A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil The Camelot Years #2) - Soman Chainani Page 0,88

of any kingdom. The inscription appears nowhere else. So the best scholars of the Woods studied the symbols and offered their own readings.”

Over the book, the phantoms of three wizened old men appeared, their beards to the floor, holding hands in the School Master’s tower. . . .

“First, there were the Three Seers who brought the Storian to the School for Good and Evil for protection, believing only a School Master could prevent the pen from corruption by either side. These Seers testified the inscription was a simple edict: ‘THE PEN IS MAN’S TRUE KING.’ As such, the Storian was the Woods’ one true master, entrusted with preserving the balance. Man existed purely to serve the pen and should live humbly under its rule.”

The scene atop the book changed: now a grisly war, soldiers of Good and Evil spilling each other’s blood. . . .

“This theory held for hundreds of years until a King of Netherwood insisted his scholars had decoded the carving to mean precisely the opposite: ‘MAN IS THE PEN’S TRUE KING.’ According to these scholars, the Storian needed a master. The Woods needed a master. This, in turn, set off a series of wars between kingdoms, each vying to claim the Storian, only to see those victorious suffer a grisly fate. . . .”

Agatha watched as ruler after ruler triumphantly climbed the tower and seized the pen, only to be stabbed through the heart by it and pitched into the moat below.

“But then came the Sader line of seers, my ancestors, who proposed their own reading of the Storian’s inscription.”

Once more, the scene depicted the pen’s strange symbols . . . only now they were shape-shifting into readable letters . . .

“WHEN MAN BECOMES PEN, THE ONE TRUE KING WILL RULE.”

Agatha studied these words. She could hear pirates outside and harsh scrapes against the School Master’s tower, like hooks or arrows hitting stone. Students moved away from the window, but Agatha kept her focus on the book—

“Leaders clashed over the meaning of the Sader Theory. Was the Storian encouraging Man to fight the Pen? Or was it ordering Man to bow to the Pen as King? The Sader Theory, then, only added fuel to the fire that divided the Woods: Who controls our stories? Man or Pen?”

The letters on the phantom Storian reverted to the unusual symbols.

“This battle raged for centuries until a new School Master, the Evil half of two twin brothers who presided over the School for Good and Evil, made a startling discovery. . . .”

The scene zoomed in on the inscription, revealing etchings within the carvings.

“Each symbol of the Storian’s inscription was a mosaic of squares, and inside each square: a swan. One hundred swans in total, fifty of them white, fifty of them black, representing a hundred Ever and Never kingdoms in the Endless Woods. Taken together, the inscription included every known realm, Good and Evil, the entirety of our world reflected in the pen’s steel.”

A silver ring appeared over the book, the same inscription carved in its surface.

“In light of this, I proposed a new theory,” said Sader. “‘When Man Becomes Pen’ didn’t mean that one should reign supreme, but that Man and Pen existed in perfect balance. Neither could erase the other. Neither could manipulate fate. Neither could force the outcome of a story. They had to share power for the Woods to survive. At last, the debate was settled. Who controls our stories: Man or Pen? The answer was: both.”

The silver rings multiplied in midair.

“The ring that each ruler wore, then, was an oath of loyalty to the Pen. As long as the rulers wore these rings, Man and Pen would stay in balance, just like Good and Evil. But if Man were to forsake the Pen and deny its place . . . if all the rulers were to burn their rings and instead swear loyalty to a king of their own . . .”

The rings burned up in a burst of flames—

“. . . then the balance would be gone. The Storian would lose its powers and this king would claim them. A king who would become the new Storian.”

Out of the ashes, a human form rose, holding a new pen.

A pen glowing gold.

“This king, the One True King, would no longer be bound by the balance. He could use his pen like a sword of fate. Every word he’d write would come to life. With his power, he could bring peace and wealth and happiness to