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Gateway to Relax
  • 6/14/2025
Transcript
00:00:00I feel from the saddle and wince at the twinge and my hipster tells me I went too long between breaks.
00:00:04I've never tried, 10 lectures, and his head whips toward the edge of the clearing,
00:00:08tilting in excitement as he watches the tree line for movement.
00:00:10I grinned, knowing S-G-A-Y-L must be close.
00:00:14Let's agree that we will come up with a solution that meets graduation requirements
00:00:17without breaking every bone in your body, he suggests quickly.
00:00:20Agreed, I should remember to only eye you with him when he's got better things to do more often.
00:00:24Climbing to the back of the saddle, I unkrip the packs and nearly lose my footing in my haste.
00:00:28We are all dead if you fall off my back and break your impatient neck.
00:00:32Because I am the impatient one, I swing my small pack onto my back,
00:00:36then place one of the heavier packs on each of my shoulders.
00:00:38I can't believe you allowed someone up here to secure the bags.
00:00:41I'm impressed with your restraint.
00:00:43The section leader attached the bags to the saddle before I put it on, naturally.
00:00:47And here I was thinking you'd evolve.
00:00:49My knee drops as I navigate to N's back,
00:00:51but it's all but forgotten the second I lower my shields and feel that shadowy bond wrap around my mind.
00:00:55It goes against my instincts to block him, but I force my mental shields back into place.
00:01:00After the way we left things last weekend, I have no idea what to expect from him,
00:01:03but he'll damn well expect me to have my shields up no matter how mad we are at each other.
00:01:07Bag secured, I slide down Ted's leg and take the print of the impact on my good knee when I hit the ground.
00:01:12Go find SGA-YL, I urge 10, heading across the field of trampled brass toward the looming fortress.
00:01:17I'll wait until you're inside as always.
00:01:20You're wasting time, I can feel his anticipation singing through my bloodstream, but I don't block it out.
00:01:25At least one of us is happy.
00:01:27The thing that happens later, that, I'll block out like my life depends on it.
00:01:31Then walk faster.
00:01:32I laugh and tread forward.
00:01:34Boards, these bags are heavy, and weirdly, vibrating with energy.
00:01:37Guess these ones have already been imbued with power.
00:01:40An entire company of infantry jobs toward me from the arched entrance as I make it to the top of the stone ramp.
00:01:45Oh shit, I'm right in their way.
00:01:47Ryder, the commander yells.
00:01:49Before I can step aside, the company splits down the middle and runs around me,
00:01:53so close I can feel the breeze from the air they displace like I'm a boulder in the middle of the Russian creek.
00:01:57I hold to me at least to avoid impact, not even daring to breathe as they run by.
00:02:01When the last of them pass, I exhale, then continue into the belly.
00:02:04A group of you is crosses in front of my path, and when they care,
00:02:08I see Zeran striding toward me across the courtyard, his face unreadable.
00:02:11My heart stutters, then pounds, but I make myself move forward.
00:02:15Not sure how it's possible, but I simultaneously want to climb the man and kick him hard in the shins.
00:02:20There's a group of riders in the courtyard behind Zeran,
00:02:23with their only a blur of black because I can't look away from him, conceive past him.
00:02:26As complicated as our connection is, it's also unliably simple.
00:02:29He's the horizon, and nothing exists beyond for me.
00:02:32I'm going to have to force your hand and I'm sorry, he says picky as he approaches,
00:02:36cutting through my shields like they're nothing but lace where he's concerned.
00:02:39Which else is new?
00:02:40I cause, noting that everyone between us gets out of his way.
00:02:44You have about two seconds to decide if you want time to talk in private tonight.
00:02:47He's less than a dozen feet from me.
00:02:49Not sure you want to be alone with me, considering what I'm carrying.
00:02:53I bristle, that's the first thing he has to say to me after the way he cut out last week.
00:02:57Jules.
00:02:58Yes, of course I want to talk to you in private.
00:03:01Tell me to kiss you, even if it's just for show.
00:03:03There are only heartbeats between us now, and he's not slowing.
00:03:06What?
00:03:07Now, Violet, or you'll be sleeping in someone else's room tonight.
00:03:11The look in his eyes demands an instant answer.
00:03:13Right, because he told me months ago he'd only kiss me when I asked him to.
00:03:17He reaches for me, one hand sliding to the back of my neck and the other bracing my waist as our body is alive.
00:03:22The impact sends every sense reeling.
00:03:24Kiss me, just for show.
00:03:26I missed you, easier the second before his mouth crashes into mine.
00:03:30You walked out on me, I accuse, nipping the soft skin of his bottom lip with my teeth.
00:03:34Fight later, his hand slides along my face, and he presses his thumb just above my chin.
00:03:38Now kiss me like you mean it.
00:03:40Since you asked so nicely, I part my lips under his and immediately regret every second I've spent not kissing him lately.
00:03:46I've impaired the first stroke of his tongue along mine, and his hand flexes on my waist, gripping me tighter as he sinks into the kiss.
00:03:52Yes, one touch, that's all it takes, and the world around us ceases to exist.
00:03:57This is everything, the energy thrumming in the air around us pales in comparison to the power that floods my veins,
00:04:01the need that ignites within me as we both were to control the kiss.
00:04:05He wins, consuming me, devouring every thought in my head besides getting closer.
00:04:09The bags slide from my shoulders, hitting the ground beside me with a thud,
00:04:12and I wind my arms around his neck, arching against him.
00:04:14I kiss him back like my life depends on his surrender and tilt my head for that perfect angle.
00:04:19He finds it without even crying, taking the kiss deeper,
00:04:21stealing little pieces of my soul with the swollen side of his tongue with the expertise I can't find.
00:04:26I can't remember why I ever wanted to.
00:04:28Why would I deny myself the explosive pleasure of kissing Saban?
00:04:31This is when we make sense.
00:04:32When nothing else matters but the feel of his lips, the flick of his tongue behind my teeth,
00:04:36the lust burning through me I know only he can feel safe.
00:04:38My heart gallops and my body floats as my hands slide into his soft hair.
00:04:42Weightless, he makes me feel totally, completely weightless,
00:04:45like it's possible to fly on nothing but waves of sensation.
00:04:48Gods, I fucking want him, just like this, just us.
00:04:52Violet, it's a mental groan as his mouth thoroughly as came to mine.
00:04:55Oh for fuck's sake, a familiar voice intrudes on my own little piece of heaven,
00:04:59and that's when I remember.
00:05:00This is supposed to be for show, and here I am, completely losing myself in him.
00:05:04In the middle of the courtyard, in front of God's only no-who, and
00:05:08that weightless feeling, it's because I'm anchored against his chest by one of his strong arms,
00:05:13my feet dangling off the ground.
00:05:15Good enough show for you.
00:05:16I draw back slowly, dragging my teeth across his bottom lip before releasing him.
00:05:20Fuck the show, his eyes flare with the same heat that has me ready to cumbers.
00:05:24At least I'm not the only one losing control, I know the drug on his face.
00:05:27He's just as stern on as I am.
00:05:29He kisses me again, losing his polishfulness in favor of untamed demand, and I melt.
00:05:34Put my sister down, Ria Sin.
00:05:36You made your point, that familiar voice, my head whipped to the right, breaking the kiss.
00:05:40Mira, she tapped her fingers along her folded arms, but her stern expression,
00:05:43eerily close to our mother's, doesn't last more than a breath before her mouth curves into a smile.
00:05:47Good to see you, V.
00:05:49What are you doing here?
00:05:50I grin as Zarin sets me down.
00:05:52Then I step over the discarded bag to hug my sister.
00:05:55As of yesterday, I'm stationed here.
00:05:56She holds me tightly, just like she always does, then pushes me away by the shoulders to do her customary inspection for mortal wounds.
00:06:03I'm fine, I promise her.
00:06:05I hear Shou, her hands move to the sides of my head, and she rises up on her tiptoes to look down at me.
00:06:09Because I'm thinking you must have taken a pretty serious blow to the head to be involved with this one.
00:06:14I blink, what the hell am I supposed to say to that?
00:06:17Play along, or you'll be in her room tonight.
00:06:19Not mine, Zarin tells me.
00:06:21She's been more than adamant.
00:06:23Right, well, shit, I really don't want to lie to my sister any more than I have to.
00:06:28I'm going to take your bags to my room, Zarin says, helping me out of the pack on my bag, then picking up the two I dropped.
00:06:34Thank you, I say mostly out of habit.
00:06:36He leans in and rushes a kiss over my forehead.
00:06:38I have duty today.
00:06:40No, I whisper, my stomach broken in disappointment.
00:06:43That doesn't exactly leave us time to talk, which is probably the point.
00:06:46I guess we can't fight if we don't talk.
00:06:49We'll have time later, he promises.
00:06:50Have fun with your sister.
00:06:52I'll see you tonight.
00:06:53He brushes a flight losing strand of my hair behind my ear and grazes his knuckles gently down the side of my cheek.
00:06:58All right, if it wasn't all for sure, I'd be a cuddle, and the heat in his eyes when they meet mine for a second.
00:07:03I'm instantly warm despite the mountain air.
00:07:05Don't let her set anything on fire, he says over his shoulder to Meera as he walks away, heading for the corridor near the southwest staircase.
00:07:13I scoff, but that doesn't stop me from watching him go.
00:07:16Keep your shields up.
00:07:17It's not like they helped block you out.
00:07:19Told you, I'm harder than most, he replies.
00:07:22Keep them up anyway, it's not me you have to worry about.
00:07:25He's carrying your bags up to his room for you, Meera says slowly, moving to my side and glancing between Zarin's retreating back and me.
00:07:31He is, I nod, or is he, the ache in my chest turns bitter.
00:07:35Maybe he's actually taking two of those bags to a drop point and leaving me with Meera to distract me.
00:07:39I hate that I can't trust him, that he can't trust me, that we're at this impasse.
00:07:43Oh shit, Meera mutters.
00:07:45What?
00:07:45I sigh as he disappears into the building.
00:07:48You're not just picking him, are you?
00:07:50You are falling for him.
00:07:51She stares at me like I've lost my mind.
00:07:53My gaze swings to hers, and though I know I should, I can't lie to her.
00:07:56Not about this, not exactly.
00:07:59Who do you think you are fooling?
00:08:00He basically swallowed your hole, and now you are watching him with those big, soft eyes that I'm practically oozing with.
00:08:05She gestures at my face, who knows wrinkling like she smells something bad.
00:08:08What even is that?
00:08:09Yearning, unfatuation.
00:08:11I roll my eyes.
00:08:13Love, she says the word like it's poisonous, and something on my face must give me away because the disgust on her is more sent to shock.
00:08:19Oh, no, you are in love with him, aren't you?
00:08:22You can't possibly know that just by looking at me, I counter, my spines to fling.
00:08:26Ah, let's go throw knives at shit.
00:08:29B. Brennan is alive, Brennan is alive, Brennan is alive, it's all I can think as we empty our sheets into the wooden targets that lie in the back of the outpost floor sparring Jim on the north side of the first floor.
00:08:39It's a far cry from the pit on the south side of the fortress I first found Zedin fighting in.
00:08:43Keeping secrets from Rihanna is wotsome, but not telling Meera that Brennan is alive might just make me the worst person on the continent.
00:08:50I'm the last person to judge who you see it with, Meera starts.
00:08:53Then don't, I flip my next to last dagger, catch it by the tip, and throw it, hitting the neck of the target.
00:08:59Regulations aside, because yes, what you are doing is fraternizing, she throws her next dagger without you while looking and hits the target mid-chest.
00:09:05Good one officer, I'm just saying that if it bows badly, you're stuck with each other for the rest of your careers.
00:09:10But you're not judging, I throw my last dagger, hitting her target in the neck.
00:09:14Fine, maybe I'm judging, she shrugs, and we walk to the targets.
00:09:18But you're my only sibling, I'm allowed to worry.
00:09:20I'm not, though, she and Brennan were in such frivolous kids.
00:09:23If one of us should know that he's alive and healthy, it's her.
00:09:26You don't have to worry about me.
00:09:27I yank my daggers out of the wood one by one and she eat them along my thighs and hit my ribs.
00:09:31You are a second year, of course I am going to worry.
00:09:34She retrieves her own knives and looks over her shoulder to tear a friday sparring on the.
00:09:37Mad behind us, how is Zara C going?
00:09:41She asks, lowering her voice.
00:09:43We lost a rider in the first exercise.
00:09:45Two maps.
00:09:46Yeah, it's a mine foot.
00:09:48She presses her lips into a thin line, but that's not what I meant.
00:09:51You're worried about the interrogation portion, I guess, cheating the 11th dagger at my ribs.
00:09:56They're going to beat you black and blue just to see if you can take it.
00:09:59She puts my dagger from the throat of her target.
00:10:02And the way you break.
00:10:03I can handle pain, I turn toward her, I live in pain, I practically built a house there and set up a whole economy.
00:10:09I can take whatever they dish out.
00:10:11After wargames, RSC is in the most second years die, she admits quietly.
00:10:15And they take one or two squats at a time for exercises, so you don't really notice the increase in the death roll, but it's there.
00:10:21If you don't break, they can accidentally torture you to death, and if you do break, they'll kill you for it.
00:10:25Her gaze drops to my dagger, and she looks concerned.
00:10:28It's going to be a shitty few days, but I'll be alright.
00:10:31I made it this far.
00:10:32Breaking bones is a Tuesday for me.
00:10:34Since when do you use two rich daggers?
00:10:36She holds mine up, examining the black hilt in the decorative rune and the pommel.
00:10:40I haven't seen runes like these in, a while.
00:10:42Zayden gave them to me.
00:10:44Gave, she hands it back.
00:10:46I won them from him during his parang match last year.
00:10:48I shaded my ribs beside the others as she lifts his skeptical eyebrow and chuckles.
00:10:52So yeah, he pretty much gave them to me.
00:10:54Ha, she tilts her head to the side and studies me, seeing more than I want her to, like always.
00:10:59They look custom.
00:11:00They are, they're harder to knock out of my hands than the traditional length and not as heavy.
00:11:05She doesn't look away as we walk back to the throwing line.
00:11:08What?
00:11:08I feel my cheeks hate.
00:11:10He has a vested interest in keeping me alive.
00:11:12I know you don't like him.
00:11:14I know you don't trust him.
00:11:15He's a reason, she says.
00:11:17You shouldn't trust him, either.
00:11:19I don't.
00:11:19I look away after the whispered confession.
00:11:22But you are in love with him.
00:11:23She heaves a frustrated sigh and throws a dagger.
00:11:25That's, I don't even know what that is.
00:11:27But, unhealthy, is the first word that comes to mind.
00:11:30It's us.
00:11:31I mumma and change the subject.
00:11:32Why did they station you here, anyway?
00:11:34I choose a squatter on the target in the upper abdomen, then hit it.
00:11:37Samara is warded, and you are a walking shield.
00:11:39Kind of a waste of your signet.
00:11:41She's a shield.
00:11:42Why the hell didn't I think of asking her about the wards sooner?
00:11:45Maybe the answer isn't in a book.
00:11:47Maybe it's in Meera.
00:11:48After all, her signet is the ability to extend the wards,
00:11:50protect the protections with her even where they shouldn't be able to stretch.
00:11:53She glances back at the sparring pair.
00:11:55I think they're worried about attacks here because this outpost has one of the biggest power supplies for the wards.
00:12:00If this place falls, a giant portion of the border is vulnerable.
00:12:02Because they're set up like dominoes.
00:12:05I throw another dagger, wincing when I'm not as careful as I should be on my aching knee.
00:12:09Not exactly, ward would you know about it?
00:12:12She throws another without looking and hits the target through.
00:12:14Fucking show off, I mutter.
00:12:16Is there anything you don't excel at?
00:12:18Poisons, she answers, flicking another dagger at the target.
00:12:21Never had the aptitude for them like you and Brennan.
00:12:23Or maybe it's just that I could never sit still long enough to listen to dad's lessons.
00:12:27Now tell me what you know about the wards.
00:12:29She shoots a sideways look at me.
00:12:30Viewing isn't taught until third year, and anything beyond is classified.
00:12:34I read, I shook and hoped is in ill.
00:12:36It looks nonchalant.
00:12:37I know that they originate from the wardstone in the whale because of the hatching grounds located there, and that they're boosted with a pass apply along.
00:12:44Our border outposts to expand their natural distance in places and maintain a strong defense.
00:12:48All common knowledge, or at least researchable.
00:12:50She flings another knife, they're woven to the ground out here, she says quietly as the pair behind us continues firing.
00:12:56Think of an umbrella, the wards stone is the stem, and the wards take the shape of a dome woven over.
00:12:59She motions with her hands, forming the shape, but just like an umbrella spokes are strongest to the stem, by the time the wards reach the ground, they're too weak to do much without a boost.
00:13:09Provided by the alloy, I whisper.
00:13:10My heart starts to pound.
00:13:12And the dragons, she nods, two lines appearing between her brows.
00:13:15You know about alloy, are they teaching that now?
00:13:18Or dead dad?
00:13:19It's the alloy stored in the outcoast that tug some of those umbrella spokes forward.
00:13:22I continue, flipping my dagger in my hand by pure muscle memory.
00:13:25Extending the wards twice as far as dead normally reach in some cases, right?
00:13:29Right?
00:13:30And what's it made of?
00:13:32That's definitely above your clearance.
00:13:34She scoffs.
00:13:35Fine, it stings a little that she won't tell me.
00:13:37But how do you weave new wards?
00:13:39Like if we wanted to protect places like Ethiobine.
00:13:41Flip, flip, flip.
00:13:43I keep moving the dagger and hope she sees it is casual.
00:13:46You don't.
00:13:46She shakes her head.
00:13:47The extensions are what we weave.
00:13:49It's like continuing a tapestry that's been stretched too far.
00:13:51You are just adding threads to something that already exists, and we can't extend the wards
00:13:55to Ethiobine.
00:13:56We've tried, but who told you?
00:13:58Is that how you seem it works?
00:13:59I stop flipping, because you're basically a wad, right?
00:14:03Not exactly.
00:14:03I kind of pull the wards with me.
00:14:05Sometimes I can manifest on my own, but I have to be close to an outpost.
00:14:09Kind of like I'm just another thread.
00:14:11What has gotten into you?
00:14:12She flicks another dagger, and it lands dead center.
00:14:14Do you know how the wards tone works?
00:14:16I ask, lowering my voice to a whisper.
00:14:19No, her eyes flare.
00:14:20Keep throwing before curious ears start listening.
00:14:23I beautifully throw another.
00:14:24That information is way beyond my rank, and yours.
00:14:27Her next dagger lands right next to the first.
00:14:29Why are you asking?
00:14:30Just curious.
00:14:32Don't be.
00:14:32It's classified for a reason.
00:14:34Her wrist flicks another knife toward the target.
00:14:36The only people who know are the ones who need to know, just like every other piece of
00:14:39classified intelligence.
00:14:41Right.
00:14:41I force a smile and throw my next dagger with a little more strength than necessary.
00:14:45Time to change the subject.
00:14:46Maybe she knows, or maybe she doesn't, but she's definitely not going to tell me.
00:14:50Speaking of classified, do you want any of the missions to check the Peromish city is
00:14:53the damage?
00:14:54I put my hands up when she boxed at me.
00:14:56They told us about it in battle brief.
00:14:57It's not secret anymore.
00:14:59No, she answers, but I saw one of the riots who did the flying while Tyne and I were out
00:15:03on patrol.
00:15:05My stomach twists.
00:15:05Do you know anyone who was on the missions?
00:15:07No.
00:15:08Another knife.
00:15:09Another hit.
00:15:09But I read the reports.
00:15:11Did they give those to you?
00:15:12I shake my head, and you trust the reports.
00:15:14It doesn't come out as casually as I'm trying for.
00:15:17Of course, she searches my eyes for answers I can't give.
00:15:20Why wouldn't I?
00:15:21Why wouldn't you?
00:15:22Her hands make a quick, outward motion, and the noise of the sparring pair disappears.
00:15:25It's a sound shield, just like she used in Monserat.
00:15:28A lesser magic, but still a tricky one I haven't mastered.
00:15:31Tell me what's going on with you, now.
00:15:33I was thrown into a battle with Darkwielders, lost one of my closest friends, fought an
00:15:37actual venom on the back of my dragon, and then was mended by our very not-dead brother.
00:15:41Nothing.
00:15:42She gives me the look.
00:15:43The one that always loosened my thing when we were kids.
00:15:45I remember, if there was only one person on the continent I could tell, it would be
00:15:49Mira.
00:15:50I just think it's weird that you wouldn't know anyone on the missions into Coromiel.
00:15:53You know everyone, and how do you know that Vichysaur was one of the riots tasked
00:15:57with reconnaissance?
00:15:58I ask.
00:15:58Because there were over a dozen dragons in the distance to the south, over the border.
00:16:03What the hell else could it have been, Violet?
00:16:05She gives me a skeptical look.
00:16:07This is it, this is the opening to tell her the truth.
00:16:09The chance to bring her in so she fights on the right side of this conflict, so she can
00:16:12see our brother.
00:16:13Vyvan, she saw Vyvan, but it's not just my life I'd risk by telling her.
00:16:17My heart sinks, but I have to.
00:16:19Zayden could never understand, he doesn't have a sister.
00:16:22I don't know, I whisper.
00:16:24What if they're Vyvan?
00:16:25There, I said it, kind of.
00:16:26She blinks and draws her head back.
00:16:29Say again.
00:16:30What if you survive in?
00:16:31What if they're destroying Poromish cities, since we both know it isn't dragons?
00:16:34My hand trenches around the hilt of my last dagger.
00:16:37What if there's an entire war out there we know nothing about?
00:16:39Her shoulders deep in sympathy fills her eyes.
00:16:42You have to spend less time reading those fables, Vy.
00:16:45Have you been getting enough rest since the Gryphon attack?
00:16:47Because you sound like maybe you're not sleeping.
00:16:49The concern in her tone breaks me down like nothing else could.
00:16:52And it's hard to see combat for the first time, let alone as a first year, but if you
00:16:55don't get enough sleep in present a stable, steady front, riders have to be solid, Violet.
00:17:00You understand what I'm saying?
00:17:02Of course she doesn't believe me.
00:17:03I wouldn't either.
00:17:04But she's the only person in the world who absolutely, unconditionally loves me.
00:17:08Brennan let me believe he was dead, would still let me believe it.
00:17:11Mom has never seen me as anything but a liability.
00:17:13Zayden, I can't even go there.
00:17:15No, I shake my head slowly.
00:17:17No, I'm not sleeping very well.
00:17:19It's an excuse, and I take it.
00:17:21Heaviness settles in my chest.
00:17:23She sighs, and the relief in her eyes eases a little of the weight in mine.
00:17:26That explains it.
00:17:27I can recommend some really great ease that will help.
00:17:29Come on, let's get these daggers out and get you to bed.
00:17:32You've had a long flight, and I have duty in a few hours anyway.
00:17:35She leads me to the targets, and we remove the daggers once again.
00:17:39You are on duty with Zayden.
00:17:40I ask to fill the silence as we pull blade after blade from the wood.
00:17:44No, he's in the operation center, which is above my clearance, I know.
00:17:49I have a patrol flight.
00:17:50She puts her arm around my shoulders.
00:17:52Don't worry.
00:17:53We'll get to spend some time together when you're here next.
00:17:56Every two weeks, right?
00:17:57Right?
00:17:58T.
00:17:59Alexis.
00:18:00His sky is black when Zayden slides into bed shirtless, the moment baking me from a fitful
00:18:04attempted sleep.
00:18:05Enough moonlight comes through the window to see the harsh, beautiful lines of his face
00:18:08as he turns toward me, both of us lying on our sides.
00:18:11Enough moonlight to see a silver scar cross his heart I somehow missed in the fighting pits.
00:18:15Was he wounded at Resson?
00:18:17You were awake.
00:18:18He leans onto his elbow, propping his head on his hand.
00:18:21I don't sleep well anymore.
00:18:22No, I took the summer weight blank to tuck over my shoulder as if he hasn't seen me
00:18:25in less than the slip of nightgown I'm wearing.
00:18:28And I don't have it in me to fight tonight.
00:18:30Then we won't fight.
00:18:31Because it's too simple, even my sarcasm is exhausted.
00:18:35It is if that's what we decide.
00:18:36His gaze wonders over my face, softening with every second.
00:18:39What time is it?
00:18:41A little after midnight.
00:18:42I wanted to talk to you earlier, but there was an incident.
00:18:45Mira, I jolt up right, fear-stabbing deep.
00:18:48She's fine, everything's fine, just some civilians trying to cross the border and the infantry,
00:18:52wasn't pleased.
00:18:54They weren't pleased.
00:18:55They killed them, he admits softly.
00:18:57Happens all the time out here, just doesn't get briefed at bizarre.
00:19:00Lie back down, the suggestion is gentle.
00:19:02Mira is perfectly fine.
00:19:04Weak you civilians.
00:19:05That information goes straight to the box.
00:19:07I almost told her today.
00:19:09I whisper the confession as my head hits the pillow, even knowing no one can hear you isn't here.
00:19:13For all my anger, you're right got to trust me, because I almost told her.
00:19:16I even hinted, hoping she'd catch on.
00:19:18A bitter laugh looks free.
00:19:20I want her to know.
00:19:21I want her to see Brennan.
00:19:22I want her to be on her side.
00:19:24I just, my throat threatens to close.
00:19:26Zayden reaches out and talks my cheek.
00:19:27There's no reproach in his gaze, or even judgment, though I've just given him reason to shut me out for the rest of our lives.
00:19:33His silence, the quiet acceptance in his eyes, keeps me talking.
00:19:36I just feel, heavy, I admit.
00:19:38I don't have anyone who knows who I really am anymore.
00:19:41The guy that first considered my best friend nearly got us killed.
00:19:44I'm keeping secrets from Rhiannon, from my sister, from, you.
00:19:47There's not a single person in this world I'm entirely truthful with.
00:19:50I haven't exactly made it easy for you to trust me, he says, stroking his thumb over my cheek.
00:19:55I'm still not making it easy.
00:19:57But you and I are not easy people.
00:19:58What we build together has to be strong enough to withstand a storm.
00:20:01Or a war, easy isn't going to give that to us.
00:20:04What we build together, the words make my reckless heart clench.
00:20:07I should have told you I was reading into the words.
00:20:09I rest my hand on the warm skin of his lung.
00:20:11I knew you'd tell me not to, and I'd probably do it anyway, but mostly I didn't tell you because, I can't even say it.
00:20:16Because I don't tell you everything, either.
00:20:19His thumb strokes across my cheek again.
00:20:21You put it between us on purpose.
00:20:23Gave yourself a secret.
00:20:25Because I wouldn't share all of mine.
00:20:27I nod.
00:20:28You are allowed to have secrets.
00:20:29That's the point.
00:20:30I'd preferably not risk everything I've worked to work for the last few years, or your life.
00:20:34And yes, I'm still not happy about this crime, but we're not fighting tonight.
00:20:37I just need to know the important things.
00:20:39I won't withhold information that could change how you make decisions, and I ask the same of you.
00:20:44His thumb continues the same soothing, lazy pattern.
00:20:46I don't want us to have secrets, but he's already made it clear that's not changing.
00:20:50So maybe it's time to try another tactic.
00:20:52How long will you hold on to the weapons for?
00:20:55A corner of his mouth turns upward.
00:20:56I won't meet up with the drift for another couple of weeks.
00:20:59Holy shit, it worked.
00:21:01You answered.
00:21:02I did.
00:21:02He smiles, and an egg wakes in my chest.
00:21:04How did it go with Varish?
00:21:06Ten nearly ripped out soul as his throat, which worked for getting and and out of maneuvers but may end up causing me bigger problems in the future.
00:21:12A small smile spreads across my face.
00:21:14Look at us, having a conversation without fighting.
00:21:17We'll keep an eye on situation.
00:21:19I'm slightly worried I'll kill Varish if he pushes it to burn out again.
00:21:22There's no teasing in his voice, and I know he'll do it.
00:21:25What's with the weaving book you left me after graduation?
00:21:28I change the subject with a small, infused shake of my head.
00:21:31And the strips of fabric.
00:21:32Do you think I'm suddenly going to start crafting?
00:21:35Just thought you might like to keep your hands busy.
00:21:36He shrugs with one shoulder, but the devious glint in his eye says it's something more than that.
00:21:41So I keep them off other cadets.
00:21:43I just thought you might like to explore an aspect of Turkish culture.
00:21:46I can weave every knot in that book.
00:21:48He flashes a smile.
00:21:49It'll be fun to see if you can keep up with me.
00:21:52In fabric knots, has he fallen off S.T.A.E.Y.L. recently?
00:21:56Culture, violence, his hand slides to the base of my neck, and his gaze turns serious.
00:22:00Do you have nightmares about wrestling?
00:22:02Is that why I can't sleep?
00:22:04I
00:22:04Nod, I dream of a million different ways we could have lost.
00:22:07Sometimes I dream it's Imogen who dies, or Garak, or you.
00:22:10Those are the ones that make it impossible to sleep after it, the ones where their sage takes him from me.
00:22:15Come here, he wrapped his arm around my waist and tugs, rolling me toward him.
00:22:19My back settles against his chest as he tucks me in close.
00:22:22Gods, he hasn't held me like this since the night we destroyed my room.
00:22:26Warmth infuses every inch of my exposed skin, pushing the cold from my bones.
00:22:29The ache in my chest expands.
00:22:32Tell me something real, it comes out as a plea.
00:22:34Just like it did last year.
00:22:35He sighs and curls around me.
00:22:37I know who you really are, Violet.
00:22:39Even when you keep things from me, I know you, he promises.
00:22:42And I know enough about him to be a real liability with the interrogation portion of RSC coming up.
00:22:47I'm still not strong enough to shield you out.
00:22:49Right now, with his arm draped across my waist, I'm not sure I want to.
00:22:53I'm not a good measure of his skill, he says against the bare skin of my shoulder, and a
00:22:57sugar of awareness ripples through me.
00:22:59The day you can successfully block me all the way out is the day I'm dead.
00:23:02We're both dead.
00:23:03I can't block you out entirely, either, which is how you found me in this sub-level even
00:23:06when my shields work.
00:23:07You might not be able to barge through, but you are aware I'm dead.
00:23:10Just like you can muffle tans and anderenous emotions but you can't block them out forever.
00:23:14My breath hitches, so I might be strong enough to block Dane.
00:23:18Yes, if you keep the shields intact at all times.
00:23:21What's alloy made of, I ask, heavy with the knowledge that I can keep Dane out.
00:23:26An amalgamation of teludium, a few other rolls, and dragon egg shells.
00:23:30I blinked with surprise, both his answer and the fact that he told me.
00:23:33Dragon egg shells, well that's weird.
00:23:35They're metal and still carry magic long after the dragons hatch.
00:23:38His lips clean the back of my neck as he inhales, then sighs.
00:23:41Now go to sleep before I forget all my honorable intentions.
00:23:45I could remind me of some very fun, very dishonorable ones.
00:23:48I lean back into him, and he throws his leg over mine, locking me down tight.
00:23:52You want to give me those three little words?
00:23:54I, Stephen, live a life of war and enter one of peace, blending people, languages, and culture
00:23:59from every region of the continent and forming a cohesive, united society, whose only goal
00:24:03is mutual security.
00:24:05Nava, An Unlimited History by Colonel Lewis Malcolm
00:24:07Chapter 21
00:24:09I
00:24:10We decided rolling dismounts might be the death of me yet.
00:24:13Thursday morning begins with my arm in a sling that's secured around my ribs with a strap,
00:24:17immobilizing my shoulder, thanks to yesterday's maneuvers.
00:24:20Turns out Ten was right, and though I am capable of making it to his shoulder, my body doesn't
00:24:23take the impact of the actual landing very well.
00:24:25We both agreed this time, accommodations will need to be made before graduation.
00:24:30How is it feeling today?
00:24:31Liannon asks as we walk into the history class we share with third wing on the second floor.
00:24:34Like Ten set me down and I just kept going, I answer.
00:24:38It's not my first sprain.
00:24:40He will say it should be about four weeks in the sling.
00:24:42I'm giving it to, maybe, I'll be the first on the challenge board after threshing if I
00:24:45give it much longer than that.
00:24:47You could ask Nolan, the dog starts, then stops when he sees the look on my face.
00:24:51What, don't tell me Varish won't let you get mended.
00:24:54Not that I'm aware of, no, I can't as we find our seeds.
00:24:58I put my name on Nolan's list, but I was told he likely wouldn't have an opening before
00:25:01it healed naturally.
00:25:03Rish you'll feel like he's told you so but I just give my head a quick shake.
00:25:06This is not the place to explore her conspiracy theories, even.
00:25:10If they're starting to feel more and more like there might be some truth to them.
00:25:14I've never known a menu with a waiting list a month long.
00:25:17Thursdays are my second favorite day of the week.
00:25:19No maneuvers, no RSC, no physics.
00:25:21I unload the heavy textbook and the notes I took on today's assigned reading, which
00:25:24is more like review for me.
00:25:26There hasn't been a single thing in this class one hadn't already studied with my
00:25:29father or Malcolm, or that I don't have trouble believing is true now.
00:25:33Then I take out a few strips of the bright blue fabrics Aiden left me and put them in
00:25:36my lap.
00:25:37I've got two of the notes in the book down already, and I'm determined to have two more
00:25:40by the time he gets here on Saturday.
00:25:42It's a ridiculous thing to challenge me on, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to lose.
00:25:45Even a sling won't stop me.
00:25:47Wonder who's actually here to teach, Sawyer says, stepping over the back of his chair
00:25:51from the row behind us and sitting next to a rock on my left.
00:25:54Pretty sure I just saw most of the leadership making a run for the flight field.
00:25:57My heart stops.
00:25:58What?
00:25:59Only a major attack would empty this path of leadership.
00:26:01I turn in my seat to look out the window behind us, but the view of the courtyard isn't
00:26:04helping.
00:26:06They were running.
00:26:07Sawyer makes a running motion with his first two fingers.
00:26:09That's all I know.
00:26:10Good morning.
00:26:11Professor De Vera walks in, her smile tight as she passes three rows of tables and chairs
00:26:15to get to the front of the room.
00:26:16I'll be filling in for Professor Levenie.
00:26:18He was called away due to an attack on the eastern wing.
00:26:20She makes a quick study of his cluttered desk, then picks up the hook on top.
00:26:24You'll hear about it in Battle Brief tomorrow, but so far there's only one death.
00:26:27Her throat works before she looks up from the book.
00:26:29Missane Sanborn, some of you may have known him, since he's a recent graduate.
00:26:34Missane, oh my gods, no.
00:26:36His face flashes through my mind, smiling as he pushes his glasses up his nose.
00:26:40It could be coincidence.
00:26:41There's no logical way an attack would be used to cover up a single death, right?
00:26:45Unless they assassinated him during the attack, I mumbled under my breath.
00:26:48We weren't even friends.
00:26:49I didn't even know him that well, but out of the ten of us who flew into wrestling, now
00:26:53only six are still alive.
00:26:55What?
00:26:55Leans into my space.
00:26:57Violet.
00:26:57I blink quickly and twist the fabric in my lap.
00:27:00It's the thing.
00:27:01Reese browses lower, but she sits back in her seat.
00:27:03I see he has you discussing the second sign I incursion from year 328.
00:27:08Deborah rubs the back of her neck, but I honestly don't see how that has any practical application.
00:27:13That makes most of us.
00:27:14Redock comments, tapping his pen against his textbook, and goes around us to kill.
00:27:18But just to say we did, Deborah continues, running a hand up and down a faded star marring
00:27:22the warm bronze skin on her palm.
00:27:24Everyone should know that the end result of the four-day temper tantrum was signized in
00:27:27being absorbed into the kingdom of Poromi, where they've been for the last 300 years.
00:27:31History and current events are tied because one influences the other.
00:27:34She glances up at the map on the wall that's about a fifth of the size of the one in the
00:27:37briefing room.
00:27:38Can anyone tell me the differences between Poromi's provinces and ours?
00:27:42The room is quiet.
00:27:43This is important, cadets.
00:27:44Deborah moves to the front of Professor Leveni's desk and leans back against it.
00:27:48When no one answers, she gives me an arch look.
00:27:51Poromi's provinces maintain their individual cultural identities.
00:27:54I answer, someone from Signazin is more likely to label themselves as a Signai instead of
00:27:58Poromish.
00:27:59As opposed to our provinces, who unified under the protection of the first words,
00:28:02chose the common language, and blended the cultures of all six provinces into one cohesive
00:28:06kingdom.
00:28:06I recited merely verbatum from Malcolm's book.
00:28:09Except to render, someone from the left remarks.
00:28:11Third being, they never quite got the unified message, did they?
00:28:15My stomach sinks, asshole.
00:28:17No, Deborah points her finger at the guy.
00:28:19That's what we're not going to do.
00:28:21It's the means like that that threaten the unity of Nava.
00:28:23Now, Sorenge brought up a good point that I think some of you are missing.
00:28:26Nava chose the common language, but who was it common to?
00:28:29She calls on someone from their section.
00:28:32The Taldia, Dekon Shreya, and Nelson Provences, the woman answers.
00:28:35Correct, Deborah's gay sweeps over us just like it does in battle brief when she expects
00:28:39us to not only think through the answers but come up with the questions ourselves.
00:28:42Which means what?
00:28:43The Lucerese, Moraine, and Tyrene of Provences lost their languages, so our answers shifting
00:28:48in his seat.
00:28:49He's from Lucerese, along the bitilico north-western coastline.
00:28:52Technically they gave them up willingly for the good of the unification, but other than
00:28:55a few words here and there being assimilated, they're dead languages.
00:28:59Correct, there is always a cost, Deborah says, annunciating every word.
00:29:02That doesn't mean it's not worth it, but not being aware of the price you pay to live
00:29:06under the protection of the wards is how rebellions happen.
00:29:08Tell me what the other costs have been.
00:29:09She folds her arms and weights, come on, I'm not telling you to commit reason, I'm
00:29:14asking for historical facts in a history class of second year riders, what were sacrificed
00:29:19in the unification?
00:29:20Travel, someone from close section answers, we are safe here, but we are not welcome beyond
00:29:24our borders, nor is anyone welcome past ours.
00:29:27Good point, Deborah nods, Neva might be the largest kingdom on the continent, but we are
00:29:31not the only one.
00:29:32Nor do we travel to the isles anymore.
00:29:34What else?
00:29:35We lost native parts of our culture, a girl with rebellion relic winding around her arm
00:29:39answers from two rows ahead.
00:29:40Tales section, I think, not just our language, our songs, our festivals, our libraries, everything
00:29:45in Tirish had to be changed.
00:29:47The only unique thing we kept were our runes because they're in too much of our architecture
00:29:50to justify changing.
00:29:52Like the ones on my daggers, the ones on the columns of the temple in Aritya, the ones
00:29:56I am currently weaving in my lap.
00:29:58Yes, somehow Deborah makes that word sound both sympathetic and blend at the same time.
00:30:02I'm not a historian, I'm a technician, but I can't imagine the depth of what we lost
00:30:06knowledge-wise.
00:30:07The books were all translated into the common language, someone from third wing argues.
00:30:11Festivals still happen, songs are still sung.
00:30:14And what was lost in translation?
00:30:16The Tirish girl ahead of me asks.
00:30:18Do you know?
00:30:19Of course I don't know.
00:30:20His lip rises in a sneer.
00:30:21It's a dead language to all but a few scribes.
00:30:24I drop my gaze to my notebook.
00:30:26Just because it's not in Tirish doesn't mean you can't walk into the archives and read
00:30:29whatever translated Tirish book you want.
00:30:31It's his haughty, arrogant tone that fits my temper.
00:30:34No, actually you can't.
00:30:36I drop the fabric in my lap.
00:30:37For starters, no one can just walk into the archives and read whatever they want.
00:30:41You have to put in a request that any scribe can deny.
00:30:44Secondly, only a portion of the original scribe spoke to Tirish, meaning it would have taken
00:30:47hundreds of years to translate every text, and even then, there are no historical tomes
00:30:51older than 400 years in our archives that I know of.
00:30:54They're all 6th, 7th, or 8th editions.
00:30:56Logic dictates that she's right.
00:30:58I gesture up to the girl a few rows ahead.
00:31:00Things are lost in translation.
00:31:02He looks ready to RU.
00:31:04Cadet Tribor, if I were you, I would consider the fact that Cadet Soren Gale has spent more
00:31:07time in the archives than anyone else in this room, and then I would carefully consider
00:31:10an intelligent response.
00:31:12She arches a brow.
00:31:13The guy from Third Wing shoots a glare in my direction and sits back in his chair.
00:31:16We lost our folklore, Rhiannon says.
00:31:19Every muscle in my body locks.
00:31:21Davira cocks her head to the side.
00:31:23Bow on.
00:31:24I'm from a border village near Sigmisen, Rhiannon says.
00:31:27A lot of our folklore came from the other side of the border, probably as a result of the
00:31:30migration of the first year, and as far as I know, none of it's written.
00:31:34It only survives as in moral history.
00:31:36She glances my way.
00:31:37Violet and I were actually talking about this last year.
00:31:39People raised in Caldea or Lucerys or other provinces aren't raised with that same folklore.
00:31:43They don't know the stories, and generation by generation, we're losing it.
00:31:47She looks left, then right.
00:31:48I'm sure all of us have similar stories, depending on where we grew up.
00:31:52Soya knows stories, Riddock doesn't.
00:31:53Riddock knows stories, Violet doesn't.
00:31:55Impossible, Riddock counters, Violet knows everything.
00:31:59Soya laughs and I roll my eyes.
00:32:01All excellent points.
00:32:02Davira nods, a satisfied smile curving her mouth.
00:32:05And bothered the migration of the first year givers.
00:32:08A more unified culture, a girl from 10 section answers, not only within our provinces but
00:32:12throughout the continent.
00:32:13And it allowed those in what's now poor only a chance to live under the safety of the
00:32:16wards if they choose to move.
00:32:18One year, that's all Nava gave before we closed our borders.
00:32:21And if you couldn't afford to move your family, couldn't risk the treacherous journey,
00:32:24nothing about war, or the aftermath, is fine.
00:32:27Correct, Davira says, which means there's every chance that when you fly against a drift,
00:32:31you could encounter a distant relative.
00:32:33The question we must all ask ourselves as we enter services, are our sacrifices worth it to
00:32:37keep the citizens of Nava safe?
00:32:39Yes, the answer is muttered all around me, some writers saying it louder than others.
00:32:43But I keep quiet, because I know it's not only Nava paying the price, it's everyone outside
00:32:47the awards.
00:32:49T.
00:32:50He jim buzzes with anticipation that afternoon is the combat professors call the first names
00:32:53of the day to the mats.
00:32:55These will be the last challenges for months.
00:32:57The first years will have the benefit to worry about starting next week, then presentation
00:33:00and refreshing.
00:33:01And the second years will start disappearing by the squad for a few days at a time so they
00:33:04can teach us how to take torture.
00:33:06Fun times.
00:33:08A squad from tail section is called to a mat.
00:33:10I really hope I get called to the mat today.
00:33:12Redog bounces on his toes.
00:33:14I'm in the mood to take some ass.
00:33:16That makes one of us.
00:33:17I tighten the strap of my singe over my armor.
00:33:19Looking across the mat, I nod to Imogen, lifting my eyebrows as she talks with Sloane.
00:33:24She nods back with a smile, telling me wordlessly that Sloane is ready to take on her opponent
00:33:27today.
00:33:28Rhiannon and Sawyer are doing the same with the other first years, checking in his names
00:33:31are called out around the gym.
00:33:33I glance Alex's way, but as usual, he's completely, totally focused, tuning out everything around
00:33:37him as he stares at the mat.
00:33:39How bad do you think the attack on the eastern wing is?
00:33:42It has to be something massive to call out half the leadership all day long, Redog muses.
00:33:46Big enough to kill Miss Ian.
00:33:48Speculating is only going to fuel rumors, Dane says, taking the empty place on my left side.
00:33:53Fuck, I managed not to have to interact with him for weeks.
00:33:56I stuck closer to Redog and locked every brick of my shields in place.
00:33:59As opposed to not noticing that most of the professors flew out of here like the wards
00:34:03have fallen, Redog asks.
00:34:05The wards haven't fallen, Dane barely spares him a glance, crossing his arms.
00:34:09You'd know if they had.
00:34:10You think we'd be able to feel it, Redog asks.
00:34:13We would have been called out, too, I say, and the dragons would have told us.
00:34:17Can't you ask your mom, Redog twigs his head.
00:34:20The woman who knew I was missing for a week, then told me to get back in formation when she
00:34:24realized I'd survived my first combat mission.
00:34:26Yeah, I'm sure she'll be forthcoming with all the information.
00:34:29I give him a sarcastic thumbs up.
00:34:31The first pairs fall to the mat, and I am simultaneously horrified and grateful I don't know the first
00:34:35year's name.
00:34:36You finally going to talk to me?
00:34:38Dane asks.
00:34:39No, I don't give him the courtesy of even looking at him in.
00:34:41To be sure he gets the point, I move to Redog's other side, putting him between us.
00:34:46Come on, Violet.
00:34:47He walks behind Redog, then squeezes in between Queen and me.
00:34:50You have to be ready at some point.
00:34:51We've been friends since you were five.
00:34:53We are no longer friends, and I'll be ready to talk when sight of you doesn't make me want
00:34:57to bury my knife in your chest all the way to the fucking hill.
00:35:00I walk away before I act on the urge to stab the memory-stealing asshole.
00:35:03You cannot keep running away from me.
00:35:05I lift my middle finger and round the corner of the mat, taking the spot next to Rhiannon.
00:35:10What was that about?
00:35:11She asks, wincing when our first year takes a punch to the kidneys.
00:35:13Dane being an asshole, as usual, sometimes the best answer is the simplest.
00:35:19Our first year kicks out, catching Dave's section directly in the mouth, and blood sprays.
00:35:23I don't get it.
00:35:24She shoots me a confused look, leaning into mama so Dane doesn't overhear.
00:35:28I figured the thing at graduation was humaneous and big measuring, but you don't speak to
00:35:31A2s anymore.
00:35:32I thought he was your best friend.
00:35:33Sure, your two grew apart last year, but do not even be on speaking terms.
00:35:38Was, my gay facts Dane as he walks around the mat to Professor Emetrio.
00:35:41He was my best friend.
00:35:43For 15 years, there was no one.
00:35:45Closer, I thought he was going to be my everything.
00:35:48Look, I'll hate him on principle if that's what we're doing.
00:35:51No problem with that, but I know you, and you don't put people out like that unless they
00:35:54hurt you.
00:35:55So tell me, as your friend, did he hurt you?
00:35:58She asks quietly, or is this something else we aren't talking about?
00:36:01My throat clenches.
00:36:02He stole something from me.
00:36:04Seriously, her gay space is mine, then report him for a violation of the codex.
00:36:07He shouldn't be our wingleader.
00:36:09If only she knew what her last wingleader had been stealing.
00:36:12It's more complicated than that.
00:36:14How much can I tell her without it being too much?
00:36:16Our first year pulls off a quick comeback, getting his akunan's leg into a bow and arrow
00:36:20submission maneuver.
00:36:21It's a quick tap out after that.
00:36:22We all clap.
00:36:23So far, we're looking like the sport to beat again this year, especially with the way
00:36:26our act is racking up the wins.
00:36:29Emetrio looks at Dane, then pierce his throat.
00:36:31I breathe deeply, waiting for him to call Sloane's name.
00:36:33You will show, Emetrio asks.
00:36:35It's within my rights' wingleader, he disarms, including his sheets and dropping them at
00:36:39the edge of the mat.
00:36:40What the actual hell?
00:36:42Not denying that, Emetrio rubs a thick hand across his shaved head.
00:36:46Next match is Dane A2's against Violet Sorangale.
00:36:49My stomach hits the floor.
00:36:50If my sheets slip, I could doom every win in Aritya and every Makhon in the quadrant.
00:36:55Imogen's eyes aren't just wide, they're huge as she looks at me, backing away from
00:36:58the mat before quickly disappearing.
00:36:59Where is she going?
00:37:00It's not like she can run and get Zaden to interfere like last year.
00:37:03I'm on my own.
00:37:05No fucking way, Rhiannon shakes her head, she's wounded.
00:37:08Maybe not entirely on my own.
00:37:10And since when does that matter?
00:37:12The other squad leader counters.
00:37:13Breathe, I need to breathe.
00:37:15This is bullshit.
00:37:16I look Dane in the eyes when I say it, and he simply folds his arms across his chest.
00:37:20There's no getting out of this.
00:37:21He's a wingleader, he can challenge whomever he wants whenever he wants, just like Zaden
00:37:25had last year.
00:37:26Ironically, I've been in far less danger the first time Zaden had taken me to my back
00:37:29on the mat.
00:37:30Then, I've been gambling with just my life, but this could get the people I care about
00:37:34kill.
00:37:35Keep your shields in place, Dane warns.
00:37:37His agitation rolls through me, prickling the hair on my neck.
00:37:41Dane steps out onto the mat, completely disarmed, but I've seen him spar.
00:37:44He's not Zaden, but he's deadly enough without any weapons, and I'm down and numb.
00:37:48You shouldn't do this, Bodhi shouts as he runs at us, skidding to a stop next to me.
00:37:53Imogen isn't far behind.
00:37:54Ah, she'd run to find the closest person to Zaden possible.
00:37:57Makes sense, she's in a fucking sling, it was.
00:38:00Last time I checked, you're a section leader.
00:38:02Dane narrows his eyes on Bodhi, and your cousin isn't having litter anymore.
00:38:05I am, the muscles in Bodhi's neck bulge.
00:38:08Zaden's going to fucking kill him, he whispers.
00:38:10Yeah, well, he isn't here.
00:38:12It's fine, I lie, reaching for my first dagger.
00:38:15Just remember who trained me.
00:38:16I'm not talking about hand to hand.
00:38:17And from the loop Bodhi gives me, he knows it, too.
00:38:21Keep the daggers if that makes you feel better.
00:38:22Good at Soren Gale, Dane says, finding the center of the mat.
00:38:26My eyebrows shoot up.
00:38:28You know she's good enough to kill you from here with those, Bodhi reminds him.
00:38:31She won't.
00:38:32Dane cocks his head at me.
00:38:33I'm her oldest friend, remember?
00:38:35And this is certainly friendly behavior, Rian encounters.
00:38:39Taking a fortifying breath, I secure every break in my shields just like Zaden taught me and step out onto the mat,
00:38:43calming one of my daggers in my free hand.
00:38:46If it comes between killing Dane and saving Zaden, there's no choice.
00:38:49A material signals the beginning of the match, and Dane and I circle each other.
00:38:53Reach for my face, and I'll cut you open, I want him.
00:38:57D, he responds a second before he lunges for me, going for the torso.
00:39:00I know his moves and easily dodge the first attempt, spinning out of reach.
00:39:04He's fast, being chosen as being better wasn't all nepotism.
00:39:07He's always been good on the mat.
00:39:09You're faster this year, he smiles like he's proud of me as we circle again.
00:39:13Zaden taught me a few things last year.
00:39:16He winces, then attacks, swinging for my torso again.
00:39:18I flip my dagger so the blade runs perpendicular to my forearm as I duck under his jaw, then
00:39:22punch up hood, putting him under the jaw without cutting him.
00:39:25Fuck yes, I hear a rock chair, but I don't take my eyes off Dane.
00:39:29Dane blinks, then rotates his jaw.
00:39:31Damn, this time, he comes at me faster.
00:39:33It's harder to duck and dodge his swings without my arm to balance, but I hold my own until
00:39:36he catches me unaware and sweeps my feet out from under me with his.
00:39:40My back slams into the mat and pain erupts in my shoulder, so sharp that stars swim in
00:39:43my vision and I cry out.
00:39:45But damn if my blade isn't at Dane's throat when he peens me with a form at my collarbone
00:39:48or heartbeat later.
00:39:50Shields, I have to keep my shields up.
00:39:52I just want to talk to you, he whispers, his face ilches from mine.
00:39:55The pain is nothing compared to the ice cold fear of having his hands this close to me.
00:40:00And I just want you to leave me the fuck alone.
00:40:02I hold my knife steady right where he can feel it.
00:40:04It's not an idle threat, Dane.
00:40:05You will bleed out on this mat if you even think of taking a single one of my memories.
00:40:10That's what Reyson meant when he said at your vine, isn't it?
00:40:13He asks, his tone just as soft as his eyes, those familiar eyes I've always been able
00:40:16to count on.
00:40:17How the hell did we end up here?
00:40:19Fifteen years of the closest.
00:40:21Friendship I've ever known, and my knife could end him with a flick of my wrist.
00:40:25You know damn well what he meant, I reply, keeping my voice down.
00:40:28Two lines appear between his brows.
00:40:30I told my father what I saw when I touched you.
00:40:32When you stole my memory, I correct him.
00:40:35But it was a flash of a memory.
00:40:36Reyson told you he'd born to at your vine with his cousin.
00:40:39He searches my eyes.
00:40:40Second years don't get leave for that kind of flight, so I told my father.
00:40:44I know you were attacked on the way there, but I had no way of knowing.
00:40:47You said I'll miss you.
00:40:48It comes out in a hiss.
00:40:49And then you sent me to die, sent Liam and Soleil to their deaths.
00:40:52Did you know what was waiting for us?
00:40:54No, he shakes his head.
00:40:56I said, I miss you, because you chose him.
00:40:58I told you I knew things about him, that he had reasons you don't know about to hate you,
00:41:02and you still chose him.
00:41:03I knew I was saying goodbye to any chance of us on that field.
00:41:06I had no clue Griffins were waiting to ambush you.
00:41:09If you expect me to believe that, then you're sorry misjudged me, and I know every reason
00:41:12Zayden has to hate me, and none of them matter.
00:41:15You know about the scars on his back, he challenges, and I contemplate cutting into his throat to
00:41:19get him off me.
00:41:21The 107th of the marked ones he is responsible for.
00:41:23Yes, you are going to have to do better then.
00:41:26Do you know who carved those wounds into his skin?
00:41:29I blink, and, fuck him, he sees it, the flash of doubt.
00:41:32Tap out, Sawyer shouts from the edge of the mat.
00:41:35My hand is a little busy at the moment, I respond without looking away from Dane.
00:41:39Violet, Dane starts.
00:41:41You may have been my oldest friend, my best friend, but that all died the day you violated
00:41:45my privacy, stole my memory, and got Liam and Sule.
00:41:49Tilde, I will never forgive you for that.
00:41:51I pressed just hard enough for the blade to scrape against the stable skin of his upper
00:41:54throat.
00:41:55His eyes flare with something that looks like devastation.
00:41:57Your mother did it, he whispers and Sule rises, first to his knees, removing his forearm
00:42:01from my collarbone, and then to his feet.
00:42:03She wins, he says as he walks off the mat.
00:42:05I tap out.
00:42:06He didn't mean that, there's no way my mother sliced into Zarin a hundred and seven times.
00:42:11Dane's just trying to get under my skin.
00:42:13I lie there for a handful of breaths, calming my racing pulse.
00:42:16Then I shoot my blade and roll, gaining my feet awkwardly.
00:42:19Amatrio calls the next challenge, and I walk off the mat and take my place between Riannon
00:42:23and Bodhi like nothing happened.
00:42:25Violet, the question in Bodhi's eyes makes me shake my head in reply.
00:42:29He didn't touch me, every secret in my head is safe.
00:42:31Bodhi nods, then leaves Amatizarek faces off against a guy from tail section who looks
00:42:36like he might actually have a shot of ending Rx winning streak.
00:42:39Walk with me, Riannon demands, her joke ends.
00:42:42Now, are you pulling rank on me?
00:42:44Do I have to?
00:42:45She folds her arms across her chest.
00:42:47No, of course not.
00:42:49I sigh, then follow her to the edge of the gym.
00:42:51Was that about the something he stole?
00:42:53Riannon asks, because whatever it was, it wasn't about defeating you.
00:42:57Yes, I answer, rolling my neck is the after effects of the adrenaline roll through me,
00:43:01nursery taking the lead.
00:43:02She waits for me to add to my answer, and when I don't, she sighs.
00:43:06You've been off all day.
00:43:07Is it because of the attack?
00:43:09Yes, I glance over her shoulder and glimpse image in watching us.
00:43:12Does she know myself instead?
00:43:14Are you really going to make me pry answers out of you?
00:43:17Her arms fall to her sides.
00:43:18I swear to Amari, if you answer with a yes one more time.
00:43:22I say nothing instead.
00:43:23I heard what you said in history, you know.
00:43:25She drops her shoulders.
00:43:27You said something about an assassination.
00:43:29Fuck, yeah, I guess I did.
00:43:31She studies me, her gaze flickering between my eyes.
00:43:34Who else besides Miss Aena's dead that went to a turbine with you?
00:43:37My gaze slides with hers, and my heart starts to pound.
00:43:40Karen, he was in third squad.
00:43:42I'm not telling her anything that isn't easily answered by anyone else.
00:43:44And you were attacked on assessment day.
00:43:47Imogen's been targeted twice since parapet, too.
00:43:50So were both Yenia.
00:43:51Her gaze narrows.
00:43:52Dane has one of those classified signets.
00:43:53She whispers.
00:43:54What did you steal?
00:43:55Violet.
00:43:56Gods.
00:43:57She's putting it together too quickly.
00:43:59She's also heard as much of the truth as I can give her.
00:44:01A memory.
00:44:02I say slowly.
00:44:03Her eyes flare.
00:44:04He can read memories.
00:44:05I nod.
00:44:05No one is supposed to know.
00:44:07I can keep a secret.
00:44:08Violet.
00:44:09Her flashes across her features, and I feel another thread of our friendship unravel as though I pulled
00:44:13it myself.
00:44:13A chorus of cheers goes up behind us, but neither of us looks.
00:44:17I know.
00:44:18It's barely a whisper.
00:44:19And I trust her implicitly.
00:44:20But not every secret is mine to tell.
00:44:22Dread digs its claws into my stomach.
00:44:24She's going to figure it out.
00:44:25It's only a matter of time.
00:44:27And then her life will be in as much jeopardy as mine.
00:44:30Dane stole one of your memories.
00:44:31She repeats.
00:44:32And now you think the other writers with the during war games are being picked off.
00:44:36Stop.
00:44:36I beg her.
00:44:37Do us both a favor and just.
00:44:39I shake my head.
00:44:40Stop.
00:44:40Her brown heads.
00:44:42You saw something you weren't supposed to, didn't you?
00:44:45She tilts her head to the side, then looks away.
00:44:47I stop breathing.
00:44:48I know that look.
00:44:49She's thinking.
00:44:50Is that the memory he stole?
00:44:52No.
00:44:52I am here.
00:44:53Thank God she's off the mark with that one.
00:44:55Movement to the right catches my attention.
00:44:56And I glance over to see Yarek walking our way, cradling his left wrist.
00:45:00Shit.
00:45:00I think he's heard.
00:45:02What killed they?
00:45:02Rhiannon asks.
00:45:04Suddenly, there's not enough oxygen in the room, on the entire continent, but I manage
00:45:08to pull air through my lungs as I face her.
00:45:10You already know that part of the story.
00:45:12Not from you.
00:45:13She sees quietly, her brown eyes twinkling at the edges as she narrows them.
00:45:16You were holding Liam, and then you had to fight.
00:45:18That's what you said.
00:45:19What killed?
00:45:20They?
00:45:21The whispered words that need is a quick.
00:45:22Was it another dragon?
00:45:23Is that what happened out there?
00:45:25No.
00:45:26I shake my head emphatically, then turn as Yarek reaches us.
00:45:29Finally lose.
00:45:30He scoffs, of course not, but I did break my wrist.
00:45:33I'm supposed to come tell you, he says to Rhiannon.
00:45:36I'll take him to the infirmary, I tell her.
00:45:39Violet, she starts, her tone indicating that she doesn't think our conversation is over,
00:45:42but it is.
00:45:43It has to be.
00:45:44Stop.
00:45:45I turn my back on Yarek and lower my voice.
00:45:47And don't ever ask me that question again.
00:45:49Please don't make me lie to you.
00:45:50Her head draws back, and she stares at me in stern silence.
00:45:54Let's go, I say to Yarek, then start walking to the exit, shoving what just happened
00:45:58with Rian towards quickly becoming an overfull box.
00:46:00He catches up, his long legs favoring the distance quickly.
00:46:03The corridor of the academic wing's first floor is deserted when we enter, and our booted
00:46:06footsteps echo against the windows.
00:46:08So where does your father think you are?
00:46:10I ask his return toward the root in the, trying to take my mind off everything I just let
00:46:14sit to Rhiannon and everything I didn't.
00:46:16He thinks I am on my 20th birthday tour.
00:46:18Yarek answers, rubbing his hand over his square jawline in light brown scruff, disgust curling
00:46:22his upper lip.
00:46:23Drinking and fucking my way across the kingdom.
00:46:26Sounds like way more fun than what we are doing here.
00:46:28I push the door open with my good arm.
00:46:30What part of this isn't fun?
00:46:32He asks, walking ahead and opening the next door with his unbroken hand.
00:46:35Between the two of us, we have a full set of functioning arms.
00:46:39I crack a smile as we enter the dormitory corridor.
00:46:41Ever the charmer, aren't you?
00:46:42Damn, I wince.
00:46:43Yarek, sorry, it's been a hell of a long day.
00:46:46And all I want is to tell Zayden about it, but he won't be here for two more days.
00:46:50We head down the steps, and though Yarek is roughly the same height as Zayden, he shortens
00:46:54his stride so I can keep up easily.
00:46:56She's catching on, isn't she?
00:46:58He says when we reach the tunnels.
00:46:59The hair's on the back of my neck lift as I look up at Yarek.
00:47:02Catching on to what, exactly?
00:47:04They haven't hidden it all away as well as they think they have.
00:47:07His jaw flexes, it's easy to figure out if you know what you were looking for.
00:47:10Personally, it was the daggers my guard.
00:47:12He shoots a look at me, the ones with the little metal discs.
00:47:15My heart pounds so loudly I can hear it in my ears.
00:47:18Daggers, metal discs.
00:47:20The guards with the hardest slip, too, he says with a grimace.
00:47:22They won't tell my father they've lost me until they absolutely have to.
00:47:26I'm just hoping it's after threshing.
00:47:27He can't do shit after threshing.
00:47:29Dragons don't even answer to kings.
00:47:31Oh shit, my chest feels like it's caving in as I grab hold of his good arm, holding our
00:47:35step before the tunnel.
00:47:36You know, don't you?
00:47:38He lifts a brow, the mage lights catching on those roly green eyes.
00:47:41Why else would I be here?
00:47:43Oceano left, stealing every other sound, even my own heartbeat.
00:47:47Ted's going to die, and he doesn't even see it coming for him.
00:47:50Bold flick is near the tip of his wing.
00:47:52Gods, no.
00:47:53Anderna, she's here.
00:47:54She shouldn't be here.
00:47:56The wave nips at my heels, transforming the ground beneath my feet into an ashen, desiccated
00:47:59wasteland.
00:48:01There is nowhere to run, rider.
00:48:03A hooded figure steps into my path out of nowhere, raising one arm.
00:48:06I'm yanked off my feet by an unseen force and lifted into the air, impeding immobilized.
00:48:10The wave of death holds and the wind falls silent, as if he stopped time.
00:48:14He shifts his staff to the other hand, then pulls back the thick maroon wood of his flow-length
00:48:18rogues with null fingers, revealing the white of his scalp under his sick back, thinning
00:48:21hair.
00:48:22Shadows mark the burnt hollows of his cheekbones on a nearly youthful face, and his lips are
00:48:26cracked and dry, just like the land behind me.
00:48:28But it's his red-rimmed eyes, the distended way inspired rubbing across his temples and
00:48:31cheeks, that have me fighting to open my mouth, straining to scream.
00:48:35Venon.
00:48:36So disappointing, he lectures, as if he's my sage and not the teacher of the dark mirror
00:48:39I killed on ten's back.
00:48:41All of that power at your fingertips, and yet you insist on fleeing over and over, using
00:48:45the same failed tactics, and expecting what?
00:48:47He tilts his head to the side.
00:48:48To escape, my ribs tighten around my lungs as terror takes hold, and I force a garbled
00:48:52sound through my throat, but it does nothing to want ten in and run out.
00:48:56There is no escaping me, rider, he whispers, his fingers ghosting over my cheek but not quite
00:49:00touching.
00:49:00Fight me and die, or join me and live beyond the ages.
00:49:03But you will never escape me, not when I've waited centuries for someone with your power.
00:49:07Fuck you, it comes out as a whisper, but I mean it with every bone in my body.
00:49:11Death it is, he looks so, disappointed as he lowers his hand.
00:49:15Windhouses I fall to the ground.
00:49:17A scream tears through my body as a wave of agony rolls over my skin and bones, leeching
00:49:20the very essence of my energy entered.
00:49:22I
00:49:23Wake, my heart pounding, my skin clammy, my fingers wrapped around my black-headed dagger.
00:49:28Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.
00:49:31Eh
00:49:31Lee, you going to tell me where we are going?
00:49:34I ask Satan on Saturday as he leads me downstairs from my dorm room.
00:49:38To best pass forge, he says as we emerge from the academic wing into the empty courtyard.
00:49:42It's finally the time of year when the temperature outside matches inside.
00:49:45Autumn is settling in.
00:49:47My chest tightens as I realize he's taking me to see where they steal the weapons, and
00:49:50what that means.
00:49:51He's letting me in.
00:49:53Thank you for trusting me.
00:49:54The words don't do the feeling justice.
00:49:56You're welcome.
00:49:57He looks down at me, his expression shifting.
00:49:59Will I earn a little thrust back now?
00:50:01I nod, tearing my gears away from his before I do something reckless like let those three
00:50:05little words he want spill out just because we're having a moment.
00:50:08But I can share with him a secret of mine as well.
00:50:10I found a text that said the first six didn't just establish the words but personally carve
00:50:13the first word stone.
00:50:15We knew that.
00:50:16Partially, we crossed down to the tunnels to the fly field, and I nodded one of our first
00:50:20ears.
00:50:21Channing, Chapman, Charan, shit, it's something like that.
00:50:24I'll learn it in a couple of weeks, after threshing.
00:50:26The text said first word stone.
00:50:28Which means if they carve the one here, there's a good chance they carve the one in Aritya.
00:50:32I'm on the right track.
00:50:33Good point.
00:50:34He jerks open the door to the tunnels, and I walk inside.
00:50:37I know what I need to look for, but I'm not sure where it would even exist.
00:50:41Which is, he asks as we move toward the stairs.
00:50:43My pulse is flowing with excitement to finally see the forge, get a look at the luminary that
00:50:47the revolution needs so badly, too.
00:50:48I need a first-hand account from one of the six.
00:50:52My father talked about seeing one months, so I know they exist.
00:50:55Question is if they've been translated and redacted into uselessness.
00:50:58We turn into the staircase and both stop abruptly.
00:51:00Major Varash blocks our path.
00:51:02Ah, nice to see you, Lieutenant Reyson.
00:51:04His smile is just as greasy as ever.
00:51:06Fear squeezes my heart.
00:51:08Zayton is carrying in if contraband to see him executed two dozen times.
00:51:12Wish I could say the same, Zayton retorts.
00:51:14Found her, Varash calls up the stairs.
00:51:16Shouldn't you be headed over to the main campus?
00:51:18Reyson.
00:51:19Surely that's where officers lodge when visiting.
00:51:21His gaze flicks my way.
00:51:23It takes all my willpower not to retreat.
00:51:25There you are, Kudret Sorengeil.
00:51:27Professor Grady offers me a genuine smile as he descends, his arm linked through Red Orcs,
00:51:31whose hands are behind his back.
00:51:33Red Orcs shoots me a warning look, and Red settles heavily in my chest.
00:51:36No, not today.
00:51:38We are being taken.
00:51:39Turns out, you're quite hard to catch by surprise, Professor Grady says, a note of admiration in
00:51:43his voice.
00:51:44Yador doesn't allow anyone inference.
00:51:46He glances at Zayton, his focus shifting to the exposed swirls of his rebellion relic just
00:51:50under his jaw.
00:51:51I'm guessing she has it a thang for that, since second year's fund ward.
00:51:54Makes nabbing her for interrogation training a little difficult.
00:51:57I'm not going to apologize.
00:51:59Zayton's eyebrows lower as Varysha's riders, the ones who usually dump my belongings on
00:52:02the flight field, both turn the corner above Professor Grady.
00:52:05One escorts Rhiannon, and the other, Sawyer.
00:52:07Both of them have their hands bound behind their backs.
00:52:10Looks like our squad is next for interrogation, and I almost just saw the mother of all secrets
00:52:14around here.
00:52:15I force myself to breathe, fighting to keep the nausea at bay.
00:52:18She's on leave, Zayton sweeps me to the side, putting me behind his back.
00:52:22And recovering from an injury, shadows race from the edges of the stable, rising to form
00:52:26a waist-high wall.
00:52:27He used this opportunity to kill you for the embarrassment and put him in so less true.
00:52:31You can't possibly know that.
00:52:33His intentions are pretty fucking clear.
00:52:35Trust me.
00:52:36No, you are on leave, Varysha says, the light sparkling in his eyes.
00:52:40Couldette's orange ale is headed out for training.
00:52:41He jabs his finger at the wall of shadow and winces.
00:52:44Well, that's fascinating.
00:52:45No wonder you're so coveted.
00:52:47The pair of you really are quite something.
00:52:49You can't protect me from this any more than you could freshing, I tell Zayton, stepping
00:52:52out from shelter of his body.
00:52:54You know it's true.
00:52:55You won't mind it, threshing, he counters.
00:52:58I'm not yours now, I remind him.
00:53:00I'll be fine, I say out loud.
00:53:01Drop the barrier.
00:53:03Do listen to your little girlfriend, Varysha suggests.
00:53:05I'd hate to report that you disobeyed a direct order, or worse, cancel her leave for next
00:53:09weekend.
00:53:10There's really nothing you can do here.
00:53:11Oh, fuck, that is not the way to deal with Zayton.
00:53:14Ordering him around only makes him push that much harder.
00:53:16And separating Tan and S-G-A-E-Y-L for two weeks is more than they can take.
00:53:19I'm not in your chain of command, therefore I'm under no obligation to follow your fucking
00:53:24orders, and there's always something I can do.
00:53:26She's in no condition to be tortured, and if her fucking wingleader isn't here to advocate
00:53:29for her, then I will.
00:53:31S-G-A-E-Y-L.
00:53:32I reach out through the one pathway I avoided almost every cost.
00:53:36They're going to cancel next week's leave if he doesn't relent.
00:53:39How hurt are you, great he asks, concern on his face.
00:53:42Disvocated my shoulder lastly, I answer.
00:53:44I chose him for his inability to relent, S-G-A-E-Y-L reminds me.
00:53:48Not helpful at the moment, though I need to remind you of what he's carrying.
00:53:52Fine, but only so this conversation ends.
00:53:55Having later is otherwise engaged, Varysha says to Zayton, and feel free to continue to
00:53:58are you with me.
00:53:59You're right, you're not under my chain of command, but as I had to remind her dragon,
00:54:03she is.
00:54:04Or did you not hear about her disciplinary session?
00:54:06I'd hate for her to have to repeat it simply for you to learn your lesson, lieutenant.
00:54:09Then again, you could always join us.
00:54:12Zayton smiles, but it's not the kind that forms my heart.
00:54:15It's the one that chills every cell in my body to ice, the cruel, menacing curve I first
00:54:18saw on the days when he was my wingleader.
00:54:20One day, Major Varysha, you and I are going to have words.
00:54:23He drops the shadow barrier and lifts up around me.
00:54:26You went to S-G-A-E-Y-L.
00:54:27I make no apologies for saving your ass from your own stubbornness.
00:54:31I put out my good hand, and Grady steps forward, binding it mercifully to the one protruding
00:54:35from the sling.
00:54:36At least he didn't wrench my heart.
00:54:39Shoulder behind my back, but damn, the rope is tight.
00:54:42There's a book on my desk that needs to be returned to the archives.
00:54:45Anger burns in the depths of his gold-fled chronic size.
00:54:48I see that it's done.
00:54:48See you next week, I whisper.
00:54:51Tell her page 304 mentions of text I'd like to read next.
00:54:55Next week, he responds with a nod.
00:54:56His lips flinched as Varysh walks by with the others in my squad.
00:54:59Violence.
00:55:00Remember, it's only the body that's fragile.
00:55:02You are unbreakable.
00:55:04Unbreakable, I repeat to myself as Professor Grady leads me away.
00:55:07Oceano FPDF.com
00:55:09The things that happen behind closed doors in the writer's quadrant in order to turn young
00:55:13cadets into full-fledged writers are enough to turn even the staunchest stomachs.
00:55:17Those prone to queasiness should not pry.
00:55:19Major Offender's Guide to the Writer's Quadrant, Unauthorized Edition
00:55:22Chapter 23
00:55:23T
00:55:24Hiki can be found in my desk drawer.
00:55:27As far as secret phrases go, that bun is laughable and creative, but nevertheless,
00:55:31it's the one I am quietly given after we enter the training facility.
00:55:34The entrance is so well hidden in the cliffside under the foundation walls of the quadrant
00:55:37that I've never seen it in all the years I've lived here.
00:55:39It's remarkably accessible for its intended purpose.
00:55:42The anti-chamber of the windowless, but it cave isn't too bad as far as torture chambers
00:55:46come.
00:55:47It could even double as an office.
00:55:48A large wooden desk consumes the center of the space, with high-backed chair on one side
00:55:52and two on the other.
00:55:53They disarm us as soon as we arrive, our weapons taking up a respectable amount of the desk surface.
00:55:58But it's the two chambers beyond that make me wish I hadn't eaten breakfast.
00:56:01Both doors are braced with steel, and both have a barbundu currently held closed by a
00:56:05steel latch.
00:56:06You've all been given your classified information to protect, Professor Grady says, leaving us
00:56:10into the chamber on the right.
00:56:11There's a star wooden table in the center of the dome-shaped room with six chairs, and
00:56:15along the cobblestone walls are five wooden beds with no mattresses and a door that I'm
00:56:18desperately hoping leads to a bathroom or things are going to get awkward over the next
00:56:21couple of days.
00:56:22Have a seat, he gestures to the table.
00:56:24We all do as we are told.
00:56:26Rhiannon and I take the chairs across from Sawyer and Redock, the wood scraping the stone
00:56:29as we sit, all managing it without the use of our hands.
00:56:33For right now, we are in what's called a classroom sitting.
00:56:35Remember what that means?
00:56:36Professor Grady reaches behind Sawyer, and a second later, Sawyer's hands are free.
00:56:41It means we are not in the graded scenario, Rhiannon answers.
00:56:43We can ask questions.
00:56:45Correct.
00:56:46Professor Grady moves to Redock and does the same.
00:56:47The purpose of this exercise really is to teach you how to survive capture, he issues
00:56:51us.
00:56:52These next couple of days are instructional only.
00:56:54He reaches for my bonds next, untying the rope with surprising gentleness.
00:56:58It's an assessment.
00:56:59So you know which buttons to push when it's the real thing, Redock says, rubbing his wrists.
00:57:04Exactly.
00:57:04Professor Grady smiles.
00:57:05Is it going to be fun?
00:57:07Absolutely not.
00:57:08Are we going to show your mercy?
00:57:09Also, no, he moves on to Rhiannon once my hands are free.
00:57:12And Vice Command and Varish seems to have taken an interest in your squad, no doubt because
00:57:16you have quite the legacy here in Kudets Orangil.
00:57:18So unfortunately, it looks like we'll all be evaluated in how we handle this.
00:57:22Two riders walk in with trays of food and pewter muds, setting them down on the table.
00:57:26There are more than enough biscuits for the four of us in a jar of what looks to be strawberry
00:57:29jam.
00:57:30Eat and drink, Professor Grady says, gesturing to the trays.
00:57:33You won't have the opportunity once we enter the scenario.
00:57:36Also, he flashes a grin, there's a patch of food grabs if you manage to escape.
00:57:40Though from what I hear, no squad has managed it in the last decade.
00:57:43It's as good as ours, Redock responds.
00:57:46Confidence, Professor Grady nods at Redock.
00:57:48I like that in a second gear.
00:57:50He moves toward the door, then turns.
00:57:51I'll let you know when we begin the scenario.
00:57:53Until then, you all need to share a secret.
00:57:55Something no one else outside the four of you could possibly know.
00:57:58And yes, we are going to try and force it out of you, along with the secret phrases
00:58:03you've already been given.
00:58:04Remember the coping mechanisms you've been taught in class so far, and this will be over
00:58:08before you know it.
00:58:09Every rider who graduates has sat where you are sitting and made it through what you're
00:58:12about to experience.
00:58:12Have faith in yourself.
00:58:14We are doing this to you, not to you.
00:58:16He offers a final reassuring smile, then takes his leave, shutting the door behind him.
00:58:21Rhiannon moves immediately to the door, examining the bars and sealed hatch.
00:58:24It's not sound shielded that I can tell, but if we keep our voices down, we should have a
00:58:28modicum of privacy.
00:58:29She tries the handle, and we are definitely locked in.
00:58:32Soya passes out the food onto the four plates we've been given.
00:58:35It's also, civilized.
00:58:36I know it as he slides a plate in front of me.
00:58:39Rhiannon checks the other door.
00:58:40And that's a bathroom, thank gods.
00:58:42I wonder if they take it away during the actual test.
00:58:44Redock muses, slathering jam onto his biscuit with the lone knife we've been provided.
00:58:48Fuck, I hope not.
00:58:50Soya says, taking the knife from Redock.
00:58:52Anyone else wondering if we are expecting company?
00:58:54He nods toward the bed on the end.
00:58:56Statistically, five second ears are alive and each scored at this point, I say, reaching
00:59:00for one of the mugs on the tray.
00:59:02We lost the lean.
00:59:02Silence falls for a second, then two.
00:59:04Well, we are not losing anyone else.
00:59:07The four of us will make it to graduation.
00:59:09Rhiannon says, grabbing a mug for herself, too.
00:59:12She sniffs it, then sets it down.
00:59:13Smells like apple juice.
00:59:15Alright, we don't know how much time we have, so let's go.
00:59:18Pick a secret, any secret, and share with the group.
00:59:21The knife in jambo to her next.
00:59:22I'll start.
00:59:23Last year while we were at Montserrat, Violet and I slid out so I could see my family.
00:59:27You what?
00:59:28Saw his brows rise.
00:59:30Redock swallows his bike.
00:59:31Badass, didn't know you had it in you to break the rules, Violet.
00:59:34Oh, Violet's full of secrets, aren't you?
00:59:37Rhiannon shoots a look my way and hands me the knife.
00:59:40Really?
00:59:40I dish out the jam a little too aggressively.
00:59:43Whoa, Redock glances between us.
00:59:45Am I picking up on some tension?
00:59:47No.
00:59:47Rhiannon says, I simultaneously answer, they look at each other.
00:59:50Both are shoulders sad, and she sighs, looking away.
00:59:53I guess that's where our line is drawn.
00:59:54This thing we are going through is just between us.
00:59:56We are fine, she says.
00:59:58Somehow that makes me feel a little better, but not much.
01:00:02I bite into the biscuit and chew thoroughly just in case whatever they could ask through
01:00:05makes me puke it up later.
01:00:06I need a secret I can share that won't get any of them killed.
01:00:10I didn't tell my parents I had to repeat, Sawyer says, his gaze locked on his plate.
01:00:14They didn't even question my first letter this year.
01:00:16They assumed to try this quadrant to let's couldn't write for the first two years, and
01:00:19I let them believe it.
01:00:20I just didn't want them to be embarrassed of me.
01:00:23You're not an embarrassment, I say softly, reaching for my mug.
01:00:26And I am sure they're just glad you're alive.
01:00:28So many of us aren't.
01:00:29Agreed.
01:00:30Redog nods, his hand wrapped around his mug.
01:00:32I am terrified of snakes.
01:00:34That's a shitty secret, Sawyer counters, his mouth lifting into a smile.
01:00:38Surprise me with one, and Lucy just how shitty.
01:00:40Besides, you didn't know it, so I think it qualifies.
01:00:43Redog shrugs, we are not supposed to have a weakness in the quadrant, right?
01:00:47That's my weakness.
01:00:48I scream like a toddler every time I see one.
01:00:50Everyone looks my way, here we go, I'm in love with Zayden Riasen.
01:00:54Mira, them, I seem to be able to say the words to anyone who isn't Zayden.
01:00:58Hate to break it to you, but that's not a secret, Redog says, shaking his head.
01:01:02Yes, it is, I.I.U., my grip tightening on the mug.
01:01:06No, Sawyer chimes in.
01:01:07It's really not.
01:01:08Hasn't been for a while, Riyadhs, giving me the first real smile I've seen from Hainbeads.
01:01:13You are going to have to do better than that.
01:01:15They're supposed to be my center, my backbone, my safe place.
01:01:18That's why squad mates are forbidden from killing each other.
01:01:21Venon, Wyvin, the Daggers, the Wads, Anderna, Brennan, Aratia, I have too many secrets to
01:01:26count, and none of them are safer for it, they're just blissfully ignorant.
01:01:30Can't my secret be the same as Riyadhs?
01:01:32I ask.
01:01:32No.
01:01:33They all answer.
01:01:34One thing.
01:01:35There has to be one thing I can tell them that might help prepare them for what's coming.
01:01:38Our infantry is killing Peromish civilians at the border.
01:01:41What?
01:01:42Sawyer leans in, his fickle standing out as the blood drains from his face.
01:01:45There's no way, Riyadhs argues.
01:01:47Riyadhs stare silently at me.
01:01:49Happened while I was at Samara.
01:01:51I look them each in the eye.
01:01:52Whether or not we're getting updated at Battle Brave, it's happening.
01:01:55Good in a secret.
01:01:57They all nod, and I look away when I catch Riyadhs studying me.
01:02:00Good, I say, lifting my mug.
01:02:02The others do the same.
01:02:03I breathe in, tilting the mug to drink.
01:02:05Stop.
01:02:05I hiss, don't drink it.
01:02:07I set it down like the poison it is.
01:02:09What the hell?
01:02:10Riddock asks.
01:02:10Bring his mug on the table.
01:02:12It smells like the water they gave us before the land navigation course.
01:02:15I whisper.
01:02:16Riyadh and Sawyer sit theirs down, too.
01:02:19They're trying to disconnect us from our dragons.
01:02:20Sawyer notes.
01:02:22Ordella admits, Riyadh and adds.
01:02:24Did anyone drink?
01:02:25We all shake our heads.
01:02:27Good, don't tell them.
01:02:28Fake the disconnect.
01:02:29She rises quickly and we follow, each dumping the content of our mugs in the toilet.
01:02:32We can survive for three days without water, and we should be out of here tomorrow.
01:02:36No matter how thirsty we get, we'll live.
01:02:38We hold the line.
01:02:40Now I understand the biscuits.
01:02:41My mouth feels like everyone eating sand.
01:02:43We hold the line.
01:02:44Sawyer agrees as we return to the table and sit.
01:02:47For tomorrow, I say we break out tonight.
01:02:49Riddock whispers.
01:02:50There have to be keys that you can transport, right?
01:02:52He says to re.
01:02:53Not through walls.
01:02:54She shakes her head.
01:02:55I'm close but not there yet.
01:02:57Or you can bend the metal hinges.
01:02:59That one is directed to Sawyer.
01:03:00Hell, I can pull moisture out of the air and force ice through the law.
01:03:03He turns to me.
01:03:05I'm of absolutely no use in this situation.
01:03:07I lean back in my chair.
01:03:08The door swings open and Professor Grayley walks in.
01:03:11We can't reach our dragons.
01:03:12Riddock whispers.
01:03:12Riddock whispers.
01:03:13Riddock whispers.
01:03:13Riddock whispers, lifting her chin.
01:03:14You tricked us.
01:03:15Lesson number one.
01:03:16He holds up a finger.
01:03:17We are always in scenario.
01:03:19Ten minutes later, we find out what the second chamber holds.
01:03:22Not much.
01:03:22When they chain the rock, Riddock, and Sawyer to the rock wall they've been ordered to sit against.
01:03:27They're close enough to bither this.
01:03:28They can almost but not quite touch as there is so often hanging manacles.
01:03:31There are at least six other sets on either side of the trio, and the mage lights above
01:03:35us show every red blood spatter on the stone.
01:03:37I'm guessing the seat is for me.
01:03:39I ask Professor Grayley, I'm in the stained wooden chair in the center of the cylindrical
01:03:42room and its shackles along each armrest and leg.
01:03:44My heart pounds like it has a chance of escaping my chest, escaping this room.
01:03:48There's a drain under the chair, but I refuse to even think about what it's for.
01:03:51It is, he motions, and I sit, ignoring every instinct to flee.
01:03:55Panic pretends to choke me as he locks my right arm into the shackle, then does the same
01:03:59with both of my legs, yeling my dislocated shoulder in the sling.
01:04:02Here is where I leave you.
01:04:04You what?
01:04:05Riddock pulls against the shackles at his wrists, but they don't give.
01:04:08I'll read the reports and give you my advice before the exam, he tells us.
01:04:12But we learned a long time ago that it doesn't exactly foster trust between cadets and professors
01:04:15if you're the ones doing the christening.
01:04:17He looks at each of us in turn.
01:04:19Remember what you've been taught.
01:04:20Dare try to separate you, turn you against one another, or make you think that.
01:04:25Talking is an act of mercy.
01:04:26Use the strategies from your reading.
01:04:28Lean on one another, I'll be just outside the entrance.
01:04:31You make it to me, you earn the patch.
01:04:33Good luck, he smiles like he didn't just serve us up to be beaten, then leaves.
01:04:37Is now a good time to admit that I haven't done this portion of the reading?
01:04:40Riddock asks once we are alone.
01:04:42No, Rhiannon shoots him a glare.
01:04:44Violet, are you alright?
01:04:45Sawyer asks.
01:04:47I'm the only one in a chair, so I feel like I'm one up on you guys, I joke, but it falls
01:04:51flat as the door opens behind me.
01:04:53Two writers I've never seen before, one man, one woman, enter.
01:04:56The man offers us a smile.
01:04:58Well, hello there, you are all prisoners selected for interrogation, he says, leaving against
01:05:02the wall, just out of reach from Sawyer.
01:05:04He's average, unremarkable in height, looks, even his hair.
01:05:07I could have passed him a dozen times in the halls of this guy, or any of the outposts, and
01:05:11not noticed him.
01:05:12Same goes to the woman.
01:05:13It's as if being unmemorable is necessary to the job.
01:05:15The woman circles me, a vulture's hunting for weakness.
01:05:18I lift my chin, determined to show none.
01:05:21You each have one piece of information we need, the man says.
01:05:24Give it up now, and this all ends.
01:05:26It's as easy as that.
01:05:27My map is under my mattress, Riddock says.
01:05:30My jaw fucking drops.
01:05:31Ah, going with the start lying immediately so they won't know when you tell the truth
01:05:34strategy.
01:05:35The man grins, good one, but unfortunately for you, my signet is similar to Lieutenant Norris
01:05:39and has to do with your bodily functions.
01:05:41In layman's terms, I'll know when you are lying, and you are lying.
01:05:45The woman lashes out, the back of her hand striking my cheek so hard that my head snaps
01:05:48to the side.
01:05:49Pain bursts and I blink rapidly, then run my tongue over my teeth.
01:05:53No blood.
01:05:54Silver one.
01:05:55Not now.
01:05:55I slam my sheaves up to spare him this.
01:05:58Violet, Riddock shouts, surging against his chains.
01:06:01I'm alright, I tell him, tell all of them.
01:06:04I do what I always do, compartmentalize the pain and push past it, forcing a smile.
01:06:08See, fine, Rihanna quickly masks her horror, but Sawyer doesn't bother to hide his disgust
01:06:12with the captors.
01:06:13You're the weakest, that's why you're first up, the woman says, disdain dripping from
01:06:17her low voice.
01:06:18We've read the files on all of you.
01:06:20She drops the crouch in front of me, then looks me over, her attention catching on my hair,
01:06:24the sting of heated mighty good time show bears her handprint, and finally the sling.
01:06:28How did someone as frail as they survive your first year?
01:06:30You three carried her, didn't you?
01:06:32The man says, looking at my squadmates.
01:06:34What an unfair burden to put on first years.
01:06:37Don't tell them anything they can use against us, Rihanna nodders.
01:06:40The woman laughs, as if we don't know everything already.
01:06:43She stands slowly, tell us the secret you were keeping.
01:06:46Fuck off, I brace, and show in if, her hand flies at my face.
01:06:49This time, I taste blood, but none of my teeth are loose.
01:06:52I build a mental wall around the pain, picturing it disappearing beneath the box I build for
01:06:56it, just like I do with my shields.
01:06:58Quiet the mouth for General's daughter, the woman sneers.
01:07:01Who do you think I got it from?
01:07:03Her facade sips, and she genuinely smiles her heartbeat before muscling it.
01:07:07How about this, any of you give up your secret, and I won't shuttle her pretty little face.
01:07:12It's going to take a lot more than that to break us, Rihanna says.
01:07:15I couldn't agree more, don't watch.
01:07:17I tell my squadmates, then brace.
01:07:18She hits from the other side, striking higher, and my cheek explodes.
01:07:22At least that's how it feels.
01:07:24The initial wave nauseates me, then dissipates into a dull throw.
01:07:27My vision in my right eye blurs and something wet recals down my cheek.
01:07:30Maybe she's not the key, the woman says, backing away from me and heading for the others.
01:07:34Maybe you are all sick and tired of having to carry.
01:07:37Her frail wave, she tips Rihanna's head up.
01:07:40Or maybe she's only strong for herself.
01:07:41She close fist punches him in the face.
01:07:43Blood and saliva hit the wall next to him.
01:07:45Rage overtakes the pain, and I try to rock forward, but not only are my arms and legs
01:07:50shackled, the chair is bolted to the floor.
01:07:52She looks over her shoulder at me.
01:07:54You have the power to make it stop.
01:07:55She hits again.
01:07:57I close my eyes and wish I could close my ears when I hear his grunt after the next punch.
01:08:01And the next, and the next, when I open my eyes, correction, I, we've all taken a hit.
01:08:06Let them sit with that for a minute, the man suggests.
01:08:09They'll soften up in a couple of hours.
01:08:11The woman agrees and they leave us, shutting the door but not the hatch on the window.
01:08:13Well, this fucking sucks.
01:08:16So I spit blood onto the floor.
01:08:17Violet, your eye, Rihanna says softly.
01:08:20It's swelling shed, not falling out.
01:08:22I shrug with my good shoulder.
01:08:23If that's the air opening, what's next?
01:08:25Riddock asks.
01:08:26His cheek is split wide open.
01:08:28They'll try to turn us against one another, Rihanna announcers.
01:08:31We don't break.
01:08:32Agreed.
01:08:33Agreed.
01:08:33We all say it.
01:08:35The worst part isn't the pain or the swollen eye.
01:08:37It's the hours of waiting, the not knowing when they're going to come back and dish out
01:08:40worse.
01:08:40And then worse, something leaves us all with more bruises in various places.
01:08:44I'm pretty sure that last blow left, so I can curse.
01:08:47Without windows, it's impossible to know how much longer we have to hold out for when
01:08:50we don't know what time it.
01:08:52What time is it?
01:08:53I ask Satan, lifting my shoes just enough to communicate.
01:08:56Almost midnight, he answers.
01:08:58Are you?
01:08:59Don't finish the question.
01:09:00You know what happens down here.
01:09:02Yeah, I do.
01:09:03It's almost midnight.
01:09:04I tell the others quietly.
01:09:06We still have all night to go.
01:09:07Is Satan listening for the bells?
01:09:09Sawyer asks, turning his face against his shackled arm to clear some of the blood off.
01:09:13Not exact.
01:09:14The door opens and the man walks in carrying a pewter mug.
01:09:17Who's thirsty?
01:09:18He drops down in front of Sawyer, blocking my view of his face.
01:09:21It's right here, and you don't even have to give me a secret.
01:09:24You just have to tell me one of their personal ones.
01:09:26He motions down the line.
01:09:27It doesn't count as breaking.
01:09:29It's just a personal detail that doesn't mean anything.
01:09:31Fuck you.
01:09:32Pity.
01:09:33The man tilts his head.
01:09:34You're just not thirsty enough yet.
01:09:35Don't worry, you'll get there.
01:09:37He moves to Rhiannon, then Redog, then me.
01:09:39Our answers are all the same.
01:09:41Tight knit brew, and they.
01:09:42Chills raise down my spine as Varash walks in.
01:09:44I guess older than fitted door.
01:09:46They are, sir, the man says.
01:09:49Varash rubs his thumb across his chin.
01:09:51Doesn't someone usually give up a personal detail by now?
01:09:54They do, sir.
01:09:55Pride flares behind my ribs.
01:09:57Varash leans down and flicks the green iron squad patch on Redog's chest.
01:10:00I'm guessing that's how they earned this last year.
01:10:03He stands and sighs.
01:10:04This is taking too long.
01:10:06Sir, we are using standard interrogation protocol, the woman says, entering the chamber.
01:10:10Then it's a good thing that I'm here.
01:10:12His cheery disposition scares me more than the woman's fist.
01:10:15This is my area of expertise, interrogation.
01:10:17And I have just the thing to crack them in record time.
01:10:19He looks toward the hallway, then crooks his fingers.
01:10:22Come on in, don't be shy.
01:10:24Rhiannon's eyes flare.
01:10:25Her gaze jumping from the doorway to me.
01:10:26The fear I see there hits me like a punch to the stomach.
01:10:30I believe you are.
01:10:31OceanoFPDF.com
01:10:32Every few years, a squad comes along that defies all expectations.
01:10:36They rise through the ranks, secure every patch, win every challenge.
01:10:40And then, they inexplicably falter, then fall.
01:10:42They call it the burnout effect.
01:10:44They flare too fast for
01:10:44D.
01:10:46Aane steps into view, and my heart hits the stone floor as he surveys my friends, then turns toward me.
01:10:51His eyes widen as he takes stock of my bruised and swollen face.
01:10:54Violet.
01:10:55Dane is here.
01:10:56I reach for Zayden, even if fear freezes me in place.
01:10:58This can't happen.
01:10:59I'm unsure how much Dane knows, but it's definitely not as much as I do.
01:11:03I'm on my way.
01:11:04The ten stone of Zayden's voice is all it takes for me to know how deep the shit is about to get.
01:11:08You can't do anything.
01:11:10I reinforce my shields.
01:11:11Cling all my mental energy into the task and drawing power from ten to bolster them.
01:11:14Stacking the bricks too deep around my mental archives.
01:11:17I don't understand.
01:11:18Soya says.
01:11:19Why is a winglidder here?
01:11:21He's advocating for her like we're sincere winglidder should.
01:11:23Littlek answers, open his voice.
01:11:25Aren't you?
01:11:26He's not.
01:11:27I answer, keeping my eyes on Dane and his hands.
01:11:30Regulations state that riders should be healthy before beginning interrogation assessment.
01:11:33Dane barks, ripping his gaze from mine to address Varish.
01:11:36The reds are and gail is clearly not healthy.
01:11:38I blinked in sheer surprise.
01:11:40Such a rule follower.
01:11:41Varish plugs his tongue.
01:11:42Regulations say they should.
01:11:43Not that they have to be.
01:11:44It's more realistic that a rider would be.
01:11:47Wounded when captured.
01:11:47What am I doing here?
01:11:49Dane demands.
01:11:50Testing the theory.
01:11:51Varish smiles.
01:11:52But while we are waiting for our guest to arrive, you should practice on her.
01:11:56He points to me.
01:11:57Guest, my fear is replaced with anger.
01:11:59Don't come.
01:11:59Varish wants to see if you will.
01:12:01I think he's testing the bond blocking mixture.
01:12:03If he sees your memory, the entire movement is at risk.
01:12:07And if you come in here, whipping shadows around, he'll know I have something to hide,
01:12:10and this will become a real interrogation.
01:12:12Your only option is to trust that you trained me well enough.
01:12:15A rescue sounds great in theory but would fuck all of us.
01:12:18Violet, the pee in his voice nearly breaks me.
01:12:21I shove that last prick in place and box it in out.
01:12:23You want me to?
01:12:24Dane lifts his brows.
01:12:25Yes, use your signet on her.
01:12:27Only to draw out the secret phrase, of course.
01:12:30My signet is classified.
01:12:31And she already knows what it is.
01:12:33Varish says, shaking his head like this is all no big deal.
01:12:36Doesn't she?
01:12:36That's why she's so angry with you.
01:12:38She blames her for what happened to her friend.
01:12:40He walks forward.
01:12:41It's amazing what you can learn by simply observing.
01:12:44Dane shakes his head.
01:12:45I'm not doing this.
01:12:46Then who are you going to practice on to extend your ability past recent events?
01:12:50We're running out of civilians around here for an all-in to men.
01:12:52And if you think she hasn't pulled the rest of her squad a little secret,
01:12:55you're giving her far too much credit.
01:12:57Holy shit.
01:12:58Violet is my teacher.
01:12:59Varish is Dane's.
01:13:00What the hell is our vice-common and signet?
01:13:02Dane stiffens.
01:13:03His eye is searching mine.
01:13:05I don't deny it.
01:13:06I can't.
01:13:06I'm a shitty liar.
01:13:07And with the lie finder, or whatever his signet is called,
01:13:10on the other side of the room, I'm better off keeping my mouth shut.
01:13:14This is what your signet is made for.
01:13:15You have the first sign of defense, Atoos.
01:13:17She could be a Poromish spy or a griffin rider.
01:13:19You could save the entire kingdom by just tucking her secrets from her memory.
01:13:23Varish looks at me like I'm an animal made to be studied.
01:13:25You can see what really happened that day when the two marked ones were killed by,
01:13:29he cocks his head to the side, griffin's, wasn't it, good at Sorengeal.
01:13:32The truth is waiting, winged Atoos, and you're the only one who can see it.
01:13:36Breathe in, breathe out.
01:13:37I concentrate on steadying my heart rate and holding Dane's gaze.
01:13:41Holy shit.
01:13:41Redock matters.
01:13:42Heat inward.
01:13:43I keep my focus on Dane.
01:13:45How can someone be so familiar and yet such a stranger?
01:13:47He's the same boy I climbed trees with, the same one I ran to whenever anything went wrong.
01:13:51But he's also the reason Sully and Liam are dead.
01:13:54You could learn what it is she sees in him, Varish whispers, getting closer to Dane.
01:13:57Why she chose him over you?
01:13:59Don't you want to know?
01:14:00All the answers are right there.
01:14:01You just have to know where to reach.
01:14:03Have to give it to him, he's convincing as fuck.
01:14:06The war within Dane's eyes makes my throat tighten, and when he reaches for my face with
01:14:09both hands, I arch my neck, leaning as far back as the chair will let me.
01:14:13No, I force the word out.
01:14:15No, he repeats my refusal Sully, then drops his hands, his gaze falling from mine.
01:14:19I will not participate in an interrogation assessment of the bed with a prior injury,
01:14:23he sears over his shoulder at Varish.
01:14:25Then he walks out.
01:14:27I drag a breath in, air wheezing past the tightness of my throat and into my lungs.
01:14:31Rhiannon's eyes meet mine, then Sully sheds Sully in relief.
01:14:33Well, that was disappointing and anticlimactic, Varish says that the first frown I've ever
01:14:38seen on his face.
01:14:39Fucking rule follower, back to typical tactics, I guess.
01:14:42He draws back before I can brace and throws a hard punch to my dislocated shoulder.
01:14:46Agony overwhelms every one of my senses.
01:14:48Then there's only Black.
01:14:50N.
01:14:51All in hovers above me when I wake.
01:14:53I jolt up from the wooden bed, and he rears back.
01:14:56There she is, he says, sitting into the chair next to the bed.
01:14:59What time is it?
01:15:00I glance around the room, quickly spotting Rhiannon, Sawyer, and Red Rock sitting on bunks.
01:15:05They don't look any more injured than they did before I passed out.
01:15:08Before Varish punched my shoulder out of the socket.
01:15:10Gingerly, I rotate the joint, then look at Nolan.
01:15:13I'm mended.
01:15:13There's an egg but nothing more, and I can see out of both eyes.
01:15:17He nods.
01:15:18It's morning.
01:15:18Rhiannon says, body lining her forehead.
01:15:20I think.
01:15:21I reach for Zayden, but the pathway is opaque again.
01:15:24He's gone.
01:15:24The vice commandant called me in to heal you.
01:15:26Nolan's voice drops, and he leans forward, so he can shatter you again and again until
01:15:30you break.
01:15:31I'm on orders to remain in the antechamber for the rest of your interrogation, which is
01:15:34extended until tomorrow.
01:15:36Red nods my empty stomach.
01:15:38Is that normal?
01:15:39Sawyer asks, leaning toward me and bracing his forearms on his knees.
01:15:42No.
01:15:43Nolan answers, holding my gaze.
01:15:45He wants whatever it is in no, violet.
01:15:47He reaches for my hand and squeezes lightly.
01:15:49Is it worth holding on to?
01:15:50I nod.
01:15:52Is it worth watching your squadmates tortured?
01:15:54I've answered nod again.
01:15:56I think I've had my head buried in other matters for too long.
01:15:59He sighs, then stands.
01:16:00Why don't you walk me to the door?
01:16:02I swing my legs over the bunk, then do as he asks, following him to the chamber's door.
01:16:06Rhiannon isn't far behind, you'd better find a way out.
01:16:09He whispers to me before speaking through the open window.
01:16:11I'm done for now.
01:16:12The door opens, and Nolan escapes.
01:16:14I'll close it, he tells whoever is on the other side.
01:16:17His eyes meet mine through the window as he shuts the door, the lock audibly clicking
01:16:20into place, but not the window.
01:16:23Rhiannon tugs me down, and we both broke into a crouch.
01:16:26I've been thinking about my other patient, Nolan say especially.
01:16:28What about him?
01:16:29Varish replies.
01:16:31He spent the night in the infirmary again.
01:16:33Sorenge will have to sleep off the mending for another hour or so.
01:16:35Why don't you walk back with me and see if your particular skills could be of use?
01:16:39I might be overlooking something.
01:16:41Rhiannon and I exchange the same confused look.
01:16:43You think the sessions are failing?
01:16:45Varish asks.
01:16:45I think I've done all I can for him, Nolan answers.
01:16:49I'm not going to sit here all day and waste time while she's sleeping.
01:16:52Fine, we'll go, Varish replies.
01:16:54We have to be quick.
01:16:56The other is a fetching breakfast.
01:16:57Then by all means, let's make it fast.
01:17:00A moment later, the antechamber door opens and closes.
01:17:03Rhiannon and I stand slowly, then peer through the window.
01:17:05I think we are alone, she whispers.
01:17:08Agreed.
01:17:09We have to get out of here, Rhiannon says still guys.
01:17:11I really, honestly think Varish might try to kill Violet.
01:17:14My stomach flips.
01:17:15Oh, don't they?
01:17:16She actually said it.
01:17:17Are you serious?
01:17:18Sorenge asks.
01:17:19His eyes bulging.
01:17:20But Redox stays quiet, his gaze jumping between me and me.
01:17:23He's already pushed me to burn out once.
01:17:25I admit quietly.
01:17:26A loop passes between the guys and they stand.
01:17:29Fine.
01:17:29I'll ask the obvious question.
01:17:31Redox says as they cross the chamber.
01:17:32What the hell do you know that we don't?
01:17:35I glance between all three of them.
01:17:36If I told you, and trust me, I've considered it, you would be the one strapped to the chair.
01:17:40I'm not about to let that happen.
01:17:42Maybe you should let us decide what risks we are willing to take.
01:17:46Sawyer cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders, already looking at the door.
01:17:50Lesser magic isn't working on the lock.
01:17:51Redox matters, his hand extended toward the door.
01:17:54Valid point, Sawyer.
01:17:55But this, I shake my head.
01:17:57It's not just about me.
01:17:59Right now it is, Rhiannon says.
01:18:00It's all about saving you.
01:18:02We can figure the rest out later.
01:18:03Sawyer, do your thing.
01:18:05Already on it.
01:18:06We move out of his way, and he puts his hands up toward each of the hinges.
01:18:10His fingers tremble and the hinges work, then melt.
01:18:12Hot metal drips down the edges of the door as he works.
01:18:16Quick, before you accidentally weld us in here, Redox lectures.
01:18:19I don't see you melting anything.
01:18:20Sawyer responds from where he's crouched, sweat-beating his brow as he melts the last hinge.
01:18:25Relief nearly takes out my knees.
01:18:26We are going to make it.
01:18:28The door wobbles, and Rhiannon and I lunge toward the guys, both throwing up our hands over them.
01:18:32Wood smacks into my palms, sending a jolt of pain through my newly mended shoulder as we catch what feels like the heaviest door ever made.
01:18:39Move, Rhiannon shouts.
01:18:40The guys carry out from under the door, then help us lower into the floor.
01:18:44We should consider quitting the quadrant, Redox jokes as we walk over the door and out of the chamber.
01:18:49We'd be kick as thieves.
01:18:50With dragons, Sawyer agrees.
01:18:52Unstoppable, Redox fears with a grin.
01:18:54We pause at the desk only long enough to retrieve our weapons.
01:18:57I feel a little less panic, less vulnerable with every blade I see.
01:19:01Ready, Rhiannon asks, gripping her short sword.
01:19:03Guess I'm not the only one who disdains feeling helpless.
01:19:06We all nod, then head for the main door.
01:19:08Hope lies for all of a millisecond.
01:19:10It's the same kind of lock.
01:19:11Lesser magic isn't working, Sawyer sees, already putting his hands out.
01:19:15I don't, he pickles along my ribs.
01:19:17It's the same feeling I get when I walk through the wards on my door.
01:19:20I look down and stare.
01:19:22The dabble closest to the door handle is hot and tingling.
01:19:24I pull it from the sheet, bumping against the door handle as I brush my thumb over the decorative pommel.
01:19:29Metal clicks against metal, and we all turn to look at the lock.
01:19:32What the hell, Sawyer's eyebrows jump.
01:19:34I don't know, that's impossible.
01:19:36Knives turned open locks, but the heat and the tingling sensation are gone.
01:19:40Someone stops tearing and try the fucking door.
01:19:42Reorders.
01:19:43Reaching for the handle, I hold my breath as the latched presses.
01:19:46I pull, the door opens.
01:19:47Holy shit, it's coincidence, it has to be, magic isn't tied to objects like that.
01:19:52Holy shit later, escape now, re-seas.
01:19:55Go.
01:19:55Right, I see the blade and yank the door open.
01:19:59Oceanoftdf.com
01:19:59If we ever choose to invade enemy territory, which we don't, I would choose only...

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