Her Name Means Death | Fourth Wing Fan Fic

Chapter 2: The Rider's Quadrant

The doors have ears and the walls have eyes. Trust no one.

-Excerpt of recovered correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson; beneficiary unknown

Thana couldn't sleep on her first night at Basigath War College. She rearranged the furniture to give herself some peace of mind but, she knew if someone wanted her dead, an empty dresser pushed against a door wasn't going to deter them.

As she stared at the ceiling trying to lull herself to sleep, she wondered what the walls at Basgiath War College would see tonight.

She pictured Liam in bed with the redhead he was talking to in the dining hall. She imagined Exo Halt all alone and mourning the loss of his brother several floors above her. She wondered if Violet blocked the door of her own dormitory just down the hall. She thought of Imogen doing her deep breathing exercises before bed.

~

Garrick paced back and forth in front of Thana's door for a long time before he knocked. There was no sign of movement on the other side.

"Thana, are you awake?" His voice was barely more than a whisper.

With that, he heard footsteps and the shriek of furniture moving across the floor before the lock clicked and the door creaked open. There she was.

She gestured for him to enter, closing the door behind him. Before he could say anything, she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"I've missed you so much," she said. "I've missed you too."

He stepped back and ran his eyes over her, checking for any signs of injury. "I'm fine," she reassured him, her gaze meeting his, "really. I'm fine."

He nodded, his thumb gently brushing against her cheek as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thana,"

He had rehearsed this speech in his head at least a hundred times over the past two years. Still, the tightening feeling crept up from his stomach to his throat and rendered him speechless.

Before he could compose himself and continue, her expression hardened, her anger palpable. "Why the fuck is Sorrengail in the Fourth Wing?" she spat.

All of a sudden his speech seemed inconsequential; now was not the time. Xaden had his reasons, Garrick knew that. They were reasons that Thana surely wouldn't understand.

"I don't have all the answers," he began, his voice steady, " But, for now, Sorrengial lives."

Thana froze, in shock or rage, Garrick wasn't sure. He knew one thing for certain, he was not envious of the position Xaden put himself in.

~

Thana stood beside Exo Halt as the cadets filed into the briefing room. She clocked Xaden standing with the other wing leaders in the back. She followed his death glare to where Violet Sorrengail sat in the front row with her friends.

"Move it," Exo's command sliced through the air, directed at a pair of first-years lagging behind. She could hear the tightness in his voice. She knew the feeling all too well.

"I'm sorry about your brother," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

He sucked in a shaky breath and distracted himself with the loose thread on the cuff of his fighting leathers. She didn't know how he was so composed. She would have burned Basgiath to the ground if anything happened to Liam, or Garrick, or Xaden or Imogen, or any of her friends.

"Everyone, take your seats and let's begin," the professor announced from the front of the briefing room.

Without looking back, Thana went and found Liam in the crowd. "Were you talking to Exo?" Liam asked, confused.

She shook her head but didn't look up to meet his gaze. She could feel the lump creeping up her throat. Memories of the days following her father's execution flooded her mind. She blinked them away as she tried to remain focused on the present.

"Alright," the old man's gaze swept over the assembled cadets, "My name is Colonel Lewis Markham, and welcome to the Rider's Quadrant."