A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,133

pillows next to her, a few long blond hairs snaking around the silk.

Sophie’s ruffled white lace dress lay dumped in a corner.

Suddenly Agatha remembered everything: she and Sophie in the crystal . . . Rhian believing Sophie was on his side . . . Japeth promising his brother he’d find her . . . and if he found Sophie with Agatha and Tedros, he’d murder all three . . .

That’s when Japeth had seen them.

Inside the crystal.

He and his brother had seen Sophie with Agatha.

Which could only mean one thing.

The Snake was coming.

Agatha flung out of the bed and found her black dress hanging in the closet, steamed and clean.

She could hear voices from another room.

Sophie, Tedros, and Reaper were sitting on a blanket, breakfast spread out around them as bleary-eyed gnome servants refilled the trays: almond-stuffed croissants, cinnamon toast, grilled cheese and tomato squares, broccoli and egg frittatas, buttercream pancakes. Tedros was already on his second plate of food, his hair wet from a bath. Sophie wore a stylish blue-and-red dress that seemed oddly familiar, but she wasn’t eating, her face tense.

“His scims will find us,” Sophie insisted. “It’s a matter of time.”

“Beatrix’s team is on the lookout in the Woods. She, Reena, and Kiko are capable Evers,” said Reaper. “Plus, we’ll know when Gnomeland’s defenses have been breached—” A meow squeaked out of him and he rubbed at his throat. “Uma’s spell won’t last much longer. Once it wears off, I’ll no longer be able to speak to you.”

“Rhian still thought I was loyal to him. I had him fooled,” said Sophie, giving Tedros a satisfied look. Then her face tightened. “He said something about wanting to bring someone back from the dead. Someone he and his brother loved.”

“Back from the dead?” Tedros said, stunned. “Who?”

“Never got the chance to find out,” Sophie admitted. “We knocked over a lamp and they saw us. Rhian and Japeth saw me with Agatha.”

“But how? And why was there a scene of Rhian and his brother at all?” Tedros pushed. “The crystal only reads the souls of the people inside it. And they weren’t inside the ball with us.”

“I had the same question,” said Agatha.

They turned to her, standing under the archway.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Agatha directed at Sophie.

“You looked so peaceful for once,” Sophie said, smelling of fresh lavender. “Besides, I’m perfectly capable of briefing your cat and your boyfriend without you.”

“You and Sophie emerged from the crystal barely conscious, just as the ball lost connection,” Reaper explained to Agatha. “Tedros pulled you both from the portal and he and my guards put you to bed.”

“Tried to sleep too, but couldn’t really. Not without knowing what you two saw,” Tedros said to Agatha, his eyes haggard. “My mum and the Sheriff are sleeping. Been here stuffing my face, before Sophie came down.”

Sophie noticed Agatha still glaring at her. “Like my dress, darling? Made it out of the rug in Reaper’s toilet, after I took a long lavender bath. Needed to extinguish the scent of that cursed white frock.”

Agatha plopped onto the blanket. “Scims are coming for us. Kings are burning their rings. Reaper won’t speak much longer. We don’t have time to be sleeping or eating pancakes or taking lavender baths. We should be going back into the crystal and looking for answers.”

“Or going back to the castle and killing Rhian while he’s down,” Tedros intoned, swiping another pancake.

“The castle is surrounded by guards and the crystal needs more time to recharge, as I learned firsthand with Clarissa,” Reaper rebuffed. “If you were to go back in now, the connection would only last minutes. And it would be pointless until we understand: How could Rhian and his brother see you when they are at Camelot and you are here? And how could you knock over a lamp? It goes against the Rules of Time.”

He raised a paw and yellow glow seeped out of it, casting words onto the blue wall.

1. The Past is fiction. The Present is fact.

2. The Past is memory. The Present is the moment.

3. The Past is there. The Present is here.

4. The Past is retained. The Present is released.

5. The Past is weakness. The Present is power.

“Rule #3,” said the cat. “If they saw you, then you were physically in the king’s bedroom. And you cannot physically be in Gnomeland and in Camelot at the same time.” He paused, his wrinkled lips twitching. “Unless . . . unless . . .”

“What?” Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros