Chapter Six

Violet recovers from her poisoning in Aretia and reunites with her brother Brennan, who is alive and now a lieutenant colonel in the revolutionary cause. When she overhears an Assembly meeting debating whether the eight cadets should return to Basgiath, she confronts them directly, and despite some members viewing her as a security threat due to her mother's position, Xaden and others defend her trustworthiness. The chapter ends with Violet preparing to speak privately with Brennan while Xaden and the others head to the dragons' valley.

Violet wakes in Aretia's fortress kitchen, eating biscuits with her older brother Brennan, who has been alive all along—a shock she struggles to process. Brennan explains he changed his last name to Aisereigh for safety and has been promoted rapidly in this covert revolution. After receiving an urgent message, he rushes to an Assembly meeting, leaving Violet to explore the castle. She follows him and, with Bodhi and Imogen, eavesdrops from the hallway on a private Assembly debate about whether the eight cadets should return to Basgiath to complete the War Games or remain hidden. The Assembly members—including an older man with an eyepatch (Hawk Nose), a petite woman named Trissa, a large man called Felix with a silver beard, an older woman (Battle-Ax), and another named Suri—argue that the cadets are expendable and must return, as the forges need weapons and they can't risk Xaden's life. Suri objects specifically to Violet's presence, calling her dangerous because she knows too much and is General Sorrengail's daughter. Violet, angered at being discussed as if absent, steps into the room and demands they speak to her directly. Brennan and others defend her loyalty and her bond to Tairn. Felix acknowledges that Aetos at Basgiath will seek revenge for what she learned, but the Assembly is overruled when Xaden declares the eight cadets will decide together what to do, not the Assembly. Xaden leaves with Bodhi and Imogen to meet the dragons, suggesting Violet stay to talk with Brennan, though he promises they won't leave without her.