“Indeed it does,” Finn said with a nod. “But Marin had no sons or daughters. She only had her harem, and they were assassinated as well. That left no living heir, which meant there was a vacuum of power. Something had to fill it, and the Autumn Court took the opportunity to present their version of what royals should look like. The Lords and Ladies became Queens and Kings, and here weare.”
Griff’s hand shot up in the air. “Did you say harem? Like, as in an actualharem?”
Finn’s eyes twinkled as he laughed. “Oh yes. Marin, the Queen of Fae had four husbands, one each from all the seasons. She was blessed with powers from Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and so she decided that she would never be happy without all of her men by herside.”
My blood roared in my ears, and the entire classroom melted away. There was only Finn and me, and his words about Queen Marin. She’d had four mates. Four of them. One from each of the seasons. And no one had stoppedher?
Four mates. Fourhusbands.
It sounded too good to betrue.
“Norah, is there something wrong?” Finn’s laughing voice broke through my thoughts. Everyone in the room was staring at me. I realized that I’d been sitting open-mouthed with my hand pressed to my boiling neck. My cheeks had filled with heat, which no doubt meant I was blushing up astorm.
All because I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. Marin and her fourmates.
“I guess I’m just surprised,” I said in a voice that sounded more like a squeak. “In the human realm, that kind of thing isn’t really...ideal.”
“Ideal?” Lila giggled. “Sounds pretty ideal to me. Can you imagine having four swoony men at your beck and call every day andnight?”
Oh yes. I could imagine it very well. It seemed like the perfect fantasy come tolife.
“Sounds awful to me,” Griff said with a frown. “You’d have to share your girl with three otherguys?”
I was looking at Griff when he said that, but I suddenly felt as though I was being watched. My breath caught, and I slid my gaze away, only to find Finn’s sparkling eyes staring myway.
“Oh, I wouldn’t mind sharing,” he said with a wink. “If another female fae just as fierce, as powerful, and as breathtaking as Queen Marin came along. In fact, I dare say there’s a woman out there who’s evenbetter.”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head at that. Who did he mean? His gaze was locked on my face, but surely he didn’t mean me. I was a first-year changeling recruit who could barely dismount a horse without falling flat on herface.
But I didn’t get to find out because the bell rang, signalling the end of the class. And Finn was out the door before the rest of us could budge aninch.
* * *
After everything that had happened,I wasn’t entirely certain that Kael would be waiting for me in the library tonight. But when I pushed open the door, I found that not only was he there, as always, so were Liam, Finn, andRourke.
At the sight of Liam, I couldn’t keep my face from turning five darker shades of red. We hadn’t spoken since our shared kiss in the stables, and I had no idea what he thought of the whole thing. The Head Instructor had taken him away for some kind of scolding, and I didn’t even want to imagine what he must have said to her aboutus.
“What are you all doing here?” I asked by way of greeting. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like theiranswer.
“We need to talk to you about Bree,” Rourke said in a matter-of-fact tone that betrayed none of what they felt about the matter. Did they want me to stop looking for her? Did they want to hunt her down themselves? Liam had heard what the Head Instructor had said. Were they now tasked with trying to kill my friend before I’d had a chance to healher?
“Speaking of that,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I turned to Kael. “I can’t believe you toldthem.”
“You didn’t leave me much of a choice after you ran off to find Bree by yourself,” Kael said, his voice holding none of the warmth it had in that cave we’d shared that night. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s for the best. These three are trustworthy. All they want to do is keep yousafe.”
With a heavy sigh, I dropped down into one of the chairs, all the fight draining out of me. “I know they’re trustworthy. You all are. It doesn’t matter though. I told Bree to hide out in the Autumn woods, but they chased her out of there several days ago. I have no idea where she is now. She could be anywhere inOtherworld.”
Rourke pursed his lips. “Unlikely. If you were scared and on the run, where would yougo?”
“Me?” I raised my eyebrows. “I’d...well, I’d probably go home. Or near home, anyway. I wouldn’t want to be roaming around in a place I didn’t know verywell.”
“Exactly,” Rourke gave a nod. “Which means she’s probably sticking close to the Academy. You’re here, the only familiar thing in these strange lands. After the ball, I’ll send a few trusted scouts out to look for her. We can then take her someplace safe, and administer thatplant.”
“The ball?” I looked from Rourke to Finn. “Whatball?”
“The annual Royals Ball,” he said with a quirk of his lips. “I mentioned it today in class, or were you too distracted by all my talk of harems to pay attention to thatpart?”
My cheeks flamed. In fact, he was right. Ihadbeen too distracted to remember much else. My mind kept replaying the facts. At one time, a female fae had mated with four males. She’d had a connection with each of them, just like I did with my four instructors. If only I could have been in her position. If only I didn’t have to end up with only one. Because now that I had the idea in my head, I truly wanted themall.
