Chapter Twenty-One

Violet meets with Jesinia in the Archives to request forbidden texts about the First Six's wards, establishing a dangerous partnership. She then drugs a first-year opponent to help Sloane win her challenge match, afterward revealing she has Liam's letters and leveraging them to ensure Sloane trains. Finally, Violet travels to Samara to meet Xaden but finds he is on duty in a restricted area she cannot access.

Violet visits the Archives on Sunday and reconnects with Jesinia, who shows her Aoife's detailed account of the land navigation exercise. When Violet learns that Jacek was killed after repeatedly requesting a non-existent record of a border attack, she realizes she was protected last year when Jesinia failed to record her request for a book about wyverns. Violet carefully probes Jesinia's knowledge, eventually revealing that the Archives are deliberately incomplete. Despite the danger, Jesinia agrees to help Violet research how the First Six built the wards, establishing a Saturday-only system for exchanging texts. In return, Jesinia asks if Sloane has a chance of survival.

During the challenges on Monday, Violet uses powdered ardyce and ground lillybelle—drugs that disorient when combined—to incapacitate Sloane's opponent Dasha so that Sloane can win her match. Afterward, she confronts Sloane, revealing what she did and explaining she promised Liam before his death that she would protect his sister. When Sloane refuses gratitude and claims Liam didn't need help, Imogen corrects her: Violet saved Liam during War Games when he fell from Deigh's back. Violet then leverages fifty letters that Liam wrote for Sloane, offering one per week in exchange for Sloane's commitment to train with Imogen.

On Tuesday, Jesinia brings Violet The Unabridged History of the First Six, marked Classified, in exchange for The Fables of the Barren. The text provides details about the First Six's relationships and the Great War but lacks specifics about the enemy or helpful information. On Saturday, Jesinia provides The Sacrifice of Dragonkind, which explains that green dragons descending from Cruaidhuaine were chosen for the ward location due to their stable magical connection. When Violet opens her door to leave for Samara that evening, she finds Varrish instead of Bodhi, along with two henchmen. They search her pack but miss the classified tome hidden on her bookshelf. Varrish escorts her to Tairn, cryptically noting that most recent attacks have targeted those who disappeared during War Games and mentioning he will meet her "little golden" next week, referring to Andarna. When Violet arrives in Samara, she learns that Xaden is on twenty-four-hour duty in the operations center and she lacks clearance to access him.