Page 65 of Mistaken Magic

Henodded. "Myfather was one of the people executed,Rain.Aspen'smother,Hawke'stoo, and both ofWilder'sparents paid the price.Weall lost something, and we saw it.Wedidn't just hear about it.Wewatched our parents die and our world turn on itself.Imay have been a child, but you have no idea what that's like!"

"Iactually do,"Iadmitted. "Myfather used to abuse my mom.Sheshot him in front of me whenIwas five.She'llspend the rest of her life in jail, andI'm, well, here.Granted, she was the victim who won, but she also lost."

Henodded. "Soyou do understand.Sometimes, there's no good answer.Butthe jesters are desperately trying to prove to their parents they're fae enough.See, to our kind, magical power is prestige.Thefae who came here aren't young.They'velived centuries with the same kind of mentality that led to theQueengoing mad.Poweris all that matters to them, and to be good little fae children, the jesters chase the same things."

"Sothey went afterAspenbecause she's pure fae?"

Hechuckled, but it was a cold sound. "No.It'sbecause people love their tribes.Thehistory and traditions of where we came from are what give us pride about who we are and an expectation of who we should be.Inother words, it's all we know.Well, they.Aspenis one of the last obvious children of theWinterCourt.Mostof the refugees are from theSummerCourt- or peasants who had no court."

"Andbecause the four of you were born inFaerie, the jesters think you're some kind of threat?"Iasked, trying to make all this new information fit whatIknew.

Heopened his mouth, paused, and then sighed. "It'sa little more complicated than that.Aspenis powerful, but she's untrained.Beforeshe came toSilverOakslast year,Harperwas the most powerful girl in this school.Nowshe's not.Worse,Aspen'spower isWintermagic."

"So, they attackedAspenbecauseHarper'sjealous?"Igrumbled under my breath. "Well, fuck them.Ihate bullies, andI'msick of them pushing people around.Justtell me howIcan help?"

"Youalready have," he promised as he pushed to his feet. "I'mgoing to go check on mysisterwhile you eat that disgusting mess."

"What?"Ilooked over to see a roast beef sandwich. "Uh, what did you do to my food?"

"Nothing," he promised, walking backwards towards my bathroom door. "Wejust don't eat it."Hegestured to my meal. "Iron."

"Sowhat the hell do you eat?"Iasked.

"Fruit," he said. "Sugars.Likelittle butterflies."

"Allpure-blood fae are vegetarians?"Iasked. "Thenhow the hell do you get the muscles?"

"Maybeyou should start joining the court for meals and you can see."Hejerked his chin at me. "Butgood to know you were looking."Thenthe bastard grinned, turned, and stepped through the door.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Thatevening, it started snowing.Fromthe window in my room,Icould see the flakes piling up on the glass roof of the atrium just above.Torianwas still inAspen'sroom, andIcould hear the pair talking softly, soIdidn't want to disturb them.He'dsaid she'd sleep through the night, soIwasn't sure if he'd woken her up to check how she was doing or if there might be a problem.

Eitherway,Ifelt useless, andIhated it.So, grabbing my tablet,Idecided to get out of my room for a bit.Ithought about the study area, becauseIknew it would be quiet, and yet my feet carried me the other way.Takingthe elevator downstairs,Istepped into the darkened halls of the first floor and my eyes went right to the atrium.Inthe moonlight, with the snow collecting on the panes of the glass roof, the place looked even more magical.

Usingthe side door,Istepped in, wandering through the warmth and vegetation untilIfound a soft spot.There,Iactivated my tablet and tried to read, butIcouldn't stop wondering about the jesters.Hadthey been punished for what they'd done?Myeyes scanned the text for myLiteratureclasstwice, but none of the words made it into my brain, soIjust gave up.

Leaningback,Itensed at the sound of the door opening again.Quickly,Idimmed my tablet, hopingIhadn't set myself up by coming out here alone.I'dseen what those girls had done toAspen.Ifthe boys decided to show me that being human wasn't the same as being strong,I'dbe so fucked.

Butthe person who walked around the trunk of the massive silver oak wasn't a student.ItwasBracken, my combat instructor.Hiseyes found me easily, and he made his way closer.WhereIsat with my back against the stones of the fish pond, he moved to use the lip as his seat, keeping about an arm's length between us.

"Isaw you heading in here, soIcame to see how you're doing after that scare today," he said, getting right to the point.

"Scare?"Ishook my head. "No,Iwas angry."

"Maybeit's more traumatic for us.Theuse of iron against another like that is..."Hepaused, pulling in a breath as he carefully chose his word. "Unexpected."

"Yeah.Iheard it's a power struggle thing."Iturned soIcould see his face.

Becauseif fae couldn't lie, andBrackenwas a fae, then his words would be true.Thatdidn't necessarily mean they wouldn't deceive, andIwasn't quite sure how all that worked, butIwasn't stupid.Somethingabout his posture, his face, or what he refused to talk about would give me an answer.Mightnot be the oneIwanted, butI'dseen enough foster parent evasions to muddle through this.

ButBrackensurprised me. "Itis," he agreed. "How'sAspendoing?"

"Shewas sleeping until her brother came to check on her."

Henodded. "Thosetwo are good for each other.Oppositesin so many ways, but they keep each other from becoming too extreme.I'mglad we found her."

"Wait..."Thatwas somethingIhadn't heard before. "Whatdo you mean 'found?'"

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