Overview

Six and the gargoyle meet King Benedict "Benji" Castor, who reveals his grandfather’s heretical history of the Omens and the origin of their stone objects. Benji claims the abbess is the unnamed sixth Omen who created the magical tools from the tor’s limestone spring, and that Aisling’s power is built on manipulating faith and spring water that grants a form of eternity. He asks Six to join his campaign to reclaim the objects, topple the Omens, and shutter Aisling, offering knights to search for the missing Diviners. Shaken but resolute, Six agrees to travel with them to find her friends; afterward, Rory wins a brutal sparring match and takes Six to be fitted for armor for the coming journey.

Full Summary

After bathing, Six keeps her Diviner dress and equips her hammer and chisel. Maude escorts Six and the gargoyle to a lavish bedchamber to meet King Benedict Castor. The gargoyle is grumpy and soon falls asleep, while Benji arrives with his grandfather’s notebook and the Harried Scribe’s inkwell, nervous but intent on speaking without Maude or Rory.

Benji demonstrates the inkwell’s dual properties: stirred clockwise, its ink transports; stirred counterclockwise, it burns destructively through wood. He explains all Omens’ stone objects share transportive and destructive traits, and states his goal to wield them all. When Six points out Aisling’s spring as magic, Benji segues into history, opening his grandfather’s notebook.

Benji recounts an alternate origin: centuries ago, five gifted craftsmen (brigand, scribe, oarsman, forester, weaver) sought leadership on a tor amid sprite-plagued hamlets. A sixth figure arrived with a foundling and led them to a limestone spring of sweet rot; after they drank and dreamed, the sixth crafted five magic stone objects from the same limestone. This sixth is the nameless Omen—the moth—whom Benji asserts is the abbess. He notes Omens’ stone eyes and Six’s ancient tools as corroboration.

From the notebook, Benji claims Aisling’s power is economic-theological theater: distance and scarcity make the Omens sacred; Divination enriches the abbess, and control of the tor equals control of Traum. He shares his grandfather’s path: discovering Rory as a foundling thief tied to the Artful Brigand, learning the Omens drank Aisling’s water to live “forever,” tracing abbess gold to the Faithful Forester (whom Maude killed, though her chime was never found), and then being branded a heretic and stoned to death by knights and gargoyles after a damning Divination.

Benji argues the spring’s water confers a strange eternity that alters bodies—citing the Omens’ stony aspects—and admits ignorance about the fate of Diviners who drink it, asking Six to help him “take up the mantle” and finish his grandfather’s mission. He offers to dispatch ten knights immediately to search for the missing Diviners and urges Six to travel with him to the Fervent Peaks, Chiming Wood, and Cliffs of Bellidine, using her shroud to provide cover and credibility. He states his aim to reclaim the Omens’ objects, redirect wealth to the hamlets, and ultimately shutter Aisling, ending Divination.

Six, staggered by the revelations and worried after asking why the Harried Scribe licked her blood (“they desire Aisling’s spring water… by any means”), agrees to go with them to find her friends. Benji warns that the Diviners are in great danger and hopes Six will look to her own future now that she is free of Aisling.

Outside, Maude queries the outcome; Six says she will seek the Diviners by “taking up the mantle,” and asks Maude to put the sleeping gargoyle somewhere quiet. Later in the yard, Six watches knights spar; Rory dominates a vicious bout and notices Six. After confirming she will travel with them, Rory, still flushed from combat, leads her away to fit her with armor, insisting she needs protection for the dangerous journey starting the next day.

Who Appears

• Six — Diviner protagonist; meets with Benji, learns the heretical history, agrees to travel to find the Diviners, and is taken by Rory to be fitted for armor.
• The gargoyle — companion; grumpy, naps through most of the audience; to be settled by Maude.
• Maude — knight and Benji’s right hand; arranges the meeting, is revealed to have killed the Faithful Forester in the past, and will find a room for the gargoyle.
• King Benedict “Benji” Castor — young king; presents his grandfather’s notebook, demonstrates the inkwell, asserts the abbess is the sixth Omen, outlines plan to reclaim objects, topple the Omens, and shutter Aisling; offers knights to search for the missing Diviners.
• Rory (Rodrick Myndacious) — knight and foundling; formerly served the Artful Brigand as a child; wins a brutal spar; will outfit Six with armor and travel with the expedition.
• Dedrick — trembling knight who fetched the gargoyle; briefly appears.
• Hamelin — knight; briefly speaks with Six before Rory sends him back to training.
• Benedict Castor I — former king; appears via notebook accounts; uncovered the Omens’ mortal origins, allied with Rory and Maude, and was executed for heresy.
• The Harried Scribe — Omen; discussed via his inkwell and behavior (licking Six’s blood); recently killed.
• The Artful Brigand — Omen; discussed; his coin mirrors the inkwell’s properties; boasted of drinking spring water and exploiting faith.
• The Faithful Forester — Omen; discussed; was killed by Maude; her chime remains missing.
• The abbess (the moth) — sixth Omen; implicated as creator of the stone objects and ruler of Aisling’s power structure.