Page 229 of Rebellious Royals

"Poppy?" she asked. "Are you ok?"

I pushed out a laugh, but it sounded dry and fake. "Liam came by to talk to me," I said. It was enough of an answer.

"But how areyoudoing?" she pressed.

I flicked my hand, pulling a bright glob of iridescent magic into my palm. "There's more," I said. "I don't know what they did, but I've never had this much magic, Nevaeh. Not even when it was green!"

"Yeah..." Nevaeh said, flicking her own hand to reveal a color I did not expect.

Her magic was green. A dark, rich color that reminded me of evergreens. She looked away and dispelled the magic, but I could see her fingers tremble when she did it.

"A lot of people got Earth," she said. "I mean, it sounds like most!"

"I think that's called a chance," I explained. "They weren't stripped of their power - because a lot of the parents were. Students were mostly changed to a kind they'll have to relearn, and one that doesn't require someone else's approval to wield. Well, except those who'd sworn to the court already."

"But mine's green," she whispered.

I laughed once. "You always said you felt more Summer than Winter."

"And Torian hates me!" she snapped.

I shook my head. "No. Nevaeh, I don't think he hates you. I think he was pissed at you, but as cruel as he is, Aspen is just as kind."

"Which is why I don't understand it turning green," she insisted. "Aspen forgave me. She shouldn't have, not after what I did to her, but she did."

Yeah, she had a point with that. "But you've changed, Neve," I said, pulling out the nickname that always made her smile. "You're no longer like Harper, or her mother - or mine."

"No," she agreed, moving over to sit beside me on the bed. "We learned, Poppy. We realized we could be better, so we changed."

"And to me, it looks like that was recognized," I said. "I also think this court is more wise than they should be." I leaned over to snatch the paper I'd left on my bedside table. "Read that."

Nevaeh opened it, and I watched as her eyes scanned the few short lines. "And you're ok with this?" she asked.

I nodded. "When I saw my mother drop, the first thing I thought? It wasn't that she was dead. It wasn't that I'd just lost my mom. The first thought that went through my mind was that I didn't want to be tied to her anymore, and he understood it?"

"Of all people," Nevaeh told me, "Torian would know what it feels like to resent his family. He's the Mad Queen's son, Poppy."

"He's changed my last name to 'Song,'" I whispered. "Song, because I sang out when staying quiet would've been easier. A name that is nothing like the plant my mother chose, and one that is all mine." I was rambling, and I knew it, but I couldn't get over this one thing. "Torian renamed me."

"And made you the official advisor of the court," she added. "Leader of the Courtiers, Ambassador for the People."

"Second to Keir," I agreed. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Maybe it's his way of saying heissorry?" she asked.

I shook my head, because that didn't feel right. "I think that's a part of it, but also he wants me to know I'm not her. He won't judge me by her, and he needs me to make sure everyone else can see that too. I don't know, it almost feels like his way of saying he's… I don't know, changed his mind too?"

"So what are you going to do?" she asked. "Are you taking this?"

I turned to face her a little more. "Will you help me? I know we're not them - "

"But we are," Nevaeh said. "That's why I stopped hating them, Poppy. We are them. Or more accurately, they are us. We might be half human or so, but we aren't lesser because of it. They've never treated us that way, even when I did it to them. And you heard them. They want to change the world! They can't do that on their own, so yes." She nodded. "I'll help. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll help."

"Good," I breathed, hoping she knew how much I'd been dreading her refusing.

"But," Nevaeh went on, "this isn't going to be easy. Harper's dad picked her up. They'll go home, and their community?" She swallowed hard. "I used to live with them, Poppy, so Iknowthese people. They support the Queen. They want to believe they can gain rank based on the lives they had before - and most of them didnotlose their power."

"Rain's magic only changed the people here?" I asked.