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They took her. They're torturing her. 

I'm going to kill all of them. 

I'm going to slash and beat and destroy every single fucking one of them, until they're all but bloody, lifeless slabs of meat. Each and every one of their deaths will be cruel and vicious, and greatly prolonged, until they're all on their knees, begging me for death.

I see Garrick giving me a concerned sidelong look. He undoubtedly knows where my thoughts have gone, but I ignore him. I ignore anything but the boiling, scorching, red-hot rage that's consuming every cell in my body, that's consumed me since I learned of what they've done to Violet. What they're putting her through, perhaps at this very moment.

Torturing my woman. Undoubtedly forcing that horrid fucking concoction down her throat that's blocking her from Tairn. Torturing her in ways I can't consider, otherwise my anger would grow, and I'll burn Basgiath and everyone in it to the fucking ground.

The guilt has eaten away at me for five fucking days. I keep replaying my leaving in my head, torturing myself by coming up with different endings to that night. I could have walked Violet back to her room, where she would have been safe behind the wards. I could have taken her to bed where, again, she would have been safe in her room. I don't know who took her, or how they figured out she had the fucking journal, but I do know they've been torturing her for five days.

Images of her, broken and bloody on the floor do nothing to ease my temper. Ever since Tairn's raging emotions alerted Sgaeyl days ago that something was wrong, I've decided to throw the final fuck you at Navarre by killing six riderless wyvern, depositing them at various outposts along the border, and exposing the intricate web of lies Navarre has so carefully crafted for centuries.

I decided to finally step up, and become that rebellion leader that every Basgiath official feared I could be. I've exposed centuries of lies in a matter of days. Fucking pathetic.

After killing two wyvern, I returned to Samara for backup, and jump-scared the shit out of Garrick who had just hopped out of the shower. He shouted when he saw me covered in blood, eyes hazy with murderous fury, and all I did was throw him the rucksack I'd packed for him and say, "Wyvern blood. You're helping me kill four more, fucker," and he didn't argue.

I gave him the context for my anger after the hunting season that occurred, and he seemed much more inclined to help. Although, he told me to "calm down" and I nearly ripped his head clean off his shoulders. I presume he learned to keep his words to himself after that exchange. All he's done for the past three days is tell me "she's not dead yet, you're still alive" or "she'll be okay, Xaden", and every time it only makes me angrier.

Leadership should be called to "contain the situation" in a little under a half hour, and currently, me and Garrick are strutting through Basgiath's grounds, avoiding looks of terror from cadets. When we get closer to the interrogation chambers, I'm fucking sprinting, but I can't do that until me and Garrick aren't surrounded by witnesses.

We reach the tunnels leading past the infirmary, and Basgiath's weapons forge, and finally the interrogation chambers. I fucking book it, and hear Garrick's surprised gasp of, "Xaden! Wait!," but I won't. I won't stop until I see that she's okay. Until I can hold her in my arms and tell her I love her, over and over again, because I thought that I'd never be able to give her that truth. Anyone that truth. 

People didn't think I was capable of love, and for a long time, I agreed with them. Until that beautiful, fierce, brilliant woman entered my life, and all my thoughts were consumed with all the ways I could make her moan, but also, all the ways I could make her smile or laugh. I fell head fucking first, even though I tried hard,  so fucking hard not to.

When I heard that they were torturing her, and she was surely almost dead, a rage so strong it nearly took me out at the knees, consumed every cell in my body. I thought about how I wouldn't have told her I loved her, and that she'd die without giving me those three words I can't escape. Fucking crave to hear again.

Not a single person told me they loved me in over six years. I didn't realize how badly I craved those words until she gave them to me. I can't imagine a world in which she doesn't love me, and I'm not so in love I think I might die.

The thought was what brought out an unfamiliar feeling in me. Panic. And then the dead wyvern and luring leadership to the border.

Garrick stumbles behind me, loudly whispering to, "Wait for me you irrational asshole!", but I don't. I don't stop until I'm standing just behind the wall in front of the door that leads up into the interrogation chamber. Garrick stops at my side, slightly winded, and pins me with a glare.

"You could have warned me you were going to take off like that!" he reprimands. 

"No." I unsheathe the two swords strapped to my back, and Garrick raises his eyebrows.

"I should have known you weren't going to be civil," he grumbles. "Let me guess, I'm on clean up duty?"

"Yes." I reach out towards the two infantry guards's minds, guarding the chamber. I should probably feel bad for ending two innocent lives, people who may not even know Violet exists, but I can't find it in myself to care. Not when the love of my fucking life is trapped behind those walls, and has been for five fucking days. 

Both guards are distracted, preoccupied with their intentions for later tonight. Dinner with a friend, and finishing work.

My rage only increases, pumping through my veins, demanding me to kill every living, breathing person inside that chamber. I'm smart enough to know people are waiting to capture me in there, but they're fucking stupid if they can stop me. I'm a fucking intinnsic. I can sense every one of their moves before they even make them.

"Right," Garrick mutters. "You will save some for me though?"

"No."

"You have such an extensive vocabulary."

"Fuck off."

"New words. Bravo."

I ignore his jabs and simply say, "Do your fucking job, Tavis," before stepping out from behind the wall we were ducking behind, and charging the guards, swords drawn.

The two are clearly taken by surprise, and fumble for their weapons, but it's too late. I use my shadows to choke one, and have slit the others throat in the matter of a heartbeat. The two men drop to the ground and I hear Garrick mumble something that sounds like, "Starting off strong.."

I slip through the entrance and charge down the tunnel. I think back to the last time I was held captive within these walls.

I was a second year rider, and since I was Fen Riorson's son and marked with a rebellion relic, the two people interrogating my squad nearly tortured me to death. It didn't help that I was the first generation of rebellion children entered in the Rider's Quadrant.

I don't stop until coming to a hall armed with eight guards, three wearing rider black, five wearing infantry blue. 

All eight startle at my entrance, but I grab the closet one by his neck, and smash his head against the stone behind him. He crumples to the floor, but I grab him by his hair, and force my blade through the center of his throat. I pull the sword free, and blood sprays, covering my jacket and two people behind him.

One guard yelps, but everyone draws their weapon.

"Where the fuck is Violet Sorrengail?" I ask, in that calm, lethal tone that works on scaring the shit out of almost everyone. Everyone except for my woman. Mine. How fucking dare they take her from me. I'm going to rip all of them to shreds.

A woman has the nerve the laugh. "We knew you'd come! So fucking predictable, and you're not getting to her." 

Every one of them steps forward creating an attack formation, but they're all fucking stupid if they think they can keep her from me. Every single one of them looks at me with murderous glee shining in their eyes.

"She's with Varrish. We're simply asking her a few questions about the journal she was caught with a few nights ago. The journal that contains secrets about our wards," she says, positioning herself to fight. "She's proving to be quite difficult, however. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"You all know that she's not against Navarre, but for the safety of everyone on this continent," I hiss. "You all chose to further this lie."

"What lie?" The woman asks sarcastically, twirling a strand of dark hair around her pointer finger.

"You're. All. Cowards."

I strike before any of them have the chance to, and throw my sword. It hits it's target, impaling the woman against the wall. She shrieks in agony, blood trailing down her abdomen within seconds.

Daggers come flying at me, but I anticipate each and every one, and bat them away with my sword. I lunge for a man in black and he unsheathes his sword just in time, stopping me from beheading him. I move my blade down and slice his right arm off. He screams, blood pouring from his wound, but I finish my job from earlier, slicing his head clean off his shoulders.

I hear more footsteps approaching from somewhere, but I block it all out, and finally let the rage take full control of me. 

None of them are getting out alive.

Two of them come at me, but I grab them both with my shadows, and pin them against the wall, chopping off both of their arms and legs, as they scream bloody murder. I look back to the remaining three, but two more appear behind them.

"Tell me where she is!" I shout, finally losing myself in the never ending tide of fury consuming me whole. 

One of the new guards takes a look at what I've done, the dismembered, bloody guards dying or dead on the floor. He shakes his head, but I see the fear in his eyes. "No."

I grip him with my shadows, and grab another woman with my bare hands, and twisting her head, cracking her neck. She falls to the floor, lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling, but I waste no time, bringing the uncooperative man towards me with my shadows.

"You all made the biggest fucking mistakes of your lives," I breathe. The man thrashes, and the blood drains from the remaining threes face's behind him. 

"You can torture me, break me, carve one hundred and seven scars into me, and kill my father in front of me. But let me make one thing crystal fucking clear." I tighten the shadows around the guards neck, and his eyes widen in fear. He thrashes even harder, clawing at the thick bands of darkness locked around his neck. "You do not touch her."

I plunge my blade into the man's chest, and drop him to the floor. I walk over a dead body to the woman I impaled against the stone wall, and force the sword from her body. She falls forward into a pool of her own blood, and I see the intentions of one of the guards to kill me from behind. I decide to let him think he stands a chance, but I hear every loud footfall towards me as he charges, blade drawn. 

I turn just as he's about to stab me, and duck behind him, plunging my blade into his back. He falls to the floor, cursing and shrieking. Two more have followed after him, and I waste no time slitting both their throats, both dying near instantaneously, choking to death on their own blood. 

That leaves only one. 

I slowly turn towards the remaining guard, both my swords dripping in blood, and an expression I can only imagine as terrifying based on the man's reaction. He drops all his weapons and puts his hands up, as if surrendering will save him.

"Please don't kill me! I'll tell you where she is if you let me live!" The man is damn near shaking like a leaf. No surprise he's in infantry. He wouldn't survive a day in the Rider's Quadrant.

"You'll tell me where she is either way." I flash a cold, calculated smile, and calmly stroll toward him. "I don't care if you've never met her. You stood by and let her be tortured. You will tell me where she is, or I'll kill you all the same, and just hunt every damn person in this chamber until I find her."

"She's down the hall," he says quietly. Good. At least he's smart enough to not fuck with me.

I drop my sword for a moment, debating what to do, but the idea of Violet crying from what these people have allowed her to endure pushes me over the edge.

"Thank you," I tell the man, slitting his throat and jamming my sword into his head so he'll be dead instantaneously. I need to get to my Violence as soon as possible.

The room is eerily silent, and blood coats nearly every surface. As soon as I'm sure each and every person is dead, I'm down the hall, both swords gripped tightly in my hands. I exchange one of my swords for a dagger in case I need to aim to harm, not kill. I'm so close to her. So close to having her in my arms again. I swear to myself I'll never let her go again. I'll walk her back to her room every fucking time.

But she's not going back to class after this. All the marked ones are coming with me back to Aretia, and there's no fucking way she isn't tagging along. The idea of leaving her here after the amount of abuse she's endured only fuels my anger.

"Let us pass, and you'll live."

I whip my head around to see one of Varrish's henchwoman standing in the doorway of a dim, filthy cell. The voice I heard was a threat and male, however, and far too familiar.

Dain. Fucking. Aetos.

I'm moving before I realize, and reach the woman in less than five steps. 

"I make no such promises," I tell her, and I don't hesitate as I reach around and slice her throat open.

She lets out a strangled cry and slumps to the floor, revealing Aetos. Rage makes my vision go blurry, and I don't stop to recognize the prisoner he's got his arm around. All I know is that he's put his hands on her, has probably read her memories, and for that he will die.

I raise my sword and my dagger, both dripping blood, both aimed to strike the bastard in his chest and head in less than a second.

"No!"

I hear her voice and my movements stutter. I realize she's the one Aetos is supporting, but she lunges forward and nearly topples over. I wrap my shadows around her arms and waist, and Dain drops his sword to the floor to catch her. 

"He saved me, don't kill him," she pleads. Her voice sounds so husky, so broken, that I have to do a double take. 

Great fucking gods.

I scan her quickly taking in the face that is so bruised and bloody, that she's nearly unrecognizable. Jagged, ugly cuts marr her, and large, angry bruises color her beautiful face. Her eyes have a tortured quality to them, and I nearly collapse with both relief that I found her, and horror at what she's endured.

"Gods, Violet."

My shadows spasm and explode, cracking and decimating stone behind her.

"You came," she cries, softly, staggering forward. Dain lets her go, and the shit is lucky because two seconds longer, and his hands would no longer be attached to his body.

I catch her, keeping my weapons suspended in shadow next to me. I cradle her against my chest and have to stop myself from weeping in relief. She's okay. I have her in my arms. If anyone even thinks of touching her, of taking her again, I'll end them without a seconds thought.

I'm careful to keep my touches light. I can only see the injuries on her face, but her leathers are no doubt hiding more breakage and bruising. 

Violet buries her face in my chest and sobs, and I hold her there, making sure she knows she's safe now. Nothing can hurt her anymore. I lower my head and whisper, "There's nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn't find you, remember?" 

She hugs me tighter, letting out choked sobs that crack my heart wide open. I kiss the top of her head, and rub featherlight, soothing circles on her back. She's no doubt soaking my shirt in her tears, but I couldn't give a single shit. She's here. She's safe. I let out a shaky exhale at the knowledge.

"Godsdamn." Garrick. He'd better be done clearing the fucking bodies.

"You took off running and the couldn't save a single one for me?" I was a little busy, dickhead. Thanks for the help. "Took me forever to clear the barricade of bodies in the staircase." Good. I'm thankful for my best friend. Nobody else would have helped break into Basgiath with me.

Violet turns her head to look at him. "Hi Garrick."

I watch as Garrick winces when he sees her face, but quickly recovers, flashing her a genuine smile of relief. "You've looked better, Violet, but I'm glad you're alive."

She leans into me again. "Me too."

"It's chaos up there. Leadership is launching all over the place to get to the border," Garrick says, pivoting to face me, and throwing a questioning look towards Aetos.

"Then it worked," I answer, but a loud groan coming from mere feet away shifts my attention, and everyone else's, to someone in the cell behind Dain.

I nearly startle when I realize it's Varrish, bloody and sprawled out on the floor. He's clutching his side and glaring daggers at Aetos. 

"You're turning traitor?" He accuses, and suddenly, the whole puzzle pieces itself together. That's what Violet meant when she said he saved her.

I lower my shields for a heartbeat and reach out to Dain's mind, finding his shields down. Perfect. 

His intentions quickly flash before my eyes. He saw Violet's memories, stabbed Varrish, and decided last minute to help get Violet out. He knows what his father is hiding, and saved her, even when he knew that it was likely the two of them wouldn't make it out. His intentions are clear. He's on our side.

I'm surprised by this revelation, but I don't let it show on my face as I quickly snap my shields back into place.

"Oh, is that what's happening?" Garrick asks, looking between Aetos Junior and the cause for my blood pressure spiking regularly.

"Your father will be so disappointed," Varrish hisses, coughing up blood and looking generally disgusting. Blood dribbles off his chin and I rejoice in the knowledge that he'll be dead soon.

"If he already knows what Violet showed me, then I'm the one disappointed in him," Aetos retorts, lifting his blade to land the death blow.

"No, not you," I tell Dain, wrapping my shadows around Varrish's torso and dragging him across the floor. He claws at the ground, eyes widening in fear, before my shadows lift and deposit the fucker in the chair. Shadows clamp down on his wrists and ankles so he's properly contained.

"That honor belongs to Violet, if she wants it," I announce, unsheathing her alloy-hilted dagger and offering it to her. She grips it in her right hand, and I notice that her left arm has been shattered, and lies limply at her side.

He looks stricken as she wastes no time, replying almost instantaneously with, "She does."

I shift my grip, gently turning her so that I can wrap my arm around her waist. I watch her for any reaction close to discomfort, and furrow my brow in concentration, trying to not pain her in any way. "I don't know where I can touch you."

"That's fine," she tells me, as Aetos steps back, lowering his weapon. I help her over to Varrish, crossing over puddles of dried blood I pray isn't hers.

Varrish pales, but narrows his eyes, and I help steady Violet as she continues to shake. Her grip on the blade is loose, but she manages to lift it so the point is resting just over his heart.

"I promised you'd die in this room," she whispers, but she's trembling too hard to push into his skin. I wrap my hand around hers and stab forward, the blade hitting its mark, and lodging in the center his heart.

I feel Violet go stiff, and then silent, and I can tell she's thinking. I want to know what's spinning around in that beautiful head of hers, but I keep my shields firmly in place. I'd be no better than Aetos if I used my second signet on her 

After a few moments of silence have passed I clear my throat and order mini Aetos and Garrick, "Give us a second, and keep Aetos breathing for now."

I watch Violet's hazy, unfocused eyes for a second, then turn to my best friend, who gives me a thumbs up. Dain nods and Garrick throws me one last questioning glance directed towards Dain before they both shuffle out.

I pivot to face Violet, and turn her away from the sight of Varrish's dead body.

"You're alive," I tell her, grazing her cheek with my thumb. I go fucking feral whenever she's in danger, and my breathing finally relaxes as I fully process that she's alive. It always takes me a few minutes to calm myself down after she escapes a near death experience, which is far too often for my liking. 

"No matter what happened in this room, what was said, you're alive, and that's all that matters." To me. The assembly would fucking lose it if they knew that I'd rather keep Violet than win this fucking war.

"I didn't break. Dain...he saw right before he stabbed Varrish, but I didn't break, I promise," she whispers, shaking her head, as I watch tears well in her eyes, and trickle down her bruised cheeks. 

"I trust you," I promise her, cradling the back of her neck. We lock eyes and I watch in fascination as the blue outshines the amber. I swear, her eyes change color every time I look at them. "But it wouldn't matter to me if you had." Another truth the assembly would shit a brick if they ever found out about. I can't fucking stand the idea of her suffering. "We're leaving. I'm getting you the fuck out of here."

She blinks, and her expression falls. "We can't go now. They'll follow us, and Brennan's not ready. You'll forfeit access to Basgiath's weapons."

Does she not understand? She's my number one priority. I'd give her safety over Basgiath's weapons any day. I need her safe in Aretia, and then I can think clearly. That's the other thing. I can't fucking think when she's in danger. All my brain processing energy goes into rage and panic. The hold she has over me is unparalleled. She's the only person that can so easily shred every ounce of my self control. There is nothing I wouldn't do for her. 

"I don't give a fuck," I admit, wrapping my arm tighter around her, watching her face for any sign of pain. "We'll figure it out once we're there."

"You'll lose everything you've worked for," she whispers, voice breaking on the last word. "Because of me."

My heart constricts, and I now, more than ever, need her to know how much she means to me. Not just because our dragons are mated and our lives are intertwined. Not just because if she dies, I die. Simply because I love her with each and every piece of my heart and soul.

"Then I'll have everything I need," I say, softly, leaning down so that we're near eye level again. I focus on the colors in her eyes. The beautiful shades of blue and amber, and a hint of green. 

"I will happily watch Aretia burn to the fucking ground again if it means you live." I make my devotion clear as fucking day. The truth that would probably horrify everyone working to help this revolution. I don't care if it makes me the villain in their story, so long as I can be the hero in hers.

"You don't mean that," she whispers, softly, but her eyes widen slightly. She may not believe me, but I need her to. To understand that there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. 

"I do. I'm sorry if you expect me to do the noble thing. I warned you. I'm not sweet or soft or kind, and you fell anyway. This is what you get, Violet - me. The good, the bad, the unforgivable. All of it. I am yours."

She takes a shaky breath, but I see it, the love and adoration shining in her eyes. And suddenly, I decide I'm done waiting for those three words. I can almost hear what she'll say next, what she'll ask me. 

She'll look me straight in the eyes and ask me to tell her something real. My beautiful, brilliant, perfect fucking woman uses facts to settle herself, and right now, she needs the truth from me. So I finally take the risk, and tell her what she needs to hear, and I what I so desperately need her to know.

"You want to know something true? Something real? I love you. I'm in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time. I'm grateful my life is tied to yours because it means I won't have to face a day without you in it. My heart only beats as long as yours does, and when you die, I'll meet Malek at your side. It's a damned good thing you love me, too, because you're stuck with me in this life and every other that could possibly follow."

I watch her perfect lips part, and the love in her eyes outshines everything else. I'm so wrapped up in her, watching her shaky breaths and feeling her pulse fluttering under my hand.

"I do love you," she finally admits in a whisper, and my heart fucking soars at hearing those three words again. 

"Glad you didn't forget," I say, softly, leaning forward and pressing my mouth to hers. I kiss her gently, careful not to split her lip again. "Let's get out of here together."

Violet nods, and I shift my attention to Garrick and Aetos, both watching us with varying degrees of shock, and in Garrick's case, absolutely glee. The two of them were undoubtedly watching my confession, and I just know Garrick is going to have the time of his life acting it out for everyone later.

"Clear the staircase!" I order. "And tell Bodhi to track down whatever antidote she and the rest of her squad need."

When me and Garrick landed earlier, we ran into Bodhi, who was just making his way to the flight field when he saw Sgaeyl and Chradh. I must've looked off, because Bodhi took one look at me and the shadows swirling murderously at my feet, and asked if I was here for Violet. Hearing her name nearly set me off, and Garrick explained what was going on. Then Bodhi shared that not only was Violet missing, but the rest of her squad was too, after they'd tried to save her yesterday. That set Garrick off because...Imogen..and then Bodhi told us to calm down, because they were all fine. Then Garrick told him to not say that because, quote, "Xaden nearly ripped out my internal organs when I said that two days ago."

Then Bodhi rubbed his temples, muttered something about needing a vacation, and told us he'd work on gathering all the rebellion children. We agreed, and Bodhi sauntered off to go do his job. 

"My squad?"

I snap out of the past tense, and turn back to Violet. "They're fine, but they were put under guard in the interrogation classroom after they tried to mount a rescue mission yesterday," I explain. "Can you walk out of here?"

"I don't know," she answers, and I can tell the truth costs her. "I lost track of what's broken and what Nolon mended." Nolon was working with Varrish? What the fuck. "I know my left arm is fractured, plus at least three of my ribs on my right side. My hip feels like it's not entirely where it should be either."

"He'll die for his part," I promise her, pivoting for the entrance. I place my hand on the small of Violet's back, and help keep her steady as I lead her out of the cell, and down the hall. When we enter the part of the hall I killed over a half dozen people in, she lets out a small gasp.

I turn her so that she's facing me, and slowly re-sheathe the daggers that were taken from her. She keeps one clutched in her shaking hand, but I don't touch it. She's been powerless for days, and the simple prospect of having a knife reassures her, though it's clear she's having trouble even standing. Who am I to question that, though?

Dain finds a small locker and turns, handing me supplies. I work to splint Violet's arm, and do it quickly, as I can tell she's having trouble not crying out. Then I reach around her waist, and wrap her ribs over her armor, making sure it's secure, but not so tight that it aches.

"Xaden, we have a problem!" Garrick calls from the stairway, maybe twenty feet away, but obstructed from sight by a thick, stone wall.

I mutter a curse under my breath, and shift my attention between Violence and my swords leaned up against the wall. I silently debate what to do.

"I can carry her," Aetos offers, and I turn to shoot him a glare that promises a slow, painful death if he even thinks about putting his hands on her. 

"I haven't decided whether or not to let you live yet. You can bet your ass I'm not trusting you with her," I tell him, my hands curling into tight fists at my sides.

"I can walk. I think," Violet rasps out, but winces when she tries.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she whirls her head around to look at the corner of the room. I follow her line of sight, but nothings there. When I turn to watch her expression, however, I watch as her mouth parts, and eyes begin to tear up again.

After a few seconds I turn to Aetos and say, "How about this - I promise the next time I'm beaten for five days straight, I'll let you carry me out of the prison."

He snorts softly, and I sheathe the two swords that were lying up against the wall, behind my back.

"Thank you," Violet whispers, and it's unclear who it's directed at, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's for both of us.

I gently lift Violet off the ground, locking my arms firmly around her. I tuck her safely against my chest, trying my damnest to not put pressure on her ribs.

"Follow me or die." I issue the ultimatum to Aetos with zero emotion. "It's your choice, but make it now."

I move my shadows so that they swirl around me, creating a circle of sharp blades. I hold Violence as gently as possible and her head falls to my shoulder. We move quickly to get to Garrick. He's gone weirdly quiet, and normally I'd assume he's dead, but he's too smart to die now. 

"What kind of problem, Garrick?" I ask, turning to round the corner of the stairway.

"A general-size one."

I stop cold, and tense, taking in the scene. Garrick with his hands in the air, obviously showing his surrender to the woman who's got her blade pressed to the center of his throat.

General fucking Sorrengail.

Fuck.

Lilith lifts her head, and I watch as worry blooms in her eyes, and concern lines her face. "Violet?"

"Mom," Violet states. Not a question.

"Who did you kill?" The general turns to me, those monstrous, cold eyes locking with mine.

"Everyone." I shrug, clearly unapologetic.

She nods, taking a step back from Garrick, and lowering her blade.

Garrick takes a deep breath, and moves, leaning back against the wall to my right.

The general steps forward, digging out a vial of something from her rib pocket. The liquid inside is clear. "It's the antidote for the serum," she states.

"I would have come sooner if I'd known. I didn't know, Violet, I swear it. I've been in Calldyr for the last week," Lilith promises, both her eyes and voice softening at the sight of her youngest.

Me and Garrick exchange a look. Seeing Lilith Sorrengail being soft is fucking weird. Every time I've interacted with her, she's either cut into me, yelled at me, or demanded something of me. Where is this woman coming from, and where was she when she dug into my skin with her blade six years ago?

"So your return is just what? Coincidence?" Violet questions.

Lilith's mouth purses in...irritation? Worry? What the fuck is that?

She pivots to face me, obviously eyeing the way I'm cradling her youngest daughter against my chest. Fucking hell, I don't need her knowing about that.

"I'd like a moment alone with my daughter."

I nearly snort. No fucking way. 

"That's not happening," I tell her.

Her gaze sharpens again when it meets mine, but I don't look away. I will meet her with defiance in every way possible. 

"You of all people know the lengths I'll go in order to protect her. And since I'm pretty sure you're the reason we're getting reports of dragons dropping wyvern carcasses at every outpost we have along our border, the reason this college is emptying itself of most of the leadership in a rush to contain the problem, the least you can do is give me a chance to say goodbye to her."

"You what?" Violet asks, and I watch her head snap up from the corner of my eye, but I don't break eye contact with the general. I will never back down to this horrid fucking woman. I'm so glad Violet got her genetics from her father. That she got her beautiful, ever-changing eyes from her father, and not her mother's soulless brown.

"Would have done it sooner, but it took a couple of days to hunt them down and kill them," I reply, coolly.

"You've threatened our entire kingdom," Lilith bites out as her eyes narrow on me.

"Good. You allowed her to be tortured for days. I don't give a shit whether it was by your absence or your negligence. It happened on your watch," I declare, holding Violet a little closer to my chest.

The general takes stock once more of the obvious affection I have towards her daughter, and her lips turn down into a scowl. The murder in her eyes surges, and she takes a step forward. 

"Three minutes. Now," she orders, and I'm about to retort with "You can fuck right off," but Violet beats me to it. 

"Three minutes," she agrees, and I turn to look down at her.

Her fingers dig into my arms slightly, and she looks up at me with those big, soft eyes that have a way of getting me to do anything she wants. Just watching her makes my whole chest ache with pure love. She's the most precious thing to me, and it occurs in my mind for the hundredth time, that she and Lilith Sorrengail can't possibly be related.

"She's a fucking monster," I say softly, but there's no reaction from her mother. The general continues to stand with her arms folded, leveling a withering glare at me.

"She's my mother," she counters, and if that doesn't show the state of her relationship with her mother, then I don't know what does.

It breaks my heart a little, that Violet knows and accepts the cruelty of her mother. That she couldn't have grown up with a woman who was engaged and outwardly loving. Then again, it's not like I know what a loving mother looks like. Mine left me at age ten and never looked back. At least Lilith stuck around, as absent as she may have been.

I want to fight Violet on it, tell her we don't have time, or better yet, bury my sword in her mother's chest. However, both of those things would break her heart, so they will not be happening.

If she wants to say goodbye to her mother, so be it. I know that Violet knows that once she leaves Basgiath, it's likely she'll never see her mother again. They are on opposite sides of this war.

I make up my mind.

I slowly lower Violet to the ground, and help brace her against the wall. "Three minutes," I tell her. She softly smiles up at me and all I want to do is take her back to my room in Aretia, have Brennan mend her, and hold her until we both pass out from exhaustion. The last thing I want to do is leave her with her mother for any period of time, but Violet's life is hers, so I step back and pivot to her mother.

"And I'll be at the top of the staircase." I make my warning to the general clear. Garrick starts up the steps, and I follow closely behind.

"Aetos, did you you decide to follow?" I say down to the third year shifting his weight on his heels.

"Apparently," he sighs.

"Then fucking follow."

Aetos grumbles, but follows me and Garrick up the winding stairway. Garrick silently shakes above me, laughing at the command in my voice, probably. He's always loved to in imitate my "hardass commander" voice as he calls it.

Once we make it to the top level we enter a tunnel that empties out into the archives. Garrick turns and leans against the wall, flashing me a bright smile.

"So," he starts. 

"Don't," I grumble, just as Aetos clears the top step.

Garrick pitches his voice low and mimics, "I love you, Violet. I've loved you since snow fell in your hair and I woke Garrick up to sparr with me at two in the morning three days before solstice, and he now knows why. Because I was-" Garrick pauses, batting his eyelashes at me. "Sexually frustrated."

Dain lets out an awkward cough, and Garrick turns to glare at him.

"Stay out of this, Aetos Junior."

Dain takes a step back and puts up his hands. "I wasn't going to say anything."

His reply is quiet, and I can tell from the look on his face that he's slightly disoriented. Can't say I blame him. He's had his entire life flipped on its head in the past twenty minutes.

"Be civil, Garrick," I reprimand, and Garrick's head whips from Dain to look at me.

"Be..civil?" He questions. "The last time Aetos here was brought up in conversation, you said you'd cut off his hands and his dick if he touched Violet, and feed the remainder of his body to Sgaeyl."

Dain pales, and takes two more steps back.

"Relax, Aetos. I'm not going to hurt you. Violet seems to like you again, and I'm sure she'd be pissy if she came up here and found you in pieces," I reassure him, pulling out my dagger and twirling it around my knuckles.

Dain stares at me, long and hard, but I don't break eye contact with him.

"You're actually in love with her," he says quietly.

"Yes," I answer simply. Dain shifts his stance, backing against the wall on Garrick's right side, and leaning on it. He looks uncomfortable as he quickly averts his eyes from mine.

My eyes travel from Dain's to Garrick's. His eyebrows damn near reach his hairline, and he mouths, "Is he fucking serious?"

I shrug, and continue to flip my blade, until I nearly knick myself with it, then I decide the silence is too fucking painful to ignore.

"Aetos."

His head snaps up, and I see what I predicted shining in his eyes. Heartbreak. Sadness. Longing.

"I know you're still in love with her," I tell him. Because I do know. I haven't used my abilities since earlier, but the look on his face gives it all away. Being an intinnsic has taught me how to read the subtlest hints of body language.

Dain swallows, and Garrick's eyebrows rise again. 

"I can't control your heart, but I will make one thing clear. She doesn't love you, she never has, and she never will. You stole her memory, and got one of her closet friends killed. You put your hands on her without her permission, and I won't hesitate to kill you. Get over her. You can be friends, but give up now on any remaining hope that you two will ever be a thing. Do you understand?"

Both men stare at me with wide eyes for a few moments. Garrick coughs to cover up what I suspect was a laugh, and Aetos crosses his arms, leaning further back into the wall.

Slowly, Dain nods and finally says, "Okay."

Garrick side-eyes Aetos, and finally mumbles something that sounds like, "So much for civility.."

Dain quickly looks away again, and Garrick shifts uncomfortably. I return to flipping my blade over my knuckles, and fantasize about stabbing the general in the heart, as I take the most precious thing from her. Her daughter.

Just as she took my father from me. The one and only person who ever told me they loved me. Garrick and Bodhi care about me in a brotherly way, but they've never told me they love me. It'd be pretty fucking weird if they did, but still, my point stands.

Then her youngest daughter showed up with her big hazel eyes and pouty lips and silver hair that I consistently lose my fucking mind over. And then she gave me the words I didn't think I needed, but I now know I can't live without.

Violet and her mother's muffled voices jolt me out of my thoughts, and slowly become clearer as they ascend. They're mere steps from the top when I hear the general remark, "It seems that by putting you into the Riders Quadrant, all I did was hasten our own end."

I watch Violet's face, but she looks...unsettled. I can tell her mind is jumbled from whatever final shit Lilith imparted to her. Violet has just climbed the last step, when I break away from the wall and stride for her.

I reach for her, and she stumbles forward, into my arms. I scoop her up and tuck her in against my chest again, and pointedly ignore the disproving look Lilith throws my way.

"I trust you'll use the chaos to get her out?" She says, and it's clear it's not a question, but rather a command.

I bristle at the idea of the general commanding me to do shit, but reply with, "Planning on it."

"Good," she says. "Don't tell me where. I don't want to know. Markham is still in Calldyr with the king. Do with that information what you will."

She turns to Aetos who's still leaned up against the wall, looking much more pale than usual.

"Have you made your choice now that you know?" She asks.

"I have." He squares his shoulders as a pack of scribe cadets rush by, their uniforms in clear disorder, and panic lining their faces

Lilith dismisses him quickly, and pivots to face me once more. The amount of eye contact I've made with this woman today cannot be good for my blood pressure.

"And so the war of the father becomes that of the son."  What grand poetry, Lilith. "It is you, right? Stealing the weaponry? Arming the very enemy trying to rip us apart."

"Regret letting me into the quadrant yet?" I ask calmly. My shadows dance up the tunnel walls, ready to take action if the general decides now is the time to make any moves.

"No," she answers, but we both know why. Her daughter would be dead if it wasn't for me.

She shifts her body to look at Violet, and everything about her softens. So fucking weird.

"Stay alive, or this all will have been for nothing," she says, softly, reaching her hand out. I stiffen, but she simply grazes her knuckles against Violet's swollen cheek. "I'd tell you to take arnica and see a healer, but you already know that. Your father made sure you'd know everything you needed or where to find it. You're all that's left of him you know."

I feel like I'm intruding on a private moment, and look away from the two, trying to give them a final few moments together. Not for the general's sake, but for Violet's.

I don't think it's ever fully occurred to me until now that Violet and her mother are related because of how differently I view the two of them. It's a fact I know, but haven't fully grasped until this moment. When Lilith is looking at his daughter with such softness, and Violet looking right back at her with sadness shining in her eyes.

Violet grew up with this woman. She might have to taught her how to walk or read, and let her share her bed on the nights she woke from nightmares. She may have read her stories, or held her when she cried. I don't know much about their relationship, but I know they'll miss each other. And again, that ache in my chest forms.

I hate Lilith Sorrengail, but I love her daughter more. I'll give her anything if it makes her happy, and maybe one day, when we're both older, and she asks me to help find her mother, I will.

Lilith's lips tug up into a tight smile, full of so much sadness and regret that I nearly do a double take. Her smile quickly dissolves, and she turns from us, taking the steps that will lead her up to the main citadel.

"Oh, and Violet," her mother calls, not even bothering to look back. "Sorrengail's walk or fly off the battlefield, but they're never carried."

I'm quickly reminded of why I deeply loathe the woman, and she disappears up the stairs, the four of us left watching.

"No wonder you're so warm and fuzzy, Violet," Garrick mumbles, and I can't help my small smile.

"We're leaving," I announce, quickly schooling my features into a cool mask of indifference. "Gather the marked ones and meet us at the flight field-"

"No," Violet interrupts, and all of our heads whip towards her. 

I stare at her as she shakes her head, wondering vaguely if Varrish's torture sessions fucked with her head. 

"We just talked about this. We can't stay here, and I won't leave you," I answer. Does she honestly think she can just go back to class after this?

"Not just the marked ones," she clarifies, quickly. "If Markham is gone and most of the leadership is flying for the border, then it's our only chance."

I lift my brows at her, and shift her in my arms so that I can see more of her face. "To leave? Good, then we're in agreement."

"To give everyone a choice. They're going to lock this place down once the cadre returns, once they know they can't stop the spread of information, and our friends..." She carries off, and shakes her head again. "We have to give them a choice, Xaden, or we're no better than leadership."

I narrow my eyes slightly, and curse her compassion, her neverending righteousness. She's too fucking good for anyone. She wants to give everyone a chance, and I didn't even consider it. Why would I? I don't give a shit about the majority of the people in this college. 

Holy fuck, am I actually considering this? It's an awful idea. We can't just hide hundreds of dragons and riders in Aretia...or can we? 

Gods, what am I doing?

"Dragons will vouch for the ones who want to leave for the right reasons," she whispers softly. She looks up at me with those big, doe eyes, and it does me in. 

I curse myself for my utter lack of self control as I grit my teeth, and finally answer with, "Fine."

I look back at Aetos, and warn, "It won't be safe here for you. Not after what you just did."

Am I seriously giving Dain fucking Aetos the choice to come to Aretia with us? The things people do for love. Holy shit, am I becoming a romantic? Where the fuck is this coming from?

"Not that it will be safe for him where we're going," Garrick points out, glancing between us. "You can't be serious. We're going to trust this guy?"

"If he wants our trust, he'll earn it," I answer. I can't really say, "Well, you see, I read his fucking mind, and he's in the clear for now." Can't imagine how that would go over.

We all turn to Aetos, and his jaw clenches as he nods once. "Guess my last official act as wingleader will be to call a formation," he sighs.