"Yeah?" she asked. "I heard it's going to be a required language."
And that nearly made me miss a step. "Required where?"
"In the Summer Court," she said. "My suitemate told me you'll make sure there's a place for faelings there - on Faerie, I mean."
Considering I'd just had that thought, her saying almost the same thing surprised me. Granted, it also made sense. Of course faelings would be curious about where they fit in. The Silent's attacks on Winter had made discussions of courts, sides, and everything else move to the front of everyone's minds.
"I happen to think there should be a place for everyone," I told her. "I'm just not sure it's on Faerie."
"But..." She paused at the bottom of the stairs, stepping back so we weren't in the middle of traffic. "Torian, you're here. Isn't that a sign?"
Something in my chest twisted. "A sign for what?" I asked.
"That we'll finally get the magic we're supposed to have," she said. "Our parents bred with humans for a reason. Aren't we supposed to be repopulating Faerie after the destruction Winter has caused there?"
No. Those things? I'd heard that line of thinking before. That was the same crap the girl who'd attacked Pascal had said! It was bullshit, but the kind that came from only one place.
I snapped my hand out, grabbing her bicep. "Who told you that?"
"My suitemate!" she insisted. "Her father was a baron. She said he got stuck here when the gates closed. He was supposed to be finding traitors for the Queen, but - "
Shaking her once to stop that bullshit, I shoved into her face. "And you thinkIam going to help theMad Queen?"
I almost let her go then. Every muscle in my body wanted to walk away as the disappointment slammed into me hard. For weeks now, we'd been doing everything we could to make it clear I was no longer my mother's puppet, but this girl, she believed that crap?
"Who's your suitemate?" I demanded instead.
And Isla lifted her chin defiantly. "I'm not telling you that."
"No?" I asked, yanking her back into the flow of people, through the stairwell doors, and into the main hall. "Then you can tell someone else. I thought you were different. I almost convinced myself you weren't like every other sniveling Summer-blinded faeling here. I was sure the reason you'd never been a bitch was because you were kind, not tricked into waiting for something I will make sure never,everhappens."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she gasped as I led her forward.
My grip on her was too hard, and I knew it. Likely, I was bruising her, but she wasn't pulling back yet. As long as I kept going, kept walking, this mess would end up working out for us, but how had I been so fucking stupid?
Because I was lonely. Because I wanted to be loved too. Because I was fucking jealous of how easy it was for everyone else to find someone who could accept them the way they were, but none of those things were an option for me.
I was Prince Torian, the heir to the Mad Queen's throne, and the weapon created to destroy fae magic. I was the mistake, the problem no one would deal with. I was the downfall of fae society, and maybe even Faerie itself, and the court's optimism hadalmostconvinced me otherwise.
"There isonecourt on Earth," I told her. "One. The Winter Queen, Summer Prince, and Morrigan all share power. No longer will we hate others because of magic - or a lack of it." Then I pulled her close against my side. "And your suitemate is on the wrong side."
Finally, she pulled. "Where are we going?!"
But it was too late. Jerking her to the side, I yanked open one of the glass doors and shoved her through it, following only to block her escape. Isla's head snapped from side to side, but the commotion made the office staff look over.
"Torian?" the administrative assistant asked.
"Tell Ms. Rhodes this one knows something," I growled. "She thinks I'm working for my mother."
And the assistant's eyes slid over to Isla. "Is this true?"
"I don't know what he's talking about!" Isla snapped, turning to glare at me.
But the woman, I thought her name was Rose, flinched hard. "Oh, that's definitely a lie." She was already making her way around the desk.
"If she doesn't speak, I will compel her," I said, half expecting Isla to try to push around me and run into the rest of the school.
Instead, she glared at me. "You asshole!" she hissed, and it hurt more than it should've.
