Agatha stared at her. “He said that?”
Sophie picked at a loose thread in her caftan. “He wants to be Lancelot to Tedros’ Arthur. He wants to see you and Teddy married. That’s why he really came to save us, okay? Because of you and Teddy. Everything is always about you and Teddy. I’m just the girl he has a crush on at the moment.” Sophie balled her knees to her chest. “There could be a thousand other girls like me, for all I know, Aggie. A thousand other roses in a thousand other kingdoms. One for his every Good deed.”
Agatha could see the anxious pink spots on Sophie’s cheeks . . . the way she was curling into herself like she used to their first year at school, whenever Sophie talked about her future prince. . . .
“You really like him, don’t you?” Agatha said, surprised.
Sophie sighed. “I’m completely happy on my own. I don’t need a boy, so don’t make it sound like I do. Nor do I believe in love at first sight anymore or even true love for that matter. Not after Teddy and Rafal taught me that loving any boy only leads to them disappointing you once you realize that they’re boring or immature or an axe murderer. But this boy came out of nowhere when I least expected it and even though he didn’t say we’d meet again, I keep thinking about how nice it’d be to have a proper date where he picks me up and I wear my furs and boots and we dine on coq au vin so I can ask what his father does for a living and what he does when he’s not saving people and why he liked me in our fairy tale when I behaved quite badly most of the time, but . . .” She sank into the pillows. “I can’t really like him. I don’t even know his name.”
“Rhian,” said Agatha.
Sophie bolted back up. “What?”
“His name is Rhian.”
Agatha drew Sophie’s vial from her pocket and deployed the Quest Map. Sophie followed Agatha’s fingertip to the Lion-masked figurine, riding towards Nottingham. Sophie turned sickly pale— “That can’t be his name!”
“So you have heard it,” said Agatha, eyes flaring.
“Professor Sader mentioned that name once,” Sophie said quickly. “Rhian was the name of Rafal’s twin brother!”
“The School Master’s brother? The Good one?” said Agatha. “He’s . . .”
“. . . alive?” Sophie said.
The two girls gaped at each other.
“Impossible,” said Agatha. “We saw the Good School Master’s ghost take over Professor Sader’s body our first year. They both were destroyed. Professor Sader and Rhian. Forever.”
“Unless Rhian’s ghost came back somehow and took a younger form,” said Sophie. “Like Rafal.”
“But Rhian can’t come back. Just like Rafal can’t come back,” said Agatha, shaking her head. “Not even the strongest magic could do that.”
“So maybe this Rhian is the Good School Master’s son? Dads name their sons after them, don’t they? Narcissistic ones at least.”
“His son? If the Good School Master had a son, don’t you think we would have known about it before now? Wouldn’t he have helped us fight Rafal?”
Sophie shook her head. “So it’s just a coincidence.”
“Must be . . . ,” said Agatha skeptically.
“Igraine landing! Nottingham ahead!” Nicola’s voice echoed above.
“Hurry! Rhian and Tedros are meeting soon. We need to find Tedros—” said Agatha, yanking Sophie off the bed.
“And I need to find out who this Rhian is that’s going around kissing girls and not writing them the next day,” Sophie puffed.
“After we help Tedros,” Agatha growled.
The Igraine hit land with an earth-shaking crash—
Agatha seized Sophie in her arms, hugging her tight as debris and clothes and shoes showered over them and the ship tremored until, at last, the room went quiet and still again. They could hear the commands and bootsteps of crew preparing to disembark.
“Come on,” said Agatha, pulling Sophie towards the door.
“Aggie?”
Agatha turned.
“Maybe it’ll all work out. You with Teddy, me with Rhian, whoever he is. Our own versions of Arthur and Lancelot, with Camelot great again,” Sophie breathed hopefully. “What if that’s our Ever After? What if that’s our perfect ending?”
“Well, for one thing, Arthur and Lancelot finished with Lance betraying Arthur and Arthur wanting him dead,” said Agatha, dragging Sophie behind her. “And if there’s one thing I know, Sophie . . . it’s that you and I don’t get to have perfect endings.”
23
THE COVEN
The Sheriff’s Daughter
When it came time to land, the Igraine didn’t have a port to dock in and its captain was below deck, so the ship made its own decision and thumped down in front of Nottingham Prison, crushing a statue of a fat, bearded Sheriff beneath its hull.
A few pigeons scattered.
No sounds came from the jail.
“Daddy won’t be happy,” said Dot, blinking over the rail.
Hester took in the deserted scene. “Where is everyone? You’d think flying ships land here every day.”
“Jail’s pretty empty,” Dot explained. “Daddy and his men are so focused looking for Robin Hood that anyone else they put in there usually escapes.”
“Good Sheriff,” said Anadil, her rats snickering.
“He’s caught Robin before. He’ll catch him again,” Dot defended. “When he caught Robin, Dad was so happy. He told me I was pretty, bought me cakes and dresses, and didn’t have a care in the world. But then when Robin escaped . . .”
Her eyes clouded over.
“But how did Robin escape?” Anadil pushed.
“Oh, look! Bertie!” Dot said, waving over the rail. “Hi, Bertie!”
She beamed down at a filthy old man who’d rushed out the door of the jail to check on the commotion. He had no shirt, his pants were falling down, and he was sucking on a lit cigar.
“Any Robin sightings lately?” Dot asked cheerily.
The old man cursed at her and went back inside.
Dot smiled. “He’s such a good friend.”
A few minutes later, the crew gathered before their captain on sandy dirt, the Igraine in shadow behind them. A soft rain fell, the cloudy glow over Nottingham draining fast. Still, they could see downhill to the quiet village below, bounded on the north side by the rich greenery of Sherwood Forest.
“Tedros and Lancelot are heading towards Sherwood Forest to meet the Lion,” said Agatha. “According to the Quest Map, Tedros will soon reach Nottingham on his way there. But scims were spotted here in Nottingham last night. Surely it’s because the Snake sees a chance to attack Tedros before he gets to Sherwood Forest, where the Snake can’t follow him inside. Sophie and I will use the Quest Map to find Tedros before the Snake does—”
“And the Lion,” Sophie chimed in. “We’ll look for him too.”
Agatha glared at her. Sophie pursed her lips.