One True Queen (School for Good and Evil Book 2)

Chapter 20

Agatha had hoped Robin and his Merry Men would help her. That's why, after she escaped, she ran to Nottingham.

But they didn't.

While the Men remained at Marian's, Agatha came back to Robin's treehouse, hoping to scrounge a few hours of rest before she left at first light.

But she couldn't sleep.

She stashed Dovey's bag in a corner and sat in the doorway, gazing out at the other treehouses, her legs dangling over the edge, brushed by bright purple lotus blossoms quivering in gusts. The wind upended the lanterns too, strung between the treehouses in a rainbow of colors, and forest fairies zipped about setting them right, their wings detonating red and blue like tiny jewels.

The last time Agatha was here, it had all felt so magical and safe, a protective bubble set off from the chaos of real life. But now the whole place felt callow. Insidious, even. Dark things were happening in the Woods and here in Sherwood Forest, purple lotuses luminesced and the houses still glowed bright, their doors wide open.

"I used to be like you," Marian's voice echoed.

Then she'd come here to be with Robin. She'd come here for love. A love that had sealed her off from the world and made time stand still. Isn't that what true loves wanted in the end: to hide away in paradise?

After all, if she and Tedros had hidden away, they never would have had to lead Camelot. If she and Tedros had hidden away, he never would have heard her tell Sophie that he'd failed his quest as king. They'd still have their Ever After. They'd still have their perfect love.

Agatha let out a sigh.

No. That isn't love.

Love isn't locking yourselves in or hiding where everything is perfect.

Love is facing the world and its tests together, even if you fail them.

Suddenly, she felt the need to leave this place right now—to go back into the Woods, no matter how perilous—

But where would she go?

She was so used to taking care of things herself. That's what had made her set off on her quest to find the Snake after Tedros' coronation. She'd done it to help Tedros, of course. But she'd also done it because she trusted herself to solve problems: more than she trusted her prince or her best friend or anyone else.

Only this time, she couldn't work alone. Not with her prince a few days from execution and the whole Woods hunting her and Sophie under Rhian's thumb and Y/n as queen and the rest of her friends trapped in prison. If she tried to work alone, Tedros would die. That's why she'd come here. To forge new alliances. And instead, she'd leave even more alone than before.

The wind turned cold and she glanced back, hoping to find a blanket or quilt—

Something caught her eye in the corner.

A black coat, hanging amongst a sea of green ones in the closet.

As she moved towards it, she saw it was splotched with dried blood . . .

Lancelot's blood.

Tedros had worn the coat the night they'd come to Sherwood Forest to bury the knight along with Lady Gremlaine. He must have left it here when he'd changed clothes for their dinner at Beauty and the Feast . . .

Agatha clutched the coat in both hands and put it to her face, inhaling her prince's warm, minty scent. For a half-second, it made her feel calm.

Then it dawned on her.