"Like Jack?" he asked carefully.
I shrugged. "Or the jevadu thing people are talking about. Or anything else on Faerie."
He chuckled. "Oh. Yeah. I guess you didn't forget about that, hm?"
"They're still talking about it," I admitted. "And you said 'betters,' so, yeah. I was just wondering how the court thinks about it, I guess?"
"In the court, we think of rankings as friends, allies, and everyone else," he explained. "It's not about the rank we would've had on Faerie. It's about the people we can rely on, regardless of the monarch they'd follow, the magic they'd use, or anything else that should no longer matter."
"I like that, because I don't really want to be a weird one."
He grinned. "Sorry, Rain. You're the Morrigan. That's unique by its very definition, but yeah. Wildlings have their own rankings. I mean, in English we'd use the words king or queen, but that's just a loose translation. I think it'd really be more like an alpha wolf, you know? Or whatever they use for bears, since a lot of wildlings are solitary."
"Do the other courts respect it like they do with each other?" I asked next.
He shook his head. "No. They should, but wildlings are considered monsters, Rain. Terrifying beasts who can't be trusted. They have magic that is harmful and unstoppable."
"What does the court think about wildlings?" I asked gently, making sure I didn't put Hawke in a position where he couldn't talk about it.
Instead, the guy smiled. "In the court, we don't judge someone for who gave birth to them, Rain. We all judge each other based on what we do with the magic we got, regardless of how. It's whyyoubelong with us."
"Yeah?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Kinda nice, huh?"
"It really, really is."
He just nodded again, but his smile had turned warm. From above us, Jack rattled in his crow way. To me it sounded like agreement.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
RAIN
By Wednesday, everyone seemed to have returned to their normal programming. Well, their schedules, at least, even if there was still something off. The halls weren't filled with laughter. I saw too many people glancing over their shoulder or flinching from a friend's casual touch.
Because we were all stressed.
Wilder assured me this was normal. It seemed my first experience with the Hunt had only been scary to me. Everyone else had considered it easy. But since Aspen still hadn't been spending the night in our rooms, I was starting to worry.
Not that she was ignoring me, though. I had another plant waiting in my room after school yesterday, then one more was waiting in the bathroom this morning. I assumed they meant she'd returned at some point, but I must've been sleeping when it had happened. I also liked the yellow thing that was like a miniature tree. It made the bathroom area feel alive.
But my responsibilities hadn't lightened at all. If anything, I felt the weight of them now more than ever. So, after Bracken released his last weapons class for the day, I headed for the room where Bracken stored his weapons. I intended to grab my sword, but Keir followed me.
"We can practice in here, you know," he said. "Also means you have your weapons handy."
"Oh." I looked over at the side with Bracken's wall of weapons. "I don't know how to use most of these."
"You will," Keir assured me with a devious little smirk.
But another voice responded with, "Show-off."
Keir and I both turned to find Hawke leaning against the open doorway, looking as if he'd been there a while. Keir just shook his head and laughed, but then gestured for Hawke to come the rest of the way in.
"Decide to come play?" he asked.
At the same time I asked, "Why aren't you in that magical responsibility class?"
Hawke pointed to Keir. "Yes." Then to me. "Because Ms. Rhodes said I proved myself in the attack. Kinda like early release, I suppose."
