Page 311 - Fourth Wing

“She could always choose another quadrant,” I say softly, hoping it will

soothe him.
He blinks at me. “We’re all riders.”

“What?”

“We’re all riders. It was part of the deal. We’re allowed to live, allowed a
chance to prove our loyalty, but only if we make it through the Riders

Quadrant.” He stares at me in bewilderment. “You don’t know?”

“I mean…” I shake my head. “I know that the children of the leaders, the
officers, were all forced into conscription, but that’s all. A lot of those treaty

addenda are classified.”

“I personally think the quadrant was chosen to give us the best chance of
rising in rank, but others…” He grimaces. “Others think it’s because the

death rate is so much higher for riders, so they were hoping to kill us all off
without having to do it themselves. I’ve heard Imogen say they originally

figured the dragons have unimpeachable honor, so they’d never bond a

marked one in the first place, and now they don’t quite know what to do
with us.”

“How many of you are there?” I think of my mother and can’t help but
wonder how much of it she knows, how much of it she agreed to when she

became the commanding general of Basgiath after Brennan’s death.

“Xaden’s never?” He pauses. “Sixty-eight of the officers had kids under
the age of twenty. There are one hundred and seven of us, all who carry

rebellion relics.”

“The oldest is Xaden,” I murmur.
He nods. “And the youngest is almost six now. Her name is Julianne.”

I think I’m going to be sick. “Is she marked?”

“She was born with it.”
I understand it was done by dragon, but what the fucking hell?

“And it’s all right that you ask. Someone should know. Someone should
remember.” His shoulders rise and fall as he breathes deeply. “Anyway, is it