فصل 16

Chapter 16

THE COVEN

The Knights of Eleven

“The queen,” the attendant sniffed in his pink-and-yellow uniform, standing tall at the door to Castle Jolie. “I’m to believe the queen sent for you.” Hester, Anadil, and middle-aged Dot blinked at him, the three witches in filthy black hoods, held at the necks by a pair of guards.

“Found them sneaking across the border, smelling like skunks,” said a guard.

“We weren’t sneaking. The queen invited us,” Hester snapped. “We’ve traveled for days to get here. We’re her guests!” The attendant snorted. “Throw them out.”

“We have an urgent message! About Princess Bettina!” Dot insisted, flapping her arms. “She’s been ki—” “Kin to us. Like family,” Hester cut in, glowering at Dot, before puffing up at the attendant: “Is this how you treat friends of the princess? Tell the queen we’re here.” “The queen is in a meeting with her knights,” the attendant sniffed. “And Nevers aren’t permitted inside Castle Jolie. Especially after pirates laid waste to our kingdom, with whom you no doubt sympathize.” “We’re Nevers, not thugs,” Anadil scorned.

“Would you deny your queen’s guests because you object to their appearance?” Hester piled on. “No wonder pirates target your realm to punish such arrogance. No wonder the Snake chose your land to occupy, with people like you serving it.” The attendant hesitated, with a rankled scowl. Then he rolled his eyes and flung open the door. “Last time someone disturbed the queen, she made him kneel as a dinner table for her children’s supper. Let’s hope you suffer something far worse.” He clacked away, glaring back at the guards. “Don’t let them touch anything.” The witches followed the guards inside. “Why didn’t we tell the truth?” Dot whispered to Hester. “About Bettina being killed?” “Who would he think killed her? Especially with a creepy adult looming around Ani and me like you’ve kidnapped us,” Hester retorted. “We need to see the queen. That’s why Tedros sent us. To get her help fighting the Snake. And for that, we’ll tell as many lies as we need to.” “Such a wise leader,” said Dot.

Hester looked touched.

Dot smiled back. “But am I lying or telling the truth?”

“Point taken,” Hester growled.

Ten minutes later, the witches were still waiting, the two guards keeping watch from across the foyer. Hester’s eyes were red, her nose runny, as she sat on a bench beneath a wall of hydrangeas, the pastel, pom-pom-shaped petals blanketing every inch of Castle Jolie.

“Rats can’t pick up the scent of Nicola or Guinevere,” Anadil fretted, her pets returning to her pocket. “Couldn’t pick up Marian’s scent in Glass Mountain, either.” “Glass Mountain reeked of fungus and blight. And rats won’t pick up the scent of anything here but these damn flowers,” Hester muttered, wiping her nose.

“Cleaned up the place nice, at least. Last time we were here, the Snake’s pirates pee-peed everywhere,” said Dot, plucking a flower and turning it to chocolate. Instantly, the wall began an endless loop of music: “Tipple Top, Joy and Jaunt, Come and Be Jolie! Tipple Top, Joy and Jaunt, Come and Be Jolie! Tipple Top . . .” (The guards groaned.) But the music gave the witches cover to talk— “Let me handle negotiating with the queen,” Hester whispered. “To kill the Snake, we’ll need her Knights of the Eleven.” “But what if her message was a trap?” Dot asked. “Nic and Guinevere were supposed to come here and there’s no trace of them. What if the queen killed them? What if she’s on the Snake’s side?” “Don’t be daft,” Hester barbed, but now her chest felt tight.

“Think Robin could have left Maid Marian somewhere else in Glass Mountain?” Anadil said, still inspecting her rats. “Somewhere we didn’t search?” “Robin told Sophie he hid Marian in a sanctuary,” said Hester. “Only place like that is the sacred orchard and she wasn’t there.” “Plus, Robin wouldn’t have planned on leaving her long,” Dot added. “Been four days since the wizard tree battle. She’d have gone searching for him.” “Stink of the blight would have been enough to drive her off,” said Hester, sniffing Dot’s clothes. “No wonder the guards found us.” “That camel at school smelled worse,” said Dot. “Let’s hope Agatha’s safe.” “Sooner we kill the Snake, sooner we’re all safe,” said Hester.

By now, the music was rattling Hester’s skull: “Tipple Top, Joy and Jaunt, Come and Be Jolie! Tipple Top, Joy and Jaunt, Come and—” A black fist went through the flowers. The song sputtered out.

Slowly, the witches raised their eyes to a huge man in gold chainmail tinted with pearlescent colors. A mask of mesh covered his nose and mouth like a veil, his dark eyes slashing through them.

“The queen will see you now,” he snarled.

The witches hurried after him.

“You’re a Knight of the Eleven,” Hester said eagerly. “Fiercest warriors in the Woods—” “Saddle the horses,” the knight barked at a passing page boy. “Queen says the Eleven ride tonight.” The boy looked alarmed. “But I’ve just seen the Knights. They’re in no condition to—” “Now!” the knight roared.

The boy scuttled away. With every step, the knight grew angrier, his jaw grinding, his fists cracking, and only when they turned the corner did Hester see why.

Eight mountainous men stood in their underpants, helping a ninth and tenth disrobe their armor, before they handed this armor to the attendant the witches had encountered outside, now posed at the entrance to a double-doored room.

The black knight sneered at the witches. “Queen is waiting,” he said, stabbing a finger at the doors. Then he turned his ire on the attendant. “This is madness, Jorin. An insult to the Knights.” “Turn over your armor, Sephyr,” the attendant said. “Queen’s orders.” Sephyr growled and stripped off his chainmail. He shoved it at Jorin, who folded it with the two other suits of armor, before opening the doors to the witches. Hester led Anadil and Dot inside, the coven utterly confused, especially since Jorin, who once treated them like fleas, was now bowing his head as they entered, then following them in. Ani and Dot clung to Hester as the witches made their way into a small room, muggy and windowless, the floor creaking underfoot.

Torches illuminated eight knights around a table, wearing the same pearlescent armor and mesh veils the knights outside had been forced to shed.

Three seats at the table were empty.

“The Knights ride with Eleven,” the leader spoke at the head of the table, addressing the coven. “And we are eight. Which is why I’ve brought you here.” The leader’s pale hands lifted the armored mask, like a funeral veil. Queen Jacinda gazed intensely at them.

“Welcome, new Knights,” she said.

Jorin put a suit of armor in each of the witches’ hands.

“New what?” Hester said.

“W-w-we don’t understand—” Anadil stammered.

The other knights at the table removed their veils.

Dot was so stunned she turned her armor to chocolate.

NICOLA.

Guinevere.

Beatrix.

Reena.

Kiko.

Maid Marian.

They faced Hester and the witches, who were now dressed in armor and seated at the table with them, Dot feeling the stares at her adult form.

Together, with the Queen of Jaunt Jolie, they made ten knights.

The eleventh sat at the far end, a stout woman, hair pulled back into a bun.

“Friedegund Brunhilde,” she identified herself. “Dean of Arbed House at the Foxwood School for Boys.” Slowly, the story unfolded. Nicola and Guinevere had come to Jaunt Jolie to ask for the queen’s help fighting the Snake: help that the queen refused, given her fear of Japeth’s retaliation. But then Maid Marian arrived in Jaunt Jolie with news of Bettina’s death, which she’d learned of from Robin Hood. When Robin failed to retrieve her from Glass Mountain, Marian had gone searching for him. She found her love in Putsi’s forest, scim-stabbed and bleeding. Robin urged Marian to go to Jaunt Jolie . . . to tell Queen Jacinda what became of him and her daughter and ask for shelter . . .

“That was his dying wish,” Marian recounted, her voice tremoring. “But what about my wish? I can’t ever see Robin again. I can’t claim the Storian for myself and rewrite the story. No magic can bring him back. Not even a wish in Aladdin’s Cave or the darkest sorcerer’s spell.” She smeared away tears. “Robin made me promise to hide . . . but there can be no hiding anymore. He’s gone. My true love. The Snake took him from me.” “He took my daughter, too,” said Queen Jacinda.

“And my dad,” said Dot.

“And our Millicent,” said Beatrix with Reena.

“And my Lancelot,” said Guinevere, white-haired and drawn. “He’s made us widows, orphans, and killed our children. He finds the thing you love the most and destroys it, like the darkest curse. But I won’t let him take Tedros. Arthur left him his ring for a reason. Tedros can bring us back. To balance. To truth. If only he gets the chance.” “Which is why we’re all here,” said Queen Jacinda. “To defend your son. To give the true Lion his pack.” “Then I am your servant, Your Highness,” said Guinevere.

Two queens bowed to each other, bonded by loss.

As for how they’d all made it to this table, Jacinda had the answers to that. After Marian came to her, she’d kept Bettina’s murder a secret. Even her husband, the king, was left in the dark. She sent him on a mission in Runyon Mills and packed her younger children off to their grandmother’s.

Then she went to work.

“I didn’t trust the Knights of Eleven to avenge Bettina’s death,” said the queen. “For one thing, they still believe in King Rhian and I have no proof of Japeth’s ruse. Nor do I even have evidence of my daughter’s death; inquiries to both Camelot and Putsi yielded nothing but silence and stonewalling. And then, of course, there was the last time I sent my Knights to confront the Snake, when his pirates first invaded my kingdom. They were lured by the Snake to a Sleeping Willow and put into a slumber before striking a single blow, while me and my children were noosed up to hang . . . No, I needed to find better knights to fight Japeth this time, equipped with more than weapons or brute strength. Knights who had a stake in this war. Knights who knew the depths of love and loss. Knights who would persist until the end.” Jacinda looked around the table. “Such knights wouldn’t be found amongst men.” Thus Nicola and Guinevere were summoned back to the castle, where they joined Maid Marian. At the same time, the queen had been hearing of three warrior princesses who’d been attacking Agatha bounty hunters in the forest, ever since Lionsmane had announced the second test to the Woods. She had these girls brought in, too—Beatrix, Reena, and Kiko—which made seven knights for her table.

The eighth came easier than expected: Dean Brunhilde of Arbed House, who Jaunt Jolie had sent many an Everboy to for rehabilitation. Only this time, it was Dean Brunhilde who had traveled to Jaunt Jolie for help . . . asking if its queen had noticed any similarities between the masked attacker who’d tried to hang her and the new, cold-eyed king . . .

“Which left three knights still to be named,” said the queen, turning to the witches. “And I know The Tale of Sophie and Agatha well enough to be certain that there are no fiercer protectors of justice than you.” She smiled towards Dot. “At any age.” “It’s highly temporary,” Dot contended.

Jacinda looked at the rest. “So now our work begins, Knights of Eleven.” “But what work, Your Highness?” Beatrix asked. “The whole Woods is after Agatha. If a single person finds her and brings her to Japeth, he’ll win the second test. He’ll be a step away from being the One True King. From having the Storian’s powers and wiping us out before we ever have the chance to fight him.” “Beatrix, Kiko, and I tried to stop the Agatha hunters,” Reena agreed. “But every kingdom has people searching for her. Even in my homeland of Shazabah, my father is leading the search for Agatha. He thinks I’m still at school. He has no clue I’m fighting for the ‘rebels.’ If he did, he’d throw me in prison or have me killed. No one is on Tedros’ side anymore. We’re outnumbered by thousands.” “And we don’t even know where Agatha’s gone,” said Dot. “The camel swept her, Tedros, and Sophie off to some secret place.” “Which means we don’t know how to protect her,” said Beatrix.

“If killing Agatha is the second test, imagine what the third test will be,” Kiko peeped.

“Nor can we just go riding after the Snake. The Snake killed Robin and the Sheriff. The two strongest men I knew,” said Marian, with a quick glance at Dot.

“And their strength was surpassed by Lancelot’s, who suffered the same fate,” Guinevere added. “Marian is right. We’re not warriors. We can’t succeed in killing a monster where men have failed.” “On the contrary.” Jacinda sat taller. “True, we cannot win the second test for Tedros. Surviving the death warrant hung on his princess is his quest alone. But there are other weapons we have to defeat the Snake. Cleverness. Resilience. Insight. Weapons that a woman wields far better than a man. It is why we wear the armor of the Eleven now.” Dot and Anadil peeked at Hester, both unsettled that they’d come here to get the help of knights and were instead asked to be those knights . . . But Hester was staring squarely at the queen, intrigued.

“When Betty chose to continue writing for the Courier, even after the others fled, I asked her why,” the queen said. “Why risk her life when she could be safe? And she told me, with so much conviction, ‘Not everyone can see the truth, Mother. It is so easy to be blind to it. But those of us who can see the truth have the responsibility to help others see it too. Even if it’s dangerous. Even if it puts us at risk. The truth is worth it.’” The queen’s voice wavered. “We know the truth about Japeth. All of us. We just need the Woods to see it. And for that, we must have courage. Like my daughter had. Like your Lancelot and your Robin and your father.” She looked at Guinevere, Marian, Dot. “We may not be knights in body. But we are knights in heart. And I’d take that knight against our enemy over any other kind.” This time, there was no argument.

The queen turned to Dean Brunhilde. “You’ve known the Snake since he was a boy. What does he want? Why does he seek the Storian’s power?” “He’s hateful. Pure Evil. From the beginning,” said the Dean, instantly.

“You’ve made a life out of taking those believed to be Evil and leading them to Good,” the queen pointed out. “It was your mission at Arbed House. This one thwarted your efforts, but surely you had a glimpse into his soul along the way. Evil, yes. Hateful, surely. But his hatred might be the chink in his armor, if we can come to understand it.” “He was always a beast,” Brunhilde dismissed. “From the moment his mother brought him and Rhian to me. RJ was bitter and cruel in all the ways Rhian was earnest and warm.” “What does RJ stand for?” Nicola asked. “J for Japeth, and R for . . .” “It’s been more than a decade. My files have his records,” said Dean Brunhilde.

“We searched for them in your office. Rhian’s and Japeth’s files,” said Nicola. “But we found a squirrelly nut to Merlin that claimed you’d hidden them somewhere.” The Dean bolted straight. “You? You were the one who broke in?”

“And now we’re on the same side, so it doesn’t matter,” said Nicola, impatient. “We found other files in your office. A letter from Aric to Japeth. Proof of their friendship. But we couldn’t find Japeth’s. Where did you hide it?” Dean Brunhilde crossed her arms. “I’m not confiding in a thief.” “Perhaps you’ll confide in us once you, too, lose everyone you love,” said Maid Marian.

Dean Brunhilde felt the eyes of Marian and two queens upon her.

“That letter from Aric to Japeth,” said Hester delicately, turning to Nicola. “What did it say?” Nicola opened her mouth, but Dean Brunhilde cut her off. “They were my students,” she said briskly. “Aric and RJ were close. Aric was the only one who could keep RJ’s rages at bay, even more than Rhian. Perhaps they recognized something in each other. Two poisoned hearts that were each other’s antidote. But Rhian was RJ’s twin. There was jealousy there. Aric envious of the bond Rhian had with his brother. Rhian resentful of Aric and RJ’s friendship. It all boiled over when Aric stabbed Rhian in the head. Somehow Rhian managed to survive. And when the time came, I let the students vote on Aric’s fate. RJ begged his brother to forgive Aric . . . if Rhian forgave Aric, so would the others . . . But Rhian voted to expel him instead. Aric was sent back into the Woods. Other than his letters to RJ, I don’t know what became of him.” “Ended up at the School for Boys, torturing everyone in sight,” Anadil muttered. “Unleashed his fury on all of us. Until Lady Lesso stabbed him. His own mother.” Dean Brunhilde took this in. “So Aric might still be alive today if Rhian had forgiven him.” “At least Rhian did one thing right,” Kiko sighed.

Hester caught Anadil and Dot staring at her. No one else in the room knew what the coven did. No one else knew what Sophie had told them at school.

“No, he didn’t do it right,” Hester said. “Rhian should have forgiven Aric. He should have followed the rules of Good and Evil. Rule 1. The Good forgive. And Rhian wanted to be Good. Taking Aric from Japeth was his fatal mistake.” “What are you saying?” Beatrix asked.

“Japeth killed Rhian. And it all traces back to him losing Aric,” said Hester. “That’s why Japeth wants to be the One True King. That’s why he wants the powers of the Storian. For Aric. He wants to bring his friend back to life.” Dean Brunhilde froze in her seat.

Sweat beaded Hester’s forehead, the room sucked of air.

“Love. Friendship. These are the oldest stories of time,” said Queen Jacinda finally. “And not just the domain of Good. An Evil School Master believed love gave him the right to claim the Storian, just as the Snake believes love gives him the right to replace it. It’s not the pen they ultimately seek to control. It’s love itself. But love can’t be controlled. Love requires surrender and faith. A trust in the winds of fate that the darkest hearts reject. If Aric and Japeth were meant to be together, they already would be. But fate is a power beyond our grasp. That is why we fight for the Pen. Because Man cannot be trusted to write his own fate. And the Snake shows us why. He believes fate made a mistake in separating him and Aric. That blood must be spilled, over and over, until he claims the power to rewrite that mistake and bring his friend back to him. Even if it spawns nothing but lies and murder and suffering along the way.” She raised her eyes to her knights. “And it is this rejection of fate, this terrible misunderstanding, that is his greatest weakness,” said the queen. “We cannot help Tedros win the second test. For him to kill Agatha is unfathomable. He has no way to win. But what if we could make Japeth abandon the test too? What if we could make him surrender the tournament altogether?” “Now that sounds unfathomable,” Beatrix scoffed.

Other knights murmured agreement. “Nothing could make Japeth give up the crown,” said Dean Brunhilde.

“Nothing except the person that’s making him fight for the crown in the first place,” Hester countered.

Everyone looked at her.

“Japeth wants his Ever After with Aric,” the witch reasoned. “So we have to make him believe that Aric never wanted one with him. That Aric is rejecting his plan. That he doesn’t want to be brought back. The queen is right. It just might work . . .” “Um, Aric is dead,” said Beatrix, “and unless I’m missing something, no one but the Storian has the power to raise people from the grave.” “We don’t need to raise him from the grave,” said Anadil, catching on to Hester’s plan. “We just need to make it seem as if he has. Long enough for him to give Japeth a message. A brutal, undeniable message.” “A message which will make him doubt,” the queen confirmed. “If his guard is down, then we stand a chance.” Dot frowned. “How can you fake a message from the dead?”

“Only one place,” Maid Marian realized, looking at Jacinda. “A faraway cave where anything can come true for the right price . . . even a message from the grave . . .” “Aladdin’s Cave,” said Guinevere. “The lost Cave of Wishes.”

“Lost cave?” Kiko wisped. “How do you find a lost cave?”

“You ask the last man who found it, of course,” the Queen of Jaunt Jolie replied.

Her eyes fixed on the knight a few seats down.

Eyes wide. Sunk in her chair.

Pale as a ghost.

“My father,” Reena gasped.