𝔅orn in rural northern France to peasant parents, Marie-Claire (now dubbed Sidonie by her literary friends) learned witchcraft from the requisite village crone. By the time she struck out on her own in Paris, she was skilled at brewing potions. She originally used them to help people, but the city sharpened and twisted her ambitions so that she eventually had no objection to concocting hexes. The one consolation is that, for now, she draws the line at poisons.

This precarious balance is threatened when she suspects her lover of cheating on her. It isn't so much the fact of it as the lie afterwards. She would far rather be told the truth, however painful it might be. In the wake of her anger Sidonie has begun work on her most complex potion yet; even she isn't quite sure what she intends it to do, just that it should be commensurate with her lover's crime of passion.