Legendborn

At the Lodge, Bree is reminded that Nick is driving his dad to the airport. She finds William and tells him she thinks Sel is Shadowborn. Privately, William admits that Sel is half-demon—a cambion. Because Merlin’s dad was a gor-uchel incubus (impersonating a human), all of his sorcerer descendants are not fully human. William believes Sel is volatile, but not evil. Sel bursts into the room, and Bree calls him a crossroads child. William steps in between them, convincing Sel he will be breaking his Oath if he hurts William to get to Bree.

That night, Order members go to a bar; Bree gets in with a fake ID Greer procured for her. Nick hasn’t arrived yet, and Bree grabs drinks with Felicity and Greer. They discuss the upcoming Selection Gala. Eventually, Sel and Nick arrive together. Nick sits next to Bree while Sel stands across from them and stares. Vaughn asks Nick if Arthur has called him yet; he hasn’t (and won’t because, again, Nick is the heir of Lancelot). After talking about Davis’s meeting with Regents, Nick tries to privately talk with Bree under the bar’s porch, but Sel interrupts their kiss. Nick tries to order Sel to leave them alone and Sel refuses. Nick and Bree go back to the table.

They are able to get in a private phone conversation after Bree is back in her dorm because Alice is home with her parents for the weekend. Bree tells Nick an aether user told her about the Gate being opened on campus when her mom was there. Nick never heard of this opening, but thinks the Regents would have covered it up, and an uchel was responsible. After Bree tells Nick what she knows about Sel’s nature, he admits Sel’s blood—or the blood of any cambion—would allow someone without powers to open a Gate.

Nick says going to the Regents with an accusation that they killed her mom would expose Bree, and only the Awakened Arthur can protect her. Nick believes this is him, but ironically it is Bree who is Called by Arthur at the end of the novel. She wants to punish the Regents for her mother’s death.

In the middle of the night, Sel starts the second tournament trial on the Lodge’s front lawn: It is a scavenger hunt for aether-made objects that attract aether-made hellhounds. Only six of the eight remaining Pages will advance, based on how many objects from the list are collected. Pages are paired with a non-sponsor Scion/Squire, but Sel pairs himself with Bree.

After Sel dismisses Nick’s objections and sends him back to the warded Lodge, Bree discovers the list is written in riddles. She starts collecting items around campus while Sel watches. When the clues lead her to the graveyard, Sel argues with her about Nick and her powers. He creates an aether hellhound near her and disappears.

Bree runs from the aether hellhound and Sel reappears, demanding Bree reveal her demon nature (ironically, it is Evan about whom Sel should be worried). After Sel’s hellhound corners her, Shadowborn foxes appear. Sel allows his aether hellhound to dissipate, and Bree asks for Sel’s help fighting the hellfoxes. These demons are able to feed on Sel’s aether when he tries to attack. Bree’s perception heightens, and red mage flame flows from her fingertips.

When Sel is able to grab her and escape from the hellfoxes, Bree passes out in his arms. When she wakes, she sees Sel chanting at the base of a tree. His magic reveals a door to the Order’s tunnel system in the oak’s roots.

Sel and Bree hide in the tunnel as hellfoxes pass over them. As they walk through the dark, Bree learns occult philosophy about the five elements and that the system of tunnels is warded to mask aether. Sel asks about her mage flame and believes Bree when she admits she doesn’t know how she made it. She says she’s infiltrated the Order to figure out how to use her power. When Sel dismisses Bree as a threat and believes she will have to leave Order after failing the combat trial, Bree is surprised.

They reach another door out of the tunnel at the edge of campus. When Sel opens it, hellfoxes appear. Sel tries to fight without using aether, and Bree tries to reach a nearby secret cache of weapons. In response to a hellfox attack, Bree throws a blind punch and passes out.

When she wakes, Bree realizes her arm is covered in mage flame and stuck in the hellfox. She screams and tries to pull her arm out. Meanwhile, Sel kills the other hellfox. After the demon’s death, Sel helps Bree extract her arm and is suddenly more interested in her powers. Bree vomits and her mage flame goes out as the hellfox corpse disappears.

Evan and Tor find Bree and Sel. Tor was Awakened during the trial and everyone else went back to the Lodge. Nick joins them and when he asks about Bree’s injuries, Sel explains they were attacked by hellfoxes. Nick forces Sel to admit he didn’t sense the attack because his energies were being used by manipulating the aether hellhound while questioning Bree. Sel admits he thought Bree was a mole for the Shadowborn, and Nick punches Sel, telling him to leave Bree alone. Sel can’t hit Nick back because of his Kingsmage Oath. They start to walk back to the Lodge.

Bree passes out and Nick carries her the rest of the way to the Lodge. There, William heals her. They discuss the boy he’s dating—someone outside the Order. William discusses how complicated it is to date within the Order because of bloodlines, Oaths, and the rules of Regents. He teases Bree about Nick and while she is being healed in her underwear, Nick walks in, blushes, and walks out.

After William finishes healing her, Bree goes upstairs. Nick kisses her. Greer and Whitty hug her, and Bree learns that Carson and Spenser have been removed from the tournament because they collected the least number of objects during the scavenger hunt. Also, the combat trial has been moved to a much closer date, allowing Bree very little time to train. She says she feels like a distraction and defends Sel. Nick still doesn’t fully trust Sel and takes her back to the dorm.

The next day, Bree sleeps in and gets a text from Tor about dinner and training at the Lodge. Then Patricia texts and Bree agrees to meet her. Nick also texts, asking her if she wants to meet for lunch, and she says she has to call her dad.

When she meets Patricia in the Arboretum, there is another Black woman with her: Mariah, a student at UNC as well as a Medium in the Rootcraft practice. Patricia hopes Mariah can help Bree contact her ancestors and learn what happened to her mom. They have some casual conversation first: Mariah invites Bree to the Black Student Movement, and Bree asks about Mariah’s academic interests (she’s an art history major).

Patricia asks Bree if the Order knows about her powers, and Bree assures Patricia of her secrecy about her powers as well as Rootcraft. Mariah thinks being involved with Order sounds exhausting because it means hiding so much. Bree explains that she was mesmered after her mom’s accident and wants to discover answers about this through the Order. Patricia asks if Bree wants revenge; Bree says she wants justice.

When Bree reveals all of her power to the women, they swear and tremble. Mariah says she’s willing to act as a Medium for Bree, but doesn’t know which ancestor will appear. They hold hands and Mariah has Bree think of her love for her mom and then extend that love back through generations of women. However, Bree doesn’t know any of the women on her mother’s side of the family and is overwhelmed by a feeling of loss. Mariah can see the separation and that something terrible happened in Bree’s family. Bree runs away, frustrated.

Bree ignores calls from Patricia and Mariah, takes a terrible nap, and heads to the Lodge. There, the fancy food is unappealing. After-Bree is amplified by the failed Medium contact. After dinner, she heads to the Lodge’s basement training room.

Trainers Owen and Gillian arrive. The Pages have to master the weapon of the Scion they wish to Squire, as well as longsword. The first weapon they are learning is quarterstaff. Sel shows up, furious, and demonstrates staff-fighting with Owen. Sel wins, sending Owen to the infirmary, and leaves.

While other Pages pair up to spar, Gillian shows Bree how to use her staff and the dance of footwork. Nick visits, takes Bree to get healed by William, and drives her back to her dorm. That night, she dreams: first of her mom, then of being Nick’s Squire and him pulling away when she pulls a “crystal blade” (313) on the Regents, and then dreams of the graveyard.

Bree avoids Patricia, saying she has to study, but Patricia shows up at her dorm. Patricia believes Bree is suffering from traumatic grief and could develop Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder. They debate whether Bree’s search for knowledge will ease her grief. Patricia, regretting bringing Rootcraft into their sessions, decides to give Bree’s dad a referral for another therapist. Also, Patricia says she can’t treat Bree because she can’t condone her interrogation of the Order. They briefly discuss the debt that Bloodcraft incurs.

During her next training session, Bree learns William barred Sel from performing the Warrior’s Oath to bond Sar and Tor until he calmed down, which made him angrier. After that, Sel and Nick got on a call with Davis, and Sel stormed out. No one has seen Nick since.

Sel and Gillian demo longsword and Sel leaves right after they draw. The Pages first use practice swords on wooden dummies, and Bree is paired up with Whitty. She poorly performs despite Whitty’s encouragement.

After training, back at the dorm, she tells Alice her exhaustion and injuries are due to silly secret society initiation activities and gives an abridged version of her evening at the bar with Nick. Alice updates Bree about their friends from home. Nick texts Bree, saying he has to visit the northern chapter—as well as other chapters—and will be back Thursday.

On Monday, Bree’s training with daggers goes badly. Greer beats Bree in all of their sparring matches, and then walks her to William for healing. Even after healing, Bree has to fake a normal gait and movement in front of Alice.

On Tuesday, Bree is watched by Sel, Vaughn, and Sydney. She tries hard, but is still not good at combat. When Whitty and Greer give her slack while sparring, they are punished by trainers with laps, push-ups, or tire flips. Again, William heals her after training.

On Wednesday, Sydney is paired with Bree to spar on quarterstaff. Sydney quickly gets her staff at Bree’s throat, and Bree yields. After training, Bree talks to Sel, who watched the sparring. He asks if she truly wants to be a Squire, and she says yes. Sel offers to train her; when Bree asks why he’s helping her, he says it’s because he hates bullies. They talk about use of aether, and she agrees to let him help her lose less badly.

On Thursday, the Pages nervously mill around before the combat trial. Nick finds Bree and apologizes for his absence. Bree tells Nick that Sel helped her and that she lost a friend (Patricia). They sneak in a hug while people head to the trial. Nick gives Bree his room key, and they agree to meet later.

The trial is in the woods behind the Lodge. Bree, dressed in Arthur’s gold, feels Sel somewhere but doesn’t see him. Nick winks at Bree from his seat. Others fight, and then Bree is up against Sydney. They fight with (fake) daggers, and Bree loses by stepping out of bounds when dodging. Then, Bree fights Blake with quarterstaves; she is able to hit him out of bounds for a win. Bree sees Sel tip his head to her in a tree. Next, Bree has to fight Vaughn with practice swords. She disarms him and knees him in the head for the win. After the match is called, Vaughn attacks her from behind, hitting her in the collarbone with his sword.

Bree wakes to find William healed her and left some notes about her injuries. On her way to Nick’s room, Bree runs into Sarah, who has powers now that her Scion, Tor, has Awakened. In the Lodge’s kitchen, Sarah tells Bree that Nick kicked Vaughn out of the tournament. They also talk about the romance between Sarah and Tor, and how Tor previously dated Sel. Sel is aether-drunk, making extremely loud noises in the woods.

After Sarah goes to Tor’s room, Bree goes out into the woods to find Sel tearing trees apart with his magic. Sel reveals that he spied on her last conversation with Patricia. When Sel insults her mom, Bree tries to leave, but ends up staying. Sel and Bree talk about Nick, and how Davis threatened to cast out Sel; if Sel’s Oaths are removed, he supposedly will become more demonic. Bree offers to help, and Sel refuses her help. Sel leaves by dramatically dropping off a cliff (and landing with magic).

Bree goes back to the Lodge and sneaks into Nick’s room. On Nick’s bed, Bree realizes she can’t text anyone; no one knows the entire truth about her. She cries, and falls asleep. A little while later, she is awakened by the sound of Sel slamming doors.

Bree goes to Sel’s room, where he is topless and so attractive that she asks him to put on a shirt. She tells him about the cop who mesmered her after her mom’s accident and how she is searching for more information about her mom. Also, she tells him that the Wall of Ages’s silver surface had been scratched like someone had replaced a Merlin’s marble: proof that a Merlin had been stripped of their Oaths and replaced. Bree thinks a former Kingsmage opened the Gate on campus, and was cast out for it (it turns out to be Davis). Sel considers this, and after some discussion, carries her out of his window.

While carrying Bree piggyback, Sel runs to where he and Nick grew up. Sel says he doesn’t trust Davis because of his Oaths to the Regents, and they are at the house to look for historic archives.

Bree follows him inside the house. They crouch together, hiding as a neighbor comes home, and Bree admits to feeling electricity when Sel touches and looks at her. Then Sel forms aether to pick a locked door. Inside the dark room, they search through filing cabinets and talk about Nick’s mom leaving. Sel says his mom was killed by an uchel (it turns out this was a lie he was told), and once he was adopted into Nick’s family, the boys competed for Davis’s attention. Sel admits he had a crush on Nick. They find a file about the Gate on campus and take it back to the Lodge.

In Sel’s room, they read the papers and learn about the attacks in 1995. The papers say it was Sel’s mom who opened the Gate (which is later learned to be at Davis’s behest). The Order imprisoned her and kept her for breeding. Five years later she was released, and 12 years later they say she relapsed; this is when they imprisoned her again and Davis adopted Sel.

Upon learning this information, Sel kicks a hole in his closet door. Bree hugs him. In the file, they find Bree’s mom (Faye Ayeola Carter) among the students who were mesmered after seeing the Gate. There are many pages of records tracking her. These records say she was killed by a car accident and never regained her memories of the Order. Overall, much of the information in the file has been altered by Davis to cover his own actions, but Bree and Sel don’t learn this at the time.

Bree thinks her mom just hid her memories of the Order, and actually resisted the mesmer. Bree regrets not hiding like her mom did, and asks Sel to mesmer her memories of her mom away. He refuses and she cries. When Bree tries to leave the Lodge, Nick is at the front door.

Nick asks what’s going on and accuses Sel of hurting her. Bree asks Felicity to drive her home. Nick sees Sel and Bree exchange a knowing, intimate look. Bree tells Nick they discovered her mom’s death was an accident after all, and she refuses his comfort. Nick asks her to stay, but she leaves with Russ.