فصل 23

23

THE COVEN

The Sheriff’s Daughter

When it came time to land, the Igraine didn’t have a port to dock in and its captain was below deck, so the ship made its own decision and thumped down in front of Nottingham Prison, crushing a statue of a fat, bearded Sheriff beneath its hull.

A few pigeons scattered.

No sounds came from the jail.

“Daddy won’t be happy,” said Dot, blinking over the rail.

Hester took in the deserted scene. “Where is everyone? You’d think flying ships land here every day.” “Jail’s pretty empty,” Dot explained. “Daddy and his men are so focused looking for Robin Hood that anyone else they put in there usually escapes.” “Good Sheriff,” said Anadil, her rats snickering.

“He’s caught Robin before. He’ll catch him again,” Dot defended. “When he caught Robin, Dad was so happy. He told me I was pretty, bought me cakes and dresses, and didn’t have a care in the world. But then when Robin escaped . . .” Her eyes clouded over.

“But how did Robin escape?” Anadil pushed.

“Oh, look! Bertie!” Dot said, waving over the rail. “Hi, Bertie!” She beamed down at a filthy old man who’d rushed out the door of the jail to check on the commotion. He had no shirt, his pants were falling down, and he was sucking on a lit cigar.

“Any Robin sightings lately?” Dot asked cheerily.

The old man cursed at her and went back inside.

Dot smiled. “He’s such a good friend.”

A few minutes later, the crew gathered before their captain on sandy dirt, the Igraine in shadow behind them. A soft rain fell, the cloudy glow over Nottingham draining fast. Still, they could see downhill to the quiet village below, bounded on the north side by the rich greenery of Sherwood Forest.

“Tedros and Lancelot are heading towards Sherwood Forest to meet the Lion,” said Agatha. “According to the Quest Map, Tedros will soon reach Nottingham on his way there. But scims were spotted here in Nottingham last night. Surely it’s because the Snake sees a chance to attack Tedros before he gets to Sherwood Forest, where the Snake can’t follow him inside. Sophie and I will use the Quest Map to find Tedros before the Snake does—” “And the Lion,” Sophie chimed in. “We’ll look for him too.” Agatha glared at her. Sophie pursed her lips.

“The rest of you search Nottingham for scims,” Agatha continued. “If the Sheriff spotted those eels last night, that means the Snake is here somewhere. If you find him, cast your glow into the sky as a signal. Don’t try to fight him on your own.” Agatha scanned the group. “Understood?” The questers dispersed. Ravan’s team went with Vex’s to explore the hill around the jail. Beatrix, Reena, and Kiko teamed up to search the area bordering Sherwood Forest. Bogden and Willam took the Nottingham school, Hort and Nicola headed towards the outer cottages, and Hester and Anadil followed Dot into the center of town.

“Daddy will know where the scims were. We have to get to my house,” said Dot as they passed a billboard with a flattering painting of the beefy Sheriff chasing an ogrish-looking Robin Hood, about to snare him in a big, gray sack. The sign read: “WELCOME TO NOTTINGHAM, LAND OF LAW AND ORDER.” “Can’t wait for you to meet Daddy. I’ve told him all about you.” “Since when are you so chipper about ‘Daddy’?” Anadil scorned. “The way you talk about him, calling you a failure and a loser, he sounds like a demeaning, belittling mope. And that’s coming from me.” “Well, he appreciates me more now,” said Dot cryptically.

Hester tuned out whenever Dot talked about her dysfunctional relationship with her father. (She had no patience for parental issues, which she thought most kids used as an excuse for mediocrity and avoiding real responsibility). Instead, she was unnerved by how dead this town was as she took in the square’s empty streets, stagnant fountain, and closed shopfronts.

“Um, sorry this isn’t Ravenswood or Bloodbrook, with bird-bone temples and man-wolf raves,” Dot said, seeing her face. “It’s Robin’s fault, to be honest. Robbed all the rich people to give to the poor, so the rich people left. But then the poor got rich from all Robin’s stealing, so then he started robbing from them and they left too. So the only people here are neither rich nor poor and there ain’t too many of those in this world. So yeah . . . it’s a sleepy town.” “This isn’t sleepy. This is zombie,” said Hester.

“No thugs running around wreaking havoc either,” said Anadil. “If the Snake’s here, where are the attacks?” A spooked villager rushed towards them, carrying an axe.

“Get inside, you fools! Eely things flyin’ around all last night! They’re huntin’ for someone!” he spat, blowing past them. “If you’re idling about, they might come back!” The witches watched him flurry towards the cottage lanes.

Hester frowned. “At least we know why the streets are empty.” “Hold on. Last night? Dot’s father said the scims were looking for someone last night too,” Anadil pointed out. “Last night. Long before Tedros even left his castle. So the Snake can’t have been looking for Tedros. He must be looking for someone else in Nottingham.” “Someone he wants to kill?” said Hester.

“Or it could be someone he needs,” said Anadil.

“Someone he needs in order to take Camelot . . . ,” Hester mulled.

“You’re soooo overestimating this town,” Dot quipped.

Anadil’s eyes roamed the clear sky. “Well, we’ve been here a while and haven’t seen a thing. So either the scims gave up . . . or they found who they’re looking for.” Hester noticed the news and sundries shop they were passing, the Sheriff’s Blotter, covered in WANTED posters of Robin Hood, which had a cartoon of an executioner chopping off his head. In the window, Hester glimpsed the latest edition of the Royal Rot— BANISHED FROM CAMELOT?

LADY GREMLAINE SPOTTED

IN HOMETOWN OF NOTTINGHAM!

Isn’t that Agatha’s steward? Hester thought. The one she’d complained about? It was suspicious that she’d be back in Nottingham just when Camelot needed her most . . . but then again, the Royal Rot claimed that Agatha and Sophie were secretly sisters, which was the most preposterous thing Hester had ever heard. Still, she’d ask Agatha about Gremlaine just in case. . . .

But now Hester was distracted by the row of local Nottingham newspapers next to the Rot— FOUR-POINT REPORT! SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM SAYS DAUGHTER WAS THE TRUE “LION”!

DOT THE HERO! READ HER EXCLUSIVE LETTER TO DADDY INSIDE!

“I’M SO PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER!” SHERIFF BOASTS

“Dot, honey . . . ?” Hester said.

“Mmmm?”

“In your letter, what did you tell your dad about the Four Point?” Hester asked sweetly.

“Um, you know . . . that we won,” Dot said, eating a chocolate WANTED poster. “We should hurry. It’s getting dark.” More WANTED posters of Robin Hood decorated the shuttered shopfronts: Sheriff’s Coffee, a cozy café selling drinks like “Frothy Marian” and the “Sheriff’s Special Blend”; the Headless Robin, a souvenir shop selling Sheriff and Robin masks and fake Sheriff badges, plus replicas of the famous gray sack the Sheriff had used to catch Robin and parade him through town; Books and Badges, with books about Robin and the Sheriff prominently displayed in the window. . . .

And one about Dot, Hester realized, peering closer.

THE SHERIFF’S DAUGHTER:

Dot, Robin, and the Woods’ Most Famous Escape

Hester narrowed her eyes. “Dot, what happened exactly between you and Robin Hood?” “You’re full of questions today, aren’t you?” Dot snapped, swiveling— “Watch out!” Anadil yelped.

Hester and Dot whirled to see a scim whiz over their heads.

In a flash, the three witches took off after it, hightailing down the street and around a corner to follow it— They crashed right into Sophie and Agatha, the five of them toppling to the ground.

By the time they found their feet, the scim was gone.

“Where’d it go?” Hester asked, breathless.

“You saw it too?” Agatha said, pulling Sophie forward and calling back to the witches, “We’ll take the east lanes. You girls take west!” The three witches sprinted away from them into the next row of cottages. Anadil tore up a rosebed, Hester kicked aside a bicycle, Dot peeked inside mailboxes.

Hester snarled: “Dot, you spitwad, it’s not going to be in a mailbo—” The scim flew out of the box right into Dot’s mouth, then shot back out, rocketing past the witches, down the street, and under the door of a big gray cottage at the end.

“I take that back,” said Hester, hurtling towards the cottage, as Anadil raced after her, the two witches shooting their glow into the sky to signal the others. Sophie and Agatha’s glow flared from the next street, acknowledging the witches’— But Dot still hadn’t budged, rooted by the mailbox, her eyes on the house where the scim had gone.

“Daddy,” she gasped.

Dot burst into the house.

“Daddy? Where are yo—”

A meaty arm slung Dot against the wall.

“Don’t move,” a deep voice said.

Dot lifted her eyes to see her father holding her back with his big, hairy hand. The Sheriff was tall with a bushy black beard, a greasy mane of hair, and a bloated belly that hung over his belt, jangling with his jail keys. But his dark, stony eyes weren’t on his daughter. They were on the scim floating in the foyer of the dimly lit house. The scim was lethally sharp at both ends, one end pointing at Dot and the Sheriff, the other at Anadil and Hester, who were plastered against another wall.

“Tell us how to kill it, Dot,” the Sheriff demanded quietly. “Tell us what you did before.” Dot swallowed, feeling Hester and Anadil staring at her, her friends cornered beneath the Sheriff’s famous gray sack, hooked on a wall.

Anadil’s red eyes flicked back to the scim. “Use your demon,” she whispered to her friend.

“Not unless I have to,” Hester whispered back. “If my demon dies, I die.” The Sheriff squeezed his daughter harder. “Dot, hurry . . .” The front door flung open—

Sophie and Agatha busted in, fingertips lit, only to see the scim pivot in their direction, deadly tip glowing. The girls stumbled back to a wall, tripping over shoes, old newspapers, balled-up underpants, and dirty dishes.

“What do we do?” Sophie breathed.

“Nothing stupid,” said Agatha, shielding her.

The scim spun between the pairs of captives like the arrow on a game wheel, as if deciding who to kill first: Dot and her father, Sophie and Agatha, Hester and Anadil. . . .

All of them looked at each other, thinking the same thing: there were six of them and one scim. If they worked together, surely they could take it down.

But perhaps the scim sensed these thoughts, for suddenly, through the open window, more scims silently floated into the room, joining the first.

Two . . .

Then four . . .

Then six.

Each one turned razor sharp and pointed at a prisoner’s heart.

“Dot, what are you waiting for! Do what you did at the Four Point!” the Sheriff hissed, fingers digging into her. Dot winced under her father’s grip.

“What is he talking about?” Sophie blurted.

“She saved all of you there!” the Sheriff shot back. “She beat the Snake single-handedly! Why isn’t she doing it now!” Dot’s face was blotchy, her eyes ignoring her father and fixed on the scim pointing at her. “We need to send a signal to the rest of the crew,” she said shakily. “We need to tell them not to come here.” On cue, Anadil’s rats skittered out of her pocket, crawling down their master’s leg and shuttling for the door— The door crashed open, sending the rats flying, as Beatrix, Reena, Ravan, Nicola, and Hort barreled in together. They saw the scims and scattered with shrieks and shouts to the walls.

Five more scims breezed through the window, each turning knife-sharp and taking its place in front of a student. Three smaller scims coasted in and set aim at Anadil’s rats.

But still . . . none of the eels attacked.

“What are they waiting for?” Sophie said, watching the scaly ribbons hover patiently in front of their victims.

The Sheriff’s eyes were widening, his hand slowly loosening on his daughter. “It’s not true, is it? You didn’t save anyone at the Four Point. . . . You made it all up. . . .” Dot’s nose started running. “I—I—I just wanted you to like me again. I wrote you letters from school, asking you to forgive me. I missed you so much. But you wouldn’t even answer them—” “Because you’re a curse,” her father snarled. “You helped Robin Hood escape. You sided with my Nemesis over your own family. And now when I finally think you’ve redeemed yourself, when I can look the people in the eye and tell them you’ve made something of your life . . . you humiliate me again?” The Sheriff burned red, nostrils flaring. “I thought at that school they’d teach you some sense, but instead it’s made you more stupid and delusional than you already were! Only reason you got into that school in the first place was because I did a favor for the School Master. Yeah, you didn’t know that, did you? Came to me with something he needed and in return, he took you off my hands. Plus, he enchanted my catching sack so that if I ever catch Robin again with it, this time there’s nothing you can do to foul it up! Robin would be still in jail if it weren’t for you! I’d be a legend in the Woods! But then you stole my keys and snuck them to him, all because you wanted to be his friend. As if anyone could ever be your friend! Should have known your letter was all lies. Was there anything true in there about you beating the Snake? About you being the real Lion? Even one word?” Dot didn’t answer.

The Sheriff bared his teeth at her. “You ugly, disgusting pig.” He raised his hand to strike her—

Hester’s demon slammed into him, bashing the Sheriff in the groin with its horns. Before it could gore him again, a scim ripped through the demon’s claw, pinning the demon to the ceiling.

The Sheriff crumpled to the floor, wailing high-pitched noises. Hester gasped, buckling against the wall, as if the wind had been crushed out of her, her skin turning white. Overhead, her red-skinned demon bleated in pain.

“H-H-Hester, you okay?” Agatha sputtered.

But Hester wasn’t listening, her eyes bloodshot and still fixed on the Sheriff.

“Too bad for you, your daughter has friends,” she said.

“Lots of friends,” Anadil seethed.

“And if you ever touch Dot, you ever speak to her like that again, those friends will tear out your throat,” said Hester. “We will kill her own father to protect her and we won’t feel an ounce of guilt. You don’t know us. You don’t know what we’re capable of.” “And you don’t know the truth about your daughter either,” said Anadil, red glare slashing through the Sheriff. “She isn’t an embarrassment or ugly or any of the other lies you dump on her. She’s a miracle. You know why? Because she came from stock like you and is still the best friend anyone could ask for.” Dot’s face flooded with tears, her whole body quivering.

The Sheriff sobbed in pain behind the couch.

Dot shook her head, panicking. “You shouldn’t have hurt Daddy—it was my fault—I shouldn’t have lied—” Agatha moved to comfort her, but the scim aimed at Agatha jerked as if to strike, and Sophie snagged her back.

“Nothing stupid, remember?” Sophie said.

“We can’t wait here like sitting ducks,” said Hort, shirking from his scim. “We have to do something—” “Our fingerglows don’t work against scims. . . . We have no weapons . . . ,” said Beatrix.

The crew looked at Nicola for ideas, but she seemed to be in a trance, her narrowed eyes roaming the scene. . . .

“What is it, Nic?” said Agatha.

“The scims were looking for someone,” said the first year. “And now they’ve lured us here. They lured all of us here. But if they’re looking for one of us, why haven’t they attacked? They’re using us as bait. To find who they’re really looking for. This whole thing is another one of the Snake’s traps—” The door smashed open, this time ripping off its hinges.

Tedros stood in the threshold, his black hooded coat silhouetted in evening light. His eyes were watery and red, his face flushed.

He spotted Anadil and Hester first. “Agatha’s glow! I saw it! Where is sh—” But now he glimpsed the Sheriff of Nottingham crumpled on the floor . . . the demon impaled on the ceiling . . . his classmates fixed to the walls . . . the scims aimed at their hearts.

Then Sophie.

Then Agatha.

But before he could move towards his princess, the nearly twenty scims moved first, turning swiftly from their chosen targets and all pointing in Tedros’ direction.

“No,” he breathed.

With a deafening scream, the scims flew for his head.

Tedros dove as the scims ripped past him, tearing open a wall. A split second later, they ripped back out, aiming at the king once more. But Tedros was as strong as he was nimble, ducking under furniture and hurling chairs and lamps and kitchen pots at the scims, which obliterated everything he threw in their direction.

“Get out of the house!” he commanded his classmates. “Now!” Ravan, Hort, Beatrix, Reena, and Nicola fled through the open door.

Agatha instinctively surged towards Tedros, but Sophie blocked her.

“I have to help him!” Agatha cried.

“By getting cut up into a thousand pieces? You don’t have anything to fight with!” Sophie blistered.

But now the scims had the upper hand on Tedros, spreading out and coming at him from different angles, forcing him against the windowsill— “He doesn’t even have Excalibur! He can’t fight them with his bare hands!” Agatha panicked, struggling in Sophie’s grip. “Where’s Lancelot? Lance was supposed to be here helping him—” “There’s only one way to help now!” said Hester, grabbing Sophie. “The Lion! We have to find him!” Agatha spun to Sophie. “Use your map!”

Suddenly alert, Sophie emptied the vial on her neck, unfurling the Quest Map. . . .

The scims had Tedros checkmated, trapped against the windowsill with no other move to make. They glittered brighter, each aiming at a different part of his body— “There he is . . . ,” Sophie said, tracking RHIAN’s name. “He’s close to us. . . . Getting closer. And closer even . . . wait a second . . .” The scims launched for Tedros—

A flash of gold blasted through the window, crossing in front of Tedros’ body. Scims slammed into the solid gold of a Lion’s mask as its wearer swung two torches like swords, lighting eels on fire— The boy landed on his feet, pulling off his Lion mask.

“Here, Your Highness!” Rhian said, tossing Tedros a torch.

Tedros caught it. He stared open-mouthed at the boy who’d just saved his life: tan and copper-haired, his lean, muscular frame clad in a blue-and-gold suit. . . .

Then the scims came stabbing at them again.

“At my wing!” Tedros ordered Rhian, launching at the eels with his torch.

Rhian obeyed straightaway, flanking the king as the two boys swept their torches in perfect sync, burning through scims, which fell to the ground shrieking.

Agatha broke from Sophie, sprinting to help them— “Stay back!” Tedros and Rhian yelled at once.

Agatha stalled midrun. She, Sophie, and the three witches watched wide-eyed as Tedros and his new knight teamed effortlessly, twin swordsmen, calling out moves to each other as they dispatched the scaly ribbons.

“Feint left!” Tedros shouted.

“Parry right!” Rhian called back.

Hester could see the awe on Agatha’s face, watching Tedros join forces with someone his equal. At school, Chaddick had always been Tedros’ sidekick, but he could never truly keep up with the prince. Now Agatha was seeing what it was like for Tedros to finally have a teammate to rely on. This whole time, Agatha had thought she was that teammate, but now she realized that as much as he loved her, Tedros needed someone else—someone who wasn’t his girlfriend, just like Agatha needed Sophie, even when she had Tedros. Just like Hester needed Anadil and Dot. Because there were all kinds of needs that one person couldn’t possibly provide; it’s why the bond between two boys was as distinct and mysterious as the bond between two girls. And it’s why Agatha had misread Tedros so fundamentally these past six months, when she’d felt so alone and unneeded. Because it had nothing to do with Tedros needing his princess . . . and everything to do with him needing a knight.

Meanwhile, the scims didn’t leave a scratch on either boy, the two of them so melded and ruthless in destroying them that they began wordlessly anticipating each other’s moves like silent dancers. And it was only when the last scim fell that Tedros and Rhian finally bent over with relief and turned to their audience.

“Hi,” Tedros said to Agatha.

“Hi,” Agatha said, breathless.

Sophie and Rhian exchanged grins.

But then more scims came.

Hundreds of them, swarming through the window, glittering green instead of black. They funneled like a tornado and spewed a gust of wind that snuffed out the boys’ torches and knocked the king and his knight into a corner. Before they could recover, the scims cycloned faster, building into a black, scaly suit, then a shimmering green mask, reforming the Snake himself. His suit had several holes in it, where scales had been ripped away, revealing milk-white flesh, gashed and bloodied, as if the killed scims from his recent defeats had left both his armor and body vulnerable.

The Snake’s cold gaze settled on the boys, trapped in the corner. All the remaining scims on his body turned instantly to spikes, their tips shining fatally. The Snake’s emerald eyes darkened with purpose. . . .

Then he charged.

Rhian and Tedros both yelled—

A bag swallowed the Snake’s head, yanking him backwards, before engulfing the rest of his body.

Stunned, the Snake slashed and kicked from inside it, but he couldn’t get out. Nor could any sound he was making be heard through the sack’s gray fabric, as if he were a dove trapped in a magician’s hat.

Tedros and Rhian lifted their heads to see Dot pull the sack tight, sealing the Snake inside.

“Daddy said the School Master enchanted it,” she shrugged. “Figured it was worth a shot.” Curled up on the floor, the Sheriff gaped in disbelief.

So did Sophie, Agatha, Anadil, and Hester against the wall.

“Guess his fake pen didn’t see that coming,” Sophie said, watching the Snake thrash inside the bag.

“Don’t think anyone did,” said Anadil, as her three rats sniffed around it, giving Dot flabbergasted looks. “I thought spells don’t work on the Snake.” “Rafal’s spells weren’t ordinary spells, apparently,” said Hester, prowling towards the Sheriff— “No, please! Don’t kill me!” he choked.

Hester snapped the jail keys off his belt, before holding them out to his daughter.

“Help Robin escape all you want. But this one can’t escape,” said Hester. “Deal?” Dot smiled, her hand clasping Hester’s tight for a moment before she took the key. “Deal.” “Then let’s get this Snake to jail,” said Hester as Dot and Anadil dragged the sack towards the door.

“Guess the scims were looking for Tedros after all,” Hester heard Dot say.

“But it still doesn’t make any sense,” Anadil insisted. “I told you in the square. They had to be looking for someone else last night. . . .” Hester moved to help them but she stopped at the door, watching Tedros approach his new copper-haired friend, the boy’s stubble sparkling with sweat.

“Thank you,” said Tedros.

“Don’t think I need this anymore, Your Highness,” said his knight, handing Tedros his Lion mask. He bowed to his king. “My name is Rhian.” “You mean Sir Rhian,” said Tedros.

His knight’s steely gaze softened, a blush rising on his amber cheeks.

But now his king had seen his princess out of the corner of his eye. Without a word, he swept towards her, lifted her off the ground, and kissed her like it was the very first time. Agatha kissed him back harder, until they both ran out of breath.

“No more going at things alone,” she said. “No more spending time apart.” “That goes both ways,” said Tedros. He kissed his princess again.

Meanwhile, Sophie had cozied up to Rhian, who still looked dazed from his exchange with Tedros.

“So now the Lion has a name,” she cooed, holding out a kerchief from inside her dress.

He took it and wiped his forehead, his blue-green eyes gazing fervently at her. “And a lady-in-waiting, I hope.” Sophie touched his chest. “A lady who is waiting for you to ask her on a real date . . .” But Rhian wasn’t listening. He was looking past her, at Tedros. The king’s expression had slowly changed, as if the triumph of the moment had worn off, giving way to cold reality.

“Teddy, what is it?” Agatha asked.

The king was breathing shallowly now, unable to get words out.

“Your Highness, are you okay?” Rhian said, rushing to his side, almost pushing Agatha out of the way.

He seemed to smell something on Tedros, because he put his nose to the king’s neck and then quickly pulled off Tedros’ jacket— Tedros was drenched in blood.

“You’re hurt!” Agatha cried.

“No.” Rhian put his hands on Tedros’ shirt, feeling beneath it. “There’s no wound. It’s not his blood.” Agatha and Sophie stared at him.

“Whose blood is it?” said Agatha.

Her prince didn’t look at her.

Agatha’s face changed.

“Tedros . . . ,” she rasped. “Where’s Lancelot?” Slowly Tedros lifted his eyes.

That’s when he started to cry.