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“I’ve been thinking about it all night. Magic feels different when I change color. Maybe my use of power in that moment altered the venin, weakened her enough to blister.” Andarna slows enough to enunciate her words, but not by much. “That could alter…everything.”
“We’ll find a cure,” Andarna promises. “We will exhaust every closer resource first, but if I’m right and I somehow altered that venin inadvertently while changing my scales, then the rest of my kind should know how to master the tactic. How to change him. Cure him.”
After an hour in the saddle at these temperatures, a pissed-off knee is nothing; I’m lucky my hips still rotate.
Glad to see Violet is still an old lady.
there isn’t a single trace of red to be found anywhere near his irises. He may technically be an initiate, but he’s nothing like the venin we just fought.
“You ready to meet with the Senarium?” “Yes.” I nod. “And don’t change the subject. I will find a way to cure you.”
Plot development.
onyx bond
Second time author has used onyx in reference to Xaden and Violet's bond.
“Anyway, we’re trying to work out the terms of the riot staying, and Lewellen seems to think he can at least get my father’s sword back from Tauri, but it all feels tangled. If we don’t stay, Poromiel walks. If Navarre can’t protect the fliers here at Basgiath, Poromiel walks. If anyone murders anyone—which happens a lot around here—” “Poromiel walks,”
Plot development.
Mira’s smile could cut glass, but at least she’s trying. It took her months to let him back in after she found him alive. Who knows how long she’ll need to get over losing our mother on what she considers to be Brennan’s watch.
Mira - character development.
“Beyond our needs, Queen Maraya hopes the seventh breed might know how to defeat the venin, given the age of Andarna’s egg.”
Plot development.
There’s a clear division in the mass gathered in front of the dais, with most Navarrian riders standing to the left, at least half of them wearing sickening smirks while Caroline Ashton appears to take bets near the far staircase. The rest hold back the angry crowd of Aretian riders and fliers arguing directly in front of—
Conflict.
“Is this what you do when we give you a break from classes?” Everyone turns toward the rotunda at the sound of Devera’s voice. The professor stands with her feet braced apart, flanked by Professors Emetterio and Kaori.
The teachers are back!!!
The last time a shadow and lightning wielder fought side by side, they managed to drive the venin back into the Barrens for a few hundred years. We’ll figure out how to do it again.” I fumble the conduit and nearly drop it. Xaden and I are the first of our signets to live simultaneously since the Great War?
Foreshadow + plot development.
“Admirable attempt, but I’m only here for my squad. I’ll dismantle the family business before I rejoin it,” Aaric quips.
Aaric - character development.
“Tell me what the king gave you.” He takes a deep breath. “He gave me back my title and the seat in the Senarium.” Holy shit. My lips part. “Not just Aretia, either…he gave me Tyrrendor,” Xaden says slowly, like he can’t believe it, either.
Plot development.
“We did it!” Ridoc bounces to his feet, throwing his fists in the air. “Fuck yes, Sawyer! Fuck you, Senarium—the fliers can wield! They can stay with their squads!” I grin like a kid. In eight hours, the accord for the riot to stay will be signed, and we’ll be whole.
Plot development.
“No one say a damned thing,” I reply under my breath. “I’ll be fine.” “You are hereby charged with high treason against the kingdom of Navarre!” Maybe not.
I glance to my right, then do a double take at the woman standing in the north doorway of the hall. The silver of her intricate, armored breastplate flashes in the morning light as she walks forward, her smile crinkling the light-brown skin at the edges of her dark eyes. She wears a pair of scarlet breeches with a shortsword sheathed at her hip and a sparkling tiara atop her riotous curls, its delicacy a striking contrast to her weaponry. Queen Maraya.
New character.
“And yet I’m the one the king appointed to take over as commanding general of Basgiath”—he
Of course public enemy number one gets more power.
Liam only had minutes after Deigh ceased breathing, but he knew.
RIP Liam.
“Now tell me, which chose you first? The one who gifted you the power of the sky? Or the irid?”
“Irid,” Andarna whispers. “Yes. I remember now. That is what my kind are called. I am an irid scorpiontail.”
He’d traveled a thousand miles in minutes, and there’s only one way I’ve read about to accomplish that, but no one has done it in centuries.
Second signet reveal.
“You have a second signet, don’t you?” And like Xaden, he hid the strongest one. “So do you.” He hands back my daggers and sways. “Or at least you will.”
Garrick's second signet: Fast/time travel.
You might be angry when you realize I didn’t wake you to say goodbye. But it’s only because I no longer fully trust my ability to walk away. —Recovered Correspondence of His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor, to Cadet Violet Sorrengail
“Garrick’s a distance wielder, isn’t he?”
Garrick - Character development.
I don’t think they’re limited to lesser magics. I think maybe…they have signets, too.”
This venin sounds like a shadow version of Violet.
Upon failure of three exams, Jesinia Neilwart has been removed from the adept path and stripped of all its responsibilities and sacred privileges as of January 15. Under protest, I transfer her command to Professor Grady at his over-authoritative request. —Official Records: Scribe Quadrant, Colonel Lewis Markham, Commandant
“Legacies usually make for stronger riders, and with as much power as you two wield? Melgren will probably escort you both to a temple of your choosing the second you’re commissioned.”
“It’s not like the fate of our world rests on you finding whatever’s left of the irids.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Do you guys think it’s short for iridescent?” “Yes,” the three of us simultaneously reply.
LOL
“Hard to access like we need Aaric and a midnight mission?” Sawyer asks, and Ridoc translates.
Throwback to book two.
“As you can see,” Devera says, quieting the room, “there is a defined, supported assault happening along the wards, centered at the Samara outpost. We believe it’s simply because it’s the straightest path that leads to here—the hatching grounds.”
War developments.
It has now been confirmed by three different sources that high-level venin—we believe Sage and Maven—can and do wield signets.”
Venin development.
“Everyone, welcome our newest member of your leadership team. Professor Riorson,” Devera announces.
WHAT! Sexy professor daddy.
“Article Eight, Section One of the Code of Conduct.”
No person in power may date a subordinate? Lots of sub-text in this book.
“And I’ve chosen to begin along the northward coastline,”
War development.
I’ll help expose the weaknesses in your signet so that when you come up against a dark wielder with such a power, you will have already practiced how to defeat them. Each of you has something to learn, and I’m here to keep you safe while you do it.”
I think Xaden is being used as a sort of spy for the Sage/Mavens to learn all the cadet's signets, strengths and weaknesses. Xaden is unaware.
He doesn’t so much as pause his ascent. “Because you’re the only one capable of killing me.”
Did the shadow and lightning wielders of the past kill each other?
And he thinks I need to know how to kill him.
He knows he's going to inevitably turn evil.
The normally sweet drink tastes bitter in my throat.
DRUGGED. RY always gives it away with lines like this.
Sawyer answers, pushing up on the arms of his chair and readjusting his weight. He seems more comfortable wearing the new wood-and-metal prosthesis he’s been working on but hasn’t been up for discussing it, so we haven’t pushed.
I love how RY can weave inclusivity effortlessly into her writing. Gay, transgender, disabled, she makes these unique traits part of the characters' everday lives, and on the battlefield.
Andarna isn’t a big fan of snow,
Then don't go North!!!
First love is irreplaceable.
My guess: Dragon. Or Wisdom.
“Anyone who’s ever dated a rider knows their first priority—their first love—is their dragon.
Bingo. I was right.
“He was going to touch you.” The glacial rage in his eyes has mine widening. “Right, because that’s the mature response.”
Overbearing, much?
But if time has indeed run out and you seek the weapon to defeat those you’ve only learned about through lore, then abandon your robes and ride for Cordyn.
Ie: how to kill venin.
From Cordyn, book passage to Deverelli—you will be safe beyond the reach of magic there—and quietly seek the merchant Narelle Anselm. Take her the rarest item you possess—be sure it’s truly exceptional to be given what you need.
New objective for quest squad.
Trust only Mira.
Not Xaden.
“I’ve told you a dozen times, first fire burns the hottest, which could explain the phenomenon,”
Dragon lore.
According to our latest intel, wielding within drained territory isn’t just challenging, but it seems to draw venin, so I let the conduit fall along my wrist, keeping it close just in case everything goes to shit.
War developments.
“Ever since Athebyne, one of us has been by your side.” He lifts his finger. “Except the time you snuck out on your little siblings-only trip to Cordyn. The school splits, and we go with you. Basgiath falls under attack, and we’re there. Heading into Poromiel for Maren’s brothers? It’s us. We get separated, and you either get dragged into an interrogation chamber and tortured for days or nearly roasted by Aura’s fire, and I know I can’t be the only one who thought, if Liam had been here, keeping watch over you, it never would have happened.”
Power of friendship.
