“Now as to the details of this plan—” Tedros cut in.
“Tedros, I think it’s best if I handle—”
The king turned to the Dean. “We may be your students, but this is my kingdom that we’re about to land in. So are you leading this meeting or am I?”
Professor Dovey pursed her lips. “Proceed.”
Tedros scanned the crew: Rhian watching him intently; Sophie fixed on Rhian and nuzzling his arm; Hort, Nicola, Hester, Anadil, Beatrix, Reena, Kiko, Willam, and Bogden. (The rest of the students they’d left at a clinic in Nottingham, so they could recuperate from their injuries sustained at the Four Point.) “Where’s Agatha?” he heard Kiko whisper to Sophie.
“Taking care of Dot in her room,” Sophie whispered back. “Dot’s too afraid to show her face.”
“She should be,” Hort grumbled.
“First of all, this is not Dot’s fault,” Tedros admonished the group. “The boy named Kei of Foxwood arrived in Sherwood Forest just a few days ago, hounding Robin for a chance to join his Merry Men. Robin ignored Kei at first, but when Kei expressed an interest in the Sheriff’s daughter, Robin saw a chance to make Dot happy. He told Kei to take Dot on a date she’d remember and then maybe he’d consider him for his men. Little did he know Kei was in league with the Snake the whole time. So please. What happened last night was an accident. Be kind to Dot.”
“Challenging,” groused Hester.
“Impossible, honestly,” Anadil mumbled, rats grumbling too.
“As soon as we land in Camelot, we’ll divide into two teams to fight the Snake,” Tedros forged on. “One team will be with me and Agatha at Camelot Castle. The other team will be with Rhian and Sophie in Camelot City.”
“I told you he wouldn’t let me in the castle,” Sophie murmured to Rhian.
Tedros ignored her. “My team will be responsible for securing the royal grounds. You will work with Agatha and me to fortify the towers, protect Excalibur, and lay traps for the Snake’s army. Rhian’s team will be responsible for helping my mother and our Ever and Never allies to recruit an army to fight the Snake’s. Professor Dovey has been in touch with Guinevere—” Tedros’ face changed. He looked up at the Dean in her bubble. “And she’s, um, aware of everything that happened last night?”
Professor Dovey paused. “Yes, she is.”
Tedros swallowed, lost in thought.
The Good Dean quickly took over. “Ever since the Four Point, Guinevere has led Camelot’s allies in building a unified army of Good and Evil. Recruitment is currently taking place in Maker’s Market, the main thoroughfare of Camelot City. Rhian’s team will join this effort and conduct loyalty tests to ensure none of the Snake’s allies make it into our ranks, like Kei of Foxwood did. . . .”
Kei’s name snapped Tedros out of his daze. He glanced at the Dean, thankful she’d stepped in, his stomach still queasy at the thought of his mother learning that Lance was dead. Yet as he studied Dovey closer, the Dean looked haggard, as if she hadn’t been sleeping.
“. . . Those working on Rhian’s team must be cautious, for the Snake’s minions may have already seeped into Camelot City,” the Good Dean was saying, stifling a cough. “But before the king assigns you to your teams, I have a few questions for our new knight.” Her eyes locked on Rhian.
“At your service, Professor Dovey,” said the copper-haired boy, immediately rising to his feet.
“What kingdom are you from, Rhian?” she asked.
“Foxwood.”
“Your parents’ names?”
“Levya and Rosamund. My father is deceased.”
“Siblings?”
“Two younger brothers. Stad and Gilderoy.”
“Address?”
“62 Stropshire Lane in Foxwood.”
“Thank you,” said Professor Dovey, scribbling this all down, before looking up at him. “You see, I’m afraid there is no record of a Rhian in our files for prospective students to either the School for Good or the School for Evil.”
“Perhaps I did not qualify to be a prospective student, then?” said Rhian.
“All children in the Woods and Woods Beyond between the ages of twelve and fifteen qualify to be prospective students and thus have a file at the school,” Professor Dovey clipped.
“Then it must be an oversight, surely,” said Rhian, scratching his stubble. “I will be seventeen next month. I would have been in Tedros’ class.”
“If it is an oversight, then why is your name on my Quest Map?” the Good Dean pressed. “Why is your name recognized by the Storian?”
“Because the Storian made a mistake by not including him in our class and now is atoning for it,” Sophie snapped, standing up next to her knight.
“I understand your reservations, Professor Dovey. I would have the same ones,” said Rhian, his attention still on the Dean. “I’ve come to serve Camelot. To protect its king. I cannot speak to the mysteries of the Storian or the admissions process at your school. But if you have doubts about my loyalty, then I will return to Foxwood at once.”
“No one has doubts about your loyalty,” said Tedros, glaring at Dovey.
“Doubts about your loyalty? No,” said the Dean. “In reporting this fairy tale as it unfolds, the Storian has showed me what kind of knight you are, Rhian. You’ve saved Tedros’ life. You’ve saved all of my students’ lives, along with numerous kingdoms under threat, from Foxwood to Mahadeva to Nottingham. Your loyalty to Tedros, to his friends, and to Good is unquestioned. What I question is why this loyalty has not come to my attention before now. But perhaps that is something that only the Storian and our previous School Master have the answers to and, unfortunately, neither is capable of giving them. One last question, however.” She peered into Rhian’s eyes. “About your intentions towards Sophie—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Clarissa!” Sophie scorched.
“Let me answer,” Rhian said firmly. “Go on, Professor.”
Professor Dovey gave him a keen once-over. “Do you find it strange for a knight of Good to take a Dean of Evil as his lady?”
“No more strange than a princess of Good like Agatha to have a Dean of Evil like Sophie as her best friend. Or a Dean of Good like you to have had a Dean of Evil like Lady Lesso as your best friend,” Rhian answered. “Good and Evil are no longer as irreconcilable in our world as they once were. Something we have to give Sophie quite a bit of credit for. But to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have wanted the Sophie that came to your school her first year. That Sophie was Evil in the most self-serving way. There was little to attract someone like me, who wants to do Good in this world. But I don’t see that Sophie anymore. Her soul may still skew toward Evil, but now her Evil serves the greater Good. It’s what I most admire about her. She can change people’s minds. She knows how to lead. I think we can all agree on that, Professor. Even more, I think we can all say that she deserves to find real love. Wouldn’t you?”
Sophie’s eyes had turned to stars.