A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,109

returns to win his throne,” said Tedros, putting on the shirt.

“The ‘rot’ can’t win anything without my help, so the ‘rot’ should kiss my feet,” said Sophie.

“Kissed you once and it was terrible,” said Tedros.

That shut Sophie up.

“You two deserve each other,” said Agatha.

That shut Tedros up too.

Subby’s voice echoed: “This is where I leave ya.”

All three turned to see the young gnome posed in front of a door at the end of the hall. He opened it, revealing a blue waterfall cascading over the threshold like a curtain, the water flowing up once it hit bottom, before raining down again.

“Go on, then,” said Subby, nodding at the waterfall. “Kept the king waiting long enough.”

Sophie humphed, as if she had no intention of getting wet, but Agatha was hugging Dovey’s bag tighter and moving towards the door, her prince at her side.

“Think he’ll help us? King Teapea?” Agatha asked Tedros, pausing at the waterfall.

Tedros’ face clouded with doubt, no longer the boy who thought he could win this alone. “He has to.”

They held hands and looked back at Subby.

“Good luck to ya,” the gnome winked.

Agatha and Tedros leapt into the water and came out the other side, with Sophie bounding in after them, dress soaked, hair ragged, splashing her glass of milk: “Eeeee, I’m wet! I’m wet! I’m . . . wait a second . . .” She gawked at Agatha and Tedros, completely dry. Then she followed her friends’ eyes.

A throne room made of velvet sprawled before them, with the walls, the floor, the ceiling blanketed in the same soft, midnight-blue fabric. The velvet on the walls was separated into panels, the columns between panels filled with glowing fireflies, which marched up and down in strict order like sentinels. A gold throne, big enough for a giant, lay at the front of the room, spotlit by a chandelier forged out of more fireflies, the words “C. R. R. TEAPEA” carved into the throne’s head.

On the floor in front of the throne sat a full audience, their attention craned towards the three intruders.

Agatha exhaled.

Everyone was here: Hester, Anadil, Dot, Hort, Nicola, Robin, Guinevere, the Sheriff, and more . . . all her friends, who’d escaped from the battle at Camelot, now safe in Gnomeland. . . .

But not just them.

Those she’d left at school had also somehow made it to Teapea’s palace: Professor Anemone, Professor Manley, Professor Sheeks, Princess Uma, Yuba, Castor, and all the first-year Evers and Nevers, quietly packed in on the floor.

They looked at Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros expectantly, then at the door, waiting for the Dean of Good to come through.

Then they saw Agatha’s face.

And they knew.

“Wherever Dovey is, she’s in peace now,” Robin Hood said to Agatha. “She would have been proud of you.”

Agatha met his eyes, holding down her grief.

But now her friends and teachers were on top of her, wrapping her in their arms, one after the other.

“I prayed you were still alive,” Hester said breathlessly, unable to mask her emotion. “Dovey must have heard my wish. A fairy godmother until the end.”

“We love you, Agatha,” Kiko gushed.

“Even me, who doesn’t really like you,” said Hort.

Nicola shunted him aside, joining the hug. “We’d still be in the dungeons if it wasn’t for you.”

“It wasn’t just me,” said Agatha sheepishly. “All of us played a part.”

She glanced at Tedros and Sophie, who were being smothered with their own hugs (Sophie was taking her time with the handsome Everboys).

Soon the buzz settled and everyone drifted to their seats again, huddled close, like a big, unlikely family. Even Agatha managed to feel some relief. They were together now. All of them. There was no one left to save.

But soon the seeds of fear bloomed once more.

Sophie was sitting next to Robin: “I could have sworn you had a ring at the meeting. Only now you’re not wearing one.”

“Wasn’t my ring to wear,” Robin piped.

Sophie frowned. “But—”

Agatha squished between them. “What do we do now, Robin? The whole Woods is hunting us. How do we fight back?”

“That’s why we’re here,” said the Sheriff of Nottingham, seated behind.

“To ask King Teapea for help,” said Guinevere, with the Sheriff.

“Wait a second. How did you and Robin get to Camelot in the first place? How did you have your sack?” Tedros asked the Sheriff as he sat with his mother. “That sack was destroyed! The Snake ripped it to shreds after he escaped the Sheriff’s jail—”

“Can’t destroy a magic sack,” the Sheriff grouched, holding up the stitched-up bag. “Snake made