Bree and Nick come downstairs after reaffirming that they are still on the same side, though both recognize that their goals are diverging: Nick faces an approaching Order war, while Bree is determined to uncover her mother’s past. Before dinner, three women from the Order of the Rose arrive, including Virginia Edwards and Vaughn Schaefer’s mother. Virginia mistakes Bree for staff and orders Bree to handle an umbrella, but Nick sharply corrects Virginia and identifies Bree as Nick’s Page.

Lord Davis arrives in a wheelchair and defuses the confrontation, sending Nick and Bree into dinner while Davis guides the Rose members to the kitchen. As Bree and Nick walk, Nick explains that the Order of the Rose began because women were historically barred from becoming Pages, Squires, or Scions. Nick also reveals that men sometimes killed daughters to force the Spell to pass to male heirs, confirming for Bree that the Order’s violence and prejudice run deep.

In the dining room, Bree joins Greer and Whitty at the Pages’ table while Nick sits with the Legendborn. Vaughn publicly accuses Bree of cheating, trying to impress Nick, and benefiting from affirmative action. Bree considers keeping her head down, but chooses instead to answer openly, calling Vaughn a bigot and framing his attack as an insult to Nick’s judgment and loyalty to Arthur’s Scion.

Vaughn lunges across the table, but Carson restrains Vaughn before Vaughn reaches Bree. The confrontation shifts attention and embarrassment onto Vaughn, though Vaughn warns Bree that the conflict is not over. Whitty breaks the tension, Greer supports Bree, and the three joke about being disruptors, giving Bree a small moment of solidarity. Across the room, Sel watches Bree with a calculating, attentive expression.

After dinner, Lord Davis addresses the chapter. Davis confirms Felicity’s Calling, reveals that Kay’s fifth-ranked Scion was Called at another chapter, and reports increased Shadowborn attacks, more Gates, partial crossings, a fully corporeal uchel, and possible sightings of the Line of Morgaine. Because the Regents believe Camlann may be near, Davis announces that all tournaments will be accelerated: the first trial begins after dinner, Selection will happen in six weeks, and Pages may forfeit now rather than risk the Warrior’s Oath and possible death or Abatement.

Three Pages forfeit, reducing the competitors from fifteen to twelve. The remaining chapter is left with the weight of Davis’s warning: Camlann is coming, and Bree’s path through the tournament has become more urgent and dangerous.