Heartless Hunter

“Rune was a deer, and he was a hunter. Taking her measure, noting every detail and flaw, trying to decide if she would be worth the hunt. A second later, he frowned and looked away. Evidently, she wasn’t.”

Kristen Ciccarelli uses distinct imagery and metaphor to portray the danger of Rune and Gideon’s interactions. As they play their double-sided, deadly game of cat and mouse, Rune never loses sight of the fact that he is the hunter and she is his prey.

“In a war room full of weapons, Gideon was the deadliest, and Rune was heading straight toward that honed edge, her throat bared.”

This passage describes the courtship in which Rune and Gideon engage. As Rune falls for Gideon, she acknowledges that she’s opening herself up to not only heartbreak but also death should he ever discover her true identity.

“Every time Gideon looked at the young heiress, she reminded him of the sea: steal-your-breath beautiful on the surface, with the promise of untold depths beneath. Whenever she opened her mouth, however, and he listened to the ridiculous things pouring out—at dinner tables, in parlor rooms, in the halls of the wealthy and popular—he remembered anew how deceptive looks could be. There were no hidden depths to Rune Winters. Only surface, surface, and more surface.”

Gideon has a limited perception of Rune based on the first impression he made without getting to know her. This narrow view of her blinds him to her complexities and allows him to underestimate her.

“Gideon tensed. This had always been a sore spot between him and Alex. His brother wanted nothing to do with the hunting and purging of witches. He’d made that clear these past two years, and Gideon no longer pressed him on it. Their shared past haunted them both in different ways. Alex wanted to forget; Gideon couldn’t afford to.”

The strain in Gideon and Alex’s relationship due to their conflicting views on the ethicality of purging witches reveals the theme of Ethical Dilemmas in a Divided Society. While Alex believes in mercy, Gideon cannot afford to think that way after experiencing Cressida kill the other members of their family as punishment for Gideon’s disobedience.

“As the blood dried and the spell solidified, Verity pushed her spectacles further up her nose. Rune couldn’t help but notice the shadows under her friend’s eyes. Likely from too many late nights helping the Crimson Moth, then staying up until morning to finish her biology homework.”

This is one of the first moments of foreshadowing where Ciccarelli hints at Verity’s true identity. The under-eye circles are not from staying up late to study, but rather the effect of murdering Blood Guards in the dead of night.

“Pushing herself onto the desk, Verity seated herself next to the spell book, and her lavender perfume invaded Rune’s senses. Floral scents were in fashion these days, and the one Verity doused herself in had been a gift from her sisters.”

This passage illustrates another subtle moment of foreshadowing of Verity’s identity. Not only does this passage evidence that Verity goes through great pains to cover up her natural scent but also the chosen scent—floral—matches Cressida’s depiction as a woman who loves flowers. She smells of roses when she does magic, always requests hand-sewn flowers from Gideon, and chooses flowers as the designs for her casting scars.

“Most of her friends still watched them, some of them murmuring behind their hands. Were they laughing at him? Was she laughing at him? He thought again of another girl. Another party. One where he’d been paraded around and humiliated. Gideon thought he’d extinguished that shame. But it flared now like glowing embers. Harrow was mistaken. Gideon had no chance in hell of successfully courting a girl like Rune. He’d just arrived and was already embarrassing her. When she realized he had no wealth or grand estate—he’d given his spoils of war to Alex after the revolution—she would join in their laughing, if she hadn’t already.”

Gideon’s perspective here illustrates the impact Cressida had on his psyche. In addition to the external torture she inflicted on him, she also engaged in psychological torture, decreasing his self-confidence. By treating Gideon as beneath her societal status and someone to be ashamed of, Gideon came to believe this of himself. This insecurity caused his initial indifference toward Rune.

“She wouldn’t have asked him to dance if she’d known he didn’t know how. Humiliating him like that, in front of all her friends, would not win him over. And from the rigid line of his shoulders and the stiffness in his step beside her, she could tell his guard was still up.”

Right from the start, Rune is different from Cressida. Rather than shame him for what he does not know, Rune skillfully spares Gideon from embarrassment. Though the last time they spoke, he was rude to her, Rune treats him with respect and compassion.

“The queens were never given a proper burial, and to this day, no one knew where the bodies lay. People had different theories, of course: they’d been burned in a pit, or dumped in the sea, or chopped into pieces to prevent resurrection. No one knew for sure.”

Though this does not come into play in this first installment, this is a key fact that will remain prevalent in the series. While Cressida’s whereabouts are known by the end of Heartless Hunter, her sisters’ whereabouts are unknown. An epigraph toward the end of the novel speaks of how Arcana magic is powerful enough to raise the dead, and this passage foreshadows that possibility regarding Cressida’s sisters.

“Gideon Sharpe was a cold, heartless murderer. Not a softhearted suitor. He played the same game she did, and was more skilled at it than she’d thought. Fear nipped at her. Perhaps bringing him here had been a mistake.”

Even in moments where Rune and Gideon become intimate and their status as enemies takes a back seat, Ciccarelli is quick to remind readers of the dangers that pose a risk to their lives and their budding romance. These reminders increasingly raise the stakes and heighten the tension the longer Rune’s secret remains secret.

“In all those years, how many times have I needed saving? She must have asked aloud, because Alex said: ‘It’s not the times you don’t need saving that I’m worried about. It’s the one time you’ll need it, and there will be no one to do it.’”

Alex is consistently referred to as Rune’s safe space. Any time she is in trouble, Alex is there to save her. However, at the end of the novel, Alex dies saving his brother. With Alex’s death and Gideon’s emboldened hatred of Rune at the end of the novel, these words spoken by Alex come true. Rune is now all alone, and in a moment where she might need saving, no one will come to her rescue.

“That’s what this is. Not a kind gesture. Not a solution to her problem. He wants to look for my casting scars. She felt that dark gaze watching her. As her eyes lifted to his, she remembered who she was dealing with. This was no suitor—not really. And the dress design sitting in his sketchbook solved his problem. Not hers.”

Gideon’s kind gesture of staying up all night to design a dress for Rune is contrasted with his decision to use their measuring appointment as a way to search Rune’s body for casting scars. Therefore, the considerate nature of his initial kindness is overshadowed by the manipulative ruse he uses to further his agenda.

“She didn’t feel any different. But maybe no one did. Maybe a witch had no idea what was happening to her until it was too late.”

This passage illustrates the potential danger of using Arcana magic. While Rune might not feel the effects this time, there is potential that they are already taking root without her notice. Rune’s precarious position at the end of the novel, her alliance with Cressida, places her in a position where she might be forced to corrupt herself with Arcana magic to survive.

“‘In Caelis, we’ll go to the opera house every day of the week. Where they show real operas, not that propaganda you despise.’ She looked away from him, afraid he’d see how much she wanted that—to watch a real opera again. To talk about the intricacies of the characters and themes on the carriage ride home. It would never be Nan sitting next to her. But that would be okay, if Alex was beside her instead.”

Alex presents Rune with a view of life similar to what she had before the Red Peace and Nan’s execution. Alex provides her with not only safety but a home in which she can be completely herself in a way she can be with no one else, not even Gideon. It is this promise that informs Rune’s decision to accept Alex’s marriage proposal.

“Looking at him was like watching an opera she didn’t like. One of those ridiculous comedies where the character got everything she’d ever dreamed of and lived happily ever after. Those operas were so unrealistic, they always made Rune want to cry. Or stand up and leave. Sometimes, she got the same feeling looking at Alex.”

Though Rune accepts Alex’s marriage proposal, this passage hints that this particular romance isn’t the be-all-end-all. Though Alex is Rune’s safe person, a life with him seems too perfect to believe in. It reminds her of the operas she hates, which spout lies and Republic propaganda. While she believes she can build a content life with Alex, it wouldn’t be a life filled with real happiness because the shadow of what she left behind would always be hanging over her head.

“The girl in question—Verity de Wilde—stood next to Alex, her face half-hidden behind a raven mask. She crossed her arms tightly over the bodice of her scarlet dress as she stared down Gideon, like she did not approve of how close he stood to Rune.”

This passage represents another moment of foreshadowing of Verity’s identity. While Ciccarelli passes it off as a disapproval of the danger the relationship poses to Rune’s life, the passage has a double meaning. With the proper context (knowledge of Verity’s real identity), it becomes clear she is not fond of having the man she used to love fall for the woman she’s friends with.

“‘If Penitent children are begging in the street, it’s the Republic you should blame. The Good Commander made their families outcasts for aiding witches […] Or don’t you remember that the Commander promised us a better world […] One where no one lives in squalor.’ Despite his anger, she was right. Gideon remembered the rallies. The speeches. The pamphlets hidden in pockets and shoes or between the pages of books passed under the noses of the aristocracy. Nicolas Creed had promised to usher in a better world. But that world had yet to fully arrive.”

Rune points out the issues in the New Republic that many, including Gideon, prefer to ignore in favor of blaming all misfortune on the Reign of Witches. In pointing this point, she reveals that there is good and bad to both sides of their divided society and the side that Gideon serves is not wholly altruistic as they’d like everyone to believe.

“Witches are cruel by nature, but the Roseblood sisters were evil. They tortured and killed those who crossed them, then used the blood of their victims for their spells.”

While Rune and Gideon are becoming closer and their false courtship has undoubtedly become real, he still holds very limiting perceptions of witches. These negative views do not pertain just to Cressida and her sisters but are being applied to all witches by association. This does not bode well for Rune’s safety if their romance is to continue.

“She tried to remember the part she was playing. But the protective mask she wore was slipping fast. Rune couldn’t pretend to be a shallow, gossipy girl after he’d bared his soul to her. She couldn’t tell herself there were two sides to this story, or that Cressida and her sisters were the actual victims. None of what had happened to him excused what he was doing now, of course: hunting witches down, one by one; propping up a violent regime. But it helped her understand him.”

Rune struggles with continuing the ruse she begins to gain valuable information from Gideon that she could use as the Crimson Moth. Instead, she’s falling in love with him and allowing him to see the real, intimate parts of herself.

“But he couldn’t turn away simply because it made him uncomfortable. Nor could he let his feelings for Rune weaken his search for the truth. Gideon needed to keep his head about him more than ever. She had seemed different under the moonlight the other night. Not at all the irritating girl who’d accosted him in the opera box. Gideon had been so enamored by the pensive, sensitive Rune that the discordance hadn’t raised his suspicions.”

Gideon’s sense of duty continues to outweigh his growing feelings for Rune. While his doubts continue about her identity, he cannot allow himself to be distracted from his purpose.

“Three black thrones loomed in the distance. At the sight of them, a chill gripped the back of Gideon’s neck, squeezing like an icy hand. That they were empty should have relieved him. The sight should have felt like a triumph over evil. Instead, it felt more like an absence longing to be filled. As if this room—those thrones—were waiting for their queens to return.”

The thrones in this passage symbolize the threat the witches still pose to society from Gideon’s perspective. Yet in the grander scheme of things, the distinct presentation of these thrones hints at the return of Cressida and perhaps her other sisters in the second installment.

“If he proved himself worthy of her, maybe this could be more than a game. Not just flirting and kissing and courting, but a life shared. Maybe Gideon could have all of her. But would she want all of him? He was terrified to even hope for it.”

This moment takes place mere pages before Gideon discovers Rune’s true identity. By succumbing fully to their feelings for one another and imagining a potential future together, the novel’s tension reaches an all-time high just before the major conflict begins everything crashing down.

“There was something insatiable in the witch queen’s expression. It was the look of a predator. Someone capable of killing innocent Verity de Wilde and subsuming her identity so perfectly, no one noticed. Someone capable of ensnaring brave Gideon Sharpe, then breaking his spirit into a million fractured pieces.”

Calling back to the many times throughout the novel when Cressida, Rune, or Gideon were likened to various animals as predator or prey, Cressida is explicitly described as the apex predator, not only to Gideon and the Republic but potentially to Rune as well. Despite allying with her for now, Rune is well aware of who the real enemy is.