Then Agatha.
But before he could move towards his princess, the nearly twenty scims moved first, turning swiftly from their chosen targets and all pointing in Tedros’ direction.
“No,” he breathed.
With a deafening scream, the scims flew for his head.
Tedros dove as the scims ripped past him, tearing open a wall. A split second later, they ripped back out, aiming at the king once more. But Tedros was as strong as he was nimble, ducking under furniture and hurling chairs and lamps and kitchen pots at the scims, which obliterated everything he threw in their direction.
“Get out of the house!” he commanded his classmates. “Now!”
Ravan, Hort, Beatrix, Reena, and Nicola fled through the open door.
Agatha instinctively surged towards Tedros, but Sophie blocked her.
“I have to help him!” Agatha cried.
“By getting cut up into a thousand pieces? You don’t have anything to fight with!” Sophie blistered.
But now the scims had the upper hand on Tedros, spreading out and coming at him from different angles, forcing him against the windowsill— “He doesn’t even have Excalibur! He can’t fight them with his bare hands!” Agatha panicked, struggling in Sophie’s grip. “Where’s Lancelot? Lance was supposed to be here helping him—”
“There’s only one way to help now!” said Hester, grabbing Sophie. “The Lion! We have to find him!”
Agatha spun to Sophie. “Use your map!”
Suddenly alert, Sophie emptied the vial on her neck, unfurling the Quest Map. . . .
The scims had Tedros checkmated, trapped against the windowsill with no other move to make. They glittered brighter, each aiming at a different part of his body— “There he is . . . ,” Sophie said, tracking RHIAN’s name. “He’s close to us. . . . Getting closer. And closer even . . . wait a second . . .”
The scims launched for Tedros—
A flash of gold blasted through the window, crossing in front of Tedros’ body. Scims slammed into the solid gold of a Lion’s mask as its wearer swung two torches like swords, lighting eels on fire— The boy landed on his feet, pulling off his Lion mask.
“Here, Your Highness!” Rhian said, tossing Tedros a torch.
Tedros caught it. He stared open-mouthed at the boy who’d just saved his life: tan and copper-haired, his lean, muscular frame clad in a blue-and-gold suit. . . .
Then the scims came stabbing at them again.
“At my wing!” Tedros ordered Rhian, launching at the eels with his torch.
Rhian obeyed straightaway, flanking the king as the two boys swept their torches in perfect sync, burning through scims, which fell to the ground shrieking.
Agatha broke from Sophie, sprinting to help them—
“Stay back!” Tedros and Rhian yelled at once.
Agatha stalled midrun. She, Sophie, and the three witches watched wide-eyed as Tedros and his new knight teamed effortlessly, twin swordsmen, calling out moves to each other as they dispatched the scaly ribbons.
“Feint left!” Tedros shouted.
“Parry right!” Rhian called back.
Hester could see the awe on Agatha’s face, watching Tedros join forces with someone his equal. At school, Chaddick had always been Tedros’ sidekick, but he could never truly keep up with the prince. Now Agatha was seeing what it was like for Tedros to finally have a teammate to rely on. This whole time, Agatha had thought she was that teammate, but now she realized that as much as he loved her, Tedros needed someone else—someone who wasn’t his girlfriend, just like Agatha needed Sophie, even when she had Tedros. Just like Hester needed Anadil and Dot. Because there were all kinds of needs that one person couldn’t possibly provide; it’s why the bond between two boys was as distinct and mysterious as the bond between two girls. And it’s why Agatha had misread Tedros so fundamentally these past six months, when she’d felt so alone and unneeded. Because it had nothing to do with Tedros needing his princess . . . and everything to do with him needing a knight.
Meanwhile, the scims didn’t leave a scratch on either boy, the two of them so melded and ruthless in destroying them that they began wordlessly anticipating each other’s moves like silent dancers. And it was only when the last scim fell that Tedros and Rhian finally bent over with relief and turned to their audience.
“Hi,” Tedros said to Agatha.
“Hi,” Agatha said, breathless.
Sophie and Rhian exchanged grins.
But then more scims came.
Hundreds of them, swarming through the window, glittering green instead of black. They funneled like a tornado and spewed a gust of wind that snuffed out the boys’ torches and knocked the king and his knight into a corner. Before they could recover, the scims cycloned faster, building into a black, scaly suit, then a shimmering green mask, reforming the Snake himself. His suit had several holes in it, where scales had been ripped away, revealing milk-white flesh, gashed and bloodied, as if the killed scims from his recent defeats had left both his armor and body vulnerable.
The Snake’s cold gaze settled on the boys, trapped in the corner. All the remaining scims on his body turned instantly to spikes, their tips shining fatally. The Snake’s emerald eyes darkened with purpose. . . .
Then he charged.
Rhian and Tedros both yelled—
A bag swallowed the Snake’s head, yanking him backwards, before engulfing the rest of his body.
Stunned, the Snake slashed and kicked from inside it, but he couldn’t get out. Nor could any sound he was making be heard through the sack’s gray fabric, as if he were a dove trapped in a magician’s hat.
Tedros and Rhian lifted their heads to see Dot pull the sack tight, sealing the Snake inside.
“Daddy said the School Master enchanted it,” she shrugged. “Figured it was worth a shot.”
Curled up on the floor, the Sheriff gaped in disbelief.
So did Sophie, Agatha, Anadil, and Hester against the wall.
“Guess his fake pen didn’t see that coming,” Sophie said, watching the Snake thrash inside the bag.
“Don’t think anyone did,” said Anadil, as her three rats sniffed around it, giving Dot flabbergasted looks. “I thought spells don’t work on the Snake.”
“Rafal’s spells weren’t ordinary spells, apparently,” said Hester, prowling towards the Sheriff— “No, please! Don’t kill me!” he choked.
Hester snapped the jail keys off his belt, before holding them out to his daughter.
“Help Robin escape all you want. But this one can’t escape,” said Hester. “Deal?”
Dot smiled, her hand clasping Hester’s tight for a moment before she took the key. “Deal.”
“Then let’s get this Snake to jail,” said Hester as Dot and Anadil dragged the sack towards the door.
“Guess the scims were looking for Tedros after all,” Hester heard Dot say.
“But it still doesn’t make any sense,” Anadil insisted. “I told you in the square. They had to be looking for someone else last night. . . .”
Hester moved to help them but she stopped at the door, watching Tedros approach his new copper-haired friend, the boy’s stubble sparkling with sweat.