on your own for months, like some others.”
I frowned. “Okay. But why? And why was I swapped at birth? What happened to the human baby? Does my mother know about this? Oh my god.”
My heart stopped as a new realization slammed into me.
“Does that mean…?” I whispered.
Kael gave a curt nod. “Your mother is not of your blood. As for the rest of your questions, all will be answered at Orientation this evening. If you go with Finn, he’ll take you to your room where you can settle in while we collect the other two changelings who are still in Manhattan.”
“The other two? There’s more?”
“Four from Manhattan. Sixteen in total each year,” Finn said, gently taking my elbow in his hand. “The four of us were tasked with collecting the Manhattan recruits this year. One is already at the Academy. She’s sharing your quarters with you. We collected her first, though that might have been a mistake…”
He trailed off, leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid, though I knew the meaning of his silence. If they’d come for me first, Bree wouldn’t be dead. It took everything within me to move my feet forward, out of that circle, and to leave my old life behind. Not that it was much of a life anymore.
A trail led through the thick forest. As we walked along the soft dirt, I began to notice just how different this place was to home. Specks of silver hung in the air, blowing this way and that along a soft breeze that smelled like sunflowers and the thick hazy musk of summer. Strangely, it was warm but not the same kind of heat that made the New York pavements feel so claustrophobic. This was a much different kind of warmth. One that felt soothing and soft rather than cloying. There was humidity, but not too much. It was neither dry nor wet. It was, strangely, perfect.
My heart squeezed tight. Bree would have loved it here.
Insects buzzed around our heads, but not any kind of insect that I’d seen before. They were like tiny golden birds with giant translucent wings. One let out a whistle as it darted in front of my face, a sound that was repeated by hundreds of others. It was like a song. A familiar song. One I felt as if I’d heard before.
“What are those?” I finally asked.
Finn had kept quiet, almost as if he could sense my need for silence. Right now, there was still so much I had to process. And while I had so many questions, I didn’t even know where to start.
“Slyphs,” he said. “In the summer, they fill the forest, singing songs that can sometimes even be heard inside the Academy.”
Another slyph whispered by my ear and whistled a series of high and low notes that made my heart lift in my chest.
“They seem to like you,” he said with a smile. “Maybe you’re not a Winter fae after all. They don’t much like the cold.”
“And you…you’re a Summer fae?”
He let out a low chuckle. “Thank the forest, no. Summers are…hotheaded, to say the least. Fiery, passionate, easily angered. They’re far too dramatic for my tastes. No, I’m a Spring fae. Liam back there is a Summer. The one with the red hair.”
I nodded. “I see what you mean. He got a little worked up about the Redcaps.”
“To say the least,” he said, casting me a sideways glance. “And his speech seems to have convinced you to come to Otherworld. You want to learn how to fight so you can avenge your friend. Like I said, maybe we were wrong about your Court.”
My heart dipped. Bree.
“But the Redcaps are attracted to Winter fae, right?” I whispered.
“Indeed.” He pursed his lips. “Truthfully, it’s far too early to tell where you’ll belong. It usually takes the first full year to identify a changeling’s Court. Your abilities have not fully come to you yet, so you may demonstrate qualities of several Courts for awhile. Many do.”
“So, this training thing, it takes a year?”
“Oh, no.” He flashed me a smile. “Once we’ve identified your Court, you move on to more specialized training to hone your skills. The Academy is a three-year school. So, you should know that it will be your home for a long while to come.”
“Three years?” I stopped in my tracks. “No one said anything about three years when I agreed to come along. That’s not an option. My mom is stuck there with my step-dad. Bree’s killer