Legendary

Tella enters the Church of Legend and finds a woman wearing a top hat and suit. The woman informs her that to find the congregation, she must play the game and choose the right staircase; only one leads to the church, and the rest lead to mysteries. Tella considers each staircase carefully and chooses the onyx staircase: the only one leading downward. Along the way, she experiences wind tunnels, a hall of Legend portraits, and more objects that indicate the church’s dedication to Caraval. Eventually, Tella arrives at the sanctuary for the church and finds that all staircases lead to this exact spot. She searches the room and sees a black curtain, where she joins a crowd of players. She meets Patricia and Fernando, who discuss Legend and the stories they have heard. One of the stories tells that Legend wants to take the Fates’ power for himself. With Patricia and Fernando is Caspar, one of Legend’s actors. Caspar seems genuinely surprised when Tella reveals that the Caraval is real and that the participants are chasing the ability to destroy the Fates. Before long, it is now Tella’s turn to go behind the curtain.

Unlike Legend’s other players, Armando acknowledges Tella and the world beyond the game. He does not apologize for breaking the news of Tella’s fake engagement to Scarlet but insists that everyone, including Tella, must play the roles that Legend assigns them in Caraval. Armando then offers Tella a Deck of Destiny for a fortune-reading. Tella is hesitant, but she must acquiesce in order to get the next clue. The first card she draws is the Prince of Hearts, which is one of the cards she drew when playing with her mother’s deck all those years ago. Armando notes that the card does not bode well for her and Dante. The second card she draws is the Maiden Death, another card that she has previously drawn. Armando recounts the maiden’s history; the Maiden refused to become Death’s immortal consort, so he trapped her head in a cage of pearls, and she continued to defy him by sneaking out each night to warn loved ones of those about to die. Armando warns Tella that she may lose more people than her mother. The third card she draws is the Shattered Crown; Armando only says he needs to see another card to know the end of Tella’s future since the crown represents an impossible choice. The final card she draws is the Lady Prisoner, which means a sacrifice to be paid. This card echoes Nigel’s warning on La Esmeralda that winning Caraval would come at a cost that she would regret. She demands the next clue, so Armando opens a hidden passage and tells her to walk until something urges her to stop. He also reminds her that Caraval is not about the clues; instead, it is focused on what a person is willing to sacrifice to reach their goal.

Tella follows the tunnel until she overhears Julian and Scarlet talking about the secrets they keep. Julian demands to know why Scarlet forgives Tella so easily but is angered when others keep secrets. Scarlet replies that Tella is her sister. Tella also overhears the news that Julian is really Legend’s brother. This revelation gives her hope that she has a way forward if she cannot find all the clues. Once Tella hears Julian leave, she enters Scarlet’s room. Scarlet is surprised when Tella comes out of the fireplace, and Tella is surprised to see Scarlet wearing the dress that Legend gifted her during the last Caraval. Scarlet admits that she does not know who to trust or who she believes Legend really is, but she wants to use Julian to find out. Scarlet gives Tella the clue that Julian gave her, which directs her to Elantine’s Most Wanted. Tella asks Scarlet to come with her, but Scarlet claims that she does not want to go out at night due to the risk of getting swept up in the game again. However, Tella does not believe her sister; she thinks that Scarlet may be more involved in this game than she lets on.

Tella wakes after sleeping longer than intended. Her heart rate continues to slow, but she takes comfort in the fact that it is still beating. She makes her way to the Spice District and walks directly to Elantine’s Most Wanted. Inside, rather than the older woman she expects to be there, she finds one of Legend’s performers, Aiko. Aiko says that Tella can only get one answer for free; the rest will cost something irreplaceable. Tella accidentally uses her free answer to ask if she can just ask for the next clue, which Aiko answers in the negative. While Tella considers what question to ask, she examines the posters around the shop, pausing when she sees one that depicts her lost mother.

Tella reads the name on the wanted poster: Paradise the Lost. She realizes that her mother is a wanted thief and murderer rather than the sweet woman that Tella always imagined her to be. Tella asks Aiko for information about Paradise; Aiko demands something “real” from Tella and asks her for her last memory with her mother. The memory is not the moment depicted in the Prologue. Instead, the memory occurs just after that moment. In the memory, Paradise tells Tella how to free the people whom the Fates have trapped in cards. The memory fades before Paradise can reveal this secret, leaving Tella feeling empty and beset by the nagging thought that she is now missing something important.

In exchange for the memory, Aiko tells Tella about Paradise the Lost. Paradise was thieving from royalty in Valenda, and nobles and princes from around the world wanted her to rob them or marry them. Paradise, who sought adventure over romance, never accepted any suits. She disappeared after her greatest heist—stealing a cursed Deck of Destiny. Legend believes that the deck that Paradise stole was the same deck in which the Fates were trapped. This knowledge helps Tella to understand why her mother was so adamant to keep her from playing with the cards when she was a girl.

Tella finds the third clue on the back of her mother’s wanted poster, and it tells her that she can no longer follow the clues. Instead, she must follow her heart if she wants to win Caraval. As Tella leaves, Aiko provides one more piece of information by telling Tella that the Deck of Destiny was cursed so that its predictions will come true unless someone were to destroy the cards. Jacks’s voice reminds Tella that the game is real, and her ears start bleeding. She returns to the palace and knocks on her sister’s door, but Scarlet is not there. A servant claims that she heard Scarlet mention going to Idyllwild Castle yesterday; Scarlet has been absent since. Tella ventures to the castle and knocks on the gate; nobody inside answers, but three people confront her from behind.

The three assailants are a Fate named the Undead Queen, and her two handmaidens. They aim to recover the Deck of Destiny that Paradise stole before Tella can deliver the deck to Legend, who wants to destroy the Fates. Although Tella realizes that her sister was never at Idyllwild Castle, she learns what item Legend desires and plans to retrieve it for him. The Undead Queen and her handmaidens attack Tella, intending to kill her and thereby stop her from destroying them. Tella puts up a good fight, but her slowed heart rate and irregular fighting skills mean that she is quickly outmatched. She can injure the sidekicks, but they simply reappear seconds later. They finally knock Tella down and shatter her wrist. She makes a desperate dash for freedom by running off the edge of the bridge and into the moat below. However, when she escapes the water, the Fate is waiting for her. Tella successfully tricks the Undead Queen and shatters her jeweled eyepatch, which sends her and her minions back to their card-based prison. Tella collapses, ready to accept death, but Dante arrives, confesses his love, and carries her away so that someone can heal her.

Tella overhears Julian and Dante discussing her and the Deck of Destiny. Julian gives her blood to drink, which she does not resist. She falls asleep as Dante says that she is their best hope of recovering the cards. He also calls Julian “brother.”

Tella wakes in her room; Scarlet and Jacks are talking and laughing near the fireplace, though Tella cannot hear what they say. She does not understand where Dante or Julian are, and she is not sure whether Julian or Dante is really Legend, but she coughs to get the attention of her sister and Jacks. Jacks takes the lead and explains that Tella fell off a carriage, bumped her head, and needed some care. He then asks Scarlet to retrieve food for Tella. While she is gone, he confronts Tella about who she fought. When she explains what happened, he reminds her that she must find the cards and hand Legend over to him, or she and her mother will die. He explains that the only ways to free someone from a card is for an immortal to free them, or for a human to take their place. He then reminds her that Legend, with the full power of the Fates, would be a worse villain than the Fates could ever be. When Scarlet returns with food, he announces that he and Tella will have dinner that night with the empress. He also states that Legend will cancel the evening’s Caraval events so Tella does not fall behind in the contest. Once he leaves, Scarlet and Tella warn each other to be careful around Jacks.

Scarlet did not believe Jacks’s story about Tella falling from a carriage. Tella wants to tell Scarlet the truth, but she fears that her sister will not believe her because she will assume everything is illusory, due to Caraval. Tella chooses to tell selective truths, such as overhearing Dante call Julian “brother,” and she admits that she will not remain entangled with Jacks after Caraval ends. She also confesses that her reason for playing Caraval is to find their mother. Scarlet becomes angry and says there is no reasonable explanation for their mother to have left them with their father. Scarlet also insists that Paradise is not the woman Tella wants to remember her as. They agree to disagree, and Tella must prepare for her dinner with the empress.