Page 291 - Fourth Wing

anything.”

“How much faster?” I gasp. “She’s two years old!”
“She’ll be full-grown in a year or two, but some are slower than others,”

Sgaeyl answers. “And if I thought she’d actually bond, I would have

objected harder to her Right of Benefaction.” She chuffs at Andarna in
obvious disapproval.

“Hold on. Is Andarna yours?” Xaden walks a step toward Sgaeyl, and the

tone in his voice is one I’ve never heard. He’s…hurt. “Have you hidden a
hatchling away from me these last two years?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Sgaeyl blows out a blast of air that ruffles Xaden’s

hair. “Do you think I’d let my offspring bond while still feathered?”
“Her parents passed before hatching,” Tairn answers.

My heart sinks. “Oh, I’m sorry, Andarna.”
“I have lots of elders,” she responds, as though that makes up for it, but

having lost my dad…I know it doesn’t.

“Not enough to keep you off the Threshing field,” Tairn grumbles.
“Feathertails don’t bond because their power is too unpredictable.

Unstable.”
“Unpredictable?” Xaden questions.

“The same way you wouldn’t hand a toddler your signet, would you,

wingleader?” Tairn grunts when Andarna sags against his foreleg.
“Gods, no. I could barely control it as a first-year.” Xaden shakes his

head.

It’s odd to imagine Xaden ever not being in control. Hell, I’d pay good
money to see him lose it. To be the one he lost it with. Nope. I shut that

thought down immediately.

“Exactly. Bonding too young allows them to give their gift directly, and a
rider could easily drain them and burn out.”

“I would never!” I shake my head.
“That’s why I chose you.” Andarna’s head flops against Tairn’s leg. How