The Tale of Two Hearts | Tedros x Reader

Chapter 8: Agatha's Mistake

"So if you want to be like me, you need to do well in today's challenge!" chirped the princess, summoning the girls to the lake.

Y/n looked over to Agatha as they walked down to the lake, a concerned look was spread across her face. Y/n knew that if Agatha failed this challenge, that would be her third strike. She would never see her friend again and they may never get out of there without her. She had to make sure to keep Agatha out of trouble.

As they arrived at the bank, Y/n followed Agatha's gaze over to Uma's storybook that was now laying on the ground.

"Animals love to help princesses for so many reasons!" said Princess Uma, stopping at the water's edge. "Because we sing pretty songs because we give them shelter in the scary Woods because they only wish they could be as beautiful and beloved as–"

"Wait."

Y/n and the girls looked over to see Agatha now holding the storybook in her hands, reading the last page. At the end of the story, there was a painting of the stag ripped to pieces by monsters as the princess escaped.

"How is that a happy ending?"

"If you aren't good enough to be a princess, then you're honored to die for one, of course," Uma smiled as if she would learn this lesson soon enough.

Agatha looked to the others in disbelief, but they all nodded like sheep. It didn't matter if only a third of them would graduate as princesses. Each was completely convinced she'd be one.

"Hey... it's going to be okay. We aren't going to be one of them," Y/n whispered to Agatha. "You just need to do well in this challenge. Listen to what she says."

Agatha nodded and turned to listen to Princess Uma.

"But if animals are going to help us, first we have to tell them what we want!" Uma said, kneeling before the gleaming blue lake. "So today's challenge is... " She swirled her finger in the water and a thousand tiny fish surfaced, white as snow.

"Wish Fish!" Uma beamed. "They dig inside your soul and find your greatest wish! Very helpful if you've lost your tongue or voice and need to tell a prince to kiss you. Now all you do is put your finger in the water and the fish will read your soul. The girl with the strongest, clearest wish wins!"

Millicent went first. She put her finger in the water, and closed her eyes... when she opened them, the fish had all turned different colors and were gaping at her, confused.

"What happened?" Asked Millicent.

"Foggy mind," Uma sighed.

Then Kiko, the adorable girl who greeted Y/n when she first entered the school, put her finger in

the water. The fish turned red, orange, and peach and started assembling into some kind of picture. As Y/n focused on the picture, she noticed it slowly turn into a picture of... a boy.

"Tristan!" Kiko chimed, recognizing his ginger hair. "I caught his rose at the Welcoming."

Then Reena dipped her finger and the fish changed colors, gliding into a mosaic of a burly, gray-eyed boy pulling an arrow into his bow.

"Chaddick," blushed Reena. "Honor Tower, Room ten."

Giselle's fish drew dark-skinned Nicholas, Flavia wished for Oliver, and Sahara's painted Oliver's bunkmate Bastian. Each of them had dreamed of finding their true love, even if it was only a boy they just met.

"Love at first sight," Uma gushed. "It's the most beautiful thing in the world!"

With the fish exhausted from drawing so many princes' faces, it was now Beatrix's turn to make her wish. The Wish Fish were sent into a spectacular rainbow vision of her fairy-tale wedding to Tedros, complete with a castle, crowns, and fireworks. All around girls' eyes welled with tears, either because the scene was so beautiful or because they knew they could never compete.