One True King by Soman Chainani

Author:Soman Chainani [Chainani, Soman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780063026629
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-06-01T18:30:00+00:00

18

SOPHIE

Love. Purpose. Food.

Sophie had always found Reena vaporous and dull, a fog of fruity perfume hovering around Beatrix at all times. But just like Beatrix had proved herself to be more than a pretty face, so now had her sidekick. The Storian might not be able to tell the tale of every soul; but even those it didn’t choose could find their way into its light.

The Shazabah princess led them out the prison door, Agatha badgering her: “We have to find Merlin!”

“Leave him to me,” Reena answered.

Agatha frowned. “But we need to—”

“What we need is to get to Aladdin’s Cave,” Reena countered. “Do what I say and you and the wizard survive. Try to control things like you always do and we all die. Got it?”

Agatha was speechless.

“I’m loving New Reena,” said Sophie.

“Me too,” said Tedros.

Agatha shot them both a look.

Reena, meanwhile, was locking the door to the prison, sealing her brother and guards inside, along with her palace hawk, who would keep an eye on both. Beatrix and Kiko had already sprinted ahead. Quickly, Sophie, Agatha, and the rest followed Reena through a dark corridor. “The wishes in the lamp are our best hope to keep Agatha alive and make Tedros king. We just have to make the right wishes,” the princess explained.

“Just use the wishes to kill the Snake!” Tedros argued. “Wish one, wish two, and wish three!”

“That isn’t the answer,” said Agatha thoughtfully, as if it had been on her mind since Tedros had declared his intention to kill the Snake back at school. “I know you want to keep me alive. But killing Japeth means you’ll never be king. Not to the people, at least.”

“She’s right,” Sophie agreed. “Use magic to kill your opponent and the Woods will have even more reason to believe Japeth was the Lion and you the Snake.”

“There has to be a better answer,” said Agatha. “And we have to use the wishes to find it.”

“But how else can wishes make me king?” said Tedros. “Second test is to kill you. That’s not going to happen. Whole Woods knows it. How can a genie change that—”

“Listen up,” said Reena, halting in a dark corridor, which led into a palace wing. “Agatha, take Tedros, Hort, and Uma to Pasha Dunes. Mostly sovereign clans there; they won’t bother you. Find a pub called the Mirage. The rest of our team will be waiting.”

“What team?” asked Agatha, but now they could hear bootsteps in the distance, marching in unison.

Reena spun to Sophie. “You come with me.” She shined her fingerglow at two sets of red-and-gold robes, pooled on the floor: Kiko’s and Beatrix’s. Reena thrust one at Sophie. “Put this on.” She grabbed Sophie by the wrist, dragging her into the light—

“Wait!” Agatha whispered, yanking Reena back. “How are the rest of us supposed to get out of the palace?”

“Same way you got in,” Reena said.

Agatha followed her eyes across the way, where behind glass doors, a family of camels waited in an alley. Two

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.