Page 84 of Rebellious Royals

The thing that kept throwing me off was the faelings. Born of two worlds, some were so comfortable with ideas I could barely understand. Democracy being one. Others, however, clung to our fae culture harder than even I did. Then there was the simple fact that so many fae children were here, in one single place, figuring out how to socialize.

On Faerie, children were rare. Usually, that made us a bit of a spectacle. Complete strangers would gladly spoil us just to enjoy a moment in the presence of youthful joy. Rarely did a child ever meet another, unless it was well planned out and intentional.

My mother's war had changed all of that.

Now, children were hidden on Earth, often with parents risking their lives to make it possible. Ivy Rhodes had corralled all of us together so we could learn what our often-dead parents couldn't teach us. Living their youth among humans meant many of the students of Silver Oaks Institute didn't realize how impossible all of this should be. They took it for granted, understood the social nuances, and thrived in their cliques of friends.

And sure, I knew how to operate among various social circles. Nobility was notorious for those. The difference was I knew how to work withadults. I'd learned how to defend against backstabbing - both the literal and the social kind. I'd been trained to control and manipulate people automatically, assume the worst, and to always put myself first.

But now I had friends.

I worried about them, acted to protect them, and was doing my best to make their lives easier. It was fucking hard, and as the day went on, I was pretty sure I'd fucked up somehow. People in the halls dipped their heads at me with nervous respect, but Wilder kept getting friendly slaps on his shoulder. Hawke seemed to be getting quite a few smiles. The kind that made me think they were hoping to become friends, or at least friendly.

But the weight of what I'd done hit me as Keir and I headed back to my room after dinner. Hawke and Wilder were hanging out in the dining hall until it emptied out a bit. A good call, in my opinion. After the attack last night, Hawke should be fed more than usual. Jevadu weren't known to let their prey escape, but Hawke was different.

He'd been raised among the sidhe. His mother had hidden him in plain sight, mingling with what humans would consider the merchant class. Her wealth and status had helped cover for Hawke's weirdness, making most think it was merely an eccentric family, not a monster child.

And he'd learned. My best friend had been so good at pretending to be sidhe that I hadn't immediately realized what he was. When he'd jumped in to make sure I could survive the assholes I'd been fostered with? I knew I owed him a life-debt. He'd asked for friendship instead, and it was the best thing I could imagine.

That was why I'd told the Children of the Exodus I was the prince. I wanted to make sure they knew he was a duke - and to respect him the way he deserved. Sadly, I hadn't anticipated how everyone else would react.

"Your Highness," a guy greeted me as he walked off the elevator when we waited to get on.

That was it. Nothing more than acknowledging my title, but I felt my guts clench. When we reached our floor, Keir glanced over, but said nothing. Together, the pair of us headed for our shared suite, but two steps before my door, a guy came running down the hall, clearly heading somewhere in a hurry.

"Evening, Prince Torian!" he called without slowing. The smile on his face was both friendly and excited.

And my pulse picked up. I was no longer just Torian. I'd told the entire school I was the Summer Prince. I'd let my secret out, revealing my relationship to the queen who'd chased us all here, and I didn't know how to handle that. Oh, I tried to act as if I did, but they said it with such respect. They looked at me without the resentment I knew how to handle.

Shoving magic at my door, I forced it open and ducked around the wood. I needed the shield. My breath was coming faster now, and shallow. My heart was hammering so hard I could hear it in my ears. They kept calling me the prince! They knew my title. They would expect things from me, and I didn't know how to handle that - not here!

"Tor?" Keir asked as he followed me in and gently closed my door.

"I made a mistake," I panted, struggling to calm myself.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Keir said, grabbing my shoulders. "It's ok, Tor."

"It's not!" I roared, shoving him back. "This wasn't how it was supposed to work!"

"You mean announcing you're the prince at the top of your lungs?" He looked incredulous.

And I flopped back against the wall. "They were supposed to hate me."

Keir nodded once, slowly. "Tor, they don't."

Fuck, I couldn't breathe. My thoughts were spinning, tossing memories of nobles bowing, students jeering, and my sister's hand on my wrist. It didn't make sense, but all those pieces got crammed together, and I was unable to stop the spiral.

They knew I was the prince. They knew who my mother was. They could easily figure out who Aspen was. Had I just made things harder for her? Why? What the fuck had I been thinking when I'd done that? Ms. Rhodes had warned me to keep this to myself, and instead, I'd screamed it to the entire dining hall.

"Tor!" Keir said, taking a step closer.

My knees buckled, leaving nothing but the wall holding me up, and I was slowly sinking down it. Would they try to attack my sister now? Would Rain be able to stop them? And worse, what the fuck did they expect me to do?

Were they hoping I'd bring the fae here under my mother's thumb? Was that why I was getting the smiles and polite greetings? Never mind that they knew I was the heir. Theywantedme to be the heir. Why couldn't anyone see how wrong that was?

I'd been made by a compulsion. To me, that meant I was the child of rape. My father hadn't wanted to bring me into this world. As far as I knew, he hadn't been interested in my mother - and for good reason! She'd forced him. That bitch had killed hisentire court to make him impregnate her, and I was the result of all her evil.

"Tor," Keir breathed as he rushed in to catch me before I hit the ground. "Hey, isn't this when you're supposed to punch me?" And he eased me down, then tapped his cheek. "Right here. It'll feel good."