After Nick claims Bree as his Page, Bree objects to the possessive language. Nick explains that a Page is a voluntary, protected initiate, not a servant, and gives Bree a silver sigil necklace that marks Nick’s bloodline as her sponsor. Nick agrees to help Bree compete only while he looks for another way to get her to the Regents, and he sets rules: Bree must act ignorant because Sel believes she has been mesmered twice, and she must hide what she can do.

Nick and Bree enter the Lodge foyer, where other students stare because Nick has returned after years away and because Bree appears to be an outsider who bypassed the usual Vassal route. Bree meets Felicity Caldwell, a Scion, and Russ Copeland, Felicity’s Squire. Nick explains that matching sigils show their Line connection, but refuses to explain why he renounced his title, saying only that his rejection was not about the people in the Order.

In the great room, Bree notices the Lodge’s wealth and the all-white crowd, which makes her think about trying to succeed inside an institution rooted in a history that excluded and oppressed people like her. Nick promises to stop anyone who mistreats Bree, but Bree doubts that such prejudice can simply be stopped. Bree then meets Whitty, Sarah’s Page, and Greer Taylor, Russ’s Page, while Nick is pulled aside by Craig McMahon, a fourth-year Page who immediately asks Nick to consider choosing him as Squire.

Greer explains that some Pages, like Craig, are acolytes who revere the Legendborn Lines and seek advancement before the Trials even begin. In conversation, Greer casually mentions Arthur, forcing Bree to realize that King Arthur is real in the Order’s world. Nick explains that the Order has shaped and distorted Arthurian stories for centuries through Vassal misinformation, then warns Bree that legends are dangerous and that the other Pages have had far more preparation.

Felicity leads the new Pages on a tour of the Lodge. Bree studies the other initiates: Greer, Whitty, Vaughn, Lewis, and herself. In the library, Bree finds a display labeled Merlin Jackson’s manacles from Salem in 1692. Felicity explains that Merlins can enchant such restraints with aether, while Vaughn identifies the targets as witches. The display reveals to Bree that Merlins do not only hunt demons; they also hunt people who use aether outside the Order.