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“‘Accelerated growth,’” I whisper, repeating Brennan’s words, then gasp. “From the energy usage. We forced her to grow. In Resson. She stopped time for too long. We—I—forced her to grow.” I can’t seem to stop saying it.
Her scales are so deeply black they glimmer almost purple—iridescent, really—in the flickering sunlight that filters through the leaves above. The color of a dragon’s scales is hereditary—
Cadet Violet Sorrengail is hereby given two days of leave once every fourteen days to be used only to fly with Tairn directly to and from Sgaeyl’s current duty station or location. Any other absence from classes will be considered a punishable offense.
“There are eighty-nine of you in this room. From what the scribes tell me, you are the smallest class to walk this hall since the First Six.”
“Only ninety-one dragons have agreed to bond this year,”
“What do you know about Major Varrish’s orange? He looks…unstable.” And hungry.
“If Solas comes near you again, he knows I will devour his human whole and let him rot within me while his heart still beats, and then I’ll take the eye I so graciously left him.”
Tarin is BADASS!
Some of you may not know this, but information from the front is actually received at Basgiath before it’s sent to the king in Calldyr, so you’ll be hearing it first here.”
Professor Devera handing important information without saying so...?
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives,” he says softly, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. “The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity. It’s all part of the process of turning us into effective weapons, and don’t forget for a second that’s the mission here.”
Is Xaden trying to tell her more with this statement. KEEP YOUR HUMANITY!
It’s a copy of The Gift of the First Six and looks to be hundreds of years old. “You said you wanted an early accounting of the first riders when you returned the other books,”
I quickly read from the beginning of the paragraph to be sure I have it right, then sign the sentence she’s looking for, spelling out the last word—the name of an ancient king who lived a thousand years before Navarre existed.
This ancient king is important!
“That rider requested a book yesterday, and I recorded the request.” She leans toward me, panic growing in her eyes. “I have to record the requests. It’s—” “Regulation,” we both finish signing at the same time. I nod. “You didn’t do anything wrong. What was the book?”
Why didn't she tell her?
“Thank you. It was expensive.” I lift my chin. “Cost someone their life.”
“Remind him that I threatened to digest him alive.” “I don’t think that would go well for me,” I reply. “It would be fun to watch him eat the pompous one.”
“That our Archives are incomplete, either by ignorance…” She breathes deeply. “Or intention.”
“I need the most comprehensive texts you have about how the First Six built the wards.”
“But there’s something I want in return,”
???
Jesinia brings me The Unabridged History of the First Six the next day, which is not only a three-hundred-year-old text but marked Classified in the endpapers, and I keep my side of the deal, handing over The Fables of the Barren.
The book Jesinia gives me on Saturday is The Sacrifice of Dragonkind, by one of Kaori’s predecessors, and goes into why Basgiath was chosen for the location of the wards.
BEWARE OF STRANGERS SEEKING SHELTER.
IN THIS TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED VIOLATIONS OF OUR SOVEREIGN BORDERS, WE COUNT ON YOU, OUR BORDER VILLAGES, TO BE OUR EYES AND EARS. OUR SAFETY DEPENDS ON YOUR VIGILANCE. DO NOT TAKE IN STRANGERS. YOUR KINDNESS COULD KILL.
“We are the weapons, and this place is the stone they use to sharpen us.”
“I’m not a historian. I’m a tactician, but I can’t imagine the depth of what we lost knowledge-wise.”
“Just because it’s not in Tyrrish doesn’t mean you can’t walk into the Archives and read whatever translated Tyrrish book you want.”
“No, actually you can’t.” I drop the fabric in my lap. “For starters, no one can just walk into the Archives and read whatever they want. You have to put in a request that any scribe can deny. Secondly, only a portion of the original scribes spoke Tyrrish, meaning it would have taken hundreds of years to translate every text, and even then, there are no historical tomes older than four hundred years in our Archives that I know of. They’re all sixth, seventh, or eighth editions. Logic dictates that she’s right.” I gesture up to the girl a few rows ahead. “Things are lost in translation.”
missing history!
The question we must all ask ourselves as we enter service is: are our sacrifices worth it to keep the citizens of Navarre safe?”
NO
“They won’t tell my father they’ve lost me until they absolutely have to. I’m just hoping it’s after Threshing. He can’t do shit after Threshing. Dragons don’t even answer to kings.”
i like this prince!
“Fight me and die, or join me and live beyond the ages, but you will never escape me, not when I’ve waited centuries for someone with your power.”
centuries?
“I need a firsthand account from one of the six. My father talked about seeing one once, so I know they exist. Question is if they’ve been translated and redacted into uselessness.”
“He’ll use this opportunity to kill you for the embarrassment Tairn put him and Solas through.” “You can’t possibly know that.” “His intentions are pretty fucking clear. Trust me.”
intentions or thoughts?
ZOLYA FALLS TO DRAGON FIRE The third largest city in the braevick province has fallen to the blue fire dragons and their riders. Though the city and its drifts fought valiantly, the two-day battle ended in poromish defeat. All who did not evacuate have perished. An estimated ten thousand lives have been lost, including general fenella, the commander of braevick’s gryphon fleet. All trade routes to the city have been barricaded to prevent further loss of life.
“When, in the history of Navarre, have we ever flown a riot comprised only of blue dragons?”
“He was crushed under the weight of a mountain a few months ago, but Nolon has mended bone after bone to return him to your quadrant.”
“Join me in welcoming back your fellow rider, Jack Barlowe!”
“Holy shit!” My jaw drops, then rises in an awestruck smile. “You just pulled that through the wall! I thought you couldn’t do that yet!”
“And I can wipe short-term memory if we’re seen,” Imogen replies. “Classified signet, remember? Your power is impressive, Matthias, but I’m the last line of defense around here.” She moves to Nasya, putting her hands lightly on his head. “Just in case.”
The only signet more terrifying than an inntinnsic is a truth-sayer. And yet we let them live.
“I don’t see people.” He tilts his head and studies me. “I see their weaknesses. It’s a great advantage in battle. Honestly, you surprised me when we met. From everything I’d heard about the youngest Sorrengail, I expected to look at you and see pain, broken bones, or maybe shame for never living up to Mom’s expectations.” He skims his finger over the obvious break in my forearm but doesn’t apply pressure. The threat is enough to make my chest tighten. “But I saw…nothing. Someone taught you to shield, and I’ll admit you’re very good at it.” He leans closer. “Do you want to know what I see now
...more
was lucky enough to glimpse the most powerful rider of your generation fumble his shields like a novice once. It was for less than a second, but that was all I needed to see what it would take to shatter him. We’ll have all the information we need in a matter of days. You’re not the prize, Sorrengail. You’re the tool.”
“Don’t leave me,” I whisper to Liam. I don’t care that I’m far gone enough to hallucinate, that my brain is using Liam as a crutch as long as he stays, as long as I’m not alone.
second signet has to do with seeing Liam????
look up into the wrath of Dunne in the form of gold-flecked onyx eyes.
XADEN!!!!!
Markham saw you as his protégé, the next head of the scribes, the only applicant he thought smart enough, clever enough to continue weaving the complicated blindfold chosen for us hundreds of years ago.”
markham leads everything leaving all blind to reality!
“Bullshit. The love of my life was a scribe.” Steadily, we climb, twisting along the staircase. “I put you into the Riders Quadrant so you’d have a shot at surviving, and then I called in the favor Riorson owed me for putting the marked ones into the quadrant.”
Get a grip. Melgren isn’t coming. Even if he knew where we are—which he doesn’t—he can’t risk his forces coming after us when the kingdom is reeling from wyvern carcasses we left up and down the border. Half the riders he plans on having in three years are here. He might want to kill us, but he can’t afford to. And as for Violet”—he lets go of my hand and rips at the buttons of his flight jacket, then tugs his neckline down, exposing the scar on his chest—“if you want to confine her, question her, then it’s me you start with. I bear the responsibility for her and any decision she makes.
...more
Xaden is the true leader of the second rebellion!
Holy shit. I knew this was his house, of course, but it never really registered. This is all Xaden’s. No noble has claimed the duchy of Aretia. They all think the land is ruined, or worse—cursed. It’s all his.
Point made!!! LEADER OF REBELLION!!!!
Something…shimmers, curling around the Archives I keep in my head.
Andarna :)
“There are many reasons younglings do not leave the Vale. The mass expenditure of energy in Resson forced her into a rapid rate of growth. You know that. But if it had happened here, or at Basgiath where she could have been quickly, safely sheltered for the Dreamless Sleep, perhaps she would have grown as usual.” His tone is enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. He’s never this careful with his words, never this careful with my feelings. “But we flew that critical day between Resson and Aretia,” he continues. “And then we waited again to fly to Basgiath, and even then she woke
...more
“She’ll fly, but she’ll never bear a rider.”
“I think the First Six practiced some kind of blood magic,”
WRONG!First six meaning the first six dragons NOT riders!
