Page 64 of Mistaken Magic

"Andwhat makesyouso special?"

Hecrossed his ankles, clearly not in a hurry to leave. "Iwas trained inFaerieuntilIwas sixteen by the best tutors in our world."Hemimicked my expression, lifting his own brow. "TheMadQueenherself taught me a few things.Mainly, how to see the opportunities in the world."

"Wait, so like, last year?"Iasked, quickly doing the math.

"Almosttwo years ago now," he corrected. "Well, just under.I'malmost eighteen.IleftFaerieat sixteen.Imanaged to get through a gate without getting caught, got picked up by the cops, saidIdidn't have parents, and was tossed into a foster home."Hepaused, the smile falling. "TheSparks' place."

"Thatwould be a shock,"Isaid, pulling out the chair at my desk and sitting down.

Theentire room separated us, and yet somehowTorianmade me feel likeIwas the guest here.Theguy lounged there like some lazy cat, as if he'd be offended ifItold him to move.Theproblem was he looked good doing it.Keirwas hot, butTorianwas the dangerous kind of beauty.Thetype that was alluring, butIknew it would cut ifItried to touch.

"Luckyfor me," he went on, "Hawkewas there.Hegot out ofFaeriewhen he was eleven, which meant he knew how to work the system.Iwent fromElysiumfields to this box of a room with piss-yellow walls.Couldn'thandle it."

"Wait..."Thathad my complete attention. "Topof the stairs, first door on the left?"

"That'sthe one," he agreed.

"That'smy room now!"Ilaughed. "Nowonder they kept putting iron crap in there."

"Oh, they did that with us too," he promised. "Thefirst time she made me cook,Iburned my hand on the pan.Pureiron, and there was so much in that house,Icouldn't tell where the irritation came from untilItouched it.Thecolor threw me.Wedon't have cast iron, you see."

"Yeah, makes sense,"Iagreed.Becauseif they couldn't touch it, they certainly wouldn't cast it.

"Well, once that bitch realized it hurt me, she began to put little pieces of it around the house.Hawkegot burned and lost it.Hethrew the trinket through the window.Shehad a fit, her husband tried to berate us, and we were done.Inthe middle of the night, we snuck out.Madeit halfway through town before the police caught us."

"Howdid you get out of the house?"Iasked.

Hegave me a confused look. "Thewindow."

"Oh, they've put iron bars on those now.AfterIgot a bird out of the house for them, they even put an iron doorknob on my bedroom door.Iwas so confused untilLiambrought me here."

"Liam..."Toriansmiled as he said the man's name. "Mr.Sparkscalled our case worker, saying we weren't settling in.Heintended to send us to the group home."

"Same,"Isaid.

"Well,Liamshowed up.Hetook one look at us and instantly knew what was going on.Wewere taken to some church for an interview.TheSparksthoughtLiamwas trying to convince us to behave.Instead, he was asking about our history, what we knew of our families, and things like that.WhenbothHawkeandIcould tell him everything about our parents - and didn't know enough to limit what we said - he got us in here."

"Wait."Imade a circular motion with my hand. "Goback?Whatdo you mean about limiting what you say about your families?"

Toriansuddenly tensed. "That," he said as he sat up. "Sometimes, it's easy to get comfortable with a person.Thefour of us were kids when we leftFaerie, but that doesn't mean we didn't understand.Wejust didn't know how different things are here.Whatonce made us safe now makes us threatened.Whathad previously been a problem is now a benefit.EverythingIknew as a child is reversed here, and while all of these fae ran to escape the war, they also unknowingly brought it with them."

"How?"Iasked, lifting a hand so he'd give me a chance to explain. "Idon't need to know your secrets,Torian.Iget it.Idon't want to talk about stuff from my past either.I'mjust confused about howIfit into the mess of jesters and courts.Keirsaid something about running from the bad and trying to start all over as if nothing had changed, and nowI'meven more confused."

Torianturned both hands, palms up. "There'stheSummerCourt," he said, lifting one.Thenhe dropped that and lifted the other. "Thenthere's theWinterCourt.Rightnow is the season ofWinter, which means theSummerCourthas less available power.Theopposite happens in the summer."

"Ok..."BecauseI'dheard about that before,Ijust wasn't sure how it applied.

"Once, theQueenof theSummerCourtruled fairly.TheKingof theWinterCourtwas the same.Theyaccepted their power in turns, aware they were far from weak when it wasn't their season.Faecan touch the power they were born into - eitherSummerorWinter.Formost, it's one season, but theQueenwanted more.Havingseen children born from both courts ableto use both types of power, she found her answer.TheSummerQueenattacked theWinterCourtat the beginning ofAutumn, when her powers were still stronger than his.TheKingwas defeated, and to save his people, he agreed to marry her, giving her rule over his court some legitimacy - and all of his power."

"Damn,"Ibreathed.

"Oh, it gets worse," he warned. "So, once theQueenhad the power of all seasons, she decided to ensure her control.TheKingwas ordered to get her with child.Forevery year he failed, a member of his former court was executed.Keepin mind our people do not have many children.WiththeWinterCourtnearly destroyed, he finally impregnated her.Oncethe child was accepted as her heir, theKingwas executed."

"I'mliking this woman less and less,"Isaid.

"Trustme,Iagree," he grumbled. "See, the power of the seasons is channeled through the crowns of each court.TheQueencan only wear one, but so long as the other sits empty, the power goes to her.Also, they can only be worn by someone who is recognized as an adult.Noinfants on thrones inFaerie.But, if the next ruler is her child, the power will be funneled to her as the older relative of the same bloodline.Shemade a puppet ruler to ensure theWinterCourtwill forever be hers.Ifthat childeverassumes the crown, there's no going back.Solong as theQueenlives, her descendants would rule the courts, and she'd get all the power."

"Andyou saw all of this play out?"Iasked.

---