A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,134

hounded.

“Unless the ball recognizes Rhian’s or Japeth’s soul . . . even a sliver of it,” Reaper proposed. “If the ball recognizes one or both of their souls, then maybe the crystal believed them the ball’s rightful Second instead of Agatha. When you tried to enter their scene, it made your presence known. Like a defense system or an alarm. That’s what bent the Rules of Time—” His voice caught, another burp of meows floating out before he regained control. “It would also explain why the crystal had a scene of them inside: they might be far away from the ball, but their souls are always connected to it.”

“Utter dog crap,” Tedros blustered, prompting a curdled expression from the cat. “There’s no way Rhian’s or Japeth’s soul is connected to Professor Dovey’s crystal ball—”

“Unless they are related to her,” Reaper said coolly. “Past is Present and Present is Past. Lady Lesso used to say that to Agatha’s mother, when Callis was a teacher of Uglification at the School for Evil. Callis had recently found me in the Woods as a hungry kitten and nurtured me back to health. It unlocked something in her. She openly wondered to Lesso what it might be like to have a baby of her own one day. The Dean warned her: the sins of the parent can live on in the child. The soul lives on through the blood. It’s why Nevers make terrible parents.”

“Past is Present and Present is Past. . . .” Sophie spoke softly, almost to herself. “Rhian said that to me.”

Dread fluttered in Agatha’s stomach, as if her own soul had figured something out. Something it wasn’t telling her. “You’re saying Rhian and Japeth could be related to Professor Dovey? But Dovey didn’t have children.”

“Dovey’s siblings may have, though,” said Reaper, his voice faint and scratchy. “And any children in Clarissa Dovey’s bloodline—meow, meow, meow—would also be recognized by—meow, meow—Dovey’s crystal.”

“Dovey was an only child. She mentioned it at our last meal,” Tedros countered. “There were no siblings to carry on the bloodline. So it’s impossible that Rhian and Japeth’s souls are part of the crystal.”

“Only it’s not just a fairy godmother’s soul that goes into her crystal ball,” Agatha realized, looking up at Tedros and Sophie.

Her two friends stared back at her. “Professor Sader,” Sophie breathed. “A crystal ball has the soul of a fairy godmother and the seer who made it for her. And Sader made the crystal for Dovey.”

“That phantom in the ball,” Agatha said. “It glitches between Professor Dovey’s face and a second face. I couldn’t place it at first but now I know. . . . It’s Sader’s.”

“But that still doesn’t get us anywhere,” Tedros groused. “Why would Sader’s soul have anything to do with Rhian’s or Japeth’s? It’s not like he could have been their father—”

He dropped his pancake.

“Except Professor Sader knew Lady Gremlaine! Dovey told me!” the prince exclaimed. “Sader was the seer that painted my coronation portrait and Dovey went with Sader to Camelot when he did it. Something Sader said to Dovey made Dovey think that he and Lady Gremlaine had a history.”

“Hold on,” Agatha said, agape. “You think Rhian and Japeth could be the sons of Lady Gremlaine and August Sader?”

“I thought August Sader didn’t like women,” Sophie volunteered.

“He didn’t like you,” said Tedros.

“Let’s think about this,” Agatha said. “Rhian and Japeth both have light eyes like Sader. The same good looks and thick hair. And if Sader is their father, that explains how Japeth would have magic in his blood, since Sader is a seer.” She paused. “That always bothered me. That Arthur wasn’t magical. So if Japeth was Arthur and Gremlaine’s son, where would Japeth’s scims and magic have come from? But having Sader as a father explains that . . .”

“Could a son of Sader and Gremlaine really be so Evil, though?” Sophie wondered.

“Could a son of Arthur and Gremlaine?” Agatha returned. “Lady Gremlaine was cruel at times. At least to me. Maybe it was her soul that infected the boys.”

“Past is Present and Present is Past . . . ,” Sophie mulled.

“Look, all I care is that if Rhian and Japeth are the sons of Sader and Gremlaine, then they’re not my father’s sons and Rhian isn’t my father’s blood,” Tedros spewed. “And if Rhian isn’t his blood, then he isn’t the heir and he isn’t king and the people of the Woods have to know they’ve been duped by a lying, filthy scum.”

“And to think: all