Chapter 21: Flight

In the air, trust isn't optional. Dragons don't second-guess their instincts, and if we want to survive, neither can we.

Excerpt of recovered correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson to Thana Valaren.

~

Válka scowled at the second squad of the flame section, his disdain unmistakable. Thana wondered if he despised the dragons as much as she loathed the riders.

Across the field, Rhiannon slipped on the ice-slick grass as she struggled to mount Feirge. Válka grumbled something through the bond.

"I knew I chose wisely," he said, smug.

Liam arrived late, head down, making a beeline for Deigh. Even without looking directly at him, Thana could tell something was bothering him—something beyond the bitter cold. Liam was the type to push through, to find some silver lining even on his worst days. Even when they had murdered his father in front of him, he hadn't let them see him break.

That thought was short-lived as, across the flight field, Xaden and Violet emerged, doing a poor job of appearing nonchalant. Dain had mentioned that Xaden would be flying with them today—Sgaeyl probably couldn't bear to spend an afternoon without Tairn. As if sensing the thought, Sgaeyl turned her head toward them.

"You need to keep your guards up," Válka rumbled, slamming the doors on her mind.

"She needs to mind her damn business," Thana shot back. No response—just the ghost of a laugh rolling off his lips.

Kaori had warned them to come prepared—this was their first endurance test, an entire afternoon spent in the air with their dragons. Thana was just grateful that Válka wasn't the size of Tairn. One night with Xaden was the only thing she had to compare riding that beast to. Maybe he was a vital part of Violet's training regimen after all.

Zipping up her jacket, Thana mounted Válka with ease, a sharp contrast to Rhiannon's struggle. But any satisfaction was short-lived as her gaze drifted to Xaden. He mounted Sgaeyl with effortless precision, and the sight of him—so at ease, so utterly at home—made something tighten in her chest.

"He's had years of practice," Válka remarked matter-of-factly. Thana said nothing. He wasn't talking about flying.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kaori and Smachd launched into the sky, followed by Tairn and Violet, then Sgaeyl and Xaden. Válka took formation beside Dain and Cath.

As they soared through the valley, the wind bit at her skin, but the cold she felt ran deeper. Liam was deep in conversation with Deigh, his expression unreadable. She wanted—needed—to know what they were talking about. But she wasn't part of that conversation.

"She turns nineteen today," Liam said.

He wasn't talking to her.

~

There was a palpable tension between Garrick and Xaden in the sparring gym. Thana could feel it the moment she walked in.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked, arching a brow.

Garrick smirked, but Xaden was not amused. His expression remained impassive, but his fingers curled slightly against his knee—a small tell she might have missed if she hadn't spent years studying him.

She dropped her bag next to the bench where he was sitting, close enough that he had to shift slightly or risk their knees brushing. He moved. Not much, but enough. By the way his gaze flickered to the door every few seconds, she knew exactly who he was waiting for.

Garrick, seemingly unfazed by the tension, motioned her over. "Let's go," he said, already rolling out his shoulders.

The golden hues from the afternoon sunlight streamed through the high windows, casting fractured patterns on the floor. They stretched side by side, Thana falling into the familiar rhythm of warm-ups with Garrick. He was annoyingly good at this—both the training and the smug amusement that came with it.

She had just been maneuvered into the most unflattering position when the gym doors creaked open.

Violet.

Thana didn't have to turn to know the exact moment Xaden noticed her. She felt it—his energy, his sudden stillness, the way the air around him seemed to tighten. He was on his feet in an instant, his pulse a quiet drumbeat she could almost hear from where she stood.

She gritted her teeth. For fuck's sake.

"Focus," Garrick said, rolling his eyes as he nudged her ankle into the correct placement.

"How does that not make you want to crawl out of your skin?" she muttered through clenched teeth.

Garrick's mouth twitched. "I'm not in love with Xaden," he teased.

"Could have fooled me," Thana said before he could.

The casual way she said it made Garrick chuckle. "Deflection. Interesting."

She shot him a glare as heat rose in her cheeks. "I'm not in love with Xaden."

"If you say so," he said, that damn smirk still in place.

Thana scowled, pressing her hands into the mat as she pushed up from the stretch. She wasn't in love with Xaden Riorson. That would be pathetic. That would make her one of those weak-willed girls looking for a guy to bring home just to piss off their parents.

She wasn't in love with him. Not him. Nor the idea of him. Of that, she was almost certain.

Garrick, always one to twist the knife, leaned in slightly and whispered, "For what it's worth, you deserve someone who wants you and only you."

Thana exhaled sharply, shoving herself to her feet. "What does that mean?"

Before Garrick could respond, Xaden's voice cut through the gym as he spoke to Violet.

"You're not setting your feet right," he said, "come over here."

He walked toward the mat with Violet trailing beside him. His gaze wasn't on Thana, but on Violet. "Watch how Thana does it."

Thana arched a brow but didn't protest. Instead, she reset her stance, making a point of exaggerating her movements just enough to drive home how easy it was.

Xaden continued, nodding toward her. "She anticipates the counter before it happens. You need to stop thinking in individual moves, Sorrengail. It's not about memorising sequences—it's about instinct, reaction."

Violet frowned, her gaze bouncing between Xaden and Thana. "She makes it look easy."

"She does," Xaden agreed. "Because it is—for her. She's in here every day. That's what you need to focus on with Imogen."

Thana crossed her arms, watching him with a lazy smirk as Violet made her way back to their mat. "Was that a compliment?"

Xaden gave her a look. "Don't let it go to your head."

Too late.

~

Thana stood in front of Liam's door for nearly ten minutes, shifting her weight, biting the inside of her cheek, and willing herself to knock. But every time she raised her hand, doubt crept in, whispering that she should turn around and go back to her room.

She didn't know why she was here. Or maybe she did, and that was the problem. Liam had always been her person—the one constant in a world that never stopped taking. But now? Now, she wasn't sure who he was to her anymore.

If Imogen hadn't rushed past at that exact moment—practically shouting her name, loud enough for Liam to hear—she might have left.

Instead, the handle in front of her twisted, slow and deliberate and Liam opened the door, his expression was unreadable.

"Hey," she said, feeling awkward in a way she never had with him before. How was it possible for someone she'd known her entire life to suddenly feel like a stranger?

"Hey," he replied, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

The silence stretched, thick and heavy between them. She needed to say something. Anything.

"I don't know if you know that, like—I heard you when you were talking to Deigh," she stammered. "Like, everyone, I think, might have heard."

"Not everyone," he said quietly. "Just you."

Just her. He had let her hear him.

She swallowed. "Why?" she whispered.

Liam sighed, his gaze dropping for a moment before meeting hers. "I know I let you down, Thana," he said. "I just want the chance to make it right."

Her throat tightened.

"I've been horrible to you," she admitted. She knew a better woman would have handled things differently.

"You have nothing to apologise for," he said.

She wanted to believe that. But her anger wasn't the only thing keeping her at a distance. She had watched him protect Violet with everything he had, at any cost, and she couldn't forget that. She couldn't forget how he chose Violet and Xaden over her. Even now, part of her wanted to pull away.

But she was so goddamn tired of being alone.

Liam stepped back, gesturing her inside before closing the door behind them. He exhaled deeply, leaning against it like the weight of the world was pressing down on him.

Thana cleared her throat, needing a distraction from the way his words still lingered in the air. "So, Sloane's nineteen already?"

Liam scoffed a quiet laugh, a sadness in his eyes. "Time flies, huh?"

"Mmm," she hummed. "And yet, I can't seem to make it move fast enough." She stared down at her boots, scuffing them against the floor.

Liam nodded slowly, biting his lip, and avoiding her gaze. Typical. Always trying to remain stoic, to shoulder the burden alone. Maybe they had that in common.

There were only a few things that could shake Liam Mairi. A few things that could crack that insufferably optimistic facade. His sister—Sloane—was one of them.

A tear slipped down his cheek as he finally met her eyes.

"Thana," he whispered, his voice shaking. "What if I never see her again?"

"You will," she said, trying to convince herself as much as him.

He shook his head. "I keep having this nightmare... that she falls off the parapet, and there's nothing I can do to save her."

"She's not gonna fall," Thana said, her voice firmer this time. But the fear in his eyes made her chest ache. "As if the Gods would be so cruel."

"But what if—" His voice broke.

She didn't let him finish. Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in as his whole body shook.

She had missed him more than she wanted to admit. Standing here now, with his arms wrapped around her, she still wasn't sure if being here—if letting herself fall back into this—was the right thing to do. She still didn't know if she could forgive him.

Liam choosing Violet of all people over her was a betrayal she wasn't sure she could ever reconcile. It had cracked something inside her, something she had thought was unbreakable and yet, his attempt at trust—letting her hear his conversation with Deigh, exposing his fears in a way Liam never did—had almost convinced her that she could.

Almost.

She wanted to believe that it meant something. Maybe, despite everything, they could find their way back to the friendship that had before but, the hurt was still there, sharp and raw beneath the surface.

She could hate him for what he'd done. She could resent him for choosing Violet, for turning his back on her when she had needed him most. Maybe forgiveness would come. Maybe it wouldn't. But, in this moment she needed him as much as he needed her.