The Princesses of Gavaldon

Chapter 14

If there was one word Agatha loved more than "ball," it was "dancing."
"Every Good girl must dance at the Ball," Pollux said, wobbling on mule
legs in the Valor Commons.
Agatha tried not to breathe. The room reeked of leather and cologne with
its  musky  brown  couches,  bear-head  carpet,  hide-bound  books  about
hunting  and  riding,  and  a  moose-head  plaque  flaunting  obscenely  large
antlers. She missed the School for Good and its heavenly sweet perfume.

Pollux led the girls through the dances for the Evers Ball, none of which Agatha could follow, since he kept falling and mumbling it would "make sense once he got his body back." After tripping a hoof on the rug, impaling himself  on  the  antlers,  and  landing  buttocks  first  in  the  fireplace,  Pollux barked  they  "got  the  point"  and  wheeled  to  a  group  of  fairies  wielding
willow violins. "Play a volta!"

And  so  they  did,  lightning  quick,  with  Agatha  flung  from  partner  to
partner,  waist  to  waist,  spinning  faster,  faster  into  a  wild  blur. 

Next thing she knew, she was on the floor.
"There are appropriate times for fainting," Pollux scowled. "This is not one."
"I tripped," Agatha ducked her head.
"Suppose you faint during the Ball! Chaos! Carnage!"
"I didn't faint!"
"Forget a ball! It would be a Midnight Massacre!"
Agatha stared him down. "I. Don't. Faint."
When  the  girls  reported  to  the  banks  of  Halfway  Bay  for  Animal Communication,  Professor  Dovey  was  waiting.  "Princess  Uma  has  taken ill."

Girls  gave  Agatha  pitying looks,  since  her  Wish  Fish  debacle  was  surely
responsible. With no one to supervise on such short notice, Professor Dovey gave them the session off. "Top-half students may use the Groom Room.
Bottom-half students should use the time to reflect upon their mediocrity!"

"Come.on, Agatha!" Crystal and Kiko pulled her to the Groom Room.
They gave each other pedicures and gossiped about other people.

Agatha smiled. It was heaven to her.

But, Sophie was in a situation...

"But  if  you're  going  to  die  every  time,  why  bother teaching  villains?"
said Sophie. "Why have the School for Evil at all?"

"Try asking a teacher that question," piped Dot, digging in her bag for a
bigger book.

"Fine, so you villains can't win anymore," Sophie yawned, filing her nails
with a marble shard. "What's this to do with me?"

"The Storian started your fairy tale," Hester frowned.

"So?"

"And given your current school, the Storian thinks you're the villain in
that fairy tale."

"And I should care about the opinion of a pen?" Sophie said, whittling nails on her other hand.

"I take back the quick-study bit," said Anadil.

"If you're the villain, you die, you imbecile!" Hester barked.

Sophie broke a nail. "But the School Master said I could go home!"
"Or maybe his riddle's a trap."
"He's Good! You said it yourself!"
"And you're in Evil," said Hester. "He's not on your side."

Sophie looked at her. Anadil and Dot had the same grim expression.
"I'm going to die here?" Sophie squeaked, eyes welling. "There has to be
something I can do!"

"Solve the riddle," Hester said, shrugging. "It's the only way you'll know
what he's up to. Plus your ending needs to happen soon. If you win one more challenge, I'll kill you myself."

"Then tell me the answer!" Sophie yelled.
"What does a villain never have that a princess can't do without?" Hester mulled, itching her tattoo.

"Animals, maybe?" said Dot.
"Villains can have animal henchmen. Just takes deeper corruption," said
Anadil. "What about honor?"
"Evil has its own version of honor, valor, and everything else Good thinks
they invented," Hester said. "We just have better names for them."

"I have it!"
They turned to Sophie.
"A birthday party!" she said. "Who would want to go to a Villain Party?"

Anadil and Hester stared at her.
"It's because she doesn't eat," said Dot. "Brains need food."
"Then you must be the smartest girl alive!" Sophie roared.

Dot glared back at her. "Remember the cruelest villains die the cruelest
deaths."

Sophie  turned  to  Hester  nervously.  "Would  Lady  Lesso  tell  me  the
answer?"
"If she thinks it'll help Evil win."
"You'd have to be clever," said Anadil.
"And subtle," said Hester.
"Cleverness? Subtlety? That's what I do, darling," Sophie said, relieved.

"This riddle is good as solved."

"Or not, given we're fifteen minutes late," said Dot.
Indeed, the only thing chillier than Lady Lesso's frozen classroom was
the looks she gave the four girls as they slipped through the door to their
seats.

"I  would  send  you  for  punishment,  but  they're  occupied  with  students
from my last class."
Boys' screams echoed from beneath their feet. The whole class trembled at the thought of what was happening in the Doom Room.

"Let's  see if our  latecomers can redeem themselves," said Lady Lesso,
heels clacking ominously.

"What are we doing?" Sophie whispered to Hort.
"She's  testing  us  on  famous  Nemeses,"  Hort  whispered.  "If  you  get  a question right, you get one of these." He flaunted a massive stick-on wart glued to his cheek.

Sophie recoiled. "That's a reward?"

"Hester,  can  you  name  a  villain  who  destroyed  her  Nemesis  with  a
Nightmare Curse?"
"Finola the Fairy Eater. Finola the Witch haunted the fairies' dreams and convinced them to cut off their own wings. With the fairies no longer able to fly, Finola caught and ate them one by one."

Sophie swallowed whatever came up. But she had never heard of Finola the Fairy Eater, so Hester had surely gotten it wrong.

"Correct! Finola the Fairy Eater! One of the most famous stories of all!"

Lady Lesso said, and stuck a giant wart on Hester's hand.
Famous? Sophie wrinkled her nose. 

Famous where?

"Anadil, name a villain who killed their Nemesis using disguise!" Lady
Lesso said.

"Rabid  Bear  Rex.  Dressed  himself  in  a  bear  skin  because  Princess Anatole loved bears. When she tried to pet him, he cut her throat."

"A great role model for us all, Rabid Bear Rex!" said Lady Lesso, and planted a wart on Anadil's neck.

"If he was alive, he'd wipe that grin off every one of Clarissa's gloating cockerels!"

Sophie bit her lip. Were they making this all up?

"Dot. Name a villain who murdered their Nemesis with transformation!"

"The Frost Queen! Turned the princess into ice and put her in the morning
sun!"

"My favorite tale of all!" Lady Lesso thundered. "A story that will live
forever in the hearts of—"

Sophie snorted.

"Is something funny?" said Lady Lesso.

"Never heard of any of these," Sophie said.

Hester and Anadil sank in their seats.

"Never heard of them?" Lady Lesso sneered. "These are Evil's greatest triumphs!  The  glory  that  inspires  future  villains!  Four  Girls  in  a  Well!
Twelve Drowned Princesses! Ursula the Usurper, The Witch of—"

"Never  heard  of  those  either,"  Sophie  sighed,  combing  back  her  hair.

"Where I come from, no one would read a story where Evil wins. Everyone
wants Good to win because Good has better looks, nicer clothes, and more
friends."

Lady Lesso was speechless.
Sophie turned to her classmates. "I'm sorry that no one likes you and you
never  win  and  that  you  have  to  go  to  school  for  no  reason,  but  it's  the
truth."

Hester pulled her robes over her face.
Dot leaned forward and whispered into Sophie's ear. "The riddle, love."

"Oh, yes," said Sophie, all business. "While I have the floor, here's a bit of a brainteaser. It's quite important that I solve it, so any help would be deeply appreciated. What does a villain never have that a princess can't do without? Any ideas? Feel free to shout them out. Merci, darlings."

"I have an idea," said Lady Lesso.
"I knew you would." Sophie smiled. "What is it? What do I have that you don't?"

Lady  Lesso  thrust  her  face  in  hers.  "Nothing.  Which  is  what  we'll  be
hearing from you the rest of class."

Sophie had an appeal, but it never made it out of her mouth.
Her lips were sealed shut.

"Much better," Lady Lesso said, and blessed Sophie with a wart between
the eyes.

As Sophie pried at her lips, Lady Lesso stood calmly and smoothed her
purple gown, ignoring the petrified students around her.

"Now, Hort, tell me a villain who employed a Raven Death Trap."

Wheezing through her nose, Sophie wrenched at her mouth with a pen,
hair clip, and icicle, which pierced her lips. Gasp, wail, scream, she tried it
all, but all she found was silence, panic, blood—

And Hester glowering from the front row.
"Good as solved, eh?

A/N (1147 words) 

Any WOF Fans over there? If there are, please read & vote & comment on my other story, Jade Mountain Prep for Outcasts and Monsters!