Chapter 32

Sixty-five hours after Briana Matthews disappears, Nick secretly leaves his tower confinement after two in the morning and waits in the Northern Chapter archives. Donovan Reynolds arrives after receiving Nick’s note, quickly realizing Nick has been escaping at night and returning before dawn despite the tower latch and Risa’s affective wards.

Nick explains that he has been reading centuries of Lancelot Scion journals because he was raised to expect Arthur’s powers, not Lancelot’s. Donovan mocks Nick’s situation and insults Bree’s ancestry, causing Nick to grab Donovan by the throat and warn him not to diminish what Samuel Davis did to Vera or speak disrespectfully about Bree.

After Nick releases Donovan, Nick admits he needs guidance. Donovan vents his resentment: Nick and Bree’s revelations cost Donovan the Lancelot role he expected, while Nick remains a Scion and Donovan is now far from ever being Called. Nick counters that the Spell of Eternity and the Order caused their upheaval, and that Nick and Bree are still trapped in mortal danger from Camlann, the Regents, and Abatement.

Donovan finally agrees to help. Nick says the journals only describe Lancelot’s speed and vision in vague terms, and Donovan reveals that personal inheritance knowledge is usually hidden through private collections or oral tradition. When Donovan realizes Nick’s visions have begun, Nick reluctantly begs for information.

Donovan reveals that Lancelot’s inheritances are unique: speed arrives first, but visions may arrive later, and only after Arthur’s Scion has been Called. He says Arthur, Lancelot, and Merlin secretly linked the two Lines within the Spell of Eternity so Lancelot’s visions would develop in response to the awakened king. Nick interprets this as a tool to help Arthur win Camlann, but Donovan offers a darker possibility: the visions may exist so Lancelot’s Scion can oppose Arthur if the king goes astray.