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 abreath. "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? Wewillbe 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."
