Chapter Forty-Six

Summary

• The chapter starts with Xaden leaning over the protagonist's shoulder, as she is practicing rune assignments on wooden disks.
• Xaden offers help but distracts the protagonist with physical affection, prompting her focus on the task at hand.
• The protagonist is grateful for staying in Xaden's room, enjoying the comforts like a private bath.
• Xaden mentions his recent absence due to delivering weapons to the front lines and encountering an attack.
• The protagonist works on creating a hearing-amplifying rune while Xaden picks up Warrick's journal and comments on its illegibility.
• Xaden and the protagonist discuss how he incorporated an unlocking rune into her dagger, which has special parameters based on need.
• The conversation shifts to a stone with a complicated rune held by Xaden, which was designed by Colonel Mairi for the protection of his father's bloodline.
• The protective rune, which responded to dragonfire, was a one-time-use safeguard given to the children of officers before a major battle.
• Xaden admits his emotional attachment to the stone, and the protagonist realizes the sentimental value without pressing further about a deal with her mother.
• The protagonist hurries to class after a successful test of the rune, but not before contemplating the relationship dynamics.
• Later, Devera, Emetterio, and Professor Kiandra announce that riders and fliers must integrate without separation in classes, following Dragon Rider's Codex.
• It's revealed all squads, including the protagonist's Iron Squad, will absorb a group of fliers, challenging their tradition and unity.
• To address the hostilities, the instructors allow challenge matches, where cadets can spar until one yields or is knocked out.
• The protagonist observes the challenges, noting their own squad's strength and unity even amidst these changes.
• The protagonist faces off with Catriona Cordella on the mat, a fight that starts based on past grudges associated with another character's death.
• Cat attacks fervently, but the protagonist finds her moves familiar and is able to defend effectively, implying that Xaden's training is influential in her ability to counter.