CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Violet attends the Archives with her assigned shadow Liam, where she learns about his background as the fostered son of an executed rebellion officer. Later in Battle Brief, professors announce the Squad Battle prize and begin teaching about the Battle of Gianfar, but Violet discovers a concerning report about an attack on Sumerton that doesn't align with official intel.

Violet and Liam continue their daily routine to the Archives, where she observes the hostility directed at marked ones like him. Through conversation, Liam reveals he was fostered by Duke Lindell after his father's execution, along with Xaden Riorson. He explains that the children of rebellion officers—107 total, all marked with rebellion relics—were forced into the Riders Quadrant as a condition of being allowed to live, possibly to eliminate them through the high death rate. Violet learns the youngest marked one is only six years old and born with the mark. When retrieving a scroll for Professor Markham, Violet and Liam discover a report describing an attack on Sumerton and a looted supply convoy, despite Navarre having a trade agreement with Poromiel. Later, during Battle Brief in a packed classroom, Professors Markham and Devera announce that Squad Battle winners will receive a trip to shadow an active wing at the front lines. They then begin teaching the Battle of Gianfar, a six-hundred-year-old pivotal battle in Navarre's unification. Violet realizes the attack report wasn't marked classified and struggles to reconcile why such a current attack on their southern border isn't being addressed, though Liam suggests she may have missed a classification marking. Xaden, watching from the back, uses shadows to retrieve her fallen quill without drawing attention.