I groan. The ritual. “I’ll have to face the Regents at the Rite, but I can’t act like everything is normal when they’ve just dragged Sel’s name through the mud. When they’re chasing him down like a criminal. Why would they show up and lie to everyone?”

William lifts a shoulder. “My guess? Control. But over what exactly? The war?”

I frown. “They can’t control Camlann or stop it without us. Without me.”

“No, they can’t, but they can control the war’s narrative.” He plugs in the electric kettle on the coffee table and sits in one of the two nearby chairs while it heats. “Whispers that we are approaching Camlann have been circling for months. We may appear as one hierarchy, but the Order is made up of two factions—and the Regents must walk a fine line between them, as will you. Most are Round Table traditionalists. The thirteen Legendborn bloodline families that produce Scions—and the families of chosen Squires and the pledged Vassals that have served the Lines for generations. They expect their warrior children be treated with honor. They are waiting for a king. But the world is changed. The Order membership had to expand to maintain all of its access and resources. Now, there are a growing number of modernists pledging to the Order. Vassals who don’t have decades of loyalty to a Legendborn family. They don’t care about the Order’s origins, only its money and reach.” He taps his mug as he thinks. “But where does that leave the Regents now, I wonder?”

I stiffen, remembering Nick’s father’s indignation and ire over this very issue. What Lord Davis had said to me, sneering, while he’d held me captive and threatened me if I didn’t leave the Order. “That’s the reason Lord Davis wanted to start Camlann. To remind those modern members of Legendborn power and the mission. To them, the Legendborn are probably more symbolic than anything, just like Arthur was to me, before. A bunch of stories. Especially with the last Camlann so long ago and so many demon attacks stifled before they truly begin. They don’t see the carnage because the chapters and Merlins do too good a job keeping it at bay.”

William sucks in a breath. “And I imagine that the modern faction of quasi-believers would not be pleased if they found out a traditionalist like Lord Davis started a war under the Regents’ noses. With enough momentum, they could challenge the Regents’ grip on the organization. The Regents can’t afford to lose one side’s support or the other side’s loyalty. The Order needs both to maintain its global status.”