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Chapter Twenty-Four

TORIAN

I reminded Hawke and Wilder that their shadow-clothing would fade soon, then led my sister out.

It took a bit to get all the way around to her side of the building, but mostly because she was taking the longest route she could.

As we walked through the handful of people standing outside their rooms in their pajamas, I could hear the whispers starting.

The next day, they were even worse. Keir didn't have a problem, but when I checked on Wilder that morning, he admitted he'd gotten a lot of long looks over breakfast. Hawke told me people were giggling and looking away when they passed by.

Sadly, none of us, not even Aspen or Rain, had heard what rumors they were spreading, but clearly something was being said.

Rumors moved fast among the fae. It was a currency we preferred, so I wasn't surprised last night's incident had already been making the rounds. That didn't mean I liked it, though.

So when I sat down with the court at lunch, I was on edge.

It was my job to keep the court safe. That was why I'd come here, and now I was failing.

Keir, being the last one to the table, had just sat down when a pair of jester girls walked by, staring at Hawke.

When they bent their heads and tittered like they'd just heard the greatest joke, I snapped.

"Enough!" I roared, shoving to my feet.

At the edge of my vision, I saw the table of younger Children of the Exodus whip around. "You enjoying yourselves?" I demanded of them.

"It's the prince," one of them said. "He noticed us!"

My jaw clenched hard enough I could hear my teeth grinding, and I took a step. Aspen caught my wrist, halting me.

Don't do anything stupid , she thought at me. We don't need that right now.

I just looked back, meeting her icy eyes. I will not allow them to torment my friends any longer. If they want to focus on someone, then let it be me!

And her fingers released.

Taking that as permission, I marched straight to the table filled with the Children of the Exodus.

It was one of the larger kind, rectangular, and filled with at least fifteen high schoolers.

No, a few of those were freshmen in college or maybe sophomores, likely new to the school this year, but a wider age range than I expected.

It also wasn't packed, but lunchtimes were more varied on the weekends.

There were still enough here to make my point.

"Is this what you wanted?" I demanded.

A girl close to me slipped out of her chair and dropped to the floor before me. She wasn't kneeling or lying, but almost doing both. It was the sort of position I'd seen people take when praying to some gods. When her brow pressed against the cafeteria floor, I sneered in disgust.

"Get up," I told her.

"You're him," she breathed, refusing to lift her head. "My liege - "

"I am not your liege!" I snapped.

So a guy across the table asked, "But aren't you the prince?"

"Yes." Ignoring the fool on the ground, I moved closer, raising my voice so it would carry. "I am Torian Hunt, the Prince of the Summer Court, son of Titania, Queen of the season, and heir to the Summer throne. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Your Highness," the girl on the ground gasped, crawling closer. "I swear my loyalty to you!" And she reached for my boot.

I kicked her hand away, mostly trying to avoid her touch.

"Do you think this amuses me?!" I yelled.

"Is this what you think you're supposed to do in the presence of royalty?

You don't even know how to swear your fealty!

" And I looked at the guy who'd asked if I was the prince.

"You say you're loyal, but you've forgotten everything about the Summer Court.

" And I raked my eyes over him. "And so did your fae parent, because half of you is human. You're mongrels, all of you."

"But we're loyal," someone else insisted. "We've been waiting for you!"

"No," I told them. "You haven't. If you had, you'd know the first step is proving yourself. The groveling? That comes last. It comes after you've been acknowledged - and not just by me! You should be doing everything in your power to appease my advisor, the Duke of Elysian Fields!"

"What?" another of them asked breathlessly. "There's a duke here too?"

I had to shift my foot again to keep avoiding the idiot on the floor. "More proof you're not worthy. It's my interests you should be trying to appease. It's my friends, my hobbies, and my royalty that matter, not some myths fed to you by your parents!"

That made them all look between themselves in confusion.

Yeah, I'd just hit on something. I also knew everyone in the cafeteria was listening in.

The entire dining hall had fallen unnaturally silent.

I didn't dare look around without potentially losing their attention and making myself weak, but I could almost feel everyone's eyes hanging on my next move.

It felt too much like my childhood.

"I am the heir to the throne. Me! Not your parents, your communities, or whoever tried to attack my friends last night.

If you want to impress me, then find whose foolish idea it was to come after Hawke Woods, my duke and advisor!

Stop spreading rumors about him. Stop laughing about him behind your hands.

Most of all..." Finally, I turned, sweeping the entire room with my most regal gaze.

"Stop putting fucking words in my mouth.

If I want something, I am brave enough to give the orders myself, unlike whoever attacked my friends . "

Then I turned, intending to head back to my own table - but the girl on the ground finally managed to get her hand on my ankle. "My prince!" she panted before shoving her face down and kissing the black leather of my combat boots. "I offer my life for the insult!"

Bending, I grabbed her hair and lifted her head.

"You are not worthy of my attention, and never touch royalty without an invitation.

Children of the Exodus, huh? The entire lot of you are pathetic.

Your parents ran from Faerie. Your myths are nothing but delusions, assuming my line was gone, but I'm still here.

I will always be here, and if you want to make up for your mistakes, then fix this shit! "

Nudging the girl away, I finally made my retreat. When I got back to my table, I wrenched my chair out and dropped into it hard. Grabbing my fork, I had every intention of eating something when Jack began to tsk at me.

"What?" I snapped at him.

"You just outed Hawke," Rain said calmly. Too calmly.

"Yeah?" I asked. "And maybe it'll offer him some protection." I turned my eyes to him, worried I'd pissed him off.

Instead, Hawke was pale, but there was a curl to his lips. "Advisor?" he asked.

"Aren't you?"

And his smile grew a little more. "Yeah, but..."

"You," I told him, lowering my voice a little so this didn't come out like an announcement, "are my best friend, Hawke. Fuck the rest. You are my advisor. That's why I gave you the title."

"Can you even do that yet?" Keir asked. "I thought your mother would have to."

Using my fork, I gestured to Jack. "When we're the ranking royalty in an area, we get some privileges. I made a duke. He made a Morrigan."

"Makes sense," Keir relented.

But Jack's head snapped to the side. "Court!" he cawed loudly.

Rain turned to see what he was looking at. "Courtiers," she corrected, making me lean a bit to see around my friends.

Sure enough, Poppy and Nevaeh were making their way over. Aspen tapped my plate, reminding me to eat. Wilder leaned back as if waiting for their arrival. I did grab a bite of honeyed flowers, then scanned the area, trying to guess how everyone was taking my little announcement.

"Well," I said, scooping more flowers onto my fork, "we did agree that we weren't hiding anymore, right?"

"Not really what I expected when we made that decision," Aspen pointed out.

Then our "friends" were too close. The entire court looked up, making it clear we knew they were coming. Nevaeh ducked her head, but Poppy lifted a hand in a wave and smiled.

"Um," she said, taking the lead, "so that was dramatic."

"I know, right?" Rain asked.

Which made Nevaeh smile at her toes. "Your Highne-"

"No," Aspen said, waving that off. "We're not doing that. Torian, Aspen, Hawke, Wilder, Keir, Rain, and Jack. Shadow, if you ever get to see it. Just names."

Which made Nevaeh's head snap up. "Shit," she breathed. "If he's the Prince..."

"She's not a princess," Wilder grumbled.

"Oh." Nevaeh nodded. "Sorry. I just assumed he was Titania's child from Oberon. That would mean - "

"I am," I said.

"And he is," Aspen told them, talking over me like the queen she was. "But I accepted the crown on my eighteenth birthday. I'm not a princess."

Rain's hand snapped out, catching Nevaeh just as the girl's body dipped a bit. "Do not kneel," Rain told her.

"Curtsy?" Nevaeh asked.

Rain just shook her head.

But Poppy's eyes were wide, and she was looking between us. "Summer Prince, Winter Queen, and Morrigan?"

"Mhm," I agreed, liking how easily Rain and Aspen had included themselves in this.

A few times, Poppy bobbed her head, almost like she was having trouble processing everything we'd just dropped on her.

Then again, knowing this girl, she was processing all of it, the implications of us being here, not hiding it anymore, and how all of that tied together with both the political situation on Earth and Faerie.

"So here's what you need to know," Poppy blurted out, moving a little closer.

"The whispers about Hawke and Wilder? They aren't slandering them, Torian.

People are saying there was an attack last night, Hawke was in Wilder's room, and three assassins were hauled out by Rain, Keir, and Bracken.

You and Aspen were there as well, and then today?

Well, Wilder's fine even though he has Winter magic, and you just announced who you are. "

"Ok?" I asked.

So she leaned closer, resting her hands on the table to hold her weight so she could lower her voice.

"Evidently, a few people now suspect Wilder and Hawke are a couple.

They share a suite, so no one wants them to get busted.

Then there's the fact that Wilder must be a badass if assassins came after him and these two kicked their asses.

It's good things, Torian, not complaints. "

"What?" Hawke asked, stunned.

"I'm good with them knowing we're a couple," Wilder told Hawke.

"I think it's cute," Rain said.

"But," Nevaeh said, shifting a little closer, "Torian just announced your nobility, Hawke. That's going to make things hard on Wilder, isn't it? If he's your consort, then that's one thing, but it needs to be acknowledged."

Hawke simply pointed at Wilder. "Duke." Then himself. "Duke. See? No problems."

"But..." Nevaeh paused, looking at Poppy quickly. "Shit."

And Poppy pointed at Wilder. "Winter." Then Hawke. "Summer." Then Aspen. "Winter." Over to Torian. "Summer." She ended by looking at Keir. "And you?"

He shrugged. "Fuck courts, monarchies, and any system where the government can be inherited by a despot. I'm Earthborn."

"Me too!" Rain said, flashing a smile at Keir.

"Jack!" her bird announced. Then he hopped toward Keir and Rain, his nails clicking on the table. "Jack, Morrigan, Knight!"

"He's Earthborn too," Aspen clarified.

So I lifted a hand and made a circling gesture, including everyone at the table in it. "One court, not two."

"And we're your courtiers," Poppy reminded me. "What you need to realize, Torian, is that courtiers aren't useful if you don't use them. So what do you need, how do we help, and no, this isn't me sucking up. This is me offering - because you said it's one court."

Aspen lifted her chin. "We need to know the rumors," she told Poppy. Then she looked at Nevaeh. "They're attacking Winter. If your magic is white, and I know yours is, you need to watch your back. I'd appreciate it if the courtiers could help watch them too."

"Who?" Nevaeh asked.

"Everyone who has Winter magic," Aspen said. "The Children of the Exodus are being weird. They may or may not be related to these attacks, the graffiti, and who knows what else. I want to know."

"Which means I do," I told Poppy, adding my authority as well.

"No offense, Torian," Poppy told me, "but Aspen's request was enough.

We're not helping because we're impressed with your mother, your title, or any realms you can't get to.

So you know, here on Earth, you're just one of us.

I'm helping you because I think you need it, and because I'm a good person even if you aren't."

"That's what I keep telling him!" Keir said with a grin.

"Asshole," I grumbled.

Which made him flash that smile at me. "Tor, you're a dick. One who happens to be right a lot more than I expected, but fuck your title."

"I mean, you could..." Wilder mumbled in a not-so-innocent way, clearly teasing both me and Keir.

But my eyes were on Poppy as I leaned closer. "I want to make this very clear," I told her. "My goal is to stop my mother. Not to save her crown, her throne, or her kingdom. I want to make sure the mess she made can never happen again."

"Hm." Poppy thrust out her lower lip and nodded. "Ok. I'll help. C'mon, Nevaeh. Let's figure out how to explain this to our friends without saying too much. Fucking lies would be useful right about now!"

Nevaeh glanced over to my sister. "Majesty," she said, dipping her head as if she would've curtsied if we'd let her.

"I'd rather you didn't do that," Aspen told her. "It makes things weird."

Nevaeh just nodded. "I'm supposed to be in Torian's court, but I think I'm in yours."

"Ours," I told her. "One court, Nevaeh. Just one."

"And pale magic is nothing to be ashamed of," Keir added. "It's just a color."

I made a note of that. It was a damned good line - and true.

I should use it more. Maybe it would stop some of these people from being such assholes.

Maybe I should even ask Keir if he had a few more lines like that.

I'd just announced who I was, so I had a sinking feeling I was going to need to use a few platitudes.

The kind that helped would be a better choice than those that continued to exacerbate this mess.