"Morrigan," Jack said.
Yet just as the door clicked shut again, someone else wrenched it open. Surprisingly, it was Poppy and Nevaeh who came in.
"I want to know what's going on," Poppy demanded.
"You," Ms. Rhodes told her, "are not on the court."
"I," Poppy shot back, "am the one who organized the courtiers. We are trying to help, Ms. Rhodes, but we can't do that unless we know what we're supposed to be helping with."
"And I," Torian growled at her, "am the one making the decisions. You arenoton my court."
"Shove your fucking court up your ass," Poppy told him. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm helping because I'm sick of this Winter and Summer bullshit. I'm sotiredof people trying to attack my best friend. Didn't all of you spend the weekend making it clear Winter and Summer magic are basically the same thing? Well, too bad for you, I bought it!"
Torian chuckled once. "Yeah, I like her."
And that made quite a few heads snap over to him, checking to see if he'd lost his mind. Sadly, that was pretty much the sort of thing I expected from Torian now, and yet he had a point. Poppy wasn't a suck-up. She wasn't scared of him either.
But the girl was on a roll now. "So, how about I make you feel better, Torian? You want me to bend the knee to your court?" She looked at me, then paused. "Well, I'm not a wildling, so Rain's out." Then her eyes slid over to Keir. "So you. I'll vow my loyalty to you, Keir Delaney. You've been the Steward of the Earth. You've been the one saying this seasonal bullshit is stupid, and I agree. I vow to follow you, your Morrigan, and the Crow Prince that's helping us fix this crap. I will vow to support the faehere, on Earth. What I don't support is the Mad Queen's son, a king's bastard daughter, or anyone else born to make decisions the rest of us just have to follow. I am here because we deserve to make our own decisions, not be ruled by any authoritarian system. So yes, I will follow Torian and Aspen, but I'm doing it because they're trying, not because of how they were born." And her head snapped over to Torian. "So does that count? I'm now a supporter of Earth's Steward."
"His title," Torian said calmly, "is Defender of the Morrigan."
"Not to me," Poppy said.
"I mean, I'll take it," Keir said. "No offense, Tor, but fuck monarchies. They made your mother."
"True," Torian muttered.
Which made Ms. Rhodes slap her hand down on the desk. "Enough. I know everyone is tense. What I need is for Rain to be full of Wild magic. Bracken? Liam? We're going to need as many teachers as you can find who aren't blindly in support of any season - and that includes Winter. Liam, you're going to need to speak to a few of these kids. They're shaken, and with good reason. Pascal, if you're willing to help, then I'm going toneed some sentinels willing to take guard duty in turns. Once we figure out who is actually guilty and who just got caught up in paranoia, I'll have to enchant their rooms, because it will be impossible for this many students to be moved quickly. Some don't have anywhere else to go."
"How do I help?" I asked.
Ms Rhodes looked over at Keir. "Take your Morrigan to lunch. Haul Torian with you, if you think you can."
"I can haul him," I offered.
Which made Torian glance at me. His head dipped slightly. It wasn't enough for most to notice, but to me it felt like a sign of approval.
"Poppy, if you really want to help, can you and your courtiers get statements from any students who may have seen what happened, but didn't want to come tell me? I'll accept an anonymous report if the one taking it can hear the truth of it."
"I can do that," Poppy agreed.
"And your afternoon classes are all cancelled," Ms. Rhodes said as she stood up. "So get out of my office!"
Everyone else started filing through the door, but I felt a hand on my arm. Looking back, I found Liam holding me, with Bracken right behind him. That was clearly a request for a word before I took off again.
So I waited until the rest of the office was empty. Ms. Rhodes was last, but she just offered a smile before closing the door behind her. Then my dad pulled me in for a hard, tight hug.
"Rain, I'm worried," Liam breathed against the top of my head.
"And she's strong enough to handle this," Bracken said, wrapping his arms around both of us.
"You're worried too," I pointed out.
Which made my zez chuckle. "Busted. Still, both things can be true at the same time."
"And even the strongest can need a shoulder," Liam pointed out. "Rain, we're here. I don't care what time it is, we are here. If you need to talk, or have a moment alone, or anything else, Brack and I will make it happen."
"Because," Bracken said, reaching in to clasp my upper arm, "that's what dads are for, Rain. To us, it doesn't matter how important, or immediate, or necessary this stuff is. If you need us, everything else waits."
