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I remembered reading about the courts briefly in one of the few books I’d found on the topic of Faerie. Mostly, it was just a rundown of the creatures that lived there and the million ways they could kill you. It never got into the fae themselves, though I was certain they were more deadly than any of the creatures listed in the book. “I know the names of the courts, but that’s about it.”
“I’m not surprised. Those who live in this realm are afraid of us,” she said.
A tiny shiver ran up my spine at her words.Us.I was part of them, part of that realm that caused so much fear. It was difficult to imagine. Most of my life I was just Raven. A human girl trying to make it in the world.
Then, I found out I was a mage, which had been difficult enough to adjust to. Adding the fae blood was just more confusion. I still wasn’t even sure I ever fully wrapped my head around being a mage.
“This will allow me to find out your court,” she said. “I have my suspicions, but I want to confirm before we move on. Each court has their gifts and it’s important to know what you are predisposed to with regards to your magic.”
“Alright, what do you want me to do?” I asked, stepping toward the stones.
“It’s simple,” she said, walking to the other side of the desk so she was facing me.
She waved her hand over each stone in turn. The third stone lit up, glowing green. “See that?”
I nodded. “It’s beautiful.” It really was. The stone had changed color and now looked like an emerald with a green light radiating from it.
“I’m from the Spring Court, so the spring stone responds to me,” she said. “Your turn.”
I shook my head, not quite sure of what to expect as I lifted my hand. I waved it over the first stone, nothing happened. Then I moved to the second stone, nothing. Third stone, still nothing. I was starting to wonder if this whole thing was a big joke. Some trick she was playing on me. Or maybe it worked, but I wasn’t actually fae after all.
When I waved my hand over the fourth stone, it turned molten orange and lit up in a warm glow like that of a fire. “Wow.”
“Summer,” she said. “Do me a favor and try that last stone.”
I moved my hand away from the glowing orange stone over the final stone. As soon as my hand hovered over it, I gasped. The stone dissolved in front of my eyes, leaving a swirling cloud of black smoke. “What the hell?”
“Summer and Shadow,” she said.
I set my hand down and both rocks returned to normal. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re the missing child of the youngest prince of the Summer Court. He was half summer, half shadow as his parents united their kingdoms in marriage. He came to this realm and never returned,” she said.
“That’s a lot to take in,” I said.
“It is,” she agreed. “And now I know where we have to begin.”
“You make it sound so ominous,” I said. “What does that even mean?” I was getting really tired of people keeping things from me.
“It means we’ll start by finding out what your magic is capable of and we work with that to help you reach your full potential,” she said. “But you’re in no shape to be doing anything yet after that time in confinement. We’ll start next week.”
I wasn’t going to argue with a week off of independent study sessions. “Great.”
The bell rang and for the first time ever, I was grateful to go to my History of Magic class.
