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Chapter Forty-Nine

RAIN

I t took me most of the morning to get all the students shackled.

That was what I was choosing to think of this punishment as.

Even better, I set the shadows up to use the power of any seasonal magic to fuel it.

Jack nodded when I asked him if these would last, so I was pretty sure I'd done it right.

That afternoon, I asked Bracken if Keir and I could spar for my afternoon classes.

He took one look at me and agreed. I really needed to hit someone after listening to the crap those assholes had spewed at me all day.

And sure, maybe I didn't care what they thought, but it did piss me off that I couldn't make them feel the same way as the students they'd been attacking.

And teachers.

Because Ms. Caldwell had been the target of the group Wilder had interrupted. It seemed the Taxonomy of Faerie teacher was a Winter fae. She'd spent the centuries of her youth exploring Faerie, and hadn't been a part of any court, but she'd still been targeted simply because her magic was white.

That evening, I slipped out to visit my dads for a bit. Both of them were worried about me, but I was doing fine. It was everyone else I was worried about. Liam was convinced I was ignoring the emotional strain I was under. He was probably right, but what else could I do?

So I talked to them. They talked to me. Not that there was a lot to be said, but my dads wanted to make sure I knew what all was going on.

Evidently, a few of the shackled students had immediately called their parents.

Most had told them to deal with it. The problem was that some of the other students, the ones who'd been witnesses to the attacks, had called theirs as well.

Now, Ms. Rhodes was getting hammered with complaints.

Parents had questions she had no answers for.

Since fae children were rather rare, most parents were overprotective and a bit paranoid about any risks to their darling babies.

Twice, my dads had to remind me just how young we all were.

To people who often lived to be about a thousand years old, a couple of decades was nothing at all.

So the next day, it wasn't shocking to see kids waiting in front of the atrium with their bags packed.

Some looked excited - because getting out of school seemed great at first. Most looked miserable, as if they didn't agree at all with their parent's decision.

Thankfully, I didn't see anyone I knew well over there.

When Torian and I headed to the cafeteria after fourth period, I looked over again. This time, I didn't see anyone waiting with packed bags. Hopefully, that meant the exodus was over, but finding Aspen, Hawke, and Wilder waiting in front of the cafeteria made me forget all about it.

"Are we early?" I asked, looking at Torian.

But Aspen giggled. "No, we thought it might be wise to stick together. Now all we're missing is Keir."

Torian huffed out something like an embarrassed laugh. "We agreed to stick together with someone, but we've all gotten a little complacent. I realized it when Wilder was alone in the middle of an attack."

"And now," Aspen told him, "you're politely walking Rain to lunch instead of running off and leaving her behind."

"I was neither running nor leaving," Torian countered.

"Oh, you were leaving," I assured him before putting on a babyish voice. "I just figured the big scary prince had to potty before he ate."

Hawke laughed once before biting his lips together to hold it in.

"She's probably right," Wilder said a little too innocently. "I mean, Torian hasn't said she's wrong."

"I am failing to remember why I call all of you friends," Torian grumbled.

"It's because we're so - "

The shriek of a woman made all of us spin. Jack launched off my shoulder, swooping a circle above us, but the scream didn't come from a student. No, my eyes landed on the woman just as she did it again.

"Ivy! Ivy Rhodes!" bellowed a dark-haired woman who looked to be in her early twenties. "Someone had better tell me where I can find the dean, and do it fast, because I will not have my daughter treated this way!"

"Parents," Hawke grumbled, making it clear who that was.

"Still freaks me out that they look our age," I said. "I mean, at least my dad has the grace to look fatherly."

"No, he doesn't," Aspen said.

"Wrong dad," Wilder told her. "She means Liam."

I flashed him a grin, but the crazy woman wasn't close to being done. "I want to know why these Winters are here, and someone had better explain to me why my daughter is paying the price for it! I have sent enough money to this school that she should - "

"Dawn!" The sound of another woman made me look over in time to see Ms. Hawthorne hurrying toward her. "It's lunchtime. The children are - "

As the screeching mother turned toward Ms. Hawthorne, her eyes landed on us. "Winter!" she yelled, storming forward. "You! I want all of you expelled."

"Shit," Wilder mumbled.

I stepped forward, intending to deal with this, but Ms. Hawthorne was faster.

"Dawn!" she snapped, catching the woman's arm just to turn her back around.

"You will not come in here making a scene.

Not unless you want to make sure your daughter is never allowed back.

Now, we both know this is the only place on this continent where she can get trained in her magic, so stop acting like a common peasant! "

But Dawn looked back at us one more time. " They are the problem. I expected my child to have the best education, Pearl. That was what I was promised."

"And she's getting it," Ms. Hawthorne assured her as she gestured to the office. "But she isn't the only one."

"I want them gone!" Dawn thrust out a finger to point right at us.

Ms. Hawthorne closed her eyes in a long blink, then lifted her chin in our direction. "Students, you should be in the dining hall, getting your lunch."

"Nope," Torian said. "I think I want to watch this."

"Oh, you do?" Dawn asked, marching toward him.

Then her gaze snapped over to Aspen. "You little Winter bitch.

Do you think you can cause problems for my Iolanthe?

If this was a school for our season only, then none of this would be happening.

And you, boy." She glared at Torian again, even as Ms. Hawthorne tried to steer her away.

"How dare you betray your season like this! "

"My season?" Torian asked.

"No!" Aspen said, waving him down even as she stepped forward. "Iolanthe is your daughter?"

"If you think you can come at her, girl," Dawn tried, "then I will - "

"Enough!" Ms. Rhodes bellowed, silencing not only us and this woman, but everyone outside the cafeteria. "Rain, take your friends and get in line."

"Not until Keir makes it here," Hawke said.

That made Dawn's face curl into yet another sneer.

"Oh, you let your students talk to you like that?

Now remind me why I should be paying a fortune in tuition to a school that apparently has no control over the students?

I could teach Iolanthe better than this at home, and she certainly wouldn't be in danger while I do it. "

This woman's ranting had drawn attention - and a lot of it. Too many people were looking at us now. Some were giggling, yet others looked mortified. No one was speaking up, but I could see a few heads pushing through the quickly-gathering crowd.

Ms. Rhodes must've seen it too, because she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Torian, please?"

"No," he said again, but this time he looked over at Dawn. "Tell her who I am, Ms. Rhodes."

"That will not help any of us," Ms. Rhodes countered.

But Ms. Hawthorne couldn't help herself. "Dawn, you don't understand. This is Torian Hunt, he's - "

"A child!" Dawn interrupted. "Ivy, I made it very clear what I expected. I want my daughter to be raised with manners that would not shame her at court. I expect her to be well-versed on our world so that when the gates open again - "

"They won't open," Aspen said.

The glare Dawn gave her? It was the kind only Torian could match. "Silence!" she snapped.

"Oh, you did not!" Keir said, pushing in between this woman and Ms. Rhodes as he finally reached us. "Ms. Rhodes, do you need this woman escorted off the premises?"

" I do," Torian said.

"Kids…" another teacher tried to soothe as she moved toward us.

But Aspen was already moving forward. "I find it amusing, Dawn, that you're so worried about court manners when you squeal at us like a banshee. You interrupt like a goblin. You make demands like you're royalty, but you don't even recognize when you stand before a queen!"

Dawn scoffed. "Titania is still in Faerie."

"Dawn..." Pearl hissed, trying to stop the woman.

But before my eyes, Aspen seemed to grow a little bigger. Everything about her brightened just a bit. I wasn't sure if that was merely the set of her shoulders or some magic, but the effect was impossible to miss.

"I am the Winter Queen!" Aspen roared. "The manners of a court are to suit me, not you, peasant. And how dare you speak to me or my mentors with such a lack of respect."

"Titania would have the skin removed from your bones for such a thing," Torian drawled much too casually. "Ask me how I know."

"He's Titania's son," Ms. Hawthorne whispered. "They've been protecting students like your daughter. Please, Dawn. Don't make this worse than it already is."

Stunned, Dawn looked at Ms. Hawthorne. Their eyes locked, and for a little too long, silence hung between all of us, but neither Torian nor Aspen were backing down.

Overhead, Jack was still circling, clearly ready to attack if necessary, but I had a feeling this woman was little more than a fae who'd become spoiled and pampered by her eternal youth and beauty, thinking she could act this way anywhere.

Sadly, that power was worthless at Silver Oaks, where everyone else also had it.