A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,51

Hort like a scolded child, and throwing him into the carriage that hadn’t fully stopped. She fumbled in behind him, grabbing on to his rump to steady herself, and smiled back at Rhian. “See you at the church!”

Pretending to lose her balance, she ripped Hort’s scim off like a strip of hot wax and flung it out the carriage door—“Oh dear!” she gasped—before slamming the door shut.

“We have five seconds before he opens this door,” Sophie intoned.

“Good news is I got Rhian and Japeth fighting,” Hort said, breathless.

“Evil news: Rhian is still alive, Japeth is still his brother, and I’m still marrying a monster,” said Sophie.

“Good: Agatha is safe at the School for Good and Evil,” Hort contended.

“Evil: A team of sorcerers is on their way to her and I just lied to the entire Woods that she’s been captured,” said Sophie.

“Good: Willam and Bogden are about to be free—”

“Evil: Literally anyone else in that cell would have been more useful than those goons, your girlfriend included, and if the Blessing goes off as planned, that means we’re three events from Tedros losing his head. If Agatha is building an army, then we need more time, Hort. We need to delay the Blessing, somehow!”

“Exactly,” said Hort. “Why do you think I picked Willam and Bogden over everyone else?”

Sophie stared at him . . . then grinned with understanding.

The carriage door swung open—

Rhian glowered, his face in shadow.

Before Sophie could speak, a scim shot through the door and smashed into Hort, who let out a resounding shriek, sending the horses rearing.

A FEW MINUTES later, Willam and Bogden studied four tarot cards, laid out in Bogden’s lap.

Neither Willam nor Bogden had time to bathe before being shoved next to Hort inside the carriage, which now reeked so badly of dungeon sweat that Sophie could hardly breathe.

Sitting beside Sophie, Rhian focused intensely on the two boys across from him. Meanwhile, Bogden and Willam kept giving Sophie anxious peeks as if they had no idea why they were here, but Sophie just smiled at Bogden reassuringly, the same way she did when she expected the beady-eyed stooge to do her bidding back at school.

“It’s a yes-or-no question,” the king said, his teeth clenched. “So let’s have the answer. For the last time: Is my brother trying to kill me?”

Bogden looked at Willam, waiting for Willam to say something.

Willam looked at Bogden, waiting for Bogden to say something.

Say yes, Sophie thought, seeing Hort glare at them with the same message. Just say yes. That’s all we need.

Bogden looked back at the cards. “Well, Tower and Judgment side by side . . . that means there’s bad blood between you and your brother. And the Empress card suggests a female involved . . .”

“Obviously,” Rhian muttered, eyeing Sophie.

“Not her,” Willam countered, fingering the Empress card. “Someone further back that made you and Japeth distrust each other. Add the Death card into all this . . . and there’s, um, only one conclusion . . .” He and Bogden exchanged fretful glances.

“Well, what is it?” Rhian snapped.

Bogden gulped. “One of you will kill the other.”

“Only there’s no way to know who,” Willam croaked.

Rhian looked startled for a moment, even a little . . . scared.

“So we should postpone the Blessing, then?” Sophie chimed, delighted by the boys’ performance. “Can’t possibly be worried about weddings with a Snake trying to kill you.”

She knew she’d been too chipper, because Hort tensed his buttocks and Rhian gave her a suspicious look.

“I thought you didn’t believe in all this,” said the king. “I thought you said they were ‘fools.’”

Sophie went mum.

The king turned back to the two boys. “Should Sophie and I still get married?”

Willam quickly dealt new cards.

Say yes, Sophie prayed. Or he’ll know we put you up to this.

“Hmm, the cards can’t say if you ‘should’ marry Sophie,” Willam replied, assessing his hand, “but they do say you will.”

“Not on schedule, though,” Bogden added.

“Definitely not on schedule,” Willam concurred.

“See? We should postpone the Blessing at once,” Sophie squawked, nearly hugging the two boys. “It’s what we’re supposed to do—”

“And tell me, will your friend Tedros be executed as planned?” Rhian said to the boys, ignoring his princess.

Bogden bit his lip as he fanned out a new hand on Willam’s lap. . . .

“No,” he rasped, clearly relieved.

“Mmm, I don’t know if I agree, Bogs,” said Willam, touching Bogden’s arm. “Knight of Cups next to Death? I think it means someone will try to stop the execution. But to me,