Page 89 - Fourth Wing

you.”

Aurelie holds her ribs but lifts her chin. “Who said you hurt me?”
“Pulling your punches does her a disservice,” Dain says, folding his arms.

“The Cygnis on the northeast border aren’t going to give her any quarter

because she’s a woman if she falls from her dragon behind enemy lines,
Ridoc. They’ll kill her just the same.”

“Let’s go!” Aurelie shouts, beckoning Ridoc by curling her fingers. It’s

obvious that most cadets have trained their whole lives to enter the
quadrant, especially Aurelie, who slips a jab from Ridoc and twists to land a

quick tap to his kidneys.

Ouch.
“I mean…damn,” Rhiannon mutters, giving Aurelie another look before

turning back to me. “I’m pretty good on the mat. My village is on the
Cygnisen border, so we all learned to defend ourselves fairly young.

Physics and math aren’t problems, either. But history?” She shakes her

head. “That class might be the death of me.”
“They don’t kill you for failing history,” I say as Ridoc charges Aurelie,

taking her to the mat with enough force to make me wince. “I’m probably
going to die on these mats.”

She hooks her legs around his and somehow leverages him over until

she’s the one on top, landing punch after punch to the side of his face.
Blood spatters the mat.

“I could probably offer some tips to survive combat training,” Sawyer

says from Rhiannon’s other side, running his hand over a day’s growth of
brown stubble that doesn’t quite cover his freckles. “History isn’t my

strongest subject, though.”

A tooth goes flying and bile rises in my throat.
“Enough!” Professor Emetterio shouts.

Aurelie rolls off Ridoc and stands, touching her fingers to her split lip and
examining the blood, then offers her hand to help him up.