“Nick doesn’t see the grand vision of his ascension. What the return of the king means, and what it can restore. The opportunity of Camlann that I never had.”
I glare at him, fresh rage lacing my voice. “You think war is an opportunity?”
He looks surprised, as if I’ve mistaken red for blue. “All wars are opportunities. And I won’t let another one pass me by.”
“Pass you…” I trail off. My heart pounds as details return. “You wanted Camlann when you were a Scion. You wanted Arthur to Call you.”
“Of course I did.” Lord Davis tilts his head. “You wouldn’t understand the frustration of a Scion who has never been Called, but for a Scion of Arthur? To be that close to that much power and be forced to wait for it to come to you? The impotence was intolerable. But that’s not why I am accelerating Camlann. That, I’m doing for my son’s future and the future health of the Order.” He waves his hand at the paintings on his walls, the old books. “In the old days, Vassals served us in exchange for protection. Now, CEOs and politicians expect Lieges to follow their whims, give them what they want. Vassal infighting pits Lines against Lines. Once, ladies were respected and honored at court, but then the Order of the Rose fell to the wayside and now women sit at the Table, when Malory tells us that ‘the very purpose of a knight is to fight on behalf of a lady’! And now my son’s foolishness in choosing you, who sits at the crux of two faults. Can you not see the sickness here? How the corruption must be rooted out and corrected?”
Two faults. My race and my gender.
But they are not faults. They are strength.
And I am more than this man can comprehend.
Lord Davis watches me, waiting for an answer with open curiosity on his face. The disconnect in his eyes, the cold way he talks about war and power… Suddenly, I remember the records, the affidavit, his signature at the bottom—and sickening horror floods me.
“It was you. You opened the Gates twenty-five years ago. You laid out the welcome mat for the Shadowborn, invited them right into our world.”
I expect him to deny it. Call me a liar. But he doesn’t. Instead, he wags a finger. “Isaac told me he could smell both you and Selwyn here in my study. I imagine you availed yourself of my archives while he pursued his very inconvenient ‘mole’ theory?”
“You aren’t even denying it,” I breathe. “You got people killed! My m—” I start, then stop. He has no idea about who I really am. That my mother suffered because of his greed. I don’t want to raise her name here. Don’t want to give him any more power over me.
He hums, sliding off the desk. “I admit, it was a failed experiment. I’d hoped to create the threat of Camlann through the sheer numbers of Shadowborn crossin’ and the loss of Onceborn life, as you might infer from the tenets of our mission. ‘Protect the Onceborns from the scourge.’ It took a few more years of research before I realized that the more the Scions themselves were threatened, the more the Calling would occur.”
“Sel was right. There was someone on the inside opening the Gates on campus. You.” Memories piece themselves together faster now. “The night of the First Oath, you asked him if his abilities were failing him—that was just to make him question himself. And your threat to remove him as Nick’s Kingsmage, that was just to get him out of the way.”
“I can’t take all of the credit for Selwyn’s paranoia, Briana. Gates are opening at an increased rate up and down the coast, at every chapter. I simply pushed things along where I could.”
“You were going to torture him!”
He shrugs. “The Kane boy needs to be leashed.”
My teeth grind together at his flippant response to Sel’s pain. The disregard for the child he raised.
I cycle through all of the Shadowborn attacks in the past two weeks, starting with the first at the Quarry, the hound on campus, the Oath—“You’re the one who brought the hounds and the uchel to the Oath that night, aren’t you?”
Lord Davis tips an imaginary hat. “I suppose I have you to thank for that, don’t I? Nick’s unexpected arrival made things a bit more dramatic than I’d planned, but you helped serve a great purpose. He saw you injured, saw me fall to the uchel.” He drops his hands into his pockets, clucking his tongue. “It was a strong start, but I still needed to open the Gates at other chapters so that all of the Lines were at risk. And now there are only two Lines left to Awaken.”
“You’re putting your own son at risk,” I sputter. “And all the Lines, too. If Nick falls—”
“Nick will not fall. I’ve trained him far too well for that. He is a natural-born leader and does not tolerate harm to innocents. He’s made for this war.”
“This manufactured war, you mean,” I spit.
“The world is a great chain of being, and everyone has their place. Even you. Even me. The hierarchy that holds the Order together has lost its value because the danger has appeared distant. Once the Vassals are reminded of the destruction we prevent, they will be reminded of their place in things. Their place under the king.”
“You mean Nick,” I retort. “Your time as the Scion of Arthur has passed.”
That makes him angry. “Nicholas is a hero to his core. If it’s necessary, I will show him how I have learned to open the Gates, and how I will continue to if he doesn’t follow my lead. He will be Called by Arthur and take up Excalibur tonight and, as king, he will do as I say. Then the whole of the Order and its Vassals around the globe will bend to our will.”
“Well, I won’t,” I say, clenching my fists against the ropes.
His expression shifts to pleasantly amused just as there’s a knock at the door. “Right on time,” he says, as if we’d just ordered room service at a fancy hotel.
When the door opens, my whole world cracks into a million excruciating shards.
Alice enters the room in her matching polka dotted pajamas as if sleepwalking, her face slack and eyes half-open—with Isaac holding her tight at his side.
“Alice?” I cry. “Alice!”
She sways, silent, and her forehead glistens like she’s sweating out a fever.
“Alice!”
Davis leans away, wincing with a finger to his ear. “No need to yell. She can’t hear you.”
Fury races through my body like a forest fire. “What have you done to her?” Isaac bares his teeth in a chilling smile. He holds Alice’s hand in both of his, caressing the top of her fingers. “Don’t touch her!”
“I’m afraid Isaac has to keep touching Ms. Chen in order for this particular mesmer to continue.” Davis walks back to his chair and settles in his desk. “Which it will until we come to an understanding.”
“If you don’t let her go—” I choke out. “I swear to God, I will tear you apart!”
“Such fire.” Davis smirks. “Let’s see if we can put it out. Isaac?”
Isaac moves in front of Alice as if wrapping her in a hug and slides his hands up to her cheeks, holding her head still until their eyes meet. A slow, sickly shimmer of silver-gray mage flame circles her from the neck up. A second later, Alice blinks rapidly.