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Chapter Sixty-Two

RAIN

O nce we were all warmed up, Bracken told us to attack as a group. The court faced off against the sentinels, but I was put on their side. To even out the powers, Bracken said. Then he set us loose on each other, and we sparred with all we had.

Magic flew. When it wasn't enough, Bracken yelled for us to stop playing it safe.

At one point, Jack swooped down, grabbing at Keir's practice stick before he could bash me with it.

Aspen was making obstacles, Torian was conjuring distractions, Wilder was cursing our weapons and bodies. Then there was Hawke.

He didn't need to call his wings out, but when I ended up face to face with him in the mess of swinging sticks, his eyes were constricted into narrow, horizontal slits.

His upper lip was lifted just enough to give him a sneer, and I had a feeling he was done pretending to be a mere sidhe.

I'd said he was the monster who'd decided to fight for good, and in that moment, I was sure of it.

But it was Aspen who got a hit on me, sending me out of the fray.

Torian took out Pascal, but Daivon cracked the prince's hand, making him drop his stick.

That brought out even more magic, and then Wilder did the last thing I expected.

He began shooting glitter bombs across the room.

When the pink one exploded, that was it.

No one could fight while laughing that hard.

"It's always the pink," Bracken said around a laugh. "Ok, now pair up. I want to see good form. Torian, this is full speed, so you're going to sweat a bit. Let's act like we have a purpose, people!"

"Heard!" the sentinels replied, and this time I was only a split-second behind them.

We worked. As our sticks clashed, I heard the guys asking questions about the attack earlier, Hawke's revelation, and more. Seasons, magic, and who was about to graduate came up. That turned the chatter to finals, but the whole time, we swung, blocked, attacked, and parried with gusto.

Our hour was almost over when Jack cawed out, "General!"

The clacking slowed to a halt, and one by one, we all turned to check the door. I could see it move, but my angle was wrong to see if anyone was inside. The short false hallway wasn't pointing directly at me, yet with a clack of high heels on hardwood, Ms. Rhodes stepped into view.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, taking a step toward her.

In my mind, I was thinking about all the crap that would be hitting right about now, like her trying to expel Hawke.

But then I saw the book she was holding against her chest. It was a massive thing, bound in a dark blue color, with brown corners.

From the way she was holding it, the thing was clearly heavy.

"What's that?" I asked.

She glanced at everyone in the room, then paused to examine me. "Rain, where's your shadow?"

"Uh..." I looked down, finding it beneath my feet like it was supposed to be. "Being normal. Why?"

That made her move further into the gym.

"Well, I think this is something all of you might want to hear.

" She gestured for us to move closer. "Rain, I have been looking for any reference to a Morrigan in the past with magic like yours.

My hope was that we'd get a hint of what powers like yours have faced before so I could train you to be ready for it.

" She paused to let out a sigh. "I found this earlier today.

I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow morning, but after what happened. .."

"What did happen?" Hawke asked, stepping forward. "Ms. Rhodes, I didn't mean to kill her."

"She," Ms. Rhodes told him sternly, "meant to kill us. And while yes, I'm sorry a student had to handle that, the outcome would've been the same if I was there. You, Hawke, saved the children - students - at this school, and I will not hear anything else about it!"

"Which means some have already complained," Torian grumbled.

"They always complain," Ms. Rhodes admitted. "That's the job of parents."

"We want to keep our kids safe," Bracken said, moving closer so he didn't have to yell. "Knowing our family members are in danger? It makes us want to lash out, and the ones who are supposed to protect our kids always end up as a good target."

"But I have made it clear," Ms. Rhodes said, looking around at all of us, "that Hawke Woods is fae.

He is a legally accepted student. I have not only known his background, but have done my best to train him in his wildling abilities.

With that said, he will not be talked to, yelled at, and certainly not expelled.

That is not how we treat our heroes." She lifted a brow, her expression turning beautifully stern.

"Does anyone here have a problem with that? "

"I do," Daivon said. "You didn't tell them to fuck off."

Which made everyone chuckle. Even Ms. Rhodes smiled, but then she waved us all down. "I am currently off-duty, but Rain, I don't think this can wait."

"What did you find?" Aspen asked, moving to my side.

I reached over for her hand, hooking my first two fingers around her smallest two. "It can't be good if it couldn't wait," I pointed out.

"I wouldn't call it good or bad," Ms. Rhodes assured me.

"Interesting is the word I used. You see, Shadow told me to go back, so I went as far as I could with the histories we teach here.

In one of the upper-level books, I found one line.

That sent me back further and further - to books too old for students to have access to - but there aren't many books on Earth with the information I needed.

Lucky for me, Pearl Hawthorne has a collection. She agreed to let me have this one."

"What is it?" Daivon asked.

She offered the book to me. "This is the history of Ceto, the first Morrigan."

"Whoa," Keir breathed, turning to gape as I accepted the heavy thing.

"I have a feeling you'll say that again," Ms. Rhodes warned us.

"You see, the stories say Ceto wasn't chosen by the Crow King.

In fact, when he stepped up to fight for the balance, he didn't even have magic.

The man was merely a Faerie-born human. Without any magic, this man started a rebellion simply because he didn't think what was happening was right. "

"What was happening?" I asked.

"Wildlings were subjugated," she explained. "Elves ruled our world. The fae were considered lesser beings - "

"Wait, wait, wait," I broke in, turning to set the book down before my arms gave out. "Ms. Rhodes, are you saying there are elves too?"

"Were," she clarified. "Ceto decimated them." But she paused for a moment. "No, that's not quite right. Queen Somni destroyed the elves."

"And now I'm confused," Pascal said.

Ms. Rhodes lifted a hand, begging for a chance to finish explaining.

"The short version? Elves - and that's the human term for them - were convinced they were superior creatures.

Sidhe were considered acceptable as people.

Then humans - because we have brought many into our world throughout history.

Some have stayed, made families, and had descendants there, just like some of us have done the same here.

Beneath all of those races were the wildlings, who the elves named as monsters. "

"Is that why we use the term?" Wilder asked.

She nodded, glancing at Hawke. "It is, and it was created to be a derogatory term.

However, one of those illustrious elves was fooled by a wildling.

As today's events prove, the difference between types of fae is a slim one.

The sidhe aren't the only sentient creatures who live on our world, nor the only ones with a humanoid body.

A young woman named Somni married a prince - the spare, not the heir.

Due to the bloodthirsty nature of elves, the king and his heir died, leaving that spare to inherit. Thus, Somni became a queen."

"A wildling?" Hawke asked incredulously.

Again, Ms. Rhodes nodded, but this time she looked over at the sentinels, checking their reaction.

"They're good with me," Hawke assured her. "We already talked it out."

"I also said something before the court even arrived, making sure of it," Bracken admitted.

"The rest of my sentinels have come to ask about what happened at lunch.

Most wanted to know what he was. Others wanted to know if he was going to be expelled.

None of them had a problem with Hawke. All of them agreed he acted in good faith and should be respected for it. "

Hawke smiled, but waved for Ms. Rhodes to keep going. "She didn't come out here to talk about me. I want to know about Rain's magic."

"Shadow!" Jack cawed as he sailed across the room to land on my shoulder.

"Well," Ms. Rhodes said, "Somni was more than merely a wildling.

She was one of the most dangerous types.

But when her husband betrayed her repeatedly, going so far as to destroy the only home she knew, Somni chose vengeance.

Ceto's family was killed in that event, and he started his rebellion.

In the end, the pair joined forces to end the subjugation of people.

.." Her gaze shifted from person to person.

"And created the three thrones we still have today. "

Created the thrones? Like Summer, Winter, and Wild? Ok, this sounded like ancient history, but I had to be sure. "So like, long, long ago?" I asked.

"Very. The date would've ended with B.C.," Ms. Rhodes said. "The important thing from this story isn't the creation of the three courts, though. Rain, it's that Ceto wasn't picked by a crow. The history here says he was empowered by magic itself."

"I thought you said he was human?" Torian asked.