Page 244 - Fourth Wing

“Hi.” I wave awkwardly as she walks away, then turn to whisper to Ridoc

and Rhiannon. “She hasn’t spoken to me since I took one of her daggers in
that challenge.”

“It’s because you bonded Tairn.” Imogen blows her pink hair out of her

face and throws her leg over the bench across from us to sit, pushing up the
sleeves of her tunic and revealing her rebellion relic. “The morning after

Threshing is always a clusterfuck. Power balance shifts, and you, little

Sorrengail, are now about to be the most powerful rider in the quadrant.
Anyone with common sense is going to be scared of you.”

I blink, my pulse elevating. Is that what’s going on? I look around the hall

and take note. Social groups have split up, and some of the cadets I would
have considered threats are no longer sitting where they usually do.

“Which is why you’re now sitting with us?” Rhiannon arches a brow at
the second-year. “Because I can count on one hand the number of nice

words you’ve said to any of us.” She holds up a fist with zero fingers raised.

Quinn—the tall second-year in our squad who hasn’t bothered to so much
as look our way since Parapet—takes a seat next to Imogen, and Sawyer

arrives, sitting on Rhiannon’s other side. Quinn tucks her blond curls behind
her ears and brushes her bangs out of her eyes, her round cheeks rising as

she smiles at something Imogen says. Have to admit, the hooped piercings

that line the shells of both her ears are pretty awesome, and among her half
dozen patches, it’s the dark-green one—the same color as her eyes—with

two silhouettes that’s most intriguing. I should have studied up on what all

the patches mean, but according to what I’ve heard, they change every year.
I’m personally a fan of the first ones we’ve been given. I had to sew the

flame-shaped patch with the emblem for Fourth Wing and the centered,

reddish number two with great care, being sure to only stitch the fabric of
my corseted armor, since it’s not like any needle is going to penetrate the

scales.
My favorite patch, though, is the one beside the Flame Section one.