Chapter 6

Seventy-two hours after Briana Matthews disappears, William walks to the Keep’s meeting hall with Gillian for Nicholas Davis’s requested curia conventus. They puzzle over Nick’s strategy: he can demand one boon from the Regents, but obvious choices such as stopping his assassination order, searching for Bree, or searching for Sel would not solve every threat against him. William recalls that Nick once encouraged Bree toward becoming Legendborn partly because a curia could force answers from the Regents.

Samira joins William and Gillian, and the conversation briefly shifts to Alice, whom William has secretly sent away under the cover of being a Gawain Vassal. Samira hints at concern over a very young Mageguard at the door, suggesting the Order’s standards may be changing under pressure. Inside the rotunda, Samira and Gillian separate to sit with the other Lieges in the balcony, where they can observe but not participate.

William reflects on the hidden Lieges above him: former Legendborn marked by scars, missing limbs, and other lasting costs of service. Their exclusion from the proceedings intensifies William’s anger and makes him think of Jonas’s dying condemnation of the Order’s cycle. Greer then brings William to the Southern Chapter’s seats, where the remaining Scions and Squires wait.

The gathered Legendborn notice Donovan Reynolds among the Northern Chapter, even though Nick’s true lineage has proven Donovan was never Lancelot’s rightful Scion. William and the others recognize Donovan’s presence as another sign that the Regents bend rules to suit themselves. The Southern Chapter discusses what Nick might ask for, Maxwell Zhao’s death, and the Regents’ order to kill Nick, while Felicity sharply condemns Tor for betraying Bree and the Legendborn cause.

Aether pressure signals that the Mageguard are raising a protective barrier around the hall. Erebus, the Mageguard, the Regents, and their Mage Seneschals enter, with Lord Regent Aldrich treating the curia with open disdain. When Gabriel and Cestra mock Nick as arrogant and doomed, William’s restraint breaks. Remembering Bree’s courage and his own captivity under Cestra, William stands before the assembled Order, insists Nick is the rightful Scion of Lancelot, and rebukes Cestra for mocking the very virtues the Regents rely on.