Agatha looked at him.

“But you will only have one chance,” said the wizard. “Use it wisely.”

Agatha thought about what she’d do with this one chance . . . but still, nothing came.

“Merlin, before you left, you said the School Master is looking for something in Gavaldon. Something that will destroy Good forever. Do you know what it is yet?”

“I’m afraid I’ve been as successful with my assignment as you with yours,” the wizard smiled dryly. “And yet, I keep coming back to something you said to me when we were traveling to Avalon. That the School Master suggested it was Sophie who would destroy Good in the end . . . not him.”

Agatha remembered what Rafal told her in Evil’s museum. “He said the most dangerous person in a fairy tale is the one willing to do anything for love.”

Merlin tugged at his beard, spectacles slipping down his nose.

“Do you think it has something to do with Sophie’s mother?” Agatha nudged. “We never did find where her body is. Could the School Master have her?”

“Perhaps it has do with Sophie’s mother or perhaps it has to do with much, much more,” said Merlin. “Remember what I told you the last time we were here. For hundreds of years, Good has had love on its side, making Good invincible against Evil. But why? Because the School Master killed his own brother in the pursuit of power, proving that Evil could never love. To balance that one terrible deed, the Storian has made Good win every single story, as long as it has real love on its side. But now that Rafal has Sophie as his queen, he believes that her love is finally enough to redeem the murder of his brother.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Agatha countered. “Even if he does have Sophie’s love, that doesn’t erase the fact he killed his own blood.”

“Precisely,” said Merlin. “So the question remains: what is it he expects Sophie to do for him at the end of this story? Does he think she can redeem that original sin? And if so . . . is that why he chose Sophie as his true love in the first place?”

Agatha’s gut twisted. “Merlin, whatever it is he’s planning, we can’t win. Not without help. Don’t you understand? We’re just a few students and rickety old heroes!”

Merlin wasn’t listening. “What if we have the whole story wrong, Agatha?” he said softly. “What if he can prove killing his brother was never a crime at all? That love is the greatest Evil instead of the greatest Good? What then?” His body straightened. “Then Good would become Evil and Evil would become Good, wouldn’t it? Just like he promised . . .”

Agatha shook her head. “Merlin, you’re not making any sense—”

He flinched as if he suddenly remembered she was there. “This was thoughtless, wasn’t it, bringing you here in the middle of the night when you haven’t had a wink of sleep, especially with all that’s to come. Come, come, off to bed—every minute counts—”