One True Queen (School for Good and Evil Book 2)

Chapter 19

I stood silently in the threshold of the open door, watching as Sophie tore pages apart, ripping out the bindings of the books in the Map Room, the dress she was supposed to wear lying ignored on a nearby chair. With a cry, she flung leather and parchment across the room, knocking floating maps into walls—

She stopped when she caught sight of me.

"One book's missing," I said.

I tossed it on the table.

Its title read, EXECUTION.

Sophie slowly looked back up at me.

"You animal. You disgusting scum," Sophie hissed. "You and that—that Snake and his brother use smoke and mirrors to infiltrate Camelot and steal the real king's crown and you think you can get away with it?"

"Oh, Sophie." I smiled at her. "We already have."

Sophie shook with rage. "I don't know what you had Japeth do to trick the Lady of the Lake or what Rhian did to trick Excalibur, but that's all it was. A trick. You can put my friends in jail. You can threaten me all you want. But people can only be fooled for so long. They'll see who you three are in the end. A creep. A witch. And a fraud whose throat I'll cut the second he shows his face—"

"Better get on with it, then," a voice said as Rhian entered, barechested in black breeches, his hair wet. He glared at me. "I told you I'd handle her."

"And then you went for a bath while she refuses to wear your mother's dress," I told him.

Rhian's chest was just as ghost white as Japeth, while Rhian's arms and face glowed a deep tan—the same tan that farmers in Gavaldon had after they wore shirts in the hot summer sun. I saw Sophie ogling him and gave her a cocked grin.

I knew what she was thinking: even the tan had been part of the ruse to prevent anyone from seeing they were brothers, a ruse to make Rhian look like a golden Lion battling a cold-hearted Snake . . . when, in fact, Rhian and Japeth had been perfect twins all along.

"No wonder Rafal loved you," Sophie snarled at me. "You're the worst Evil there is. You both are." Sophie spat. "Cowards."

"Talk about Rafal and I'll rip out your heart," I spewed, launching for her—

Rhian held me back. "Last time. I'll handle her."

He pushed me aside, where I glared at Sophie so icily she should have frozen on the spot.

Rhian turned back to Sophie. "You think we're the cowards? You were the one who said Tedros was a bad king. In fact, during the carriage ride to recruit the armies, you said I could do better. That you could do better. And here you are, acting as if you stood by your dear 'Teddy' all along."

Sophie bared her teeth. "You set Tedros up. The Snake was your brother. Y/n was working with you, waiting for you to make her queen. You lied to me, you cockroach—"

"No," the king slashed, hardening. "I didn't lie. I never lied. Every single word has been the truth. I saved kingdoms from a 'Snake,' didn't I? I pulled Excalibur from its stone. I passed my father's test and for that, I am king, not that fool who failed his test again and again and again. Those are the facts. That speech I gave to the army in Camelot Hall: all of that was true too. It did take a Snake to bring forth the real Lion of Camelot—"

"I thought you were talking about Tedros!" Sophie screamed. "I thought he was the real Lion!"

"Another lie. In the carriage ride, I told you that Tedros had failed. That he'd lost the war for people's hearts. That a real Lion would have known how to win. You heard me, Sophie, even if you don't want to admit it. It's why you fell in love with me. And now that everything I said would happen has indeed happened, you act as if I'm a villain because it isn't exactly like you imagined. That's cowardly."