#sobh

thanks!

Hi! Thanks for the ask!

We know from Kit that during his childhood, he went to school for a short time, and even that was unreliable (seems he went in 2-3rd grade then got pulled out, then put back in for a short time in 9th grade?) So it’s unlikely that Kit encountered any Fae during that time, especially because he was kept at home, and when he was out it was to go to the Shadow Market, where Johnny (usually) kept him close. So there were certainly some obstacles at the time. You also have to consider that any Fae who were actively looking for the First Heir were still on Rosemary’s trail by then, so any significant Fae wouldn’t have given Kit a glance. Magic can also be muddled in the Shadow Market, since you’re surrounded by so much magic and different curses and such. It seems Baranabas knew Kit’s identity, though that could be for any reason.

I have a lot of theories about this, but I think the most likely explanation is that Kit’s abilities were very dormant for a long time. He was never triggered into using them, and constantly kept in the same locked environment- he had no chance to discover his abilities. However, once he was triggered into using them against the Riders, Kit suddenly seemed to have an air of magic around him- even Magnus felt it. In SoBH Magnus was trying to undo the spell on Blackthorn Hall, but was failing until Kit came and he felt a random burst of power, and suddenly other Fae could recognise that he had some importance (I don’t believe Round Tom knew exactly that Kit was the First Heir, only that he was powerful). Now that Kit’s power has finally been released after being dormant for so long, it’s now almost sneaking its way out in small ways because Kit could be subconsciously still repressing it, or because Kit simply doesn’t know how to use it (and doesn’t seem enormously keen to).

And imagine my surprise upon looking up “kit herondale unicorn” and finding this post with this image showing Mina and Kit drawing a unicorn together in SOBH!!

One last thing that could be interesting is the theory that Kit will get wings, with one of the biggest clues being in the Frostbite art depicting a figure with wings surrounded by herons (so likely Kit). Traditional unicorns do not have wings but some mythology include winged unicorns which combines the unicorn and the pegasus.