"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."
