A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,136

see Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros like the young trio could see them.

“Japeth will sense a scim is dead,” the Sheriff warned. “We don’t have much time. Gwen, Reaper, and I will man the tunnel above Gnomeland.”

“Meow meow meow. Meeeow!” Reaper hectored at Tedros.

“Learned a bit of Cat under Uma’s mother at school,” said Guinevere. “Whatever mission Reaper gave you . . . he’s telling you to do it fast.”

Screens around the room went dark, fireflies floating back to their stations.

“We need proof Rhian isn’t King Arthur’s son,” Sophie said, eyeing the mound of letters on the floor. “Before Japeth comes and kills us all. We need proof we can escape with and take into the Woods.”

“We need proof even if we can’t escape,” Tedros said soberly. “Proof we can send out to the Woods before we die. The fate of our world is far bigger than the three of us.”

Agatha and Sophie looked at him.

Fireflies gleamed in his hair like a crown.

“Uh . . .” Tedros shifted under the girls’ stares. “Something on my face?”

“Come on,” Agatha said, dragging Sophie to the floor.

The prince joined them as they ransacked King Arthur’s letters for clues . . . something that would prove who the true father was to Lady Gremlaine’s sons . . . something that would prove who Rhian and Japeth really were. . . .

Ten minutes later, Tedros said he found it.

IT WAS IN a letter from Arthur to Lady Gremlaine.

DEAR GRISELLA,

I KNOW YOU’VE GONE TO STAY WITH YOUR SISTER GEMMA IN FOXWOOD; I REMEMBER YOU SAYING SHE RUNS THE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, SO I’VE SENT THIS LETTER THERE, HOPING IT WILL REACH YOU.

PLEASE COME BACK TO CAMELOT, GRISELLA. I KNOW YOU AND GUINEVERE DIDN’T SEE EYE TO EYE WHEN SHE FIRST CAME TO THE CASTLE. I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED THIS. IT MUST HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO BE MY DEAREST FRIEND MOST OF MY LIFE, AND THEN TO SEE ME RETURN FROM SCHOOL WITH BOTH A NEW FRIEND IN LANCELOT AND A SOON-TO-BE WIFE. BUT I STILL VALUE YOUR FRIENDSHIP AS MUCH AS I EVER DID. AND I KNOW, DEEP IN MY HEART, THAT WE CAN MAKE IT ALL WORK. GWEN, YOU, AND ME TOGETHER.

PLEASE COME BACK.

I NEED YOU.

CAMELOT NEEDS YOU.

WITH LOVE,

ARTHUR

P.S. CAUGHT YOUR FRIEND SADER SNEAKING AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE CASTLE, TOSSING PEBBLES AT YOUR WINDOW. (CLEARLY WASN’T AWARE YOU WERE GONE.) QUITE CHARMING, DESPITE THE TRESPASSING! I EXTENDED AN INVITATION TO DINE WITH US AS SOON AS YOU RETURN.

“So Sader and Gremlaine were friends. More than friends, since he was prowling around her room at night,” said Tedros, relieved. “Here’s our proof that Rhian is their son.”

Agatha reread it. “This isn’t proof that Rhian is Gremlaine’s son, let alone Sader’s. It’s compelling evidence. But we need more.”

“Agatha, this letter proves August Sader and Lady Gremlaine were sneaking around at Camelot together, and we know from Lady Gremlaine’s own admission that she had a secret child,” the prince argued. “Any reasonable person in the Woods would look at this letter and come to the conclusion Rhian is Sader and Gremlaine’s son.”

“But we’re not dealing with reasonable people, Teddy. We’re dealing with a Woods blindly loyal to Rhian,” said Sophie. “Aggie’s right. The letter’s not enough. Sader and Gremlaine are both dead. They can’t confirm it. And the Woods’ newspapers are under Rhian’s control. None of them will print it, let alone peddle a story that Rhian isn’t King Arthur’s heir. Only newspaper that might is the Courier and they’re on the run. Not like anyone would believe them anyway.”

Agatha was still gazing at Arthur’s letter. That prickly dread pitched through her stomach again. The one that told her she’d missed something—

Alarms blared once more. Fireflies surged to the walls, lighting them up like screens.

On one of these, Agatha watched as above ground, in the Woods, a thousand scims assaulted the stump outside Gnomeland, while the stump sprayed back an array of magic shields and spells. Beatrix, Reena, and Kiko were nowhere to be seen.

On an adjacent screen, an army of armored gnomes, wielding swords, clubs, and scimitars, climbed up the abandoned Flowerground tunnel and stood on each other’s shoulders to blockade the entrance under the stump. The gnome pyramid filled the vast hollow, a lattice of a thousand tiny bodies, determined to prevent any scims from breaching the stump and penetrating Gnomeland’s metropolis.

Above ground, the eels smashed the stump with more force, coming from all directions, but they still couldn’t find a way in.

“I need to be