The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo
Contents
Chapter 2
Overview
Doña Valentina confronts Luzia about the “prank” Valentina believes she witnessed, and Luzia’s composure leaves Valentina frightened enough to bolt her own door. To avoid exposure, Luzia suppresses her song-magic and slips into the city, maintaining the outward performance of piety while remembering the secret faith and losses that shape her life. Seeking escape, Luzia asks her glamorous aunt Hualit—mistress to the influential Víctor de Paredes—for shelter, but is refused, trapping Luzia in Casa Ordoño and deepening the stakes of being discovered.
Summary
At Casa Ordoño, Doña Valentina relies on the scullion to perform intimate nightly duties in the absence of a handmaid. Unable to ignore the girl after the bread incident, Valentina asks the scullion’s name—Luzia—and probes about whether Luzia has a suitor. When Luzia answers with unexpected candor about loneliness, Valentina’s own grief and insecurity flare, and she accuses Luzia and the cook of mocking her.
Luzia’s steady gaze unnerves Valentina, who abruptly retreats from the confrontation by claiming she saw “nothing,” criticizing Luzia’s boldness, and dismissing her. After Luzia leaves, Valentina’s fear lingers, and she bolts her door, signaling that suspicion and anxiety now govern her treatment of the servant.
The next day, Luzia takes no risks: she avoids singing or whispering any words that might speed work or lighten burdens, determined not to give Valentina further cause to watch her. Knowing Valentina cannot follow her into the streets, Luzia hurries to San Ginés, where she keeps up the appearance of daily churchgoing while privately remembering her mother, Blanca Cotado, and the hidden prayers and Jewish identity Luzia must continue to conceal.
From the church garden, Luzia makes her way to the brick house of her aunt Hualit, who lives under the name Catalina de Castro de Oro as the mistress of the powerful Víctor de Paredes. In Hualit’s carefully staged “exotic” courtyard, Hualit quickly reads Luzia’s fear; the maid Ana serves them and is treated as trustworthy. Luzia blurts out a plea to stay with Hualit, confessing how unbearable Casa Ordoño has become.
Hualit refuses, citing Luzia’s father’s obsession with preserving Luzia’s “virtue,” and she mocks the bargain of hard labor traded for purity. As Luzia stews in frustration, she reflects on her isolation, her lack of suitors, and the threats she has faced from men, including a past incident bathing Don Esteban, when she had to intimidate him into stopping his assault. Hualit ends the visit with a fatalistic reminder that only God knows what Luzia is meant for, leaving Luzia without refuge and still under pressure to remain unseen.
Who Appears
- LuziaScullion hiding song-magic and Jewish identity; avoids spells, visits church, seeks refuge with her aunt.
- Doña Valentina OrdoñoMistress of the house; questions Luzia, suspects a prank, and becomes fearful after the confrontation.
- Hualit (Catalina de Castro de Oro)Luzia’s aunt; maintains a luxurious persona as Víctor de Paredes’s mistress; refuses to take Luzia in.
- AnaHualit’s maid; serves Luzia and Hualit and is described as unusually discreet and dependable.
- Víctor de ParedesPowerful patron and shipowner; Hualit’s lover; his influence frames the danger and allure around Hualit.
- Blanca CotadoLuzia’s deceased mother; remembered at San Ginés as the source of Luzia’s secret prayers and identity.
- Don EstebanDon Marius’s father; recalled for assaulting Luzia during care, revealing Luzia’s past vulnerability and resolve.