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POPPY

G raduation didn't happen. Instead, I was allowed to bury my mother. Ms. Rhodes kindly allowed her and Ms. Valentina to be interred by the gate as victims of the Hunt. Their names were added to the list. There were only two mourners, Harper and me.

But the court stood witness.

I couldn't say anything at the moment, but that mattered more than they could know. And when it was over, Torian had given me a note. He didn't offer any condolences. He was too fae to be able to speak those words, because they would be lies. The sympathy in his eyes made it better, though.

My mother had been wrong. Worse than that, she'd been evil. The problem was, I didn't know what to do now! I should be packing to head home for the summer, but I didn't think I had a home to go to anymore.

Instead, I focused on cleaning my room. It was stupid, but it kept my hands busy. I'd found some boxes left by the students whose parents had hauled them out of the school. Into those, I was carefully packing the mementos I knew I'd want to keep. They weren't things I wanted to see now.

A picture of my mother at some graduation in the past, dressed in the formal cap, gown, and sash. A letter she'd sent to me between classes, scratched out in a hurry on the back of a school form. It was all little things, but each one gutted me as I put it away to deal with later.

The sound of a soft rap at my door made me flinch. "Come in!" I called, expecting the worst.

But the door cracked to reveal Nevaeh. She offered me a weak smile and came the rest of the way in, closing the door behind her.

"Poppy?" she asked. "Are you ok?"

I pushed out a laugh, but it sounded dry and fake. "Liam came by to talk to me," I said. It was enough of an answer.

"But how are you doing?" she pressed.

I flicked my hand, pulling a bright glob of iridescent magic into my palm. "There's more," I said. "I don't know what they did, but I've never had this much magic, Nevaeh. Not even when it was green!"

"Yeah..." Nevaeh said, flicking her own hand to reveal a color I did not expect.

Her magic was green. A dark, rich color that reminded me of evergreens. She looked away and dispelled the magic, but I could see her fingers tremble when she did it.

"A lot of people got Earth," she said. "I mean, it sounds like most!"

"I think that's called a chance," I explained.

"They weren't stripped of their power - because a lot of the parents were.

Students were mostly changed to a kind they'll have to relearn, and one that doesn't require someone else's approval to wield.

Well, except those who'd sworn to the court already. "

"But mine's green," she whispered.

I laughed once. "You always said you felt more Summer than Winter."

"And Torian hates me!" she snapped.

I shook my head. "No. Nevaeh, I don't think he hates you. I think he was pissed at you, but as cruel as he is, Aspen is just as kind."

"Which is why I don't understand it turning green," she insisted. "Aspen forgave me. She shouldn't have, not after what I did to her, but she did."

Yeah, she had a point with that. "But you've changed, Neve," I said, pulling out the nickname that always made her smile. "You're no longer like Harper, or her mother - or mine."

"No," she agreed, moving over to sit beside me on the bed. "We learned, Poppy. We realized we could be better, so we changed."

"And to me, it looks like that was recognized," I said. "I also think this court is more wise than they should be." I leaned over to snatch the paper I'd left on my bedside table. "Read that."

Nevaeh opened it, and I watched as her eyes scanned the few short lines. "And you're ok with this?" she asked.

I nodded. "When I saw my mother drop, the first thing I thought? It wasn't that she was dead. It wasn't that I'd just lost my mom. The first thought that went through my mind was that I didn't want to be tied to her anymore, and he understood it?"

"Of all people," Nevaeh told me, "Torian would know what it feels like to resent his family. He's the Mad Queen's son, Poppy."

"He's changed my last name to 'Song,'" I whispered. "Song, because I sang out when staying quiet would've been easier. A name that is nothing like the plant my mother chose, and one that is all mine." I was rambling, and I knew it, but I couldn't get over this one thing. "Torian renamed me."

"And made you the official advisor of the court," she added. "Leader of the Courtiers, Ambassador for the People."

"Second to Keir," I agreed. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"Maybe it's his way of saying he is sorry?" she asked.

I shook my head, because that didn't feel right.

"I think that's a part of it, but also he wants me to know I'm not her.

He won't judge me by her, and he needs me to make sure everyone else can see that too.

I don't know, it almost feels like his way of saying he's… I don't know, changed his mind too?"

"So what are you going to do?" she asked. "Are you taking this?"

I turned to face her a little more. "Will you help me? I know we're not them - "

"But we are," Nevaeh said. "That's why I stopped hating them, Poppy.

We are them. Or more accurately, they are us.

We might be half human or so, but we aren't lesser because of it.

They've never treated us that way, even when I did it to them.

And you heard them. They want to change the world!

They can't do that on their own, so yes.

" She nodded. "I'll help. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll help. "

"Good," I breathed, hoping she knew how much I'd been dreading her refusing.

"But," Nevaeh went on, "this isn't going to be easy.

Harper's dad picked her up. They'll go home, and their community?

" She swallowed hard. "I used to live with them, Poppy, so I know these people.

They support the Queen. They want to believe they can gain rank based on the lives they had before - and most of them did not lose their power. "

"Rain's magic only changed the people here?" I asked.

Nevaeh nodded. "Yeah. More, less, and so many different seasons, but only for the people in the atrium.

Everyone else is the same as they were before - that's obvious from the parents who showed up and the wailing on the front steps.

Most fae don't have kids, Poppy, so they weren't here.

That means there are a lot of them out there who are going to be pissed. This is going to be so bad."

War, I realized. Maybe not the kind we'd known on Faerie, but still war.

But I shook my head, pushing that away for the moment. "So, what are you doing for the summer break? Going home?"

"I don't have a home anymore," Nevaeh admitted. "Taylor Valentina was the last of my family, because Harper hates me."

"So maybe we can get rooms together?" I offered. "There's a bunch of empty suites now. I bet we can move - we just have to ask Ms. Rhodes to approve it."

For a little too long, Nevaeh was quiet. I watched as she picked at the hem of her shirt absentmindedly. Just when I was sure she was going to make a polite refusal, she pushed to her feet.

"If you're the ambassador, what am I?"

"Uh..." I hadn't expected that, so I didn't have an answer ready. "What do you want to be?"

"The herald," she said. "The voice of the people, because there are things that need to be said.

I have all summer to figure this out, and to remember how to hold my head up proudly, but I'm done with being ashamed.

" Lifting her hand, she wiggled her fingers as green glowed around them.

"I used to hate that my magic was white.

It didn't feel like me, and even though I've learned to hate how cruel Summer can be, it still feels like me, you know? "

"So prove green is not the same as cruel," I told her. "We all know Torian won't do that."

"Yeah," she breathed, "but the first step to being the voice of the people?

" She shook away her magic. "I have to give the bad news.

Ms. Rhodes needs to know the Survivors of the Exodus are still out there.

The followers of the Queen are still powerful.

If Ms. Hawthorne could pick from the children of those people and do as much damage as she did here?

" Then she sucked in a breath. "Oh, shit.

Poppy, I'm sorry. I told myself I wasn't going to bring it up. "

"No," I told her, knowing she was right. "My mother killed people, Neve. She hurt people - including you and me. She deserved what she got, and I hate that it hurts - "

"But she was one adult, pure fae," Nevaeh said. "One, Poppy, and there are thousands out there who agree with her."

"Shit..." I whispered as her point began to sink in. "We have to tell Ms. Rhodes! Silver Oaks isn't going to be safe!"

"But that doesn't mean we're giving up," Nevaeh told me. "The court is starting one hell of a rebellion. This time, we're going to be the good guys, Poppy. We're going to help change the world. It might be hard, but you and me? We will be a part of this."

"Long live the One True Court," I said, turning for the door. "And this time, they don't have to do it alone."