"Not you, Rain."
"What?"
"Morrigan!" Jack cawed, proving he was also standing straight up. "Morrigan, Jack, Court!"
"Exactly," Torian said. "Jack is a prince and equal to me. You, Rain, are the champion of his crown, and the fae see you as a Queen's equal. You never bow to a crown - or a throne."
But Aspen was already waving for everyone else to get up. "I don't like the kneeling. It feels weird, and while I may be the Queen, my first order is no kneeling until I graduate, ok?"
Ms. Rhodes chuckled. "I think that's fair, Aspen. I also think you need to put that crown somewhere very, very safe."
Aspen smiled and glanced at me. "Rain has a really sweet Monarch's Assassin that will keep it safe for us."
"Perfect," Ms. Rhodes said. Then she stepped closer and clasped Aspen's arm. "I will continue to treat you as I did before, but do not think things are the same. You are in danger now, Aspen."
"I think I've always been."
Ms. Rhodes just tilted her head. "More now than before. So trust your court. I think it's time for the secrets to come out. And with that, I will go back to cleaning up the mess the group of you made of the Hunt." She looked back at us and smiled sadly. "I'm proud of you all, but if you cannot handle this, please see me? I can remove your memories, but you will lose your friends in the process."
"Nope, I'm in," Keir said.
"I was kinda picked for it," I pointed out.
"Born into it," Torian said.
"Same," Wilder agreed.
Hawke just shrugged. "I'm here for the laughs, but I got this, Ms. Rhodes."
"Yeah, you do," she agreed. "Bracken? Let them have their space. She might be your daughter, but Rain is not a child."
Bracken chuckled. "No, she's not. I'm proud of you, Rain." Then he turned to Aspen. "And tonight, I'm so very proud of you, Your Majesty. We will settle things between us later, if you allow?"
"If you stop talking to me formally," she said.
So he stepped in and hugged her. "The crown sparkles almost as brightly as you do, Aspen. I'm sorry you had to take it."
"Yeah..." But she shrugged. "I'm just scared of what comes next."
"You have time for that."
She glanced at me. "Wrong part."
Bracken laughed and hugged her again, whispering something in her ear that was too soft for me to make out. It did make Aspen giggle, though. But when my zez pulled away, he simply turned and followed Ms. Rhodes back to the other side of the property - and the mess we'd left behind.
Chapter Seventy-Three
KEIR
Holy shit. Aspen was a queen. A real, crowned, and acknowledged queen. My girlfriend's girlfriend - which was enough to make me smile just thinking about it - was royalty. My own partner in this mess of a relationship we had was standing there with millions in gems on her head, and the thing looked like it had been made for her.
Although I clearly wasn't the only one trying to wrap my mind around everything that had just happened. We all stood there in awkward silence. I knew we weresupposedto go inside. That was what Ms. Rhodes wanted, but there was too much to go over.
Yet Bracken was barely out of sight before Wilder stepped up to Aspen with a smile on his lips. "You know I have to," he said.
Aspen nodded, so Wilder took her hand and knelt, pressing it to his brow. I'd never seen this part before, although I'd read about it enough in my history classes. But Rain? She looked between all of us, clearly confused. I lifted a finger, begging her to wait as Wilder spoke.
"Your Majesty," he said, "I offer to you my service, in all ways you desire. My life, my power, and my loyalty are yours, until the end of time, so long as your loyalty remains to the crown you serve."
