A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,167

within its glass edges. . . . He peered closer as Sophie held her breath. . . .

“Japeth?” a voice called.

Rhian’s.

Japeth squeezed the crystal in his fist, snuffing its light.

“Get out,” he ordered.

“She’s gone.”

Japeth’s face changed. “How gone?”

“Gone.”

Silence passed between brothers.

“I made you tea,” said Rhian’s voice. “Just the way you like it.”

Japeth slipped the fist with the crystal back underwater. “Come in.”

Sophie cursed to herself.

Rhian pushed through the door. He was in his blue-and-gold suit and carrying a mug.

“Poisoned, I assume?” said Japeth.

“Naturally,” said the king, his crown catching gilded light. “What was that noise?”

“Avalanche in your closet. Shoddy work.”

“Evidently. A chandelier just crashed outside. Could be Sophie’s parting gift, though. Guards are searching the castle to make sure she’s left.”

The twins eyed each other.

“No wedding, then?” Japeth asked.

Rhian smiled limply. “Not sure what we’ll do with all the gifts. Apparently the Sultan of Shazabah is sending a magic camel.”

Japeth exhaled. “You won’t miss her, brother. In a few days, you won’t even remember her name.”

The king smoothed his blue-and-gold suit, as if brushing away this part of the conversation. “We’ll summon the Kingdom Council tomorrow and burn the last ring.”

“Then the Pen’s magic will be yours,” his brother said eagerly. “Lionsmane, the new Storian. You, the One True King with infinite power.”

“With infinite power comes the burden to do right by that power,” said the king. “A responsibility I hope I’m worthy of.”

“As if that’s in question,” Japeth flattered. “You’ve always been the Good brother. The one everyone loves. That’s why you’re the king.”

Rhian cleared his throat. “Where should I put your tea?”

“What will you do first?” Japeth pushed. “What will be the first thing you write with Lionsmane?”

“To abolish the Kingdom Council and that wretched school forever,” Rhian replied. “Time to return these Woods to the people.”

“Never got over that you weren’t taken to be an Ever, did you?” Japeth baited. “Or maybe it was that I wasn’t taken away, leaving you and Mother in peace.”

Rhian stiffened. “Japeth—”

“What will you do with the school?” Japeth asked sweetly.

“Burn it to the ground,” the king said, relieved by the change in subject. “‘A conflagration so fierce and high that it can be seen all across the Woods.’ Something like that. Words to be written. Words you and I will watch come true.”

“And Agatha and Tedros and all the rebels? What of them?”

“They’ll be dead with a penstroke. Erased into thin air.”

“No Harpies to skin their flesh or trolls to eat their brains? No cataclysm of pain?”

“Only the pain of a footnote,” said Rhian.

Japeth snorted. “I knew there was a reason I helped you become king.”

Rhian turned serious. “We both know the real reason, Japeth.”

His twin suddenly looked unsettled.

“You helped me fulfill my wish, Japeth,” said Rhian. “And once we burn the last ring, it’ll be my turn to fulfill yours.”

Blush spots rose on Japeth’s cheeks.

“A wish I promised you, for your loyalty and faith,” said Rhian intensely. “You vowed to help me become king if I vowed to bring the one you love back to life with the Pen’s powers. You’ve kept your word. Tomorrow I’ll keep mine.”

Japeth choked up with emotion, hardly able to speak.

“Thank you, brother,” he whispered.

Rhian rested the tea on the tiled edge of the tub. “First day back on my feet has been more than I can handle,” he sighed. “No magic healing blood for me, I’m afraid.”

“Go lie down,” Japeth said, with tenderness Sophie had never heard from him before.

Rhian nodded, loosening his belt and sword. He turned for the door—

“Rhian?” Japeth said.

The king looked back.

“Mother would be proud of you,” said the Snake. “For putting family first.”

Rhian smiled faintly. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

He shut the door behind him.

Japeth leaned back in his bath. He closed his eyes, as if drained by the exchange, only to open them when he realized he still had something in his fist.

He raised the glowing blue crystal out of the water, honing in on the scene inside.

Sophie held her breath.

This time there were no interruptions.

The Snake watched the scene replay, again and again and again.

Slowly his muscles tensed, his body curling upright, his knuckles gnarled around the glass droplet. Ice-blue veins popped out on his neck; his teeth clenched, coated with saliva; his eyes narrowed to murderous slits.

Slowly, the Snake looked up at the door.

He rose out of the water, eels materializing on his skin, black scaly strips crisscrossing the smooth white flesh, re-forming his suit. Then he stepped out of the bath, his wet feet shrieking