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

Chapter 44

Green Knight.

Those were the words Rafal had gifted me.

Green.

Knight.

Merlin's beard was the answer to the first test. That was what the Green Knight wanted. And Arthur must have wanted Tedros to learn that slaying the Green Knight wasn't a victory. It was his greatest mistake.

And now Sir Kay's body was buried in Vault 41 at the Bank of Putsi.

Along with the beard.

But there was more.

Somehow, Sophie had gotten past the two Mistral Sisters and extracted the scims from her ears that had turned her mind to mush.

The Empress told me she had her killed.

But when she spoke, her voice was just a bit too shaky.

The Bank of Putsi imposed against the sunset, a circular, jade-green fortress, crowned with flags from around the Woods. Carved into the face of the bank was a gold inscription: BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL LIES TRUST AND TRADITION.

The streets were clean and lined with sword-armed men, their chainmail branded with crests from an array of kingdoms, as if the area around the bank was a protected zone, like the Four Point.

The interior of the bank was a jade temple, rising in a cylindrical hollow to three different levels rimmed by floor-to-ceiling glass, each glass panel stenciled with lettering. The first level up: BRONZE BANKING, packed with patrons in line; the second level: SILVER BANKING, with neonhaired nymphs serving rose water to customers on couches; and the top level, almost higher than I could see, DIAMOND BANKING, obscured by tinted glass. Meanwhile, the bank's atrium, rising all the way to the ceiling, held three statues of gold phoenixes, frozen midair in different poses, like a pretentious art installation.

As soon as people caught sight of Kei and I, they dropped into hasty bows. I ignored them all.

Until a guard blocked my path.

"Your Majesty," he said, bowing quickly before straightening.

"What is it?" I snapped, impatient to get to the vault.

The guard cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there's. . ." His eyes shifted side to side, as if to make sure no one was watching us, before he stepped closer and dropped his voice. "I'm afraid there's been an intruder detected in the bank. Your advisor."

My advisor.

Sophie.

This issue needed to be resolved at once.

But I had more pressing matters to handle.

"I'm sure you'll take care of it swiftly," I said coldly. "I'd like to see the Bank Manager. Privately."

"Yes. Of course. Right away, Your Majesty." The guard bowed again and was gone as quick as he came.

The Diamond Level was cleared by the time Kei and I made our way up. I sped through the halls, scanning the plaques mounted on the doors: Rajeev, Vice President . . . Francesca, Vice President . . . Clio, Vice President . . . everyone a Vice President . . . but now I spotted a room set off from everything else, its door heavy and onyx-black.

BANK MANAGER, the plaque read.

I moved to open the door, but paused when I heard voices on the other side.

"You cannot freeze a Diamond account."

I recognized the voice at once.

Bethna.