The young king stared at him, still on his feet. “So I should let him violate Camelot’s land? My father’s sacred memorial? I have to stop him—”
“With no Excalibur and no Lady of the Lake?” Professor Dovey said, echoing the wizard. “On land that he’s been scouting for weeks? Stay the course, Tedros, just like you planned. Build alliances. Build your army for the bigger war to come.”
“I don’t need Excalibur. I don’t need the Lady of the Lake,” Tedros persisted. “I have to fight for my people. I’m their leader, Merlin. I’m their defender. If he even gets near the Four Point, I’ll slit this reptile’s throat and prove I’m king once and for all.”
“Tedros is right,” Lancelot jumped in. “He can’t let the Four Point go undefended. I’ll ride with him and fight by his side.”
“It’s too dangerous!” said Guinevere, clearly distressed now that her love’s life was at risk.
“Arthur and I always took on the most dangerous enemies ourselves. You know that, Gwen,” Lancelot growled. “That was his duty as king. That was my duty as his knight. That’s how we kept this kingdom safe.”
“But this is Tedros, not Arthur,” Guinevere came back. “Last time you and Tedros fought together, you ended up impaled to a tree by the School Master and nearly bled to death. Even you said that your shoulder isn’t the same since. And now you want to ride into battle again? Listen to Merlin and Professor Dovey. Both of you. Don’t do anything rash.”
“Mother, I know I am not my father. Thank you for reminding me of that,” Tedros said coldly. “But Agatha and my friends are out there in the Woods fighting my quest. I can’t let them risk their lives for me any longer.” He turned to Merlin. “This is my destiny as king. No one else’s. You can’t stop me from fighting—”
“I’m not trying to stop you from fighting, Tedros,” said the wizard. “I’m trying to stop you from fighting before you are ready. This is a Snake who duped Good’s greatest sorceress. A Snake who thinks he’s the rightful king. He will not fight fairly and you must be prepared. If you fight him on his terms, he will kill you and your queen, just like he already killed your best friend.”
Tedros fell silent.
“Four Point is only a three-hour ride from here. We should leave now, Tedros,” Lancelot forced, ignoring Merlin. “Don’t listen to the wizard. You and I beat the School Master, after all.”
“Only because I had a plan and brought you an army,” Merlin said sharply.
Lancelot opened his mouth to argue, then closed it.
Tedros looked between the wizard, the Dean, his mother, and the knight, thinking carefully.
Then he turned to Merlin.
“Let’s get back to building our army,” said the king.
Guinevere exhaled. Lancelot sank back in his chair and glowered out the window, rubbing at his shoulder.
The wizard continued: “If we are to build an army to fight the Snake, then we will need allies. Tedros must immediately convene a summit of Ever and Never leaders from the affected kingdoms. Despite the fact that you’ve ignored their pleas for help, you must assure them that Camelot is still on their side—and that you are the only ruler who still has all of their interests at heart.”
Tedros nodded, trying to look confident.
“Until that summit occurs and while Agatha’s crew tracks the Snake’s movements, the five of us must be our own crew with our own task. . . .” Merlin looked around the table. “We need to find out who this Snake might be. And more importantly, where he gets his power.”
Merlin turned to Professor Dovey. “On that note, perhaps it’s best if I visit the Lady of the Lake myself.”
“You can’t go now, Merlin. I need you,” the Dean breathed, quickly and tight-lipped as if she didn’t want the others to hear.
“You’re more than ready to do it on your own,” the wizard murmured.
“Something’s still bothering me, Merlin,” said Guinevere, interrupting them. “Even if the Snake is Arthur’s family, Tedros has the throne by birthright. He is Arthur’s first and only son. No amount of Arthur’s blood can challenge that.”
The wizard gazed at her thoughtfully. “Quite right, Guinevere. Unless, of course, by ‘Arthur’s blood,’ the Snake meant—”
He paused.
“Unless he meant . . . what,” Tedros pushed.
Merlin turned to the Dean. “I’m afraid I need to depart at once, Clarissa. I’ll see you at school in a few days’ time.”
He stood and gathered his cape and hat, leaving the Dean dismayed.
“But, Merlin—” Dovey pleaded.
“You’ll do quite fine without me, Clarissa. Just stay vigilant,” he said cryptically as he headed for the door. “As for the rest of you, I’ll leave you to your afternoon meeting, which Clarissa would be wise to avoid as well, since it concerns the only thing in the world wizards and fairy godmothers are deathly allergic to.”
“What’s that?” Tedros asked.
“Money,” said Merlin, without looking back.
“The advisors want to talk to me?” Tedros said, eyes wide. “Lady Gremlaine has been trying to arrange a meeting between me and them for six months and their only response has been to urinate in their food and throw it in her direction.”
“Well, apparently, they’ve changed their minds,” said the Treasury Master, not looking up from his ledger. “Sent a scrap of paper through a guard named Kei. He couldn’t find Lady Gremlaine so he brought it to me.”
The Treasury Master was an egg-shaped, fleshy figure, no taller than a baby Christmas tree, with a bald pate, floppy ears, and enormous gold glasses that took up most of his pug-nosed, pink-skinned face. Tedros couldn’t tell if he was human or ogre.
“They’ll see you after supper and they made it clear you’re to be alone,” said the Treasury Master. He lifted his head and looked at Lancelot and Guinevere, seated beside Tedros, then went back to his ledger. “I summoned you to give you the message, so now that it’s delivered, I assume our meeting is at an end—”
“Not so fast,” said Lancelot. “We have more questions, Treasury Master.”
As the knight interrogated him, Tedros lapsed into his thoughts. After six months, his father’s advisors had agreed to see him. The advisors who’d driven Camelot into debt. The advisors who’d done something with its gold. Finally he would get answers.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand the question,” the Treasury Master was saying, perched between stacks of soggy ledgers and chewing the end of his red pencil.
“You don’t understand the question? Or do you not understand words in general?” Lancelot bullied, still pent up from the lunch meeting.
“Lance,” Guinevere said, before simpering at the Treasury Master. “All we’re asking is how are we still losing money now that the advisors are in jail? Since Tedros took the throne, the kingdom has been collecting taxes fairly and he’s cut spending to the bone. Camelot should be bringing in more gold than before. Not falling deeper and deeper into debt—”
“Accounting is a complicated field, Lady Guinevere,” said the Treasury Master vacantly. “Best left to the likes of men.”