Rebellion | A Fourth Wing Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"Hey, what size are your feet?" Violet suddenly asks, and you're surprised at her sudden question.

"Eight?" Rhiannon replies confusedly, just as perplexed as you are.

"Here, trade a boot with me." Violet murmurs.

"What?"

"The soles of your boots are smooth, you'll slip on the parapet," she explains, already unlacing her shoe. "I'm a size seven, so it'll hurt like hell, but much better than falling."

They're holding up the line slightly as Violet scrambles to pull off her boot. As she does it, she stumbles slightly, and falls backwards into Rhiannon...who falls straight into you.

A wave of panic comes over you as your balance falters, and you nearly tumble backwards into the man behind you.

"Watch it!" he calls out, and you mutter a quick apology before looking up to see Violet staring down at you, one boot in her hand and the other balancing precariously on the edge of one step.

"Y/n?"

"Get a move on, you're holding up the line!" the man behind you shouts again, and Violet is forced to quickly switch a shoe with Rhiannon and begin plodding up the stairs again.

"Y/n, what are you doing here?" Violet turns so she's facing you as much as possible in the narrow stairwell.

"Well, I'm hoping not to be killed on the way to parapet." you joke slightly, but it lands flat as Violet continues to turn and look back at you.

"Um, am I missing something here?" Rhiannon asks. "Do you guys know each other?"

"This is...Y/n..." Violet starts, then falters.

"Gray," you finish, and Violet doesn't correct you, thank goodness. "Me and Violet were friends when we were kids."

You suddenly realise you've reached the top of the staircase, and a few metres in front of you, is the beginning of the parapet. Oh, shit. This is really happening. Now that you're not in the stairwell and forced to stay in a single-file line, Violet shuffles round to one side of you, muttering so only you can hear.

"Does your dad know where you are right now?" she says in a low voice.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way." you reply not making eye contact. She needs to stop talking to you if you want to avoid unwanted attention.

"But, Y/n-"

"Seriously, Violet, the only way my dad is going to know that I was here any time soon, is if he hears my name on the death roll tomorrow."

Violet flinches, but doesn't say anything.

"Ready for the next one, Riorson?" a cadet at the entrance shouts, and you're suddenly frozen.

Riorson? You knew you would see him at some point, but you didn't realise it would be now.

"You ready for this Sorrengail?" Rhiannon yells over the wind, and you can't help but notice how Xaden's eyes snap up.

He takes a step forward calmly, but his expression is cold, hard. "You're General Sorrengail's youngest."

"You're Fen Riorson's son." Violet replies without missing a beat. Both of them are glaring at each other coldly.

Xaden sucks in a deep breath. "Your mother captured his father and oversaw his execution."

But my father ordered the execution, you think to yourself. If this is how he's acting with Violet Sorrengail, what is he going to do when he sees the girl who's father sentenced his dad to death?

"Your father killed my older brother," Violet responds. "Seems like we're even."

"Hardly." Xaden responds, his hands clenched into fists as he tenses.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asks - she doesn't sound scared, even if she feels it.

"Why would I kill you when the parapet can do it for me?" he says, a wicked smile curving his lips. "Your turn." he motions to the entrance.

Your breath catches as Violet steps forward, the wind and rain already soaking her leathers as she shuffles forward, Rhiannon following close behind.

Then it's your turn.

Until now, you weren't sure if Xaden would remember your face. But any doubt is destroyed the second his eyes narrow at you, an expression so full of disdain you think he might throw you off the parapet himself. He remembers you.

How could he forget? You were there, after all. You were fourteen, but you were there for every rebellion relic scorched onto 107 backs. For all 107 times the blade sliced into Xaden's skin. The 107 lives that were saved by his bargaining.

You remember how he stood next to his cousin, a protective arm around him as they watched their families be executed in front of their own eyes. The 107 marked ones' lives were spared, at least for a little while. If you can call being sent to a death sentence of a school when you turn 20 being 'spared'.

You can't help but wonder how many marked ones have since come to Basgiath, and how many have survived. From what you can see, Xaden has done well for himself - his jacket indicates that he's a wingleader. But what about the other children of the uprisers? What about the girl that would have joined Xaden in his first year here, Soleil, was it? And his best friend whose name escapes you, but whom you remember seeing with Xaden before.

And of course, his cousin, Bodhi. Who was sixteen when your father executed his mother.

You can still remember the way he cried out at the sentence, and the way Xaden kept him quiet, to avoid getting himself killed too.

"Go." he breathes out now in a low voice. He's not blowing your cover, so that's a bonus.

But even if you cross this parapet in one piece today, you're sure Xaden will be happy to finish the job off tomorrow.