I swallow around the truth of it. And the truth that not all of that outburst was mine. Or at least, I don’t think it was. I don’t feel Arthur anymore, don’t hear him in my head. Does that mean he’s gone? Or that a bleed-through could happen again? I wish I knew the answer.

I also wish I thought William was wrong to tell me what to do, how to be, but part of me thinks he could be right.

“So,” I ask William slowly, “you came here to berate me?”

He shakes his head, smiles gently. “I’m not berating you. I’m telling you that you can’t explode in public—and in front of the other Legendborn, who are looking to you to lead—but you can explode in private. Here.”

I blink, caught off guard by the invitation. “What…”

“Go on.” He gestures wide with one hand. “Let it out.”

I try to find the words for everything that just happened. What’s there left to say, even?

“You have a long day ahead of you still…. So now is the time.”

Finally, I shout. “This is bullshit!”

“Good.” William nods. “Agreed. What else?”

I start to pace, and I let myself just be Bree—and angry. “We agreed not to advertise Nick’s absence, we agreed to say that the Davises went on leave, but then the Regents created a whole lie about Nick and his father being ‘sequestered’ for their safety! And now they’re out there spreading lies about Sel. When they said they believed us that Lord Davis opened those Gates. It feels like a damn cover-up!”

“I agree.”

That stops me in my tracks. “You do? You didn’t say that with the others.”

Instead of answering, William makes a questioning sound—so mild and curious that it confuses me at first. Then my eyes drop to his hands, where he’s holding open a box of tea, extended in my direction.

I reject his silent offer with a wave and start pacing again.

William clears his throat. “I insist, Crown Scion.”

I pause and glare at him. “I know what you’re doing. You’re letting me rant, then calming me down.”

“And is it working?”

“No.”

“Chamomile it is.” He pulls two mugs out from the shelf beneath the end table with a sigh. “I didn’t say anything outside because I didn’t want to flame panic. Yours, mine, or our friends’. You are our best chance out of this mess. You were raised outside of the Order. You see things about our world that we can’t. You can’t go into the Rite of Kings without a clear head. We need to prepare, think it through.”