A World Without Princes

Sophie dreams of the Beast she killed last year and wakes to see her bald, ugly witch’s reflection in the mirror, but it returns to normal in a blink. She recalls the School Master telling her she would never be Good, but she vows to keep trying. When Agatha arrives, she can see the dark circles under Sophie’s eyes. Agatha has a bad feeling and begins to sweat before her finger glows gold. Arrows begin to fall, targeting Sophie, and she takes shelter in the church. Two weeks later, Sophie is in hiding, and the attacks are worse. They use firebombs and boiling oil to try to drive her out, destroying her neighbors’ homes. Sophie believes Agatha was upset at the wedding because of the pain Stefan’s marriage causes Sophie. Agatha was actually longing for a different ending, one that includes someone else. When she wished for it, the attacks started.

The attacks continue, and Agatha feels responsible. The Elders inform Sophie that they will move her tonight. Stefan comes to say goodbye, believing that the Elders will protect her. Agatha promises Stefan she’ll keep Sophie safe. That night, Sophie thinks of how the School Master didn’t know there was a cure for her Evil: a friend who made her Good. Sophie reminds herself of everything Agatha gave up for her, choosing Sophie over her prince. At home, Agatha tells Callis she wants to go to Sophie, but Callis reminds Agatha that she shouldn’t anger the Elders. This raises Agatha’s suspicions, and she realizes the Elders aren’t moving Sophie but surrendering her. She runs to the church and sees that Sophie is gone. She follows the trail left by Sophie and the Elders.

Agatha realizes she and Sophie cannot return home. She enters the Endless Woods, and as she is surrounded by coiling snakes, her finger glows again. She remembers her prince, Tedros of Camelot, and how she chose Sophie over him. She tried to forget him, but his memory keeps returning. Up ahead, she sees a glow of pink, Sophie’s signature color, and finds her friend, bound by the Elders with a note that says, “Take me.” Agatha frees Sophie as men in red hoods launch another attack; the girls run. At a fork in the path, they follow a blue butterfly until it disappears. Sophie feels that the loss of their happy ending is her fault, while Agatha blames herself. Just as Agatha is about to confess, a caterpillar pokes his head up and asks for their tickets. The butterfly called the Flowerground, a magical transportation system spanning Gavaldon. On the flowertrain, Agatha notices big groups of women traveling together, a mix of the beautiful and ugly, while men are scarce.

Sophie understands they cannot go home, and Agatha fears the deceased School Master is still somehow hunting Sophie. They see more red hoods, and a butterfly helps them escape. The girls enter a lush field and see the School for Good above them, but now the sign identifies it is a “School for Girl Education and Enlightenment” (65). The former School for Evil is now a school for boys, with four towers instead of its former three. The girls realize the School Master’s tower moved to Evil. Professor Dovey comes running from the girls’ school to retrieve them.

Dovey is a fairy godmother who watches over Agatha. Months before, Sophie destroyed the main hall, but now everything is royal blue rather than blue and pink, and there are no boys anywhere. All the former artwork depicting knights and kings is replaced by art depicting women. Dovey leads them to Lady Lesso’s office, and Lesso tells the girls that their story’s end had consequences. Dovey passes them a book, and Agatha sees that the Storian started it with them breaking into the School Master’s tower. The book shows Agatha reviving Sophie with a kiss and Tedros reaching out for Agatha. The final page shows Tedros walking alone into the darkness. There are dozens of copies, and Dovey says it’s the only story people want now. Agatha and Sophie look down onto the Blue Forest and see thousands of men crammed into a dirty camp—all princes—and when they spot Sophie, they grow angry.

Dovey explains that choosing Tedros was the “correct” fairy tale, but Agatha—who once believed she was destined to become a witch herself—chose Sophie. After this, the Evil towers ejected the Nevergirls, who fled to Good, and the Evergirls welcomed them in the spirit of Agatha and Sophie’s friendship. Then, the Good towers ejected the Everboys, and the School for Good became the School for Girls. Princesses began to imagine a world without princes, and princes were magically evicted from their castles all over the country. Witches and princesses joined forces and took control. Now, instead of Nevers and Evers—or students of Good and Evil—boys and girls hate one another. In the vacuum left by the School Master’s death, Tedros became the boys’ leader.

The girls wonder why their book doesn’t say “The End,” and Dovey explains that the story has been “reopened” because one of them wished for a different ending. This wish has driven the school to the brink of war. Lesso explains that Agatha and Sophie must sincerely wish only for each other at the same time; then the Storian can write “The End.” Sophie realizes that Agatha must have wished for Tedros and that he heard it. Lesso explains that this opened the gates and allowed his forces to attack their village. Now, he’s stopping the Storian from writing “The End” to the girls’ tale because Tedros wants a new ending in which Sophie dies. Lesso casted a protective shield around the school, but the princes are eager to breach it and kill Sophie. Lesso explains that Agatha and Sophie must wish for each other again, completing their story, or Agatha must kiss Tedros, sending Sophie home. Just then, a beautiful woman enters the room, wearing a dress of blue butterflies. The woman introduces herself as Evelyn Sader, Dean of the School for Girls. She says the girls mustn’t keep their army waiting.

Dean Sader, with butterflies landing on her dress, says that Agatha and Sophie will lead the school. She says that the girls cannot trust each other now, but she will show them that “a girl without a boy is the greatest happy ending of all” (88). They see their army and a lovely new girl who doesn’t speak. Agatha tells Sophie she can fix everything by talking to Tedros, but Sophie doesn’t trust her. Agatha smacks away a blue butterfly while Sophie allows one to perch on her shoulder. Agatha doesn’t trust the dean, but Sophie does, and the dean presents them with gifts from neighboring princesses. Sader says the girls will win their happy ending as heroes do— by killing their enemy. They see Evers and Nevers together, and the students inform them of the changes. There is no more “beautification” in school; girls can wear pants, eschew makeup, eat cheese—essentially do whatever they want. Agatha and Sophie meet Yara, the beautiful girl who does not speak; she looks familiar, but she only squawks.

Sophie is thrilled to have fans again, but Agatha dreads war. She thinks it’d be Evil to stay. Sophie realizes that Agatha isn’t satisfied with a friend anymore; she wants a prince. Sophie thinks of her mother, who lost her happy ending to a boy. She feels the school is their only hope, but Agatha wants help discerning who is Good and who is Evil this time.