"See, that's the problem with Summer," Daivon said, but the four sentinels were turning to face us, standing beside the benches just inside the door. "It's all about rank, power, and shoving everyone else down as if we're nothing. Fuck that."
"He didn't mean it that way," Axel tried to say.
"But it sounded like that," Daivon pointed out.
"Kinda did," Bran agreed, lifting a brow at me.
"Have you seen the Summer students?" I shot back. "Maybe you missed them attacking students lately? Or have you been deaf to all the slander of anyone with Winter magic?" I gestured to Aspen and Wilder to show what I meant.
"Tor..." Aspen tried.
At the edge of my eye, I saw Wilder clasp her arm, holding her in place. That allowed me to move closer, facing these four without needing to yell. Yet the moment I moved out of the little entryway, I could see Keir, Hawke, and Rain on the far side of the room, talking between themselves. Clearly, they hadn't heard any of this, and I wasn't about to pull them into it.
"So if you think I'm going to stick my dick in any of those girls, you clearly haven't been paying attention," I snarled. "Yes, I think I'm better than them. Right now, I don't trust anyone who claims my season as their own - because none of them have proven I should!"
"Fuck you, Torian," Bran grumbled, turning away like he was done with this.
But Axel grabbed his arm, refusing to let Bran leave even as he jerked his chin at me. "No one, huh? Is that what you think of us,Prince Torian?" He sneered my name with so much contempt. "We waste an hour every day helping the court, and you think that's what? Nothing more than you deserve?"
"Just like your damned mother," Bran mumbled.
"Too far," Pascal chided. "Guys, I thought we agreed to help Keir and Rain?"
"And our fucking prince!" Bran shot back, thrusting an arm in my direction. "Or maybe your Winter magic made you miss that part, Pas? Because I was going to stay for one session, but when they trusted us enough to admit they're royalty? I thought it fucking meant something."
On the far side of the room, my friends paused, turning toward us. Evidently, they'd heard that. All three of them headed over, but I shook my head, trying to make it clear this was ok. I didn't need backup. If anything, I needed to figure out how I'd fucked up this time.
"What thing?" I asked.
The words came out wrong, though. That sounded like I was pissed when I was honestly curious. I snapped it out like an accusation instead of a question, and Bran didn't give me the chance to fix it.
"I'm Summer!" Bran screamed at me, tapping his chest in the process. "My whole life, I've been told my queen is who fucked everything up. My court is evil. My season is why we had to leaveour home. Summer caused the war, attacked innocents, and killedchildren! Fucking kids, Torian!"
"I know," I said, the words a breath.
But Bran moved closer. "My whole life, I've had shit for magic, shit for ancestry - my dad was a fucking shoemaker!"
"There's nothing wr-"
He didn't let me finish. "I have always been ashamed to be Summer! Fuck, I think most of us are. Some of us twisted that into 'reclaiming our season,' which is how we ended up with the Children of the Exodus in the first place!"
"I don't think they're the same as The Silent," Rain said.
I lifted a hand, begging her to not get in the middle of this. She glanced at Keir, but he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Hawke was looking behind me, likely checking on Aspen and Wilder, but we were fine. If Bran wanted to scream a bit, he'd earned the right, in my opinion.
"I don't care what they call themselves," Axel said, joining the discussion. "Bran's right. Before spring break, it was all about who was stronger in magic. Well, guess what? I'm not strong, but I wanted to dosomething, so I joined the sentinels."
"Same," Bran agreed. "I wanted to prove we weren't all bad. I wanted to feel like I could be proud of my season, but instead we get this?"
"What 'this?'" I asked.
Axel huffed in frustration. "You seriously don't know?"
I looked between him and Bran, then over to Daivon. "I have been more worried about not being discovered than anything else, worried my mother would find me."
"Fucking royalty," Daivon muttered under his breath.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Royalty sucks. We'retryingto fix that, or have we been too subtle?"
