Bracken palmed the back of my head. "You are Rain of the Wild power. Jack made a deal to trade his power with you in exchange for your help in resetting the balance of things."
"Jack!" the bird called out, whipping his beak up and down to make it clear he agreed with that.
I chuckled. "Ok, so I'm magical because Jack gave it to me." That was basically what everyone had been telling me for the last few days.
"Exactly," Bracken said. "You are wielding his magic. That ring you wear is proof of the agreement, and it will not come off so long as you uphold your end of the bargain."
"And if I mess up?" I asked, because I didn't exactly have the best track record.
Bracken just clasped both sides of my face and bent to look in my eyes. "You did not mess up. I know you think you were bounced around because you weren't good enough, but it's not true." His eyes flicked over to where Jack sat on the back of a chair, then over to me again. "You kept moving because you were being protected. That's why you fit the profile of the foundlings."
I couldn't make that make sense, so I shook my head to show it. "How? Why? I just wanted to be a good kid!"
"Rain!" Jack cawed. "Jack, Jack, Jack."
"I don't know what that means, Jack!" I snapped.
"Liam did some digging," Bracken said, stepping back. "Rain, not all foster homes are good. The one with the earring? They lost their license to foster because of child abuse. Another home had allegations of sexual abuse between the children. Some were fine, but when Liam dug, he found the other kids you were with had issues. Bullies, abuse, sexual assault, drugs... Jack got you moved before you became a victim. He was looking out for you."
"What about my father?" I asked.
"I don't know," Bracken admitted. "Honey, I can't talk to that bird any better than you can, but I know you ended up here, and here is where you need to be. That doesn't mean you screwed up. It simply means a fae prince had plans, and most of us are no match for fae royalty, ok? They're powerful. They get what they want, and no one can stand against them. The amount of magic they control makes even the world bend to their will, and you were Jack's pawn."
"Jack!" the bird snapped, sounding upset. "Rain! Rain-Jack."
"Or friend," Bracken corrected.
The bird nodded as if that was much better.
It made me chuckle, ducking my head as I realized what Bracken was saying. All my life, I hadn't been a screw-up. I'd simply been in the process of being pushed to where I was supposed to end up: right here. So many times I'd wondered why that crap always happened to me, and now I was one of the few lucky ones to get an answer. It was because the fae needed me. Me, the very normal girl who happened to like crows a bit too much.
"Ok," I breathed. "So, I'm guessing to be this Morrigan thing, I need to be a warrior, right?"
"It would probably help," Bracken agreed. "Liam told me about your shadow earlier today. I'm not sure how that will affect your magic or how to train you to deal with it. Ivy Rhodes is the best person to help you there. I'm the one to teach you how to survive combat, though."
"Because you don't have strong magic?" I asked, making a wild guess.
Bracken ducked his head and chuckled. "No, that is not the problem. Rain, my parents were nobility. They repeatedly met each time the Summer and Winter Courts held celebrations. Evidently, sparks flew. After a few centuries, they realized they were in love, and I came along a few more centuries after that."
"So you're like Torian?"
His gaze whipped over to meet mine. "What have they told you?"
"Uh… He can use both Summer and Winter magic, right?" I winced, wrinkling my nose. "Am I not supposed to know that? Aspen said a lot of it is a secret they can't share, but I've seen him use both green and white."
"No, that part's safe to know," he assured me. "But the rest? Itisa secret, Rain, because it has to be. If people knew what the court has seen, none of them would be safe. Different reasons for each one, but they are real reasons."
I nodded quickly. "Gotcha. I won't ask. I mean, it's not like it matters, right? They're not on Faerie, so who they're related to, or friends with, or that stuff? It no longer matters."
"Exactly," he agreed, smiling in a way that made me feel proud. "Now, which style do you want to learn first?"
"First?"
The smile on his face grew a bit. "Oh, you're going to learn all of these weapons, Rain. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to defeat every fae on both worlds. It just might take a few decades."
"Decades," I grumbled. "In case you forgot, I'm a little human. In a few decades, I'll be getting old."
"Not as much as you think. The Morrigan ages more like a faeling. It's the power coursing through you. You won't live as long as me, sadly, but you will live longer than a human. Now, if you go to Faerie? Then all bets are off. There, it's up to Jack and you."
