Even before the first course was served, the tension was already thick and palpable. Agatha had spent her time staring wordlessly around the dining hall, from the golden ornate walls to warm fire crackling in the background. The hall was brilliantly lit, with a diamond chandelier resting above their heads, flickering with candle but the prince and princess facing her, who looked at them in the same manner. Princess Sophie seemed rather curious then scared, her bright green eyes flicking to each one of their faces, a unsure but welcoming smile on her delicate blossom lips. Prince Tedros, on the other hand, had a different expression on his face, as he watched them carefully, inspecting and surveying.

In the light, Agatha had realized how attractive they both were. Princess Sophie was wearing a rose pink dress with ribbons stitched at the sleeves. Her golden hair was pined up, before cascading into curls. She looked like a princess directly from a storybook, with a heart shaped face and opalescent green eyes, flushed cheeks and peachy skin. Prince Tedros, on the other hand, despite turning out to be the snobbish and annoying prince Agatha expected him to be, looked remarkably like a younger version of his father. She could sense the pride and power he held from the distinguishable crystal blue eyes he had, the soft curls of golden hair and the way he held himself, from the high lift of his strong jaw to the way he sat straight and regal, almost as if he was already a king.

Finally, someone cleared their throat again. The four girls looked up to see Princess Sophie place her hands daintily on the table, next to the silverware, and look at them expectantly.

"So, please introduce yourselves!"

Agatha peered at Hester and Anadil, before looking back at Dot, before she faced Princess Sophie again.

"Well, your highness, I'm Agatha, this is Hester and Anadil and that's Dot"

Sophie gave a small laugh and Tedros squinted his eyes at the four of them again.

"Please, you can just address me by Sophie. After all, for the next month, we would be seeing each other a lot"

"So, Professor Sader picked you four to come here to Camelot?"

Tedros asked them with a raised brow, as if he found the fact that they were selected to come was completely baffling.

A small flame of anger suddenly ignited inside Agatha, and she felt the tentative smile drop on her face. Prince Tedros has looked at the four of them as if they were a mistake, as if they weren't up to his standards. Hester must have sensed it too, for she had curled her lips tightly together, almost as if she was holding the words she wanted to say back.

"Excuse me? Why are you acting so surprised that Sader chose us to go to Camelot?"

The coven let out a small gasp. They couldn't believe what she had just said to the Prince of Camelot. Agatha couldn't believe it either. Sophie raised both of her eyebrows and glanced at Tedros. Tedros frowned, as if so few people had the nerve to talk back to him in that demeanor. The dining hall was again suffocatingly silent and the servants at the back of the room had stopped and stared at Agatha too.

"Pardon me?"

Tedros finally said after a few moments. Agatha resisted the urge to roll her eyes and explode into a rant. She was tired, grumpy and hungry, and she most definitely did not want to deal with this pompous stuck up idiot.

"I said, why are you acting so surprised that Sader picked us to go?"

Agatha simply replied, bitting down on each word. She narrowed her eyes at him and gritted her teeth. The tension was growing stronger and the coven looked nervously from one to the other. Sophie was watching Tedros carefully, waiting for his answer.

"You four are just...not what I expected"

He responded back with gritted teeth.

"In what way? That you were expecting four huge macho dudes with big muscles wielding axes and all you got were four girls?"

Again, the table was silent. The fire crackled in the background and Dot was playing with the fork nervously, glancing at Agatha. Hester and Anadil watched their unofficial coven member with silence, either in shock or in awe to say something like that. Agatha felt a bead of sweat on her forehead and she quickly looked down, realizing she had damaged her reputation in front of Camelot royals. Sophie was peering at her curiously, and Agatha felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Tedros let out a held in breath of air and sighed before looking at Agatha again.

"Fine, I had hoped Sader would assign four strong looking young men to protect Sophie and Camelot, not four girls!"

This time, the coven gasped along with Agatha. Sophie could sense the rising tension and anger and quickly signaled the servants to bring over the first course.

As the servants put down golden plates with a fresh piece of salmon and sauce drizzled on top of it, along with a white bowl of steaming pumpkin soup, the four girls all held matching glares at the Prince of Camelot. Finally, when the food was set, no one started to eat.

"Are you implying that girls are not as strong as boys?"

Agatha snapped, one fist on the table, her nails digging into her palm. It was exactly back at the Academy, he was one of those boys who was so pigheaded and stubborn and only believed that boys were more powerful that girls. She had encountered many of them, and he was not the last.

"I just want to make sure Sophie is well protected for her eighteenth birthday"

Tedros gave a irritated sigh before picking up his fork and stabbing it into the fish.

"So girls are not as strong as boys, is that it?"

This time, it was Hester who spoke up. She had a killer look in her eyes, like the one Agatha had seen on the ship when battling the Winters. Tedros opened his mouth to reply, but Hester continued.

"Because let me tell you, your highness, that one of us was able to come up with a plan that wiped out a whole pack of Winters!"

This time, Tedros's blue eyes had widened and he stopped cutting his fish. Even Sophie had looked at them anew, seeing the four girls as truly powerful and skilled warriors.

"Who?"

Tedros asked quietly, slowly putting down his fork and knife. Three fingers immediately pointed at Agatha. He looked at her with wide eyes, almost too shocked to speak.

"You?"

Agatha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Surprising, isn't it? A weak, skinny girl was able to defeat a pack of Winters! How interesting it is!"

The prince rolled his eyes.

"I meant, how?"

"Got the brilliant idea to pour oil on them and set them on fire, they were Aqua Winters, after all."

Hester interjected, giving Agatha a grin.

"Saved a lot of lives and helped us navigate safely to Camelot"

"It was the greatest thing I'd ever seen"

Anadil softly whispered, red eyes glowing from the fire.

"But...but...that's-"

Tedros realized he was spluttering and looked away from the four girls. Then, abruptly standing up, Tedros pushed his chair in and turned to Sophie.

"I need to speak to Chaddick and the Camelot Militia right now. If there are emerging threats from the Winters near Camelot, we have to start preparing."

Sophie sighed and glanced quickly at the four girls, who were eating happily, probably starving from the journey. Sophie turned back at Tedros and frowned.

"Fine, go talk. I'll finish dinner with them."

"Thank you so much"

Tedros gave her a grateful smile and patted her shoulder lightly.

With that, the prince of Camelot swiftly walked across the dining hall and out the double doors. The four girls watched him leave then turned to Sophie.

She sighed and smiled at them.

"Well, let's eat, shall we?"


The dinner started from started from delicious fresh salmon from the ports of Camelot to smooth, velvety chocolate cake with caramel drizzled on top. Sophie had never been away from the castle and to see four foreigners who all were so refreshingly different and unique in their own way was quite exciting. There were the two girls, Hester and Anadil, both strikingly fearsome in their own ways, but had the fiery attitude that she appreciated. Dot, sweet and whimsical, that Sophie found her quite pleasant. And finally, Agatha. Sophie knew she wasn't like the other girls. Although silent and brooding at times, she had the sharp wit and personality. Although, Sophie seemed to like her the best, there was something unsettling about the girl with the short raven black hair.

When the meal was finished, the four all bid their good byes to Sophie, who waved them good night. Walking along the carpeted hallways she knew so well, Sophie quickly walked up to her floor and into her bedroom. She sighed when opening the familiar pink walls, the pink canopy bed, the grand closet King Arthur had installed for her when Sophie had nothing to do, and the same old life she had known forever.

Closing the door, Sophie sighed and undid the luxurious hairstyle she had requested from the servants, the pins poking her scalp. Her blond hair cascaded in waves across her back, glowing in the warm candlelight. Sitting at the vanity, Sophie put the pins on the table and looked into the mirror. Her face, staring unwaveringly, faced her back.

A month from now.

Her birthday.

It could be the final birthday she would ever have.

Sophie pushed the sickeningly thought away, rubbing her eye. No matter what, Sophie would always have the tight and unescapable fear inside her, warning her of the day to come where the curse the Winter had cast upon her on her first birthday would finally come.

It loomed over her, like a dark shadow that stretched to infinity, blocking away any light inside her. No amount of dresses, shoes could ever distract her enough.

"Stop it, Sophie"

Sophie whispered to herself and bit her lip. She looked back into the mirror and smiled again. A perfect princess smile like the perfect princess she was. The one who was beautiful, wore pink dresses, had facials everyday, was the daughter King Arthur never had, was the sister Tedros never had, the one who had a life of envy and power. The thoughts fled away, and Sophie smiled bigger.

"How was dinner?"

She turned around as Tedros opened the door and closed it. He seemed tired and wrung out, with his golden curly hair tousled, probably from him rubbing it in frustration at the meeting.

"Good, the four girls were quite pleasant."

Tedros flopped onto Sophie's gigantic pink bed with a poof, before snorting to himself.

"Pleasant?"

"Yes, Tedros, pleasant. Thats because you weren't there to anger all four of them with your stupid remark about girls being weaker"

The prince groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't mean it in that way."

Sophie raised one eyebrow before grabbing a golden brush and combed a strand of her hair.

"Well, they certainly did not take it that way"

She could hear him sigh to himself and grumble something about girls before propping himself onto his shoulders and peering carefully at her.

"Soph, you know...if you don't like them, I'll just send a letter to Sader-"

"I like them all very much, Tedros."

Sophie gave Tedros a happy smile before continuing.

"I feel like all my life I never had close friends. All the ladies in waiting were too annoying and self obsessed, but these four girls, Agatha, Dot, Anadil and Hester...I finally feel like I have best friends"

"Am I not one of your best friends?"

Tedros asked with a hint of sarcasm, his mouth in a loose grin and his blue eyes twinkling. Sophie could sense the small part of him hurt from that remark, since he was used to having her all by himself until Sophie had met the new comers.

"Of course you will always be one of my best friends, we practically grew up together!"

Sophie laughed, softly putting the comb back onto the vanity. She walked over to the bed and sat next to Tedros. They both stayed silent, lost in their own thoughts.

"So, how was your day?"

Tedros sighed and inspected the golden comb on the vanity table. He rolled his head back and closed his eyes for a brief second before glancing back at Sophie.

"Dad made me see that Lord Marius's daughter. Pretty, but talked way too much about her closet and the expensive dresses in it, which come to think of it, reminds me a lot of you"

He pointed the comb at her and started to laugh. Sophie raised a eyebrow and pushed the comb away.

"I'm not like that!"

Tedros stared at her and nodded in dead pan seriousness.

"Of course, you talk about pretty dress and the fact that my dad would pretty much buy you a castle because he likes better then me"

Sophie rolled her eyes, despite knowing fully well that King Arthur loved to buy pretty valuables for her all the time.

"You're absolutely horrible, Tedros."

"And you're spoiled."

He replied back with a sly grin, grinning at her the way he always did. From the moment they were little and grew up together, Tedros always had a knack to annoy her sometimes. It was one of the things of their relationship she liked so much. Tedros let out a tired groan before picking himself up from her bed, giving a yawn. He turned his head back and finally gave her a honest smile, one hand loosely on the brass doorknob of the door.

"Good night Sophie"

She smiled back at him and walked over to close it. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek for goodnight before going back to his quarters, which was at the other end of the hall.

"Good night Tedros."

Sophie said to herself and closed the door. Closing her eyes, she let out a yawn and knew that she was well beyond tired. But Sophie couldn't help but look forward to the next whole month, unlike before. She was finally going to have friends that she could relate too. Waiting for the maids to come over and untie the corset of her dress, Sophie looked out the window, into the starry night sky, her excitement growing bigger.

Tomorrow was certainly going to be interesting...

AND DONE!

NICE! All of them finally meet and it's going really well! (sarcasm). I felt so happy writing this because it was a reunion for everyone expect they completely don't know each other at all. Of course, there's Tagatha (I guess, if glaring daggers at each other counts). I also sprinkled some Agaphie in between since that ship is also pretty amazing. And also it was PRIDE month and I just wanted to acknowledge that Agatha and Sophie and Tedros are bi, because that's something which is forgotten in some fan fictions and I wanted to stay true to the characters. I think that we shouldn't forget that fact and remember that. #loveislove

BTW I chose to experiment with Tedros being in a "brotherly" role for Sophie because I thought that would be fun and unique for their character dynamic.

I hope this was enough for some of you guys because a lot of you guys wanted the "Tagatha" to happen, let me tell you, the next chapter is going to pretty neat (i already pre written chapters before publishing) so please I PROMISE they will defiantly have some more moments together!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FANFICTION. FOLLOW, LIKE AND REVIEW!

tooooooooodddlllleeesssssss

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