"Well," Rain went on, "if Wilder's a Duke of Earth, then Keir gets to be a knight, right? Like Sir Keir, defender of the Morrigan."
I loved how she was trying to make that stick, but I wasn't about to push for it myself. Instead, I just watched her grinning about the idea, which felt really damned good. When Wilder began to nod, I was honestly surprised.
"That actually works, so you know," Wilder said. "As the Morrigan, you are the equal of the King and Queen, so you can knight him if you choose."
"Oh! Nice!" Aspen squealed just as we reached the ground floor. "Do it, Rain."
"Uh..." She looked at me. "How do I..."
"No," I said calmly, guiding her off the elevator and towards the atrium doors. "We're not doing anything like that in jest."
"So I really could?" Rain asked right as a deep booming began to make the entire building thrum. That was bass echoing in the bones of the school.
"Yes," I assured her, a smile taking over my lips. "And it sounds like Torian has the music going, so go dance with your bestie, hm?"
She glanced at me, her teeth on her lip again with a little smile teasing the corners. "Ok, but you should get me a drink and make sure I don't overdo it, oh mighty defender."
"Yes, ma'am," I agreed, pulling open the door so Rain, Aspen, and even Wilder could make their way in. "Dance, ladies!"
Aspen immediately grabbed Rain's arm and towed her towards themusic. Wilder, however, merely paused beside me. For a little too long, he was quiet, but when I turned for the silver oak in the center of this place, his hand snapped out to catch my elbow.
"Hold up?" he asked.
"Ok?" And now I was curious.
He laughed once, his eyes flicking over to where the girls had gone. Once they were out of sight, he turned to face me.
"Aspen wants you with the court, so you're now with the court."
"Uh-huh..." I thought that was obvious.
"So's Torian," he reminded me.
"Yeah..." Still not sure where this was going.
"So are our secrets." And the man lifted his chin slightly, almost like a dare.
"Wilder," I said, "I don't know how to break this to you, but I don't give a shit if you're some duke of a realm I'll never go to. We're here. This is Earth. More than that, this is America, and it's a democracy. If we want to stay, we don't get to keep things like titles and secret governments."
"We're not human."
"We'rehere," I countered. "Their world, their rules."
"And the problems that come with being friendly with nobility from the Winter Court?" he asked. "Because my magic doesn't exactly make me popular."
And that was when I realized the real issue. He wasn't necessarily worried about respect for his bloodline. It was the discrimination he'd been getting over his magic! Fuck, sometimes I was a damned idiot.
"Look." I pulled a glob of magic into my hand, letting it shine between us. "Not green. Not white." Because the stuff was an iridescent rainbow of color, all swirling around like an oil slick. Then I shook it away. "I don't care what color your magic is, but if you think I'm going to hate someone else because theirs is green? No."
"You sure about that?" he pressed.
I nodded slowly. "I refuse to claim any court but Rain's, ok?"
The guy's lips slowly began to curl. "You know Hawke's is silver, right?"
"Dark, though," I pointed out. "More grey, really."
"Not white. Not green." Wilder lifted a brow. "Torian uses green, but it's not his only option. Aspen and I like white. Rain's is black. Now stop and think about that for a second."
