𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃, fourth wing

chapter seven

𝐊𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐑

      After spending the last two months in the crowded barracks, having my own room felt strange and oddly luxurious. I vowed to never take the luxury of privacy for granted again. The morning was quiet as I dressed, the sun barely peeking above the horizon through the far windows. I retrieved my vest from where I had left it to dry on the hanger at the end of my bed and slipped it on over my short-sleeve black shirt. Closing the door behind me, I walked into the hallway.

      Further down the hall, Liam emerged from a door with his arm wrapped around the waist of another first-year who had bonded a Brown Clubtail. He gave me a polite wave as I passed.

      Everyone had their own way of celebrating last night.

      On the way to breakfast, I reunited with Quinn, who had strolled out of her room with her girlfriend. We moved through the commons and into the gathering hall, then made our way through the line for breakfast.

      I had heard that the less desirable duties were being assigned to the unbonded so that our energy could be redirected for flight lessons. It felt odd to be on this side of it.

      "So, since Sorrengail and Xaden are connected now, we get babysitting duty... yay," Imogen remarked as we moved down the line.

      "Are you listening?" Quinn nudged me with her shoulder.

      I jerked, "Yes, sorry."

      "Looks like someone enjoyed celebrating last night," Quinn laughed.

      "No, I mean I wish. The person I wanted to celebrate with is avoiding me," I frowned sadly at the apple I took. "Everything was fine until I kissed him, and he seemed really into it, but... I guess not."

      "You mean Ridoc?" Imogen looked up from her tray, "He's been telling people you tried to kill him."

      I nearly dropped my tray in shock.

      "Atta girl! I didn't know you had it in you," Quinn cheered.

      "No! I never tried to kill him! I wouldn't do that!" I quickly put a stop to her cheering. "Why would he..."

      "Didn't you listen to a word Xaden said? Every other Navarrian in the quadrant will look for reasons to call you a traitor or force you to fail. You can't let your guard down for even a second," Imogen glared around the room, presumably looking for Ridoc. "Guess he's just one of them."

      "But..." There's no way, right? He wouldn't do that to me, much less to any of us. "He'd never-"

      "Well, he did. So since he's pretty close to Violet too, you have to keep a close eye on him. But don't get too close," she said, jerking her head in the direction of their table.

      As we got closer, we noticed everyone was making room for Violet and treating her like some kind of royalty.

      "It's because you bonded Tairn," Imogen blew her pink hair out of her face and threw her leg over the bench across from them to sit, pushing up the sleeves of her tunic and revealing her rebellion relic. "The morning after Threshing is always a clusterfuck. Power balance shifts, and you, little Sorrengail, are now about to be the most powerful rider in the quadrant. Anyone with common sense is going to be scared of you."

      Violet only blinked in response.

      "Which is why you're now sitting with us?" Rhiannon arched a brow at the second-year. "Because I can count on one hand the number of nice words you've said to any of us." She held up a fist with zero fingers raised.