But the sound made everyone look over as Wilder, Torian, and Aspen walked in. Immediately, Torian's eyes narrowed. A smile lit up Aspen's face. Wilder just jerked his chin in greeting.
"Guys," he said.
"Hey, Wilder," Pascal greeted him.
"Pascal!" Aspen squealed as she hurried over. "I've been meaning to talk to you ever since..." She gestured at her head. "Um, what kind of plants do you like? Flowers? Vines? Easy ones? Good-smelling ones?"
"I'm good," he assured her. "I also don't expect that to count as a debt, Aspen. I stepped up because I could, not because you asked."
Which made Aspen wrinkle up her nose. "But I feel like I owe you something."
A sly look began to take over Pascal's face. "Ok, so tell me your real title? I mean, only if you can, or want to."
"Go warm up!" Bracken snapped, clearly trying to stop that before it started.
Aspen just ignored him. "Queen," she said. "It's a new thing."
Then she turned and walked off in the direction Bracken had just indicated. Axel and Daivon were gaping, but said nothing. Wilder followed Aspen with Hawke right after. I lifted a brow, waiting to see how the sentinels would take that, but Torian stepped up and crossed his arms.
"You scared now, boys?" he taunted.
"Oh, fuck off, Torian," Pascal grumbled.
"Torian, don't," Bracken warned.
"He hasn't done the mental math yet," Torian said casually - too casually.
"What, that her being a queen means you're a prince?" Pascal asked. "Yeah, trust me, I've heard that rumor. Not much of a leap to get there either." Then he stood, grabbing his practice stick. "What you can't seem to wrap your mind around is that I don't give a shit."
"I'm your prince!" Torian hissed.
"And a dick," Pascal said. "In case you missed it, we're not on Faerie. I'm not even pure fae. The way I see it, that means you're not shit to me. At least not with that attitude." Then he headed off after Aspen.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Torian called after him.
Keir shifted, clearly ready to block Torian from doing anything stupid. Bracken had a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. Me? I had my head whipping from side to side taking all of this in. I hadn't expected Pascal to blow Torian off so bluntly! That the other three looked shocked made me feel a little better.
"Prince?" Daivon finally asked. "Like the real thing?"
"Which one?" Bran asked. "He uses both seasons."
"Summer," Keir said. "Yes, he'sthatprince. The son ofthatqueen."
"Fuck me," Axel breathed.
"Pass," Torian said as he started heading for our normal room. "We're also done hiding, so if you don't like it, fine. But if you come at me..." He paused to glance back. "I will kill you all."
"Good thing I'm good with it," Axel said as he stood.
"Does explain his bad attitude," Daivon pointed out. "So where are we doing this?"
"What 'this?'" Bracken asked.
"Helping," Bran clarified for him. "The four of us discussed it Friday. If the court's working this hard for something, it means they could use some backup. Since half the court are sentinels, we figure that makes it a group effort, right?"
"And since Keir's our friend, we're willing to step up," Daivon explained.
"And hopefully learn a bit," Axel added.
