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Chapter Forty-Three

TORIAN

H earing Pascal wonder if his magic was Winter with so much hope? For some reason, that felt good. It couldn't be, though. Hawke had fed from this guy, and he'd said Pascal tasted like Summer. Not both. Not Earth. Pascal's power had tasted like Summer.

Then again, Hawke had been surprised he had so much available.

I hadn't thought about that at the time. I'd been more worried about Pascal knowing my best friend was a jevadu. Now, it seemed like I'd missed the obvious. But how could he lash out with Winter magic if he was descended from Summer?

"And you just lost the smile," Rain said as she guided me over to an open area. "Torian, what's going on?"

"Don't worry about it," I grumbled.

She lifted a brow as if daring me to say that again. I couldn't help it. It made me huff out a soft laugh.

"Rain, I'm saying this isn't the place, not that we won't discuss it."

"Better," she decided, offering me the practice blade I'd dropped in the commotion. "Going to show me how not to die to someone like you?"

I grunted. "Going to promise you aren't going to use it against me?"

"No." And she grinned impishly. "I plan to use it against you in class every chance I get. Now out in the real world? As long as you don't become the enemy, then I think we'll do better if I'm as good as you."

So I lifted my sword and nodded at her. "Slowly. We're going to do this at half speed, but start when you're ready."

I saw her eyes narrow, yet she moved in. Sure enough, Rain came at me slowly, focusing on her muscles and technique the way either Bracken or Keir had taught her. I wasn't sure who, but I could see it had happened.

So I moved to block, allowing her to watch exactly what I was doing, when I'd begun my move, and how to recognize it next time. Rain's lips parted as she immediately understood the point of this exercise, yet she also shifted her attack.

"Did you feel the magic hit you?" I asked, altering my own sword in response to hers.

"Yep," she said. "It didn't push me back, though. Why not?"

"Morrigan," I replied, stepping around her slowly. "Wild magic negates seasonal. That means it feeds you instead of harms you."

"Yeah, but..." She dared to glance back, checking the others. Then she lowered her voice. "Hawke?"

"Different," I assured her. "Jack wasn't pushed either. That's the thing about crows. The less sidhe a wildling appears, the more Wild it really is. Crows seem to be the pinnacle, hence their leader being the authority for all Wild magic users."

And she stopped the half-speed movements. "What? But that doesn't make sense. I mean, either Wild magic is or is not anti-magic."

I made a little circle with my finger, enclosing our sound for a moment. "Rain, Hawke is filled with Winter magic right now. Not converting it, but holding it. That's why his conjurations are grey. Half black, half white. Sometimes dark green, because half Summer. Occasionally olive."

"Black, green, and white," she said, proving she was keeping up.

I nodded. "And the seasonal magic inside his reserves? It's reactive to other seasonal magic. He doesn't absorb magic the way you do, through your skin. He must consume it."

She nodded. "Ok, that makes sense."

"My bigger question is why Pascal was Summer and is now Winter."

Rain paused to look back at where Pascal was working with Hawke. "Is it safe for him to be sparring now?"

"As safe as we ever are," I assured her even as I lifted the sound barrier.

No one else had noticed. Then again, they were all busy swinging their sticks at each other.

Turning a bit, Rain moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, so we could both watch.

Oddly, I liked that. She wasn't deferring to me or pushing.

Somehow, this girl had a way of simply making me feel comfortable around her.

"So what do you think about him?" I asked softly.

Her head twitched as she shot me a confused look. "Me?"

"You tend to understand more than you should," I reminded her. "That whole fae-whisperer thing, right? So I'm curious what your gut says."

"It says he didn't mean to, didn't know he could, and he makes me think he's a little desperate about all of this."

"Because manifesting this late is rare," I told her. "He probably thought he was going to be completely mundane, like you were before coming here."

"Human?" she asked.

I shook my head. "He will never be human. He could be powerless. The first gets the benefit of ignorance. The second makes one feel like a failure."

"So worse than human," she realized, just as Pascal missed a block.

Ice crackled on Hawke's stick, dropping thick pieces of it onto the floor, but my best friend had been ready this time. A murky shield had appeared in front of his face and chest, just behind his weapon. I wanted to call it grey, but there was the slightest hint of green in his power still.

"Ice," I called out.

"Looking more and more like Aspen's got another one," Wilder said.

Pascal's head snapped up. "Really?"

"I mean, that works for you, right, Pas?" Daivon asked.

"You did swear your loyalty to her," Keir taunted.

Bran was chuckling. "Man, I'm so relieved for you. Took you long enough to manifest, but you aren't doing it mildly."

"No, he's not," Hawke agreed.

"Because there's not enough Winter users?" Rain asked me.

"Maybe," I said.

But movement caught my eye, making me look down. On the floor, her shadow was shaking its head. I simply lifted a hand and crooked a finger at it.

"If you have commentary, make it a little more obvious, Shadow."

So it stood, lifting off the floor. Rain leaned back a bit, surprised by that, but most things tended to obey the command of royalty. That was why I hadn't asked.

"Is he Winter?" I asked.

"Queen!" Jack responded, flapping over to join us.

Rain lifted her arm, catching him easily. "So that's a yes?" she asked, making sure.

Both Jack and Shadow nodded.

Well, that confirmed it. I had another question, though. "Was he always?"

Jack twisted his head, but Shadow shook its head, clearly saying no.

"Wait, what?" Pascal asked.

I lifted a finger, begging him to wait. "Is his power weak?" I tried next.

Both Jack and Shadow shook their heads.

"Because there are so few Winter users?" I asked.

Again, both said no, this time almost in unison.

"Interesting," Wilder breathed, moving closer.

And all of them were pulling in. Aspen moved to my side, facing both Jack and Shadow nearly the same way I was.

"Do you know why he's Winter?" she asked.

Jack shook his head no, but Shadow nodded. Ok, that was unexpected.

"Um, any clue what that means?" Rain asked.

"One knows, the other doesn't," Pascal said. "Why? Is it weird that I'm Winter?"

Hawke looked at the other sentinels in the room. "A bit," he said.

"Why?" Bran demanded.

I had this. "His hair is warm-toned," I explained. "His skin has a warm tint as well. His eyes are leaning to the green shades. Clearly, Pascal descended from a Summer fae."

"But Bracken has pale hair," Axel pointed out.

"Mhm," Rain said.

I felt more than heard when her father leaned over the railing by the training dummies. "I'm both," he said. "Golden skin from Summer and pale hair from Winter. Not blonde, but closer to silver."

"Blondes like me," Keir said, "are Summer."

"So what about Hawke?" Daivon asked. "You have some of both?"

"In a roundabout way, I do," Hawke told him. "My ancestry means I don't look like the standard Summer or Winter fae. The ethnic differences are even stronger in the courts too."

"More inbreeding," Rain mumbled.

"Actually, yes," I told her. "Although not close enough to be called such. Our bloodlines do intermarry every four generations or so, resulting in about the same thing."

"I'm good with Winter," Pascal said. "No offense, Torian, but you have enough followers."

"I have none," I told him. "I refuse to take fealty from anyone willing to give it."

"Oh, we heard," Bran assured me. "I think the whole school heard about the jesters sucking up, but they're just scared of the shit that's been going down."

"I am too," Keir said. "And Pascal, they'll try to come at you again. You aren't trained, so you might as well be powerless still."

Aspen stepped in, grabbing Pascal's hand over the practice blade he still held. "I will do all I can, ok? A queen should protect her subjects."

The look that man gave her? Adoration was the best word I had.

It wasn't salacious at all. Pascal wasn't looking at my sister like he wanted to get her attention.

This was more like awe, as if he'd just realized his own queen was aware he existed.

As if something in his mind had shifted enough for him to figure out he actually had a monarch to represent him.

"I just thought..." He paused.

"He thought you were Keir's other girl," Axel said for him. "That the three of you have something going on."

"He said she's his partner!" Pascal hurried to explain. "I mean..."

"Girlfriend," Aspen said, gesturing to Rain. "And Keir's girlfriend too. That means Keir and I are both dating the same person, thus partners."

"Kinky," Daivon mumbled playfully.

Rain rolled her eyes at him. "But you guys seriously stepped up just because of Keir?"

"Well, and to practice with the strongest fae in the school," Pascal said. "I mean, I figured if I could stand a chance against Torian, I might survive the Huntsman, and he has been around more often lately. I just... I didn't expect this!"

"I'll train you," Wilder said.

That made me tense. Wilder didn't often make that offer. I also didn't know this guy that well. Yes, he'd been helping, but he knew too much, and now he suddenly had my sister's season? I looked back at Shadow.

"Can it be faked?" I asked.

That creepy smile appeared again, but this time it glowed faintly white. Then, Shadow shook its head. "Shadow!" Jack said. "Court!"

"Huh," Rain mumbled.

"No," Hawke said. "You can't just 'huh' and not share."

"Well..." Rain gestured to Jack. "He just said court once."

"Court!" Jack agreed, nodding.

"Not twice," Rain explained. "Not multiple times for the people he's referencing. He didn't say Queen either, so he didn't mean just Aspen."

Jack nodded. "Court!"

And on the ground, Shadow pointed at the bird's silhouette on the floor.

"One court," Aspen breathed.

Shadow lifted its thumb. Then, it pointed to Pascal. After a few seconds, it lifted its thumb again.

"Enemy," Jack grumbled and began shaking his head. "Bitch!" And he nodded.

"Pascal's a bitch?" Rain asked.

Jack twisted his head.

But I understood this. "He's not in the court, and Jack doesn't have another word, so he reverts to that one because it's the closest he has - and kinda funny. Clearly, Pascal isn't currently our enemy."

"I'm not!" Pascal hurried to say. "I..." That wistful smile appeared again. "I'm Winter."

So Jack pulled in a big breath. "Courtier!" he forced out. In excitement, the crow nodded, bouncing on Rain's arm. "Courtier! Courtier, courtier, courtier!"

"You mean someone who helps the court?" I asked.

Both Jack and Shadow nodded. Then, of all things, Shadow smiled again, revealing its oddly white gaps of darkness.

"Do we get to be courtiers too?" Axel asked.

Jack nodded with excitement.

But Hawke grunted like he'd had an idea. "Jack? Are courtiers our allies?"

"Courtiers!" Jack proclaimed as Shadow nodded, clarifying that answer.

But now I had more questions than answers. Clearly, the Morrigan's helpers thought they could be trusted, but that was a very different thing from actually doing it. Trust? It was a thing people had to earn. Playing around in a safe room, with safe sticks? That didn't count at all.

But three of these guys had stepped in to help Aspen just because they'd been right behind her. Pascal had sworn a vow of loyalty to my sister, and the sort that had enough power in it to be binding. No, wait. That was it.

"Pascal, swear to her again," I demanded. "Now that you have access to your magic, even if you can't control it yet, swear to my sister that you will do her no harm."

"I swear," Pascal told her. "Aspen, I was willing to be loyal to you just because you were a friend of my friend.

I stepped in simply because it was the right thing to do, and because that's what the sentinels are about.

" Then he glanced at me. "And I'm glad I have Winter magic, because I truly, with all my heart, believe you, Aspen, will be a good queen.

I often have doubts about the Mad Queen's son's intentions, but as long as he doesn't harm my queen, I have no problem with him, and I promise I will fight for what I think is right.

My queen's life, freedom, and safety are included in that. "

When the ripple of his promise washed over me, it made bumps rise on my skin from the chill of it. That vow was not only true, but strong. If he broke it, I was sure he wouldn't survive.

So I dipped my head, doing my best to hide the cruel smile trying to take over. "Then you get a chance, Pascal. Don't fuck it up."

"And that," he told me, "is why I never offered the same to you. Kindness begets kindness, Torian."

"But suspicion keeps us alive," I countered. "I plan to make sure your queen lives a very long life."

He nodded once. "So do I."