His father wore the crimson robes in which he was buried, his bearded face ruddy and fresh, the way Tedros remembered him in the prime of his reign. Camelot’s crown glistened on Arthur’s head and Tedros found himself reaching up to make sure his own crown was still there.
It wasn’t.
“They say he’s your son,” Tedros accused. “They say you know who he is.”
Arthur grew taller.
“Who is he!” Tedros shouted.
Higher and higher Arthur grew, reaching for the clouds.
“TELL ME THE TRUTH!” Tedros cried.
King Arthur roared, shaking the earth with his fury.
He bent down like a giant and glared into his son’s eyes.
“Unbury me,” he said.
Then the clouds pounced down and devoured Arthur into the night.
Tedros woke in a pool of sweat on a cold floor.
He pried open his eyes and saw he was at the top of the dungeon staircase, curled up in front of the stone door.
How could I fall asleep!
He had to get to the Four Point. He had to find this Snake now—
“KEI!” he screamed, pounding on the door again.
But the dream had felt so real, his father’s roar reverberating through him.
For months, he’d been haunted by his dad, but this was the first time he’d been given an order from the grave.
An order that didn’t make sense. How could there be answers in a heap of bones and dust? All he was left with was the riddle of a dream.
But what happened with the advisors wasn’t a dream.
They’d hinted that the Snake was his father’s son.
Which meant he’d be Tedros’ brother.
Impossible.
He would have known. Someone would have told him. His mother. His father. Anyone. No secret like that could be kept for so long.
“KEI!” Tedros blared, bludgeoning the door.
Faint shouts echoed beyond it, as if they were miles away.
He’d attacked the door for hours last night, shouting himself hoarse, waiting for someone to open it. It didn’t make any sense: his guard, Kei, had left through the very same door— Tedros’ heart stopped. Unless Kei locked me in.
He thought back to their heartfelt conversation on these stairs.
Why would Kei seal me in the dungeons?
An oily dread coated Tedros’ throat.
Did Gremlaine give Kei her key before she left?
Have Kei and Gremlaine been working with the advisors all along?
Tedros’ blood went hot.
What were they doing while I was trapped?
He battered the stone with renewed force—
Shouts amplified outside the door, as if multiple voices were yelling at once.
Tedros flattened onto his stomach and put his ear to the razor-thin slit at the bottom.
“Tedros!” the voices called.
“Get me out!” he yelled.
“KEY!”
Immediately Tedros fumbled his key ring from his pocket and pried the black key off it. He tried to slide it under the door, but it got stuck beneath the thick slab of stone. Tedros pressed his little finger through the crack, trying to flick the key to his rescuers. No luck. He put his mouth to the opening and tried to blow the key across— A piece of wire surged through the slit, stabbing his chin. Startled, Tedros watched the wire hook the top of the key and scrape it out the other end. The lock snapped and the door pulled open, revealing the shadows of Lancelot and Guinevere.
“You know how long I’ve been in there!” Tedros spat, storming past them. “Find Kei and lock him in the jail until I return! I’m riding to the Four Point right now—”
“Snake attacked the Four Point last night,” said Lancelot.
Tedros whirled, midstride.
“Almost killed the leaders of the four kingdoms,” Lancelot snarled, “along with Agatha, Sophie, and more than twenty other questers from your school while they were waiting for you to arrive.”
Tedros spluttered: “Wait. Agatha was at the—”
“You should have been there! I don’t care what the old wizard said! Should have just gone myself when I got word we were attacked!” Lancelot seethed. “But then we couldn’t find you—we’ve spent hours pounding on that door, with no idea if you were inside or hurt or—”
“Dead!” Guinevere cut in, relief boiling to anger. “Do you know what you put us through!”
“Is Agatha okay?” Tedros asked, paling.
“I told you not to go into the dungeon without me! I told you to ride with me to the Four Point and be a king!” Lancelot harped. “Your father would have listened to me and not that old wizard! Your father would have trusted me! But you had to do things your way—”
“Is Agatha okay!” Tedros demanded.
“Your classmates, your fellow rulers, your princess could all be dead because of your carelessness, Tedros!” Lancelot flayed. “Luckily, someone else came to their rescue.”
Tedros felt like he’d been slammed over the head. “What? Who!”
“Ask the leaders that were saved,” said the knight, pulling Guinevere away. “They’re all here.”
Five minutes later, Tedros sat at the Round Table in the Map Room, surrounded by twenty Good and Evil leaders.
“So let me get this straight,” said Tedros, crown askew and smelling like dungeon. “The Snake staged an execution at the Four Point to bait me into fighting him. A Snake who says he is my father’s son and Camelot’s rightful king. And then a Lion shows up in a mask and defeats him in battle.” Tedros leaned forward. “A Lion who is not me?”
The onslaught came from every direction—
“The Snake says he’s Arthur’s eldest son!” cried the King of Jaunt Jolie.
“He says he can pull Excalibur! That he’s the true heir!” added the Fairy Queen of Gillikin.
“Is that why Excalibur is stuck in the stone? Because it’s waiting for him, not you?” the Ice Giant of Frostplains asked.
“Even if he is the true heir, you can’t let him get near that sword!” the Queen of Jaunt Jolie gasped.
“Nearly killed my dear friend and her little boys!” said the Duchess of Glass Mountain, touching the queen with her translucent hand. “If he pulls the sword and becomes king, nothing will stop him from murdering us all!”
“If my sons had died because you failed to intervene—” the Queen of Jaunt Jolie said to Tedros, before she broke down.
“Thank goodness for that Lion chap,” said the eight-armed Queen of Ooty. “He beat the Snake off!”
“And here we thought you were the Lion,” the King of Bloodbrook growled at Tedros, swatting his paw at the floating maps that kept bumping into his head.
“For weeks, we’ve begged you to intervene,” said the Queen of Ravenbow. “Instead, many of us were almost hanged on Camelot land while the king sits at home!”