"The Piper growls. He thinks he knows this place. It is not a moment of pleased recognition. Another bell screams to fill the silence, now that its predecessor has quieted." The Piper teaches the Abhorsen a lesson in cowardice.

Arthur learns what it means to be the Abhorsen with the help of various people. (OK, just two, and arguably the Piper's not so much helping as beating the knowledge into him.) / Part 2 of the Keys to the Old Kingdom.

Arthur is a citizen of the Old Kingdom, raised in Ancelstierre. He knows his parents were minor nobility in the northern country, but what he doesn't know is that they were the last of a branch of the Abhorsen line. The current line of Abhorsens is at its end, and Arthur is the only one left who can inherit, whether he wants to or not. / Part 1 of the Keys to the Old Kingdom.