“John was Called, and we were Oathed, and then, when we were in the field during a rough patch”—she takes a slow breath—“we lost some Pages. A Squire. The jealous ones stopped being jealous when they saw us return to the Keep carrying the body of one of our own.” She swallows, takes a deep breath. “The Vassal parents continued to be assholes, but the Pages never gave me crap again.”

“That’s horrible.”

“It wasn’t pretty,” she says. “John and I fought together right up until we hit the cut-off age. And we’re still at it, but we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like.”

“You had good training, then,” I say. “To last this long.”

She gives me a meaningful look. “And you were the Page and chosen Squire of the Scion of Arthur. You had training too. It’s just different now. Like starting a new job at entry level with zero experience, then getting promoted to CEO the next month.”

I sigh. “Yeah, except I ended up as the CEO because it turns out one of the previous CEOs was a…” There are no other words for it. “A fucking monster.”

She shakes her head. “It’s not right, how you’re the Crown Scion. The ‘how’ will never be right. But the ‘why’ is still open-ended.”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Bree…” Samira’s eyes go wide with something like admiration and pride. “You broke a fifteen-hundred-year-old glass ceiling. And even if the ‘how’ isn’t right, I’m glad I’m here to see it.”

A mixture of emotions swirls in me. Worry at the Abatement that I know is coming for her—and me. Shame that I’d never thought about what my role might mean to any other Black Pages and Squires, if there are any still living and if they ever find out about me. I felt so alone that I assumed I was.

She jerks a chin toward the side of the plane and the voices and people beyond. “They believe in you. Not just because of what you’ve done, but what you’re gonna do. What you could do when you figure out how to control those powers of yours.”

I flush, embarrassed. “I—”

“I’m not judging. I’ve heard that Arthur’s casting isn’t coming easy to you. Heard from Alice that your red flames don’t show unless they wanna show. But I meant it when I said I serve the true king; I trust that you’re the Crown Scion for a reason.”

“I’m the Crown Scion because I pulled Excalibur,” I reply, “the sword I’m supposed to wield that I don’t even have with me. I dropped it during the Rite. The Regents probably have it now, locked up somewhere.”