Page 128 of Rebellious Royals

"A lot," she said. "Rain, most people are greedy. They talk themselves in circles, convincing themselves it all makes sense. I mean, just look at those four idiots attacking Pascal! He's Summer!"

"But it seems like they were sure he was on your side because he helped you the first time," I grumbled, because that was what Ms. Rhodes had told her, Torian, and Wilder before our evening practice session. Evidently she'd gotten it out of the attackers, then Torian had told all of us. "Pascal's a Legacy, so since he helped you, he had to be a Winter Legacy."

"Mhm," she said. "And getting me out of the way makes their magic better, so it's the right thing to do. Attacking others makes their parents or friends or community happy, so it's the right thing to do. Rain, that's what I mean. People twist up their wants with what's right and wrong."

"And we're the ones who are going to end up paying for it," I pointed out.

She shrugged again. "Maybe. Maybe they will. History has a way of making it all seem so clear afterwards, but in the moment, the sides always think they're the ones who are the good guys."

"Yeah, good point," I said, nuzzling my face closer to her. "But you know, I think you may have done a good thing today."

"Helping Pascal?" she asked.

"Nope, kissing Keir." And I snuck in a kiss against her neck. "You two crossed that line, realized it wasn't going to work, and are still friends, right?"

"Oh yeah," she assured me. "Butjustfriends."

"Which means we can work through problems," I told her. "And you think Tor's into him?"

"Yep, and Keir said you'd be ok with it if anything happened between them."

"Definitely," I said. "Aspen, you're still missing the big picture."

She looked back at me again. "What's that?"

"The Winter Queen with the Morrigan, and my knight with the Summer Prince, and his duke with the Winter Duke. I'm pretty sure that's a full circle, Asp. There aren't two sides - or even three if you count me as my own side. We're all playing for the same end goal, and we can work through the weird moments, right? So doesn't that make us even more of a united front?"

She sucked in a breath. "Oh, it does!"

"Mhm," I said, glad she agreed, "And maybe we need to stop hiding it?"

"Can't. Suitemates can't hook up. Not only us, but Hawke and Wilder too."

I groaned, aware she'd just killed the roll I was on. "Damn it!"

"I know," she agreed. "But then there's the question of whether people would hate it. If they'd think we're fucking everything up."

"Huh." I paused, thinking over what she'd just said. "Asp, what if we should?"

"Should what?"

"Fuck it all up," I said. "Loudly fuck it up. Not pretend that we're doing the right thing, but make it clear the old way didn't work, so we're going to try something new. Something better. Something where everyone gets to prove themselves and earn their place in the new system we're making."

"But why would we do that?" she asked.

"Hawke," I answered, letting that sit between us for a moment before continuing. "He's a wildling, Aspen, but Tor made him a duke. Why? Because he worked for it. Keir's a knight because he stepped up and helped. Sure, maybe Wilder inherited his title, but he didn't rely on that. He still worked to keep you safe, and he's always helping or protecting you."

"Reward the effort," she realized.

"Actuallydowhat these Silent seem to be hoping for. Make it clear you two are the ones who'll make that a reality, not the Mad Queen."

"Now that," she said, "is a very good idea, Rain. One that might even work."

Chapter Forty

TORIAN

The world had slipped from winter into spring, and was headed toward summer. That should've made me more powerful, and yet I hadn't been able to strip the magic from the four who'd attacked Pascal yesterday. Worse, I didn't know why, and that bothered me more than I wanted to admit.