Chapter 4

Owen, stabbed by Minister Vivian Rolfe, comes to in a winter wood that he recognizes as his childhood grove. Bleeding and disoriented, he is confronted by Sir Una Everlasting, who holds a sword to his throat; he faints.

He wakes in a collapsing cottage where Una tends a fire. She is wary, armored only in part, and visibly weathered. Suspicious of the book he carries, Una accuses Owen of being yet another bard chronicler; when he denies it, she threatens him before dismissing him as mad.

At dawn, Owen persists, showing cigarettes, spectacles, and a revolver as proof of his claim to be from the future. He identifies Una’s place in her legend and realizes she has abandoned the royal command to find the grail and the last dragon. Pressed, Una admits she has searched and failed, retreating to the grove of her slain fathers for quiet, rest, and to avoid killing.

Understanding Vivian’s purpose, Owen recognizes he has been sent not merely to record but to steer Una back to her story. He appeals to legacy and nation, describing her future legend and Dominion’s endurance, and reveals his war scar as the price he claims was “worth it.” Una shows a fierce, hungry reaction to mattering but remains fragile.

When Owen impulsively touches her hand, Una reacts violently, pinning him, then recoils in horror at herself. She permits him to stay by her fire and share food, with strict conditions: do not touch her unawares and remain armed for his own sense of safety. As she departs into the trees, Owen tells her the Savior’s dream will come and guide her to the dragon; Una says she has not dreamed here, and Owen insists she will.