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Chapter Forty

TORIAN

T he 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.

The memory of Rain's shadow looking at me with the tint of my season inside it kept popping into my mind, and I couldn't explain that either. Had it stopped me somehow? But how? Why?! Rain said she couldn't control it, and yet the thing seemed to be a part of her - or at least tied to her.

But was it?

And worse, if I couldn't remove the power from anyone who broke my rules, then what punishments did I have left?

Sure, I'd stripped Nevaeh easily enough, but had that simply been because no one had claimed the crown at that time?

Now that Aspen was recognized as the Winter Queen, would I be just as helpless in her season as I'd been yesterday?

I hated not knowing. Worse, I despised how those people were doing this in the name of my court.

The students here had no clue how terrifying my mother really was.

All they knew was the Mad Queen ruled them, and so they'd decided to take the easy path to improving their lot.

They'd chosen to suck up to her rather than fight back.

And I hated them for it.

I hated the way they put power over people.

I despised how they ignored the atrocities we learned about in class every year.

I abhorred the selfishness it required to see someone else suffering and enjoy it.

Worse, I wanted to ask why they were doing this now, when the gates had been closed for so long, but I was pretty sure the answer was me.

And I hated myself for that as well.

If Aspen and I had listened to Ms. Rhodes and kept our royalty hidden, none of these attacks would've happened.

This entire cult - because I didn't know what else to call them - would have no one to rally behind except a bitch on the other side of an unbreakable gate.

But now they knew who I was, and they were showing their true colors.

Too bad for them, I was not an obedient son.

At least Ms. Rhodes had told Aspen, Wilder, and me about the little information she'd gotten from this group.

It wasn't much, and they still fell silent when asked about who'd planned this or who'd arranged the attack.

That meant we couldn't stop them, but knowing a little was better than being completely in the dark.

They thought Pascal had to be Winter because he'd stood up for Aspen.

As a Legacy, he'd never manifested his power.

When they found out he was most likely descended from Summer, all four had supposedly been shocked.

To me, that confirmed they were specifically attacking Winter students, just like we'd suspected.

There weren't many here. A dozen? Maybe a couple more, but few enough that we could keep an eye on them. I had every intention of bringing it up with the court, hoping someone would have an idea for an effective enchantment when I headed into the dining hall.

"Torian!" someone yelled before I'd even made it to the line for food.

I turned, trying to identify who'd be so bold as to call me out.

Over there, I spotted Hawke filling up a drink.

Rain was in line, with Jack on her shoulder.

Keir was by our table, looking like he was about to sit down.

Aspen and Wilder already had. But it was the jesters who were trying to get my attention.

Curious - and still hanging onto my anger about the attack yesterday - I headed toward them.

"What?" I asked, glaring at the guy who'd yelled for me.

In unison, the entire table stood, faced me, and then most of them dropped down to one knee. The guy, Jayden, stayed on his feet, waiting until everyone else was kneeling before he spoke.

"Torian Hunt, is it true that you are the heir to the Summer throne?" he asked.

"Yeah," I grumbled. "It is."

Looking right at me the whole time, the jerk knelt as well. Clearly, no one had taught him to lower his gaze, because this felt like it was supposed to be some show of respect. Too bad for them, respect had to go both ways, and I wanted none of this.

"We vow," Jayden said, lifting his voice like he wanted everyone in here to hear this, "to respect and follow - "

"No!" I snapped, cutting him off. "Do not recite that oath unless you know what it means!"

At least five of them looked up in shock. "What do you mean?" Camila, that stupid bitch, asked.

I turned my anger on her. "It means you don't get to taunt us, bully us, harass my advisor, and then think it all goes away with a little vow. It means you'd be giving me the power to do anything I want with you..." I took a step toward her. "And your friends."

"But you're our prince," another girl breathed, as if none of this made sense. "We're supposed to vow our loyalty to you!"

"Which means you should've been loyal," I shot back.

"Or have all of you forgotten how I got this title?

Did it slip your mind whose cunt I fell from?

" I glared at each person in this group.

"This apple did not fall far from the tree, and you want to be loyal to me?

You want to align yourself with my version of evil? "

"We want to respect our own court!" Jayden snapped. "Torian, we're trying to do the right thing."

"It's 'Your Highness,'" Camila hissed at him like a rebuke.

"It's Torian," I said. "That's the one thing he's gotten right so far. The words should also be said in Faeril, not English. The vow should be offered one at a time, not as a group. None of this is right, and I reject it all! I do not want you. I refuse to call you my subjects!"

"What..." A guy looked at the girl beside him. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're peasants, unacknowledged by the court, and useless to the crown," I told him.

"All of you are pathetic. You're more human than fae, but you want all the benefits of both?

You think a few seconds on your knees will erase the years of taunting?

Do any of you think I came here because I want to return to how things were?

" And I slashed my hand through the air. "I will have none of you!"

Then I turned and stormed toward our table. No, I hadn't gotten any food, but I no longer wanted it either. Inside, I was fuming, but I had to keep my calm. Too many eyes were on me. Too many whispers were following, making it clear that had been more of a scene than I'd intended.

Fuck, I wasn't nearly as good at this as I thought.

But Keir pulled out a chair beside him. I dropped into it, aware Hawke was smiling behind me.

A moment later, a plate of fae food was set before me by a delicate human hand.

I glanced up to see Rain carrying her own around Keir to claim the seat beside Aspen, but Jack?

He hopped from her shoulder and fluttered down to mine.

"Court," he said, looking at me intently.

"Yeah, Rain knows me too well," I told him.

But Jack ruffled his feathers and jumped down to the table so he could look up at me. "Queen. Court!"

"Prince," Rain offered.

Jack twisted his head. "Jack-court. Court-queen."

"Does 'court' mean me this time?" I asked him.

The bird twisted his head as if that was an answer.

"I think," Wilder said around a bite, "he's trying to say you acted like Aspen this time."

But Jack shook his beak from side to side, a clear no. "Court!" he said. "Jack-Rain-Shadow. Morrigan. Court." Then he cawed at me. "Queen. Morrigan. Court-court-court. Court."

"He means it's one court," Hawke said. "Not sure the rest of it, but pretty sure that's what he's getting at."

"And Torian did a good thing?" Rain asked.

Caw !

"You need more words," Rain grumbled.

"Wait," Aspen begged. "Let me try, Jack?"

He flapped his wings, then belted out, "Court!" Then he hopped over. "Court." And next he hopped back. "Court!"

"Summer, Winter, and Wild?" Aspen guessed.

Jack twisted his head, but he was looking at me. Rain said that meant she wasn't completely right or wrong. Then it hit me.

"Summer, Winter, and Earth."

This time, the bird nodded. "Court!" he agreed.

"And I have no clue what that's supposed to mean," I told him. "We've already figured that part out."

"Well, we're pretty sure he can see the future," Rain said.

And my eyes narrowed on Jack. "Do you know something?"

He nodded, but it was small, not a huge thrashing of his beak like he usually did.

"Should I have accepted their oath then?"

He quickly shook his beak. Ok, that made me feel a bit better.

"Court," Jack said again.

"Try a few more words," Rain suggested.

Jack skittered a few steps on the slick table, clearly thinking. Then, "Hunt-court. Morrigan-court. Court-enemy!"

Around the table, all of my friends paused. Some had a bite halfway to their mouth. Others let their arm drop again. All of us stared, because enemy was one of his new words, and one he hadn't used very much so far.

"My enemy?" I asked.

Jack twisted his head.

"All of ours?" Aspen tried.

That got a nod.

So Hawke started tapping at the table as if tracking things. "Hunt-court. Maybe that's him saying we work together against the hunt?"

Jack nodded.

"Morrigan-court. So, could that be how Rain sort of made this whole thing work?"

Jack twisted his head, so that wasn't quite right.

"We're stronger together than we are apart?" Rain offered.

"Morrigan!" Jack cawed, nodding emphatically. "Court!"

"Then we can be a united front for the ones who aren't looking to screw over the others," I told him.

"Because fuck anyone who thinks I'm on my mother's side.

I certainly will not simply ignore it when my sister's subjects are attacked by my own, and I don't care if that's with words, magic, or weapons. And yes, I'm including fists in that."

Keir looked over, catching my eyes. "So what's your goal, Tor? Going to ignore everyone from Summer in this entire school, then?"

"Only the ones who think vowing to me matters," I assured him. "Because it doesn't. Oh, it might be binding, but I know exactly how easy it is to get around a promise. Just ask Rain. We included her while keeping to the letter of what we'd vowed to Ms. Rhodes."

"But you made it clear there was something there," Rain pointed out. "I knew I couldn't know, and that some of you wanted to tell me, but couldn't."

So I leaned a bit to see her easier. "Exactly. Anyone who supports my title won't need to bend a knee. They'll do it regardless. Those assholes?" I jerked my head back towards the jesters. "They do not get to be the enemy one minute and my ally the next."

"Not until we need them," Rain said. "And that could happen, Tor."

"No," I grumbled. "I'll make sure it doesn't. I do not have any interest in groupies, especially those who'd love to use their vow to pull our court apart."

"One court," Aspen said. "Does that change things at all?"

"Not for me," I assured her. "But for you?

Yeah. Embrace your people, Aspen. Protect them.

" Then I looked around at all my friends.

"And we need to figure out some way to protect every Winter user here at Silver Oaks.

See, that matters. Loyalty from the jesters?

It's just more bullshit that will get in our way. "

But I felt both Keir and Rain watching me while I spoke. They didn't try to contradict me, but they looked concerned, maybe even worried. The problem was that I had a feeling they could see through my bravado. They also weren't wrong, but I wasn't ready to admit that out loud yet.