Never After (School for Good and Evil x Reader)

Chapter 15

One could only imagine my surprise and disappointment when I woke in my own bed that next morning.

I interrogated Agatha at lunch. "What the hell happened last night? I thought she was supposed to kiss him!"

"There was no kiss because there will never be a kiss!" Agatha hissed. "Don't you get it? Sophie has no intention of going home now that she has her prince."

She gestured across the Clearing, where Sophie and Tedros sat beneath a tree, nuzzling in the sun.

"You understand what this means, right Y/n?"

I didn't say anything.

"You have to step in now."

"But how can I do that, Agatha?" I asked. I gestured at Sophie. "I can't take away her prince. That's just—"

"Evil?" Agatha gave me a sympathetic look. "Y/n, Tedros falling in love with you instead is our only hope for going home now. Sophie isn't going to let him go anytime soon."

I sighed. "I know."

"Besides," Agatha said, "I'll be there to help you. And. . .as much as it pains me to say it. . .Sophie's bound to mess something up sooner or later."

I groaned and hung my head in my hands, wondering how on earth I was going to betray one of my best friends.

And how on earth I was going to get a prince to kiss me.

***

"To win a Trial by Tale is one of the greatest honors at the School for Good and Evil," Pollux declared, head back next to Castor's on their massive dog's body.

With the fifteen Forest Group leaders behind him, Pollux peered down at the students, gathered after breakfast in the Theater of Tales. "Once a year, we send our best Evers or Nevers into the Blue Forest for a night to see who lasts until morning. To win, a student must survive both the School Master's death traps and the other side's attacks. The last Ever or Never standing at dawn is declared the winner and given five additional first-place ranks."

Pollux raised his nose snootily. "As you know, Good has won the past two hundred Trials—"

Good burst into a chant of "EVERS RULE! EVERS RULE! EVERS—"

"ARE STUPID, ARROGANT FOOLS!" Castor boomed, and the Evers shut up.

"Now a week from today, each Forest Group will send its top Ever and Never into the Trial," Pollux sniffed. "But before we announce the competitors, let us briefly review the rules."

"Heard Beatrix took first in Good Deeds yesterday," Chaddick whispered to Tedros. "That Nevergirl turning you soft?"

"You try mending a dove wing with my strength," Tedros retorted. Then his face softened. "Do the boys really hate me?"

"Can't be messing with a Never, mate," Chaddick said, gray eyes stern. "Even if she is the fairest, smartest, most talented girl in school."

Doubts sank Tedros into his seat. . . He bolted upright.

"I can prove she's Good! I can prove it in the Trial!"

"Beatrix or Agatha might have your group's spot," Chaddick said.

Tedros' chest tightened. He caught Sophie beaming at him from the Evil pews. Their future together depended on him making the Trial. How could he fail her?

"According to the rules, there can be more than one winner of a Trial by Tale," said Pollux. "However, those who last until dawn must split the first-place ranks. Thus, it is in your interest to eliminate your competition. Naturally the School Master prefers a single winner and will conjure as many obstacles as he can to ensure it.