The knights, at the helm show, account for themselves with varying levels of grace, from attracting the attention of a crowd of ladies, to accidentally insulting Sir Mordred, whom some of them fail to recognize.
Sir Germain sends off his squire, Liam, to set up a booth selling wine and other alcohol, while he himself goes off to gamble. His winnings are substantial, and he takes all the knights he gamed with, and buys them rounds of drinks (at his own booth), gaining himself a reputation for generosity, as the knights are unaware of his duplicity.
Sir Corwin and Sir Judas, half-brothers (Judas' father had an adulterous liaison with Corwin's mother), meet for the first time and take an instant dislike to one another. Judas defeats Corwin humiliatingly in a duel, though Corwin refuses to acknowledge his defeat, calling Judas a coward.
Sir Germain forms his own melee team, the Knights of the Cup, putting a hapless young pretty-boy drunkard knight named Sir Rand in nominal charge of it, recruiting Sir Emmet to be its actual battle leader. Daria, posing as "the Knight of the Raven", also joins Germain's team. Through sheer luck, the team somehow manages to win the melee, with Germain the last knight left standing, having defeated an immense knight named Sir John the Huge.
Sir Corwin attracts the attention of many diverse ladies, though he eventually decides to focus his attentions on the third-most-attractive there, Lady Alice, a lady-in-waiting to the elderly wife of a Round Table knight. Unfortunately, he also has to flirt with the ugliest young woman present, one Lady Glimthis, daughter to a rich knight named Sir Jonathan, in order to get some necessary information about the Lady Alice. Corwin ends up carrying Lady Glimthis' favor for the first part of the tournament, before returning it to her in claimed shame for failing to defeat Judas.
Late one afternoon, the knights encounter three large hunting hounds on the road. Sir Emmet is thrown off his horse as it rears in fear. The hounds' owner, one Sir Brewnor of the Castle Pleure, a vassal of Queen Morgawse of Orkney, offers the knights the hospitality of his home in apology. The knights are treated to wine in the lord's private chambers, an excellent vintage which Sir Brewnor says was a wedding anniversary gift from his cousin, who has vinyards far to the west. Lady Anne receives much motherly doting-upon by Lady Melior, an exquisite beauty (though not quite as stunning as Anne, and a good fifteen years older).
Dinner is served; Brewnor informs the knights that it is the custom in his home to stand until his wife is seated. The women arrive late, Lady Melior passing vainly in front of a mirror as she makes her entrance. The repast is excellent, the lord and lady enthusiastically asking after the knights' adventures, and sharing some minor gossip of their own. Some of the knights eat sparsely, suspicious of their hosts' good intentions.
One useful piece of information does come of the dinner conversation; Lady Melior recalls having been told, in her childhood, of men cursed to change into the form of beasts at night. In the morning, they become men once more, but only if they can once more return to their clothes; if their clothes are stolen, they cannot change back. This, then, is a likely theory for what happened to Sir Marrok.
After dinner, a bard sings, and Sir Corwin is pressed to recite his love-poem. Then, Sir Brewnor introduces another custom of his home: if a woman other than his wife sits at this table, she must choose a champion, and he and Sir Brewnor will decide which of the two women is fairer. None of the knights seem immediately eager to take up this challenge; Germain offers, but Lady Anne presses Sir Judas into doing so instead. Germain, pretending to be sick, departs to have his squire sneak his sword into the room, and returns some time later (after more bard-song).
Sir Judas considers his choice carefully, then says that while in his host's lands, he could hardly choose anyone other than his host's wife. Sir Brewnor seems satisfied by this, and announces that Lady Anne should be beheaded, so her plainness does not offend his wife. Sir Judas takes issue with this, and Sir Brewnor offers to take up a challenge to the death in the courtyard.
All arm. Much treachery ensues. Daria, suspicious, has the horses saddled and ready to go. Germain has his squire Liam poison the hunting-hounds. Lady Anne and Lady Melior stand upon a low platform erected in one corner of the courtyard, within reach of Germain, who is seated upon horseback; Anne keeps her dagger loose in its sheath. Emmet and Corwin, displaying a great deal more trust and honor, peacebind their swords as a sign of their goodwill. There are also a dozen footsoldiers about, Brewnor's personal guard.
Brewnor, unaware of any of this, meets Sir Judas in honorable combat, fighting with a mace. Though Judas wounds him several times, twice in the foot, he is finally temporarily knocked out by a mighty blow, and Brewnor bends to unlace his helm and finish him. A horrified Lady Anne jumps from the platform and runs to his aid, and before the stunned crowd can interfere, draws her dagger and pretends to trip, landing to plunge the dagger into Brewnor's wounded foot. The knight collapses in shock and pain, as Germain grabs Lady Melior and holds a dagger to her throat.
Daria runs into the stables to get the horses, where she encounters Sir Corwin's squire, paralyzed from fear and horror by the scene before him. Sir Corwin shouts his protests of his companion's actions, while Sir Emmet moves to protect Lady Anne, who tries to slap Sir Judas to his senses. The footsoldiers remain mostly immobile by indecision, though several move to intercept Sir Germain.
Sir Judas is revived and staggers to his feet long enough to press his sword into Sir Brewnor's neck and lean upon it, before collapsing once again. Daria leads the horses (the party's, plus Sir Brewnor's six horses) into the press of footsoldiers, who injure half a dozen of them before the others are able to mount up (and help Sir Judas onto his horse) and ride away.
They escape into the forest, pressing the injured horses as much as they dare. Eventually they stop briefly to tie up the stolen horses to a tree with plenty of grass and water about, leaving them to be found and returned by any pursuit. Then, they ride onwards, putting as much distance as they can between them and the castle, before finally stopping in a clearing deep in the woods, exhausted. They tend to their wounds, pitching their tents, and trying to decide what to do next.
The knights are discovered by a patrol from a nearby castle, and become the guests of the Byzantine knight Sir Perimones. Their virtue is tested in a variety of ways, they fight a demonic creature, and they are treated to a number of very fine meals. The evening ends with Sir Emmet taking a teenaged boy into his rooms, Sir Judas finding a wench to his liking (after refusing a gracious invitation from their host), and much raising of eyebrows.
The next morning, the knights discover that this has all been a test of their resistance to temptation, to see if they are qualified to join the Order of Twilight, knights who claim that they are the last bastion of true knightly Christian righteousness in Britain. Sir Emmet, Corwin, and Germain accept the invitation to join the order, take the medallions offered to them, and pray in the chapel. The Knight of the Raven also accepts the invitation, but as she pretends to pray over the artifact, it bursts into flame, burning her, and she withdraws.
The knights are told that the Lady Anne has been cursed, due to the previous dishonorable behavior, and that she cannot be defeated by force of arms alone. They cross a swamp and track her to her new lair, where they manage to immobilized her and withdraw a thorn from her foot, thus transforming her back to her true form.
When everyone gets back to Malahaut, they discover that the dragon is also the cause of Lady Anne's summons. Sir Corwin eventually speaks to a wisewoman, who tells him to defeat the dragon, he must fashion a suit of arm studded with blades. Her price for this information is an oath that, after slaying the wyrm, he will kill the first living being he encounters. Sir Corwin agrees.