Alma stirred awake with a throbbing headache. She groaned, rubbing her eyes, a blue velvet canopy above clearing into view. She turned on her side, gathering that the room she was in appeared vastly different. Built-in bookshelves made up the walls from bottom to top, filled with colorful titles that shimmered in the light. This was neither the Evil castle, nor the Good.
Then Alma realized.
Bookshelves.
Her heart jump-started with panic, prompting her to sit up.
Alma screamed. The School Master was standing at the foot of the bed, hands behind his back. He didn't react, staring at her icily through his steel mask.
"Good morning," he said. "We have certain matters to discuss."
"W-what?" Alma said. "Where—how did—?"
"Years ago," the School Master began, "a trusted seer told me the name of the one who would finally tip the balance in Evil's favor. You were right about that. You see, it's tradition to take two candidates from Woods Beyond, but when I found Crescenta, I wanted to further secure the prophecy by ensuring my Good choice of student wouldn't be in any way meddlesome. You and Sophie are from extremely different worlds. What would you have in common besides being Readers, I thought? Then, the Storian decides to write about you, and you two form the most unlikely friendship—that is, if you're still just friends."
Alma stared at him, his last words sinking in and twisting her stomach with disgust as she realized what he was implying.
"You—you were watching us?" she said.
"I will ensure your tale ends with Sophie by my side, and Evil victorious," the School Master said. "If you don't want your ending to be tragic, I suggest you work with me, not against me."
"Work with you?" Alma said. "So you can take over the Woods and beyond?"
"No," the School Master said. "I am only trying to restore the balance."
"You really expect me to believe that you don't want to rule everything and get rid of Good forever?"
"Yes. I have a prophecy to fulfill that entails leading Sophie here to me. Only a soul as Evil as mine can help me lift the Storian's punishment on Evil. Together, Sophie and I will have the first Never After that will fly in the face of Good and all its Ever Afters, proving that Evil can love."
"Wait, wait," Alma said. "Professor Sader told you about this prophecy? The same Sader who wrote a book about how Good and Evil are actually bullshit?"
"The past is the past," the School Master said, "and I have a prophecy to fulfill."
Alma bristled, her inner dragon rearing its head.
"So you'd rather keep everyone caged than free us all?" she said. "You know the system is preserved by lies. Your trusted seer even knows this. What makes you think he's really helping you?"
"Because August Sader does not lie, and there is no viable alternative to the system we have now."
"Or you're just too cowardly to consider one, like everyone else in this world."
The School Master's eyes flickered with anger, warning, his hands falling to his sides. But Alma wasn't done.
"Do you actually believe that two Evil souls will restore the balance?" Alma asked. "That much Evil is just going to make Good stronger. You know why? Because, in your world, Evil fights for itself while Good fights for each other. That's literally Good and Evil, one-oh-one."
The School Master's gaze was burning holes through her, but she held it until the storm left his eyes, his manner cool and collected again.
"This is different," he said. "There is a reason I couldn't love my Good brother."
"The brother you murdered for power?"
"No, not just for power," the School Master corrected. "The Storian once gave us a test. As long as we loved each other, we would remain young and near-invincible protectors of the Pen. But my brother thought himself superior. He plotted against me. He aimed to win the Storian's favor and become the only School Master. That's why we went to war. That's why I had to kill him."
"So, you both failed the test," Alma concluded.
"How could I reason with my brother?" the School Master argued, the ice-cold fire sparking back to life in his eyes. "He expected me to accept defeat and go quietly into the night. Even if the Storian had chosen him, I couldn't let him win."
"Did it choose him?"
"Initially it seemed, and then it became clear that I was meant to be the one. The Storian turned out to be writing my tale, the catalyst for the first Never After. I was meant to one day love someone as Evil as me, to make Evil truly equal to Good."
The fire within Alma cooled slightly. What if she had him all wrong?
But what would happen if Evil became equal to Good? How would a love that would almost certainly be built on pain and hatred and murder affect Woods Beyond?
No. This had to stop. Good and Evil were two sides of the same rotten coin.
"Do you understand now?" the School Master said. "If the prophecy isn't fulfilled, Evil will continue to lose and suffer. The balance will be forever irreparable."
"I'm not helping Evil," Alma said, "and I'm not helping Good. If this is my fairy tale, then I'm going to be the one who dismantles the system once and for all."
"Will you?" the School Master said, a wicked twinkle playing in his eyes. "Nobody seems to be on your side, not even Sophie—who, partially thanks to you, has come to embrace her Evil nature faster than I anticipated."
Alma glared at him. She thought of Sophie, of how they kissed and touched last night. And then she smirked.
"We'll see how long that lasts," she said.
The School Master peered at her. "You would be wise to not stand in my way."
"I wouldn't be standing in your way at all if you hadn't kidnapped me," Alma said. "Now, the Pen is writing my tale. Isn't that funny? So, tell me. What exactly did Professor Sader say about the prophecy?"
"That is none of your concern."
"No, but it should be yours because, if you ask me, there are two possible outcomes: you restore the balance—which is highly unlikely since that much Evil will make Good stronger, like I said—or you die and the balance is naturally restored, possibly with Sophie taking your place."
The School Master's eyes flared, a split-second crack of uncertainty in his icy exterior.
"Ask him," Alma said. "Ask Sader if the prophecy will result in your death. If he says yes but the answer is actually no, he won't age ten years, right?"
The School Master said nothing, his gaze cold and piercing.
"Right?" Alma repeated.
They held each other's glares, neither willing to back down. Then, the School Master raised a finger, the tip glowing electric blue. Alma braced herself in secret, preparing for whatever spell he was about to unleash upon her, ready to summon her own.
"Stay away from Sophie," the School Master warned. "I will not tell you a second time."
The white light returned, beaming through everything and blinding Alma into unconsciousness.
Alma woke up under the silk canopy of her royal carriage bed. Her head throbbed, her bladder ached, and the surrounding area below her abdomen cramped.
She jumped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, and she found what she'd feared: the return of the blood curse. As if her day couldn't have gotten any worse.
Alma had no time to think about the School Master or their conversation. She scoured the bathroom and the dorm for the appropriate hygiene products, but she found nothing. She considered using her fingerglow to stop her period, but she wasn't sure she knew what she was doing. She had to see Professor Dovey.
Thankfully, the dean was in her office, and she invited Alma inside, her manner somewhat warmer and more grandmotherly than last time. She almost seemed to understand why Alma was visiting her, but all Alma had told her was that she needed to talk and it was personal.
"Sorry to bother you, Professor," Alma said, "but I, uh, got my period, and I—"
"Oh!" Professor Dovey said. "Say no more, dear. We have just the thing in this school."
With a flick of her wand, Professor Dovey conjured a golden pill in her other palm and held it out for Alma.
"Take this, and you will be period-free until after graduation," she said. "We can't have bleeding princesses, not until they're ready to have children."
Alma dismissed Professor Dovey's slightly eyebrow-raising remark and accepted the miracle pill with gratitude, and the elder conjured a cup of water for her to help swallow it down. Instantly, the cramping ceased. Alma handed her back the cup, and with a tap of the dean's wand, it vanished.
"Remember, Alma," Professor Dovey said with a wink. "You have lunch with your classmates."
Alma faked a smile. "How could I forget?"
The School Master had warned her to stay away from Sophie, and he'd likely instilled Halfway Bridge with a stronger enchantment. Alma had planned to inform the coven of her assigned table last night, but Aric had distracted her. He'd set Sophie and her up. That horny half-demon who'd proven he only cared about pleasing the god between his legs.
But, even during classes, Alma caught herself thinking about Sophie, unconsciously replaying the steamy bits that she could remember from last night. Did Sophie remember anything? Would she pursue Alma, or had it just been a curious, alcohol-induced fling? In every classroom, she glanced at the clock, anticipating lunch and trying to devise another method of communication. If only this world had mobile phones and texting.
Yet it had magic, and magic today was easier than it ever had been in the history of the Woods.
Finally equipped with an idea, Alma tore off a piece of paper and wrote down her brief message to the coven, and she stopped at her dorm before attending lunch. She summoned her fingerglow and cleared her mind, focusing her intention, and she shot the magenta spell. Hit with her magic, the paper spasmed into the air and folded into a bird, flapping its wings. Alma held out her hand, and the paper bird twirled and landed, perching itself in her palm. She took it to the Theater of Tales with her and set it free, watching it fly toward the coven's table from the one she shared with the top ten Evers.
They were staring at her, eyeing her with suspicion.
"What?" Alma said. "I didn't have a chance to tell them I can't sit with them anymore."
"Pity," Beatrix said. "Seems you've bewitched the dean, otherwise we wouldn't be cursed to sit with you."
"I'm not exactly thrilled about having to sit with you either."
Beatrix heaved a sigh of annoyance, and she scooted away from Alma. Reena followed, along with the other assigned Evers, except Tedros, who remained next to the ostracized Evergirl. The clique proceeded to whisper to each other.
Alma glanced at Tedros, picking at her food. "Thanks."
Tedros half-smiled. "You know I don't care what they think."
Alma warmed—not because of what Tedros had said, but because the moment she'd looked up, her eyes had met Sophie's. The Nevergirl's tantalizing stare ignited a fire in the pit of Alma's stomach, reminding her of the lips and fingers that had danced across her skin, but her wicked green eyes seemed to be sending another message:
Don't you dare touch him.
I don't want to, Alma thought, the flame in her core stoking. I want to touch you.
"Alma?" Tedros said.
Alma blinked, snapping out of her trance. Sophie was lecturing her crowd of fans, as if Alma had only imagined their lust-filled staring contest.
"Sorry," Alma said, hot with shame. "What did you say?"
"That I don't care what the others think of you," Tedros said. "Are you all right?"
Alma put down her fork and looked at him. "Actually, I need to talk to you about something later—in private, again."
Tedros hesitated. "Is everything okay?"
"I don't know," Alma said. "I mean, no, it isn't." She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I did some research in the library and I... found something. But I can't talk about it here."
Tedros nodded slowly. "Okay. We'll talk in Merlin's Menagerie after supper."
When they met that cold evening on the rooftop, Alma showed Tedros A History of the Woods and replayed the first chapter. She closed the book once it was finished. Tedros looked completely lost.
"I know it's a lot to consider," Alma said, "but it all just makes so much sense. Good and Evil only exist because we allow them to. We don't have to be locked in some eternal war for the Pen to tell good stories. There are other ways."
Tedros shook his head in confusion. "You believe this?"
"Sader's a seer," Alma said. "Of course I believe him. There's a reason he wanted me to find his book. I've been questioning the system since I was kidnapped. Haven't you ever wondered why things have to be this way?"
"No?"
Alma sighed. "Look, Good and Evil, as they exist in your world, were never a thing in my world until sixty years ago. Why do you think that is?"
"Sixty years?" Tedros said. "How can that be? The school's been taking in Readers for the past two hundred years, not sixty."
Alma's face heated up. She hadn't told him her home was somewhere else beyond the Woods.
"You're from Gavaldon," Tedros said, eyeing her, "aren't you?"
"No," Alma said. "I'm from Crescenta. I was the first to be kidnapped from my city, and... I want to stop it from being taken over by this world. And I need your help. I know this goes against probably everything you were raised with, but you and me, we can stop this, and we can change the Woods for the better. We didn't need Good and Evil before, we don't need them now, and we need everyone to realize that, starting with the school. Evers and Nevers."
Tedros looked at her as if she'd been revealed to be a witch.
"Are you saying you want to... abolish Good and Evil?" he said. "Erase our history in favor of a time that hasn't existed for hundreds of thousands of years? That's not just foolish, Alma, it's mad."
Alma steeled herself. "Do you want to be good, Tedros? I'm not asking if you want to be the 'Good' that your world believes is good. Do you want to help people? Because my people need help. My world is being taken over by this one. Does that sound like a good thing to you?"
"No, but—"
"Then help me. Help me change minds, help me change the Woods."
Tedros stared at her, thinking, considering, and he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Alma," he said. "I need time."
"What if there isn't enough time?" Alma said, and took his hand. "Please, Tedros."
Tedros glanced down, and he pulled his hand away, slipping it out of her grasp.
"You're asking me to help you destroy the lifeblood of our world," he said. "And replace it with what? Chaos and Order?"
"No," Alma said. "Not that."
"Then what would you replace it with, Alma? Because we need two opposing sides that keep the Woods going."
Fingerglows. Colors that revealed far more about souls than Good and Evil. But another binary system couldn't emerge from a spectrum.
Tedros sighed. "It's not up to us, anyway. It's up to the Storian."
The Storian that's writing my tale, Alma thought.
But she couldn't bring herself to tell him.
She couldn't trust him not to think she was a witch, or hysterical.
Alma didn't attempt to visit the Evil castle that night. She stayed in her dorm, thinking of ways she could persuade Tedros, but doubts ate them up. Mentally, she cursed the Woods. She cursed the School Master. Everyone here was a coward. They clung to the safety and comfort of their cages. They wanted to imprison her too. Make her a good little princess who wouldn't shake things up too hard.
The hot, angry dragon fire stirred within her. There would be no imprisonment. The Storian would not dictate her fate. She was the writer of her own tale, and it would end with Good and Evil in the ground, rotting to dust.
The next day beheld a significant event for the students. Yuba was taking them to the Flowerground, where Evers from all over the Woods traveled between kingdoms. The entrance was a blue pumpkin patch with pumpkins large enough to hold one person each. The gnome handed everyone a pass that included a few ridiculous rules, such as no sneezing or sniffling or sleeping, and he instructed the Evers to pick a pumpkin and climb inside.
A scream echoed throughout the Blue Forest, scaring away flocks of birds that had been hiding in the trees. Everyone looked around.
"What was that?"
"It sounded like a man."
"Was it a student?"
"Evers, Nevers!" Yuba said, commanding everyone's attention. "We will take this time to do a head count. Would be a shame if one of you wandered off before you could experience the sights and smells of the Flowerground."
The gnome called the name of each student on his list. One-hundred and twenty names later, everyone was present.
If a student hadn't screamed, then who had?
Alma didn't have time to think as Yuba rushed the Evers into their pumpkins.
Inside the pumpkin, Alma sat down on the carved seat and looked out the window. The pumpkin moved with a jolt, descending into the dirt. Deeper and deeper it went, until colorful lights lanced the darkness—except they weren't lights, but luminescent plants, making up a sprawling underground transport system. The window's glass vanished, letting in scents of vanilla and blueberry. Vines worked to bring passengers inside pumpkins to their destinations. Five color-coded tree trunks had signs above carved-out entrances that read ROSALINDA, ARBOREA, TANGERINE, HIBISCUS, and VIOLET.
Bluebirds flew along the different lines, offering snacks, while small animals caroled with different instruments. Alma caught sight of the Nevers, who were only permitted inside the Flowerground since they were part of the school. They were harnessed entirely with vines on a single, separate line, following the Evers.
The window rematerialized with glass, and the vines working the Evers' pumpkins raised them into a churning wheel of blue light. Once Alma's pumpkin entered it, everything went dark, but the pumpkin didn't stop moving, pushing itself out of the earth—specifically, a cemetery that stretched for miles.
Alma climbed out of the pumpkin and studied the rolling hills. One half was lush and maintained, bearing twin headstones of glass and gold, whereas the other half was barren with crumbling headstones, all widely separated. Evers buried together, Nevers buried alone. Of all the places to visit in this enchanted realm, why were they visiting a place of death?
The answer was far less desirable than having to dig up a body: Yuba instructed Evers and Nevers to divide themselves into teams of two and hunt for meerworms to eat. The team that consumed the most meerworms would win. Yuba forbade them from using magic, emphasizing the importance of basic survival skills. Alma was tempted to skip the assignment and accept failure. Not only did she prefer to eat her food when it was cooked and not alive, but she was also too sober.
The Evers were quick to find their teams, leaving a petite, fair-skinned Evergirl with short dark hair and brown eyes to Alma. The Evergirl looked around, as if still awaiting her teammate, but she realized she would have to settle for the princess-witch, seeming almost afraid. Alma had often seen her tagging along with Beatrix's clique. She could tell she wasn't going to eat any meerworms.
"Hi," the Evergirl said. "I'm Kiko."
"Nice," Alma said. "I'm guessing you can't conjure us a couple martinis?"
Kiko stared at her.
"Never mind," Alma said. "Let's go."
Kiko followed Alma, but Alma wasn't looking for meerworms. She wandered the seemingly endless cemetery, trying to pass time until class was over. How would Yuba even know who'd eaten the most meerworms? He wasn't keeping track, unless he had some magical, invisible scoreboard.
"Um, Alma," Kiko said. "Aren't we supposed to be looking for meerworms?"
"Do you want to eat them?"
"Er, no."
"Neither do I."
"But we'll fail if you don't!"
She was right, and Alma would feel guilty if Kiko failed because of her, even though Kiko had the same assignment. She just couldn't stomach the idea of eating live worms.
Maybe they didn't have to necessarily eat them.
"I have an idea," Alma said. "Let's collect the worms instead. Save them for later, so to speak. We're not starving, so why should we be forced to eat them?"
"But Yuba said—"
"If Yuba wants us to care about survival so much, he won't fail us."
The two Evergirls collected as many meerworms as they could find and fit in their palms, grimacing through the moist, fleshy squirminess, until Yuba called the Evers and Nevers back. He started with the Evers, reviewing each team of two, as if he could tell the number of meerworms eaten just by looking at them. Moving on to Alma and Kiko, he raised an eyebrow at their hands that were squirming with worms.
"I told you to eat meerworms," Yuba said, "not collect them like trading cards."
"Technically, sir," Alma said, "we're not starving, so we decided to stock up for later. It's actually smarter to not be gluttonous when food is scarce. Also, if you let us use magic, we could cook these worms to get rid of parasites or bacteria that could make us sick."
Yuba's bushy eyebrows raised. For a moment, Alma thought he would fail them, but then he nodded with a thoughtful hum, scratching his beard.
"Clever girl," he said. "Very well. Neither of you win for consuming the most meerworms, as you didn't, but you both pass."
Alma's muscles unclenched with relief.
"However," Yuba said, "you both will be eating the number of meerworms you gathered for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until there are no more."
"What?" Alma and Kiko said at once.
Yuba wasn't joking: at supper, Alma was served a plate of live meerworms, and Kiko was glaring at her from the table over, having been served a likewise meal. She wanted to attempt to turn the meerworms into more edible, palatable food, but knowing how this school operated, they'd probably been enchanted against it, and she'd rather not embarrass herself. Beatrix appeared to be offering Kiko some of her food. At least the clique was taking care of her. Evergirls weren't so shallow and rotten, after all. Not toward those that they believed were true Evers, at least.
Alma looked down at the wriggling meerworms, and she pushed the unsightly dish aside, preferring to go hungry.
"Hey," Tedros said, climbing over the bench and sitting down next to her with his silver tray of salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, and gold leaf macarons. "Want to split this?"
She glanced at the food, stomach churning with hunger. "You sure?"
"Of course. I don't want you to starve."
Alma thanked him, and they halved the meal.
"That was pretty funny," Tedros said. "What you did in Surviving Fairy Tales. But it was smart, bending the rules like that."
Alma smiled. "Yeah, and now I'm punished for learning to survive in a class about survival."
"Don't worry," Tedros said. "I don't mind sharing my food with you."
"Even if this lasts until graduation?"
"Even if this lasts until graduation."
Alma laughed to herself, and Tedros smiled. They proceeded to eat, ignoring dirty looks from jealous Evergirls. Alma waited for him to mention their last conversation, but there was only silence between them. Alma still wanted to try to sway him about helping her bring down Good and Evil, but what else could she say that wouldn't make him think she was insane? Perhaps she didn't need him, specifically. Maybe all she needed was the attention of both Evers and Nevers after winning the Trial with Sophie.
A different hunger rose at the thought of the Nevergirl, hotter and threatening to consume her. The Trial seemed to be the only place where she would see Sophie again beyond lunch. For now, she could only communicate with the coven through paper birds, though knowing this school and its Master, that would probably have an end put to it too.
Not that Alma would refrain from bending the rules.