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The girls’ house—now Pepper’s home.

The paper crinkles with each shift. Promise and responsibility. I press my fingers against it through the fabric. Edges sharp as a reminder.

My cousins. My oldest friends. My connection to something I’ve never fully understood.

As city lights dissolve behind us and darkness envelops the vehicle, I acknowledge what I’ve avoided since the forest: something fundamental has changed. The world I thought I understood has shattered beneath me.

My chest constricts with each mile. Dread and anticipation knot together until indistinguishable.

I stare at my reflection in the window. For a moment, my eyes flash green—no whites visible. Like hers. The woman in the forest.

And I’m no longer certain who—or what—I am.

3

KIERAN

Twelve representatives,three courts, and not a single worthwhile thought among them.

I maintain perfect stillness as the Academy Council drones on. Lady Brighthaven’s pulse jumps when she mentions ‘diplomatic relations.’ Heart rate spikes. Pupils dilate. She’s hiding something. I catalog every tell—three centuries of court training have their uses, though I’m keeping a mental tally of how many times she touches her perfect golden hair.

Seventeen and counting.

Father’s lessons in emotional control serve me well—I learned young that showing weakness only gives him new leverage. The memory of Kestra’s tears still burns when I let my guard down.

When did immortality become this tedious performance? The thought unsettles me more than I’d care to admit. Since when do I crave disruption?

Their magic coats my throat. Shadows crawl up my arms without permission. My power recoils from the sweetness of overripe peaches and false sunshine.

I do not fidget. I do not sigh. I do not reveal even a flicker of the contempt that curdles in my gut.

“The human liaison arrives tonight,” Headmaster Valeborn announces, his carefully neutral tone betraying nothing. I catch the subtle twitch of his left eye—the same tell he’s had since I watched him negotiate the Second Accords five centuries ago.

He’s concerned but hiding it well from the younger council members who weren’t alive during the last human incursion. Something tells me this won’t be another tedious diplomatic exercise.

“As all three courts agreed, this... experiment... will proceed under strict observation protocols.”

Lady Brighthaven leans forward, sunlight catching her golden hair like a halo. Eighteen. “I move that we assign a Seelie welcome committee. First impressions matter so much for diplomatic relations.”

“How thoughtful,” Lord Dredge, my father’s oldest war general, drawls from beside me. “I’m sure having a welcoming party of beings who look like they bathe in glitter won’t traumatize the human at all.”

As if pleasantries could capture the essence of a being worth knowing. Though something tells me our human instructor won’t waste time on weather patterns and family genealogies.

Brighthaven’s smile tightens. “Better than greeting her with shadows that look like they want to devour her soul, Lord Dredge.”

“At least we’re honest about our appetites,” he retorts, shadows briefly dancing around his fingertips.

Elder Thornroot of the Wild Court sighs audibly. “Perhaps we could welcome her like civilized beings rather than territorial pixlings?” His bark-like skin creaks as he shifts, releasing the scent of pine and moss that briefly cuts through the cloying Seelie perfume. “The Wild Court offers to create a living escort of?—”

“Absolutely not,” Valeborn interrupts. “The last living escort your court created tried to absorb three students who got too close.”

“An unfortunate misunderstanding,” Thornroot murmurs. “The sentinel was merely being... affectionate.”

Lord Cassius, the youngest of the Seelie delegation, chimes in with the oblivious enthusiasm of someone who believes themselves clever. “I’ve studied human customs! They enjoy something called small talk. We should ask about her family and the weather!”

His voice rises when he mentions ‘human customs.’ Stress response. He’s improvising.

The eager way he discusses human interaction patterns makes me wonder when any of us last felt genuinely curious about anything. The realization is inconvenient.