I smiled at that.
“So Rook,” I said then and Cass’ smile faltered as she glanced my way. “He was born here but he left and joined the Court of Blood and Bone. Is that common? Leaving the court one is originally born in?”
“It’s not uncommon,” she answered thoughtfully, sitting up to give me her full intention. “But his was. Giving up the light for the dark, that’s not a choice one typically makes willingly. It’s more common in the minor courts. Maybe a dreamer is born amongst the scholars. Maybe a healer is born among the Wanderers. Better to let them move than be miserable their whole lives. Better for them to find a place where they can be who they truly are, to use their fates-given gifts to their highest potential.”
“Did Rook find that place?”
“Rook should tell his own story.”
Cass stood up, readjusting her short skirt, and I took the hint.
“What’s your story?” I asked then, changing the subject from Rook.
“I’m a Princess of Darkness,” she replied with a shrug. “My story isn’t much more than that.”
“You have three siblings all trying to kill each other.”
“Allegedly.”
“Cass, there’s more to your story.”
She crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze.
“Is it my story you’re after or Lark’s?” She asked me after a moment.
My cheeks blazed red.
“Yours,” I informed her though I couldn’t deny that the realization that her story would likely be entangled with his, as his sister, had crossed my mind and she seemed to have sensed that.
“I’m the youngest,” she told me anyway. “And all I’ve ever wanted, ever, my whole life, was for my older siblings to get along. And for my father to be not so much of an ass.”
I snorted. She smiled too but then the light in her eyes dimmed and that smile turned into a frown.
“I’ve known, since the moment I was capable of understanding the words, that eventually my family was all going to kill each other. It’s our birthright. And I hate it. I hate it almost as much as I hate the stupid politics and the way we let everyone believe we’re so evil, so wicked. We aren’t,” she said and I waited for her to continue because it seemed like she had more to say. Not for me, but for herself. “Rook came to us, not because of what we represented, but because we allowed him to. The minor courts, they were afraid of making the Court of Life angry. The Court of Peace and Pride is overpopulated enough already. But my brothers welcomed him with open arms and fought my dad tooth and nail to let him stay. Even Ursa defended him when some emissary tried to put a hit out on him. Because that’s what we do in my family. We protect each other. Until we don’t. But now, because he came to us, because we made him a part of our family, now every Fae from every other court is going to look at him as though he’s got some secret withering away his soul. I just—I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. If you decide to stay, I mean.”
Stay.
There it was. The question she wasn’t asking me. The one I hadn’t even allowed myself to ask me. Was I going to stay with them? Was I even welcome to stay with them? For Cass, it seemed that I was. But for Lark? I might have said yes two weeks ago. But this new distance between us had me wondering and I wouldn’t stay where I wasn’t wanted. But even if I was, even if they all welcomed me with open arms as they had Rook…
“Could you get a letter to the mortal plane?” I asked her then. “If I wrote one.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion but she nodded.
Then I walked to the desk on the opposite side of the room, pulled out some stationary, and wrote a three sentence note to my uncle.
I’m safe. I’m in the immortal realm. I’ll write again when I’m able.
Then I wrote his name on the front and crossed the room and handed it to Cass. She took one look at the name and the note vanished into thin air. I jumped. I would never get used to how easy these things were for them. But then I met her eyes and reached out to grip her arm.
“You aren’t wicked, Cass,” I told her. “You’ve been kinder to me than most mortals I’ve met in my lifetime. You’ve welcomed me as if I was one of your own. You’ve taken the time to teach me about your people, your world, and you’ve made me feel comfortable in a place I never even thought I could survive. I look at you and I see nothing but good. No matter what the others say about you, about your court and your family, you’re my friend and, frankly, you might be the best one I’ve ever had.”
She watched me for a moment, eyes widening a fraction at my honesty.
“Was that too much?” I asked, tensing and suddenly feeling awkward. “Humans have a tendency to be more forthcoming with their emotions. Short lives and all that. I didn’t—”
Before I could finish, she gripped me by the shoulders and pulled me in for a tight hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered into my hair as she held me close, “friend.”
