“I was talking to Hester and Anadil after the burial,” said Sophie, nibbling around the edge of a roll. “I suggested you might be a good candidate for School Master. We need a new one, as you know—”
“School Master!” Rhian nearly spewed his cider. “So I can fly you in and out of my tower like Rafal did? So you can replay your fairy-tale fantasy with someone slightly less murderous and far less qualified?”
“No!” Sophie said, offended. “I think—or we think—you’d be perfect for the job. You’d still have to interview with Professor Dovey, of course, but given my popularity with the students, I’m sure my opinion would have more weight—”
“Not interested,” said Rhian. “In the position, that is. Still interested in you.” He flashed a smile and Sophie blushed. “But I have a job now for the rest of my life. At Tedros’ side.”
“I know,” said Sophie sincerely. “But I have a job too. One that isn’t at Camelot, where you and Teddy will be.”
“Are you happy being Dean?”
“I’m good at it,” said Sophie. “It’s what I was meant to do.”
“But are you happy?”
“I’d be happier if you were School Master.”
Rhian smiled. “I don’t want us to be apart. You’ll just have to visit Camelot often. It’s less than a day’s journey.”
“If only it was that simple. Teddy wouldn’t even let me in the castle to plan his own wedding, let alone ‘visit often.’ Plus, to be honest, I think he feels a bit insecure around me. . . .” Sophie checked to make sure Agatha wasn’t listening. (Agatha dropped her napkin and pretended to be looking for it.) “. . . given how poorly Teddy’s reign started versus how successful I’ve been as Dean, I mean,” Sophie said to Rhian, softer. “Catching the Snake will help Teddy’s reputation, of course. But I just don’t think he’ll ever feel comfortable around me. Too much history. And maybe . . . well, I shouldn’t say it. . . . It doesn’t even make sense. . . .”
“Tell me,” said Rhian.
Sophie again glanced at Agatha, who was watching the cricket symphony intently. Sophie leaned towards her knight. “I think deep down, Teddy knows I’d make a better king than he would.”
“Ah,” said Rhian. “King Sophie . . .”
The knight cracked up.
So did Sophie. “I told you it was silly—”
“Your story promised you’d be a handful, but I had no idea.”
Sophie stopped laughing. “I ruined it, didn’t I. . . . I shouldn’t have said anything. . . . I should have faked being nice and bashful like all the other girls you date—”
“I like you even better now, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Rhian.
Sophie stared at him, speechless for once.
“Come back with me to Camelot,” said Rhian. “Just for a few days. It’ll give you and Tedros a chance to thaw before you go back to school. Once he sees me with you on his home turf, he’ll realize it’s the perfect ending. That you and him don’t have to be at odds. The four of us can be true friends, regardless of where we are.”
Sophie considered this. “But my students . . .”
“I’m sure the other Dean can handle things. Just a few days. The school will still be there when you get back.”
“You really think we can have a perfect ending?” Sophie asked.
“You deserve it. Anyone who says you can’t isn’t telling you the Truth,” said Rhian.
Sophie took him in . . . then turned to Agatha. “What do you think, Aggie?” she asked, her green eyes twinkling as if she knew her friend had been listening all along.
Agatha startled in her chair. “What? Oh. Um—”
“What does Agatha think about what?” Tedros asked as he sat back down.
Agatha, Sophie, and Rhian spun to him—
“Nothing,” they said.
Foxes circled the tables.
The first course had arrived.
After dinner, they walked through the darkest part of the Forest towards Marian’s Arrow, the four of them together.
Agatha had her arm hooked in Tedros’ as Rhian and Sophie cuddled on the sandy path ahead of them.
“I’m going to burst out of these clothes,” said Tedros with a burp.
“I’ve never eaten so much in my life,” Agatha moaned, feet shuffling lazily. “Even Sophie had dessert. Sophie. She ate all three!”
“What do you mean, ‘all three’? All six! She ate mine too!” Rhian called out, pecking Sophie on the cheek.
“I don’t care if I have to do yoga in a steam room for eight hours tomorrow and juice fast for the rest of my life . . . ,” Sophie said, wobbly-legged and food-drunk in Rhian’s arms. “It was worth it.”
“And that is how a witch is felled,” Tedros whispered to Agatha. “Gourmet dining.”
Agatha nuzzled into his chest as they watched Sophie and Rhian kissing intensely.
“I remember when we were like that,” Agatha sighed.
“What do you mean ‘were’?” said Tedros, sweeping her up in his arms and kissing her as he carried her.
“Oh, put me down,” said Agatha.
“You told me to put you down when I carried you at school and then you fainted and Sophie turned into Satan and we almost died,” said Tedros, clasping her tighter. “So request denied.”
Agatha relaxed in his arms. “I love you, Tedros.”
“I love you, Agatha.”
“You love me even though sometimes I try to control things too much?” she said.
“You love me even though sometimes I try to shield you too much?” he said.
“You love me even though I don’t write you when I’m supposed to?” she said.
“Well, it’s not like you write Sophie either,” said Tedros.
Agatha laughed.
“No more Snake to worry about. The Woods safe again. Our allies back on our side,” said Tedros. “And soon we’ll be king and queen. Husband and wife.”
“We’ll be as good in peace as we are in war,” said Agatha.
“We already are,” he said, kissing her again.
“Does anyone actually know where we’re going?” Rhian’s voice hollered.
Tedros lifted his lips off Agatha’s. “Oh, for God’s sake, Rhian. How hard is it to follow a path?”
They were totally lost, it turned out, but no one seemed to care, with Tedros now whispering to Rhian at the fore, and Sophie canoodling with Agatha behind them. Fairy lights flickered occasionally over their heads as if to assure them they were perfectly safe, despite the fact the emerald Forest had turned ink-black and they could hardly see each other’s shadows anymore.
When a silent moment finally came, it was the king who broke it.
“If Sophie wants to come stay at Camelot for a few days, it’s fine,” said Tedros.
“There’s my man,” Rhian crowed, slinging an arm around him.
Sophie and Agatha goggled at each other.
“Provided she does all the wedding planning and stays locked in the dungeon,” Tedros said, half-joking.
“Will Rhian be locked in the dungeon with me?” Sophie asked.
The four of them burst into laughter.
“Speaking of witches . . . ,” said Tedros.
Far off the side of the path, Agatha could see a small fire burning in a dug-out pit. At its edge, Hester and Anadil leaned against each other, speaking softly as they roasted marshmallows and ate them off sticks. Neither noticed the group.
“Should we go say hi?” Tedros whispered.
Sophie and Agatha swiveled to him at the same time. “No.”
Sophie smiled at Agatha knowingly.