Page 236 - Fourth Wing

job. “There are forty-one unbonded riders for which you are now target

number one.” He holds up a single finger.
“And Tairn thinks you’ll play bodyguard.” I snort. “Little does he know

just how much you dislike me.”

“He knows exactly how much I value my own life,” Xaden retorts,
glancing down my body. “You’re freakishly calm for someone who just

heard she’s about to be hunted.”

“It’s a typical Wednesday for me.” I shrug, ignoring the way his gaze
heats my skin. “And honestly, being hunted by forty-one people is a lot less

intimidating than constantly watching dark corners for you.”

A breeze hits my back as Andarna lands behind me, followed by a gust of
wind and shuddering ground when it’s Tairn.

Without another word, Xaden rips his gaze from mine and walks away,
cutting a slightly diagonal path across the field to where Sgaeyl

overshadows the other wingleaders’ dragons.

“Tell me it’s going to be all right,” I murmur toward Andarna and Tairn.
“It is how it should be,” Tairn answers, his voice gruff and bored at the

same time.
“You didn’t answer before.” Fine, it sounds a little accusatory.

“Humans can’t know what’s said within the Empyrean,” Andarna

answers. “It’s a rule.”
So every rider was blocked, not just me. The thought is oddly comforting.

Also, the whole Empyrean is a new term for me today. Kaori must be in

heaven tonight with all the dragon politics coming to light. What did they
decide?

I glance at my mother, but she’s looking everywhere but my direction.

General Melgren moves toward the front of the dais, his uniform dripping
in medals. Dain’s right in one way—the top general in our kingdom is

terrifying. He’s never had an issue using infantry for fodder, and his cruelty
when it comes to overseeing the interrogation—and execution—of