“Flick? Flick, answer me!” She screams again, the sound choking off on a sob. “Felicity?”

“What the hell?” Whitty breathes beside me. “What’s happening to her?”

“Kingsmage!” Davis calls over his shoulder. “She needs aid.”

“Felicity!” Russ cries again.

“Squire Copeland.” Sel appears at his shoulder. Russ turns, his face a mixture of fear and worry. “It’s her time. Step back.”

Russ shakes his head. “No, no, it can’t be—”

“Squire Copeland,” Davis insists. Russ looks between the two of them desperately, then allows Sel to draw him away from the agonized girl on the ground.

Craig McMahon stands beside me. “This isn’t possible. It’s too soon.”

“What isn’t possible?” I ask.

In the center of the group, Felicity moans long and loud. Her head drops back, eyes blank, and a voice—deep, masculine, not hers—emerges from her throat.

“Though I may fall, I will not die, but call on blood to live.”

She collapses forward in a crumpled heap.

Russ picks Felicity up and stands with her draped across his arms. “I’ll get her back to the Lodge. She needs to rest.”

Sel stops him. “I’m faster and stronger. Let me take her.”

Russ hesitates for a moment, his jaw clenched. Then he nods once and gently passes Felicity’s limp form to Sel, who lifts her easily. Without another word, Sel jogs through the trees and is gone.

As soon as he disappears, the crowd erupts—or at least the Pages do. The Legendborn wear stony expressions, exchange worried glances. One of the third-years shakes her head, muttering, “She’s fourth-ranked. This isn’t right.” One phrase rises above the chatter. “This is too soon.”

Davis calls for calm, but it’s his son’s voice that quiets the Chapel.

“Why did he call her?”

The crowd parts around Nick.

Davis blinks in surprise. “You know as well as I do, Nicholas, that we don’t control the Awakening of our knights. We are but instruments. They call us when there is need.”

“When there is need, and in command order,” Nick adds. “The first- through fifth-ranked knights haven’t Called their Scions in decades. Felicity is fourth-ranked, which means the fifth must be Awake. When was the Scion of Kay Called?”

Murmurs from the others now. A nod of heads.

If Alice were here, she’d say it’s too late. Now that I know the Scions are the descendants of the Round Table, called to power—violently—by their knights’ spirits…

What have I done?

Renewed authority threads through Davis’s voice. “This is not a chapter meeting. We should discuss these matters when we return to the Lodge.”

“No.” Nick raises his chin. “We should discuss it here. Why did Lamorak Call her, Dad? Why now?”

Davis’s nostrils flare, but before he can respond, a low growl from the darkness answers Nick’s question.