Caraval

Scarlett is horrified. Julian grabs hold of her and tries to explain that he was working with Dante. Julian shows Scarlett a tattoo on his ribcage to prove it: a rose. Scarlett doesn’t think a rose means anything in particular and tells him about the dream she had and how he was Legend. Julian assures her he is not Legend and states that Rosa was his sister. She was also Dante’s fiancé. He and Dante were working together to avenge her death by preventing Legend from hurting anyone else the same way he had hurt her.

Though Scarlett trusts Julian about not being Legend, she can tell he’s not being entirely truthful. Finally, he confesses that he was just using Scarlett initially and forced himself to leave her waiting at the tavern because he came here for Rosa and got too involved with Scarlett. She fully believes him. Julian shows her a note he found that says: “J - Valentina is still missing. I think Legend is onto us” (237). Scarlett feels guilty for wasting a day of their lives because Dante might still be alive if they didn’t. Scarlett reaches for Julian’s hand and apologizes, but the sound of footsteps interrupts them. Scarlett tells Julian she thinks it’s her father, and they run.

Scarlett and Julian dart down into the tunnels. Julian grabs a stone and twists it, revealing a hidden room. He promises to keep Scarlett safe as the smell of her father’s perfume comes closer. The whole room closes in on them and pushes them close together. Scarlett realizes the room feeds off their emotions, and they need to relax. The more they panic, the more it shrinks. Julian has trouble calming himself down, but Scarlett takes deep breaths. Steadily, the room grows, and she can no longer smell her father’s perfume. Julian advises her to wait, but Scarlett has already opened the door.

As they flee her father and navigate the tunnels, Scarlett and Julian discuss her marriage, her father, and the circumstances that led them to play the game. Though Julian acknowledges her father is evil, he tells Scarlett that maybe her father was trying to protect her by concealing her fiancé’s identity. Julian “knew it was only a matter of time before Legend invited you to Caraval so he could break [her engagement] off” (245). Scarlett wants to know how Julian, a sailor, knows all this. The only thing he will reveal is that his family is well connected.

Scarlett hears a scream that sounds like Tella, and though Julian tries to warn her that it’s a trick, Scarlett runs after the sound. The tunnels are playing tricks on them. Julian advises Scarlett to keep moving and promises they’ll find her sister. Scarlett asks him whether he knew that Legend would take Tella when they came to Caraval. He replies that he didn’t know which of the sisters Legend would take, but he was sure he would kidnap one of them.

When they make it out of the tunnels, Scarlett allows herself a minute to process her feelings about everything and cry. This isn’t the same game she thought it was when she started. She smashes the ominous vase of roses from Legend. Julian enters the room and closes the door behind him. He assumes she’s crying because of him, but Scarlett tells him it’s much more than that.

Julian is ashamed and says he deserves all of Scarlett’s anger. He apologizes for lying and pleads for another chance. Scarlett forgives him but makes him swear to be truthful. He promises. There’s a knock on the door. Julian wants Scarlett to hide, but instead, Scarlett answers the door. It’s a delivery: a black box with a new vase of flowers with red roses in it. Scarlett kicks the vase before opening the box. She recognizes the fabric as the dress she’d bought, but when she pulls it out and examines it, the dress looks much lighter than one she had picked—so white that it looks like a wedding gown.

Scarlett thinks the delivery is a cruel joke because the white dress is much more revealing than anything she would’ve chosen for herself. It’s also strangely covered in buttons. There’s a note attached to it signed D, which Scarlett believes is supposed to indicate it’s from her younger sister, Donatella. However, there’s a top hat on the note, so she actually believes it’s Legend playing games with her. She thinks that the buttons are a clue. She remembers when she bought the dresses that there was a path of buttons leading to a “hatter and haberdashery shop shaped like a top hat” (258).

Julian doesn’t think the buttons are significant, but Scarlett thinks this is their best lead. She tells Julian if he thinks of anything better, then they can pursue that. She changes into the button-filled gown, grabs the collection of buttons she has found so far in the game, and prepares to embark on the fourth night of Caraval.