“Snake’s read The Tale of Sophie and Agatha, inside and out. Everything you know, he knows, and you know everything.” Agatha paused. “Except . . .”
“Except?”
“How Tedros proposed to marry me.”
Agatha’s big eyes sparkled in the dark, so intensely that Sophie turned away. “Well, heaven forbid your best friend know how your prince asked to marry you! Seems like something a best friend might share. But seeing you haven’t, you should use your little secret to suss out your groom,” said Sophie. “As soon as you find who the real Tedros is, we’ll know who the Snake is and attack him. I don’t care if killing him isn’t the Good thing to do or won’t make Teddy king. If he’s Rafal’s son, the sooner he’s dead the better. I’ll stay up here until you find him. This way, I can shoot spells at anyone who dares comes near you, since I’m the only one who knows you’re actually you.”
Agatha’s neck rashed red. “I can’t leave you here—”
“If I’m with you, the Snake will know who you are. I’m not letting him kill you, Agatha. I’m not letting him win. Find Tedros. Kill the creep. Got it?” Sophie’s dress opened like a flower and she brought Merlin down into her arms. “I’ll keep this one with me so he’s safe. Now go.”
Before Agatha could speak, Sophie shoved her from the cocoon. Agatha flopped onto a cloud down below. Above her, Merlin swished his hands—
Light returned to the Snake Sky.
Agatha braced herself, ready to pick Tedros from his impostor, confident she knew how to find the answer . . . then saw the answer no longer matched the question.
Because where Agatha expected two Tedroses to choose between, now there were none.
Instead, there were three Agathas on the clouds surrounding her, each dressed in the same pink dress and hooded black cloak that she was wearing.
A quartet of Agathas, which included the real Agatha since now the other three were inspecting her and each other, with no inkling yet as to who was who.
Until this very moment, I’ve told this tale through Agatha’s eyes as if it were her story to tell. But where Agatha no doubt thinks she is the main character of her story, as any Man in the throes of life does, the Pen has a wider view of things. Which is why we must turn to Sophie, high on a cloud, entrusted with protecting her best friend, but suddenly confused as to which was the real Agatha and which were the fakes.
“Merlin, who’s Aggie?” she asked the child with her.
But the wizard too had lost track.
All Sophie knew was that she had to find the real Agatha before Japeth did.
Think, Sophie coaxed herself.
Why had they all taken Agatha’s form?
Each had good reason.
Tedros and Guinevere wanted to confuse the Snake, who was hunting Agatha to win the second test. Meanwhile, the Snake wanted to confuse Tedros, who was determined to protect his princess.
At first, Sophie assumed Japeth’s Agatha would attack the others, believing he’d slay the real Agatha in the process and win his test. And yet, this would also give the Snake away, enabling Tedros, Agatha, and Guinevere to team against him and Sophie to snipe him with a spell from above . . . which is precisely why the Snake’s Agatha wasn’t attacking and instead hanging back like his fellow Agathas, waiting for someone else to make the first move.
Sophie realized that someone had to be her.
“Attention, friends and filth,” she called crisply, her dress of black feathers holding her in the sky, like an extraterrestrial bird. Four Agathas craned their heads up. A spotlight appeared on Sophie out of nowhere (Merlin trying to be helpful). “Allow me to ask some questions. Think of it as a test. The Tournament of Stings. Each of you will take a turn answering and if I sense a certain serpentine quality to your answer, you will be stung.” Sophie lit her fingerglow, a smoking-hot pink. “A well-aimed stun spell to the head, reserved precisely for Snakes pretending to be my best friend. And I’m not sure you’ll wake up alive, given that as much as you want Agatha dead, my friends and I want you dead more. Shall we begin?”
She glared down at the Agatha Quartet lined up left to right, still hoping Japeth would snap and show himself, but the four Agathas stared right back, willing to engage.
Clever Snake. He’s looking for Agatha the same way we’re looking for him, Sophie thought.
She had to be careful with her questions.
“What is Agatha’s favorite food?” Sophie asked, starting with the Agatha on the left.
“Candy,” said Agatha #1.
“Honeycake,” said Agatha #2.
“Cinnamon rolls,” said Agatha #3.
“Jellybeans,” said Agatha #4.
Sophie frowned. Agatha’s taste for sweets preceded her, it seemed. Worse still, Sophie had assumed the answer would be salted peanut crunch, since Agatha used to consume mounds of it in Gavaldon, but apparently it wasn’t, since whoever the real Agatha was didn’t agree. The responses weren’t entirely unhelpful, though. Only Guinevere, Tedros, and Agatha had been in the Mirage Pub, where Agatha had discovered honeycake, meaning Agatha #2 wasn’t the Snake. And Agatha #4 wasn’t Tedros or Agatha, because anyone who knew Agatha would know she found jellybeans infantile. So who was who? It felt like a math problem, and Sophie had always found math a poor use of time, so she gave up and asked another question instead.
“Who is the One True King?” Sophie asked.
Come out, come out, little Snake.
“Tedros,” said Agatha #1.
“Tedros,” said Agatha #2.
“Tedros,” said Agatha #3.
“Whoever wins the Tournament of Kings,” said Agatha #4. “Just as Arthur willed.”
Agatha #1, #2, and #3 all peered at Agatha #4. So did Sophie.
Has to be the Snake, she thought. Can’t even stomach the idea of saying Tedros’ name.
Sophie bit her lip. And yet . . . would the Snake give himself away so easily? Isn’t Japeth smarter than that?
She could see Agatha #3 studying the fourth Agatha, fists curling as if itching to attack, but also struggling with the same doubts Sophie had.
Sophie focused harder—
Agatha #2 isn’t the Snake.
Agatha #3 is Tedros or Agatha.
Agatha #4 isn’t Tedros or Agatha.
She was getting closer.
One more question.
The question.
“Tell me. How did Tedros propose to you?” Sophie asked. Agatha #4 gave Agatha #3 a coy glance, which Sophie noticed. Agatha #1 noticed too and gave Agatha #4 a probing look. Agatha #2, meanwhile, glowered hard at Sophie, though Sophie didn’t know if it was because she was offended or stumped. All in all, Sophie felt more baffled than ever.
“Well?” Sophie hounded. “How did the prince ask you to marry him?”
“It’s a secret,” said Agatha #1.
“Kept it to myself for a reason,” said Agatha #2.
“No one’s business,” said Agatha #3.
“He did it at Camelot,” said Agatha #4. “The first night we arrived after we left school. Tedros arranged a romantic dinner and proposed during dessert, exactly as you’d expect.”
The air seemed to drain out of the sky, a thick silence hanging between Sophie and the Agathas like a curtain about to drop.