A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,116

. ,” Sophie huffed, still soggy in her white dress.

Agatha turned to her cat. “You said the portal opens when the crystal is underwater—”

“And turned on,” said Reaper.

Their voices echoed through the Crown Royal Regis’ bathroom, appointed with a grooming station of jeweled brushes, fragrant oils, and milky creams, along with a sparkle-dusted sand litterbox and a heated blue-stone bathing tub, big enough for an army of cats, the steamy water sprinkled with orange blossoms. When Reaper had shown them into the room, lit by panels made of blue and orange fireflies, Agatha had been mystified. The Reaper she knew itched with fleas, peed exclusively on gravestones, and nearly killed her the one time she’d tried to clean him.

“It’s my father’s old bathroom,” Reaper explained, seeing her face. He climbed onto the edge of the tub. “This is the first time I’ve been in here.”

Now Agatha watched as her cat finished sinking Dovey’s crystal into the hot bath, mist rising off the surface. The orb drifted down and settled on the blue-stone floor, the crack in its glass refracting through water, seeming bigger than its actual size.

Agatha, meanwhile, felt like she had a crack in her head. Dovey dead . . . Reaper, a king . . . the crystal ball a portal into a secret world . . . Tension pounded through her skull, her lungs sucked of air as if she was already underwater—

Tedros touched her arm. “You okay?”

She gazed up at him, then at Sophie and Reaper, both assessing her.

Agatha wanted to say no . . . that it was all moving too fast . . . that she wanted to turn the story back to a time when life had no magic, no secrets . . . to a time when she had a home . . . a mother . . .

But then, as she took in her best friend, her prince, and her cat, Agatha realized she had another family now. A family she’d chosen. And after all they’d been through, to be with that family again, no matter how daunting the challenges ahead . . . it was all Agatha needed to wrench out of the past and find the present.

“You said the crystal is a portal,” said Agatha, composing herself. “A portal into what?”

“Merlin called it a ‘crystal of time,’” said Reaper vaguely, skirting the edge of the tub. “We must get started—”

“How did Merlin and Dovey discover the portal?” Tedros cut in.

“I told you. By accident,” said Reaper impatiently. “After you failed to pull Excalibur, Merlin and Dovey tried to use her crystal ball to understand why. Given how poorly you were treating Agatha after your botched coronation, I wanted you to pull the sword soon, for her sake, so I joined Merlin and Clarissa in their efforts. At first we had little luck. But during the summer, Professor Dovey’s office grows insufferably hot. Studying the ball one night before Dovey activated it, Merlin left a sweaty handprint on the crack in the glass. The crack grew softer, the glass spongy. The change made Merlin curious. So he and Dovey put the ball in the Groom Room pool to see what would happen when the Dean turned it on. Now, if there are no more questions, it’s time to get into the bath.”

Agatha studied the dull orb, motionless underwater. What happened when Dovey turned it on? Her heart drummed. What happens when I turn it on?

“That’s what they were up to this whole time. Merlin and Dovey,” Tedros realized, peering into the water. “They were going inside her crystal ball. It’s what was making Dovey sick.”

“Deathly sick. And now you want us to do the same thing?” Sophie challenged Reaper.

“It’s too dangerous,” Tedros agreed.

“The secret of why Tedros couldn’t pull Excalibur is inside that crystal. Then again, maybe there is no secret. Maybe Rhian is the real king,” said Reaper, holding up his paw when Tedros started to protest. “But the only way we’ll know for sure is to cross the portal. Too much is at stake to leave the question of why the sword recognized Rhian instead of Tedros unanswered. The fate of Camelot, the Storian, and our world depend on that answer. Merlin and Dovey were close to finding it, but they ran out of time. Since Agatha is Dovey’s Second, it is our duty to finish their work. No matter the risks.”

Agatha looked at Tedros.

He was quiet now.

“Once Agatha submerges and activates the ball, the portal will open,”