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"He was." She sounded almost smug about it.

"Magic came to him in his shadow. It empowered him, allowing him to do miraculous things.

The sort of things no elf could stop and the fae celebrated as heroic.

However, Ceto's battle was to save the 'monsters' - because that was how wildlings were known.

They were classified into types. There were beastly monsters, like kelpies and gargoyles.

Minor monsters, like trolls and redcaps.

It went all the way up to legendary monsters.

.." She turned to Hawke. "Dreamwalkers, jevadu, caltheron, and fear-eaters fall into that category. "

"Based on what?" Hawke asked.

"Based on their ability to mimic the elves in appearance, and their power to control others through their magical nature.

When the queen - also a legendary monster - overthrew the system of oppression the elves had made, she wanted to make things better.

She saw some fae used magic that was white and strengthened in winter.

Others used green that was stronger in the summer.

In an attempt to balance those seasons, she had two crowns made, but her distrust of strife between the peoples convinced her the ultimate power should reside with the one user of magic who could see into the future.

" And she looked over at Jack. "The crows. "

"Jack-Jack?" he asked, twisting his head.

"Yes, your ancestor," Ms. Rhodes said. "That is why the Crow King is the one who has the power to make a new Morrigan.

It's why the Hunt is sealed by Wild magic.

Every major working that will alter Faerie must be approved by the Crow King to keep any sides from tearing the other apart.

All of this happened because Somni wanted to change the system, and Ceto helped make it possible.

I do not know if Magic started this or ended it, but I can say Ceto's shadow was his strongest weapon. "

As she spoke, my shadow was stretching longer. I watched it claim the empty space between us until by the time Ms. Rhodes finished, everyone in the room was looking at it too. Then it thickened, lifting up from the floor just to open its hollow, shadowless eyes.

"Hello, Shadow," Ms. Rhodes said.

It dipped the silhouette of its head in her direction, clearly acknowledging the greeting.

But Ms. Rhodes kept going. "Is this history right? Are you the personification of Magic?"

Shadow lifted its thumb, thrusting it forward for emphasis.

The air in my lungs froze in place. It was the what?! Personification of magic sounded like a big fucking deal, but what did that mean? My head was whipping between the dean and the dark silhouette standing before her as regally as Torian usually was.

"Are you in control of Rain?" Ms. Rhodes asked next.

This time, it shook its head slowly, making the motion overly obvious.

"Is Rain in control of you?" she tried next.

Shadow lifted its hand, tilting that from side to side for a moment, then shook its head.

"Ok, what does that mean?" I demanded.

"I'm going to guess," Torian offered, "that you can influence it, but it is not a slave to your whim?"

Shadow thrust its upward thumb toward him, a clear sign Torian's guess was right.

But it was Hawke who asked the most important question. "Why now? If Crow Kings and Morrigans have been handling fae issues for generations, why is Shadow here, helping Rain?"

"It can't speak," I reminded him.

"I don't care who answers!" he snapped.

But Shadow had gotten very good at demonstrating what it meant. First, it pointed at Jack. Then it held both hands together, flopping one to mimic a door opening and closing.

"The gates are sealed," Torian said, clarifying its meaning.

That earned him a thumbs-up. Then Shadow mimed placing something on its own head and hacking at nothing.

"My mother corrupted the magic?" Torian guessed.

He got another thumbs up. Shadow turned, looking at the group now watching it intently before pointing at Aspen, then to Torian.

Again, it mimed putting something on its head - likely a crown.

When no one spoke up, it moved to Aspen and made the gesture over her, then it drifted to Torian and repeated that.

"Aspen had to be crowned first?" Wilder guessed.

Shadow rocked its hand.

"I had to get the Winter Crown," Aspen realized. "If Tor got it, bad things would've happened, but now the Summer Crown is a problem?"

Shadow lifted its thumb at her, then rocked its hand. Again, it mimed putting a crown on Torian.

"Aspen and Torian both need the crowns," Bran said, offering his own take on that. "We all know the Mad Queen is a problem, and Shadow is saying she has to be dealt with."

Using both hands, Shadow pointed at him emphatically.

Which made Ms. Rhodes suck in a breath like she'd just realized something. "You, as Magic itself, are in danger because of what the Mad Queen is doing?"

This time, Shadow simply nodded - but then it lifted its hands to its neck as if strangling itself, and wilted a bit as if collapsing.

"We have to stop magic from being destroyed," Torian said. "And if Rain's shadow is really Magic..."

"We have to save it," Aspen finished for him.

"Shit, Shadow, is that why you're here?" I asked. "You need our help with the crowns?"

The thing pointed at me, then slowly turned, making sure its finger landed on all of us, even Bracken and Ms. Rhodes. Clearly, "we" wasn't only the court.

"Shadow?" Ms. Rhodes asked next. "Did you make another kind of magic for Keir?"

I got an uplifted thumb, then a rocking hand.

"Did you make it?" Keir tried.

Shadow turned its thumb down. After a short pause, it pointed at Keir.

"I did?" he asked.

Thumbs up.

"And it," Hawke said, "separated that out or something, making a third kind so there wouldn't be only two seasons."

Shadow rocked its hand then lifted a thumb.

"Closer," I mumbled, figuring out its limited answers.

Everyone began to mutter between themselves, trying to figure out the part we were missing. I was wracking my brain, and then a thought hit me. History. Segregation. Was it really that obvious?

"The line between sidhe and wildlings is too stark," I said.

"Almost like separate societies. Shadow made a neutral magic that is more like Wild?

Something to bridge the gap, but it was Keir's idea, since he didn't like either season.

Humans become Morrigans because we're not tied to the sidhe, but we can communicate with them, right? "

Shadow gestured upwards, the motion coming across as encouraging me to keep going.

"Hawke is a Summer Duke," I said, thinking out loud. "Keir's basically neutral. Earth magic, we're calling it, which is what Poppy and Daivon seem to have, right?"

Shadow nodded quickly, looking almost excited.

So I kept going. "Ok, and people are swearing and having their magic..." My words trailed off. "Oh, fuck."

"What?" Ms. Rhodes asked, sounding both excited and hopeful.

"The Mad Queen tried to corrupt the magic!

" I breathed. "Some sidhe had both kinds, right?

Titania wanted a child with both, and she made Torian.

He was supposed to take over the Winter Crown, then funnel that magic to her because she didn't have the ability to hold it.

That means she found a way to break the rules. A loophole of the worst sort."

Now Shadow was jumping in place excitedly.

My brow creased as I kept following my thoughts. "People are picking. The old way was - " And I stopped hard when Shadow threw its hands into the air as if declaring victory. "They can choose now?" I asked, making sure I was on the right page.

Shadow thrust out its hand, pointing directly at me in confirmation.

"But I'm going to guess we can change if it doesn't fit?" I asked, needing to be sure of this. "Learn how to control the power from parents who know it, and while many will keep that, some may want to change?"

Slowly, Shadow rocked its head up and down, but then it did more. Clasping both hands before it, the dark silhouette knelt before me as if praying - no, begging .

"Instead of division, I think it needs harmony," Ms. Rhodes said.

"Shadow is Magic. Not Winter, Summer, or Wild, but all of them at the same time.

This..." She bit her lips together as if forcing herself to think before speaking.

"This conflict between seasons can't continue.

The two seasonal courts were supposed to support each other. We did for centuries."

"Until my mother got greedy," Torian said.

Shadow pointed at him. Then it turned its hand and pointed at its own chest.

"And that can't happen again," Aspen said.

But then Shadow moved its finger to be aimed straight at Hawke.

"One court," I realized. "Not three, but one with three crowns?"

Once more, Shadow rocked its hand, but then it held up four fingers. After a second, it dropped one, ending with three.

"No more segregation by race," Keir offered. "Three crowns, but no limitations on species. I'm neutral. Aspen's Winter. Torian is Summer, but so is Hawke. Whether wildling or sidhe, the court is no longer defined by birth, but rather by choice ."

A line broke through Shadow's face, turning into its creepy smile. The thing turned, beaming at all of us, then it gallantly gestured to me as if I'd just made its case, adding a half-bow to make the point.

But before it could straighten, it simply dissolved into a puff of swirling darkness that dissipated into the air quickly.

Once again, my shadow was attached to my feet, looking completely normal.

Unable to help myself, I twisted to check on the book Ms. Rhodes had just given me.

The one with even more information that might help.

"Balance isn't always about putting things back," Ms. Rhodes told me. "Rain, often it's about making them right, and it seems our magic thinks you are the person who can do this. I think I speak for all of us here when I say you do not have to do this alone."

"Never alone," Bracken said softly, and everyone around me nodded in agreement.

But I didn't know what to make of this. It was a lot. This was bigger than stopping some assholes who hated Winter. This was about changing magic - a thing that wasn't even supposed to exist. And yet, it was also about refusing to give up, and that was the one thing I'd spent my life perfecting.

This time, I wouldn't be doing it alone.