Yes, everyone is going to feel pretty crappy when they realize what Kye has been hiding. Of course, Kye's been really good at hiding his pain for years.
As for Sam, you have an excellent point. I didn't think of it like that. I probably need to go back and edit his opinion of Kye. He really doesn't have much to base his change of opinion on other than Ashton pointing out how Kye saved Row by telling Sam about the poison (which Kye didn't have to do, he could have just kept silent). It would probably work better with just a slight softening of his opinion, until he sees Kye's back and realizes what he's really been though.
And yeah, Kye's not going to stand up for himself, but for others he's more likely to push through his fears, like he did when he saved Rowland. Glad you liked that biting part!