"And I can't find any mention of another Morrigan having magic like it," she admitted. "I've been looking through the histories. We don't have them all, but I've asked for copies from every source I can think of. Plenty of Morrigans used shadow magic the way you do. None of them were bonded with the crow who activated them or had an animated shadow."
I nodded, showing I heard what she was saying. "So we're winging this?"
"To put it mildly," she told me. "Yes, Rain, we're winging all of it. Now that Aspen has claimed the Winter Crown, Torian is the heir to both thrones. That causes complications we aren't ready for."
"Because you should've had more time?" I guessed.
She huffed out a laugh before taking a long drink. "As the dean here, I should give you a line about how prepared we are. As an advisor to the Morrigan?" She paused for another, smaller sip. "This is why I didn't want to act like teacher and student for this hour. It's the one time we have to check in and talk - without any barriers."
My eyes narrowed, because she'd just skipped over my guess. "And?" I pressed.
Ms. Rhodes sighed. "Rain, I didn't know Aspen Fox existed until last year. Torian was the only known heir - of either throne. And no, I didn't know it was him until he got here. We only knew the Mad Queen had a child. One child to rule both thrones. Aspen complicates a lot of things, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"But someone had his room frozen," I reminded her. "Frozen, Ms. Rhodes. That sounds like Winter magic to me."
"I'm sure it was supposed to," she agreed.
"And people know the Huntsman called her 'the princess.'"
"Mhm," she agreed, watching me carefully.
"So are they trying to make it look like she caused it? Or..." I paused as another, worse idea hit. "What kind of magic does Drift have?"
"Winter," she said. "He's a college senior, at least half fae, and a foundling." Which meant he probably didn't know or remember his parents. "He's one of the seventeen people here at Silver Oaks who use Winter magic openly."
That last word caught my attention. "What do you mean, 'openly?'"
"Bracken tends to use Summer magic," she clarified. "He can use Winter, but he doesn't. He's not the only one. Nevaeh only uses Winter, even if she's tied to the Summer Court, so she does count."
"And Aspen and Wilder," I guessed.
She nodded. "Plus a few administrators and a handful of students. Most are weak in their power. Aspen and Wilder aren't."
"Drift?"
She tipped her head at me. "He's not weak. I wouldn't call him strong, but his magic is significant. Last year, he set the snow in the dining hall for our Thanksgiving meal. Mostly glamours and enchantments, but impressive ones."
"Not conjurations," I said, proving I was keeping up.
Which was a bit surprising, because a year ago, I had no clue the fae were real. Last semester, I'd learned a lot. This semester, I'd been trying hard to master my own magic. Well, Jack's magic, but he'd given it to me. That was what made me the Morrigan. I was just a normal human, but one who was chosen by the highest-ranking wildling here on Earth: Jack. He might be abastard prince, but clearly that still counted. Aspen had been a bastard princess, and now she was the Winter Queen.
In other words, I was winging thefuckout of this, but it seemed I was still doing ok. That in itself was a relief.
"So," I said, leaning forward, "is this some attempt to make people hate Aspen?"
"They already hate her - and her season," Ms. Rhodes admitted. "That's a holdover from their parents. Rain, everyone wants to think their 'tribe' is the best one. The problem is, the Mad Queen killed too many Winter users. There just aren't enough left to offer Aspen any tangible support."
"She has the court!" I snapped.
"Jack!" my crow added. "Shadow!"
I flipped my hand his way. "And them."
Which made Ms. Rhodes chuckle. "While true, there's still the problem of numbers. Now, Torian insists Aspen shouldn't acknowledge her ancestry. If she's asked, he thinks she should say she's not the princess - because she's not, so she can actually say that. He's willing to avoid things his own way. After all, they thought he was a jevadu last semester."
"Because he was protecting Hawke," I clarified.
She nodded. "And now he's protecting Aspen. But here's the thing. You are the Morrigan. No one in the court is pure Summer. That is going to cause issues, Rain. You need to make friends with a few Summer users. You need to make sure you aren't showing a bias."
