter, and the pricking. This contrast between her physical brokenness and her mental clarity underscores her resilience and the reliability of her account.