I remember what Fitz said earlier—and the orders Lord Davis had given to send the Awakened to the front lines against the hellhounds. “But if the lower-ranked Scions are Called all the time, then your Lines are—infantry. You’re bearing the brunt of the war. The higher-ranked Scions—”

William cuts me off with a raised finger. “No, little Page, don’t go down that road.” He sighs. “Fitz’s way—his entire family’s way—is… dishonorable. We are Called first because fifteen hundred years ago, our knights were first to the field. It’s like Lord Davis says, to serve is to elevate oneself. It is ennobling. Some carry the burden with resentment, but the truth is, none of us have a choice. Immortality has a price. In the end, there is evil in the world, and we are the ones equipped to fight it.”

“Under normal circumstances, the Order is fine without an Awakened Arthur… but we’re not ‘under normal circumstances,’ are we?”

“No, it seems not.” William sighs heavily. “Nick was correct. A Scion ranked higher than sixth hasn’t been Called in a very long time. And Sel was right too. Demons—isels especially—don’t work together like they did tonight. And an uchel sighting is beyond rare.” He studies me. “But why don’t you ask the question that’s really on your mind?”

“Just the one?” I quip.

His mouth twitches. “The big one.”

“What is Camlann?”

He leads me over to a pair of sitting chairs, perfectly positioned for contemplating the Wall, or the Order’s history and legacy, or both.

“It’s written in the books that the magic holding Merlin’s spell together—the engine behind the entire system—is preserved in the spirit of Arthur. As long as the king’s spirit remains dormant, the spell is safe. This is why Arthur, the first knight, calls on his Scion last, and only when ‘the demon scourge’ becomes so powerful and so rampant, that the Round Table must be reunited under his leadership to fight it back. The threat must be great indeed, for Arthur to Awaken and enter the field, putting all of the Lines at risk.”

William pauses, then recites the next words from memory: “ ‘When thirteen Scions have Awakened and claimed Squires, the Scion of Arthur will lead the Round Table against the demon plague in a deadly battle.’ This war is called Camlann, so named because, in legend, Camlann is where many of the final knights were killed. Camlann is the battlefield where Arthur fell. Camlann is where the original Round Table was broken—forever. If a fully Awakened Arthur is struck down by Shadowborn blood, the Legendborn Lines will be broken forever too.”

I whisper, “And the humans, the Unanedig, will have no defenders.”

“ ‘And the Shadowborn will rule the earth.’ ”

The room falls into a tense silence. Somewhere behind the silver wall, I hear a dripping sound.