The next day, the Evers arrived at lunch to find all the trees on their side cut down. All except the one Sophie and Tedros used to sit beneath, carved again and again with one unmistakable word.
LIAR.
Stunned, the wolves and nymphs howled for the teachers and immediately formed a boundary between the two halves of the Clearing. Tedros stormed up to the border between two wolves.
"Stop it. Now."
Everyone followed his eyes to Sophie, sitting serenely against a snowy tree on the Nevers' side.
"Or what?" she simpered. "You'll catch me?"
"Now you really sound like a villain," Tedros sneered.
"Careful, Teddy. What will they say when we dance at the Ball?"
"All right, now you've lost it—"
"Here I thought you were a prince," Sophie said, walking towards him. "Because you promised to take me to the Ball right in this very spot. And a prince never breaks his promise."
Gasps rose from both sides of the Clearing. Tedros looked like he'd been kicked in the gut.
"After all, a prince who breaks his promise"—Sophie faced him between two wolves—"is a villain."
Tedros couldn't speak, cheeks splotched red.
"But you're not a villain and neither am I," Sophie said, eyes guilty. "So all you have to do is keep your promise and we can be ourselves again. Tedros and Sophie. Prince and princess."
With a tentative smile, she held out her hand across the wolves to him. "Good for Ever After."
The Clearing was dead silent.
"I'll never take you to the Ball," Tedros spat. "Never."
Sophie withdrew her hand.
"Well, then," she said softly. "Now everyone knows who's responsible for the attacks."
Tedros felt Evers' blameful stares burning through him.
Ashamed, he trudged out of the Clearing.
***
"But why didn't it work!"
"I don't know," Agatha groaned from beneath the covers of her bed. "You did everything right."
"So then why aren't we home right now?" I mumbled into my pillow.
"You did kiss him, right? He didn't miss?"
"No!" I sat up in bed. "We went stargazing, he said he loved me, then we kissed! And it didn't work!"
Agatha looked over at me. "But you didn't say 'I love you' back."
It wasn't a question.
"No," I whispered. "I didn't."
Agatha sighed. "True love's kiss goes two ways, Y/n."
"I know, but I don't love him! I can't! Believe me, I've tried, but now whenever I'm with him all I feel is guilt."
"Well either try harder, or find us another way home," Agatha grouched, pulling her blanket over her head.
I grumbled and flung myself out of bed. "Fine, then!"
The door slammed shut behind me.
***
It wasn't hard to find Tedros' dormitory.
All I had to do was ask Chaddick and deliver a veiled threat when he wouldn't tell me.
Now here I was, waiting outside the door, suddenly nervous. This would be the first time I've spoken with him since I left him alone that night.
Who knows how he might react.
Before I could lose any more courage, I rapped on the door.
When it opened, Tedros looked at me in confusion. "Y/n? What are you doing here?"
"I, um. . ." I reached for an excuse, any excuse. "I wanted to see how you were doing. After what happened at lunch, I mean."
"Oh." He looked down. "Well, do you want to come in?"
I nodded and slipped past him.
His dorm was similar to Agatha's except everything was in blue—cobalt bed sheets, sky pillowcases. Indigo curtains. An ocean nightstand and an arctic rug.
I stood in the center of the room, facing Tedros, who closed his door behind him and leaned against it.
"I'm sorry I left," I told him.
"I was too."
"I was just. . ." I searched for words, any words that would sound believable. "I was overwhelmed." I took a step towards him. "That night scared me a bit, because. . ." Another step. Then another, and so on, until I was directly in front of the prince. "I realized I love you too."
Tedros encased my hands in his. "You mean it?"
"Yes."
He studied my expression, as if trying to determine if there was anything that signaled deceit.
I smiled through the guilt.
Then Tedros was grinning, too. "I love you," he said, and then his lips were everywhere—my cheeks, my forehead, my eyelids. "I love you so much."
"I love you," I said, forcing myself to smile bigger.
He pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was similar to our first one—soft and sweet.
When we pulled away, I stared at him. He was looking at me so adoringly. It wasn't fair that I was doing this to him.
But Agatha said I needed to try more.
And we needed to get home.
I leaned in and kissed him again, this time trying. I tried to feel something, anything.
The kiss became harsher, more desperate. One of Tedros' hands curled in my hair while the other found purchase on my waist.
Then he dropped both hands to my thighs and lifted me so I was pinned between him and the wall.
His kisses were feverish. I kissed him back, willing myself to love him. Willing myself to feel something—a spark, a pull, whatever people in love were supposed to feel.
As Tedros' mouth moved down my neck, I opened my eyes.
This wasn't working.
"Stop," I said.
He pulled back. "What?"
"Let me down."
He looked at me, confused, but did as I asked. "What's wrong?"
I stared up into Tedros' blue eyes, at the man who claimed to love me so much. I stood there for a moment, weighing my options, wondering if it would be worth it to tell him everything.
I decided it was.
***
When I had finished, Tedros' expression was stone-cold.
"So I was being used. Again."
I opened my mouth, ready to refute his claim, but. . .he was right. I had been using him. "Yes."
To my surprise, instead of yelling at me to get out or calling me a witch or anything of that sort, he just sat down on his bed and rested his chin on his fists.
I had never seen him look so defeated.
"That's two Guineveres, now," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head, and there was a long silence.
Then:
"I'm sorry," we both said at the same time.
I blinked. "Why are you sorry?"
He smiled sadly. "Because. I was using you, too."
My eyes widened. "What?"
"I don't think I ever really loved you," he said. "I think. . .I think I was just trying to get over that witch."
I sank down on the bed next to him. "Well, I guess I can't be mad at you since I was using you, too."
Tedros sighed. "I'm sorry I was a tool."
"I'm sorry I was a jerk."
"I'm sorry I told you I loved you."
"I'm sorry I said it back."
"I'm sorry I kissed you."
"I'm sorry I let you."
And then the two of us ended up laughing, because the whole situation suddenly seemed so very, very funny.
After we had calmed down, the atmosphere was much lighter. And I realized I had gotten something better than a boyfriend.
A best friend.
Second to Agatha, of course, but a best friend nonetheless.
"So either you or Sophie needs to have a true love's kiss to go home?" Tedros asked.
I nodded. "Yup. And we're no closer now than we were at the beginning of the year."
"Well. . .I don't think I can help you. But. . .I hope you do get home, Y/n."
I smiled sadly. "Thanks, Tedros."
Then I remembered what I came here for—a true love's kiss to send us home.
That I most definitely did not get.
I groaned. "Agatha's gonna kill me."
"She'll have to get through me first," Tedros said, then ruffled my hair in a brotherly manner.