A Crystal of Time. Soman Chainani

and my father. In her house. Lots of them. Maybe they explain what she really meant. . . . We need to read those letters . . . I don’t know where they are now—” His eyes glistened. “It can’t be true. Rhian can’t be my brother. He can’t be the heir.” He looked at the demon pleadingly. “Can he?”

      “I don’t know,” said Hester, low and grim. “But if he is, then either your brother kills you or you kill him. This can’t end any other way.”

      Suddenly they heard the dungeon door open.

      Tedros squinted through the bars.

      Voices and shadows stretched down the stairway at the end of the hall. The Snake glided into view first, followed by three pirates wielding trays slopped with gruel.

      The pirates set down the gruel at the floor of the first two cells—the one with Tedros’ crewmates and the one with Professor Dovey—and kicked the trays through the gaps along with dog bowls of water.

      The Snake, meanwhile, walked straight towards Tedros’ cell, his green mask flashing in the torchlight.

      Panicked, Hester’s demon flew upwards and Tedros watched it flail around, struggling to find a shadow on the ceiling to hide in. But with its red skin, the demon stuck out like an eyesore—

      Then the Snake appeared through the cell bars.

      Instantly, the green scims on his mask dispersed, revealing his face to Tedros for the first time.

      Tedros gaped back at him, Rhian’s ghostly twin, his lean body fitted in shiny black eels, the suit newly restored as if he’d never been wounded in battle at all. As if he was the strongest he’d ever been.

       How?

      The Snake seemed to sense what he was thinking and gave him a sly grin.

      A shadow fluttered over their heads—

      The Snake’s eyes shot up, searching the top of Tedros’ cell, his pupils scanning left and right. He raised a glowing fingertip, coated with scims, and flooded the ceiling with green light.

      Tedros blanched, his stomach in his throat. . . .

      But there was nothing on the ceiling except a slow-moving worm.

      Japeth’s eyes slid back down to Tedros, his fingerglow dissipating.

      That’s when Tedros noticed Hester’s demon on the wall behind the Snake, crawling into the boy’s shadow. Tedros quickly averted his eyes from the demon, his heart jumping hurdles.

      The Snake gazed at Tedros’ bashed-up face. “Not so pretty anymore, are you.”

      It was the way he said it that snapped Tedros to attention, the boy’s tone dripping with disdain. He wasn’t some masked creature anymore. He had a face. He was human now, this Snake. He could be defeated.

      Tedros bared his teeth, glaring hard at the savage who’d killed Chaddick, killed Lancelot, and smeared his father’s name. “We’ll see what you look like when I ram my sword through your mouth.”

      “So strong you are,” the Snake cooed. “Such a man.” He reached out and caressed Tedros’ cheek—

      Tedros slapped his hand away so hard it struck the cell bars, the bone of the Snake’s wrist cracking against metal. But the pale-faced boy didn’t flinch. He just smirked at Tedros, relishing the silence.

      Then he pulled the black dungeon key from his sleeve. “I wish I could say this was a social call, but I’m here on behalf of my brother. After she had supper with the king tonight, Princess Sophie was given permission by King Rhian to release one of you.” He glanced down the hall and saw the rest of the crew poking their heads out of the cell at the other end, wide-eyed and listening. “That’s right. One of you who will no longer live in the dungeons and instead be allowed to work in the castle as the princess’s servant, under King Rhian’s eye. One of you whose life will be spared . . .”

      The Snake looked back at Tedros. “. . . for now.”

      Tedros bolted straight as an arrow. “She picked me.”

      In a flash, all doubts Tedros had about Sophie vanished. He should have never mistrusted her. Sophie didn’t want him dead. She didn’t want him to suffer. No matter how much they’d hurt each other in the past.

      Because Sophie would do anything for Agatha. And Agatha would do anything for Tedros. Which meant Sophie would do anything to save Tedros’ life, including finding a way to convince a usurping king to set his enemy free.

       How had she done it? How had she gotten Rhian on her side?

      He’d hear the story soon enough.

      Tedros grinned at the Snake. “Get moving, scum. Princess’s orders,” he said. “Open the door.”

      The Snake didn’t.

      “Let me out,” Tedros commanded, face reddening.

      The Snake stayed still, the prison key glinting between his fingers.

      “She picked me!” Tedros snarled, gripping the bars. “Let me out!”

      Instead, the Snake just put his face to the prince’s . . . and smiled.

6

       SOPHIE

       The Dinner Game

      Earlier that evening, the pirates Beeba and Aran brought Sophie down from the Map Room for dinner.

      Rhian and Japeth were already halfway through their first course.

      “It needs to be harsh. A warning,” she heard Japeth saying in the refurbished Gold Tower dining room. “Lionsmane’s first tale should instill fear.”

      “Lionsmane should give people hope,” said Rhian’s voice. “People like you and me who grew up without any.”

      “Mother is dead because she believed in hope,” said his brother.

      “And yet, Mother’s death is the reason both of us are in this room,” said Rhian.

      As she neared the door, all Sophie heard was silence. Then—

      “Supporters of Tedros are protesting tonight in Camelot Park,” said Japeth. “We should ride in and kill them all. That should be Lionsmane’s first tale.”

      “Killing protestors will lead to more protests,” said Rhian. “That’s not the story I want to tell.”

      “You weren’t afraid of bloodshed when it got you the throne,” said Japeth snidely.

      “I’m king. I’ll write the tales,” said Rhian.

      “It’s my pen,” Japeth retorted.

      “It’s your scim,” said Rhian. “Look, I know it isn’t easy. Serving as my liege. But there can only be one king, Japeth. I know why you’ve helped me. I know what you want. What both of us want. But to get it, I need the Woods on my side. I need to be a good king.”

      Japeth snorted. “Every good king ends up dead.”

      “You have to trust me,” Rhian pressed. “The same way I trust you.”

      “I do trust