And not before.

“Aggie?”

Agatha looked up and saw Sophie watching Tedros through a slit in the curtain.

“It must have been hard to let your prince go. But it was your idea to start over, wasn’t it? You agreed to give Tedros up. You agreed to give the three of us a clean slate to find love,” Sophie said defensively. “And now all can still come to a happy end, Aggie . . . because of you.”

Agatha’s heart stoppered her throat. “It doesn’t matter what I agreed. You promised to destroy the ring as soon as we left school—”

Sophie turned back to Agatha. “I’ll destroy the ring. I’ll kill Rafal like I promised. And all your Good friends, Old and New, will be safe forever,” she said. “But I need Tedros to give me a chance like he promised. I need him to . . . kiss me. Because once he kisses me, he’ll know I’m his queen.”

Agatha couldn’t speak, for she understood perfectly.

To save Good, she had to help Sophie kiss her prince.

To save Good, she had to help her best friend take her Ever After.

“But—but that’s cheating!” Agatha fought, anger swelling. “You think you can blackmail me? What about what I want? What Tedros wants? You can’t change what people feel!”

Sophie held her gaze. “I love you so much, Agatha. And I know how much you love Teddy. . . . But you? A queen?”

Agatha’s anger seeped away.

“I saw the way you looked at him in that tower, Aggie,” said Sophie. “You won’t have Tedros to yourself anymore as a queen. You’ll have to share him with an entire kingdom for the rest of your life. Just think: thousands of eyes on you, every second of every day, watching your every move, picking out every flaw, telling you that you aren’t good enough. . . . Everyone will have their claws out for you, like Gavaldon all over again, only a thousand times worse. Tedros will spend every waking moment defending why he chose you as his queen instead of doing real Good as king. You’ll close yourself off to protect him. You’ll doubt whether he’s happy. And it’ll only be a matter of time before Tedros doubts you too. The tension will fester, the two of you at each other’s throats, forgetting why you ever thought you were in love at all. And before long, Aggie, you’ll steal away from Camelot in the middle of the night and set yourself free—just like Guinevere did, leaving your king all alone. Imagine what that would do to Tedros. To end up like his father, lonely and humiliated. It’d kill him.” Sophie moved closer. “You can’t be his queen, Agatha. You don’t want to be. For his sake.”

Agatha recoiled, breathless. “This isn’t about me—this is about the ring . . . about your promise—”

Sophie touched her shoulder. “I know you’ll want to tell him all of this. Maybe he’ll even lie for you and pretend to give me a chance . . . but I’ll know if he’s faking it, Aggie. I’ll know if his kiss is for real. So if you want the ring destroyed, I need you to help me win his heart—”