Overview

Six flees the Harried Scribe’s lair with the gargoyle to think and rest, reeling from the revelation that the Omens may be mortal and untrue. After scavenging shelter and food, they wander the Seacht seeking Pupil Houses for signs of the missing Diviners but find none. Six intervenes to protect two girls from predatory men, drawing guards who arrest her on a warrant and deliver her to the knighthood’s compound, where she reunites with Rory and Maude and secures aid.

Full Summary

Staggered by the ordeal with the Harried Scribe, Six bursts into daylight and urgently rouses the gargoyle, insisting they leave before King Castor, Rory, and Maude emerge. She drags the gargoyle through the Seacht until they stop on a bridge, where she confesses distrust of the king, knights, and Omens. The gargoyle counters with wry observations about stories and truth. Exhausted, they find an abandoned forge to sleep in, and Six collapses into dreamless oblivion.

Upon waking at night, Six realizes the silence without the other Diviners and discovers the gargoyle has stolen food and water, which she gratefully consumes. Still unsteady, she agrees to wander the city as the gargoyle suggests. They pass through shadowed streets and witness poverty unfamiliar to Six, deepening her doubts about Aisling, the Omens, and her role. The gargoyle muses that contentment and Omens alike may be stories people tread within.

Drawn by chance to Pupil House III, Six questions the house mother, learning the abbess is a patron and that foundlings rarely return; the woman has seen no recent Diviners. Six and the gargoyle check the other two Pupil Houses with similar results, even being chased by a dog at the last. In an alley at dawn, Six voices despair about being valued only as a Diviner and not as a person, while the gargoyle pointedly asks how her story ends. He recalls the abbess once saying girls and the sick “bear the pain of drowning better” and wake “strange, special, and new,” unsettling Six further.

Two young girls hurry past, pursued by three men. Six trips one, confronts another, and the brawl explodes. She hammers bones; the gargoyle seizes a man by the neck. When guards appear, Six and the gargoyle flee but are cornered at a dead end. The guards recognize Six, reveal a warrant for her arrest, and, after brief deliberation, escort them away.

They are delivered to a knighthood training yard where knights practice with whips. Rory Myndacious awaits, newly kohl-eyed, and quietly pays off the guard after confirming Six’s injuries are minor. The gargoyle is sent to the stables to sleep. Six confronts Rory about pride, godlessness, and disdain, and Rory admits disdain but insists none of it is for Six; he feared she would be gone. He acknowledges the Harried Scribe episode was an intense way to show the Omens’ complexity.

Maude arrives, relieved, and whisks Six away for shoes and a bath, noting Six will likely want the king’s ear. The chapter closes with Six back among Rory and Maude, still shaken but no longer alone.

Who Appears

• Six — Diviner protagonist; flees the Scribe’s lair, questions Omens and Aisling, searches Pupil Houses, defends two girls, is detained and brought to the knighthood, reunites with Rory and Maude.
• The gargoyle — batlike stone companion; follows Six, steals food, philosophizes about stories and truth, helps fight off predators, is sent to sleep in the stables.
• Rory Myndacious — knight; arranges Six’s pickup via a warrant, pays off the guard, expresses concern for Six, denies disdain for her, frames the Omens as complex.
• Maude — knight; greets Six warmly, offers shoes and a bath, prepares her to see the king.
• House mother of Pupil House III — new; confirms abbess is patron, says foundlings do not return and has seen no Diviners.
• House mother of Pupil House II — new; briefly appears, no knowledge of Diviners.
• Baker — new; directs Six to the last Pupil House.
• Two young girls — new; nearly victimized, escape as Six and the gargoyle intervene.
• Three predatory men — new; attack thwarted by Six and the gargoyle; two injured.
• Two city guards — new; one escorts Six and the gargoyle to the knighthood compound, citing a warrant.
• Hamelin — knight; seen training, reacts to Six’s arrival.