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The day Xaden moves you to Second Squad is the day you start falling, hard, for Violet.
It’s impossible to not know who she is. The whole quadrant knows who she is, who her mother is. Coming into the quadrant as a “marked one,” it’s impossible to ignore the daughter of the woman who cost you so much, even with Xaden swearing he’ll “take care” of her. And after she bonds Tairn and Andarna, her importance to Xaden, and to every marked one by extension, is absolutely clear. But her importance to you doesn’t start until Xaden needs someone to keep closer eyes on her.
Xaden moves you from third squad to second, and you immediately know why. You see the faint handprint on her neck before you move, and what happens with Mavis moments later only solidifies things. Violet, however, makes the connection immediately, and the glare she levels at Xaden is the kind of glare no one else is reckless enough to try. Even Imogen is shocked, and that is something you never thought you’d see. You can’t help but be a little impressed this little five foot nothing slip of a girl has more guts than anyone else in the quadrant.
Your job is simple: be her shadow. You’re already in the same year, so unlike Imogen, having you in her squad means you can be in the same classroom as Violet, on the flight field at the same time, in the gym when she is, have the same down time as her. You can guarantee she is always protected, not that she wants that. Every day, you have a front row seat to how much she does not want to be protected and coddled.
It seems Aetos is trying to win an award though, and the more he tries to wrap her up and tuck her safely away, the more pissed off she gets. You might feel bad for the guy, cluelessly bearing the brunt of her scathing comments, but he's a prick. You secretly love it when he pisses her off because while you’ll never tell her, she is beautiful when she’s angry. Her eyes blaze, her cheeks flush, and she stands a little straighter, power seeming to crackle along her skin. You understand why Xaden seems drawn to her anger like a moth to a flame. She is incandescent.
On Archives duty, you see a change in her. Her eyes sparkle with joy, excitement and wonder evident in every line of her face. It’s a different kind of beauty. You know from seeing her in class she is brilliant. With her passion for learning, she would have made a wonderful scribe. But you know despite her small size and casual fragility, she’s meant to be a rider. Those Archives visits introduce you to Jesinia, and seeing Violet with Jesinia gives you another level of appreciation for her. While you hadn’t been in Violet’s squad since Conscription, you know the group you join is tight. Watching Violet with Jesinia it is clear Violet’s squad is close because of her. She makes everyone feel wanted and special, except Xaden, though you think he maybe likes it that way.
You watch Violet during flight maneuvers try desperately to stay on Tairn’s back only to fall again and again. You watch him catch her over and over, deftly grabbing her mid-fall and tossing her back up into her seat. You know it’s not typical dragon behavior; most would let their riders fall if the rider can’t keep their seat, but even Tairn knows there’s something different, special, about Violet. You watch Violet learn to keep her balance and become comfortable skirting Tairn’s wings and spikes. She is more adept on the back of her dragon than most other riders, regardless of her inability to stay on the back of one of the continents’ largest dragons.
In the gym, you keep watch as Violet spars with Rhiannon and lifts with Imogen. It’s one of the few times you know Violet feels safe enough to remove her dragon-scale corset. You watch, day after day, as Violet builds up her muscles, becoming as confident at hand-to-hand as she is with her daggers. During challenges, when you aren’t on the mat yourself, you watch Violet apply the things she’s learned and improvise on the fly. It’s that brilliant mind at work, calculating moves and strategizing. She may not have the brawn of other cadets, but her brains more than make up for it.
You know other squads see Violet as a liability. Xaden’s presence, your presence, what happened to Mavis after the unbondeds attacked her, it all puts a taint on Violet. Makes other people think she’s only alive because of how she’s protected. Her poor showing during the first parts of Squad Battle only seems to cement it. But they don’t see how your squad’s win rests wholly on her shoulders. Following her around as you have, you know she’s clever, but the others - Imogen, Quinn, Emery, and Heaton - don’t really see this side of her. You watch as Violet lays out her plan, and though the squad had put Imogen in charge, Violet runs the show. Seeing her put leadership on notice as she explains their find is simply the icing on the cake. You see Violet look up, catch Xaden tipping an imaginary hat at her, and watch pride bloom across her features. You know she loves him, even though she’s never said it.
The morning of the first War Games battle, you watch Violet as she slowly approaches Tarin, staring open-mouthed at the saddle he’s wearing. You know Xaden did it. He said it was because he’d made a promise to her sister at Monserrat. You know it’s because he’s worried she’ll burn up because she hasn’t manifested her signet yet. You worry about her signet too. She’d confided in you about Tairn using his magic to hold her on. Maybe now Tairn will be able to let that magic flow through Violet instead of wrap around her. You take to the sky, passing the flag off until you come to the outpost at the top of the ridgeline. Jack Barlow sneers at you, taunts you about Violet, and you lose your cool. Your calm mask slips and your hands itch to kill Jack where he stands. When he jumps to Deigh’s back, you think you’ll have your chance, but he somehow gets his blade past your defenses. You worry, briefly, about Sloan as you fall. Who will look out for her with you gone? Violet’s face flickers behind your eyelids and you know, without knowing how you know, that she’ll keep Sloane safe next year. Later Rhiannon tells you Violet had somehow, miraculously, gotten to you, passing you to her and safety, before blasting Jack and the outpost right off the mountain with lightning.
It is clear to you, always watching her, that Violet is in love with Xaden. You see he loves her back the day he all but begs you and Garrick to bring a new armoire into her room. You’d been with the healers when it happened - when they happened - but it is obvious to anyone who looks at them the feelings run deep on both sides. It kills you a little that they don’t or won’t see it too.
The night before Reunification Day, Xaden comes to you, tells you in no uncertain terms to avoid the mandatory “party” King Tauri is throwing. No marked one will be there. He wants you to stay away, but you’re already in love with Violet and know she’ll go. Besides, you can’t break your promise to look out for her, which you cannot do if you aren’t there. Seeing her in her dress uniform is worth it, and the way her eyes light up when they find you is worth it. She doesn’t love you, but she cares. She slides her arm through yours and allows you to escort her to the party. You think it’s the closest you’ll ever come to what you really want, so you take what you can get. You stand impassively as others notice your relic. You see their disgust. No one is good at schooling their features. It warms you that Violet notices and comes to your defense, like she did at Monserrat, leading you both away from the party. When lightning keeps you awake that night, you try to remind yourself she was never yours.
When Colonel Aetos says Xaden’s headquarters are at Athebyne, an icy finger traces its way down your back. On the flight field, when Xaden comes to collect you and Imogen and Violet, and little Aetos tells her you’ll get her killed, you wonder, for the first time, if maybe he isn’t just a little bit right to be scared. You don’t know that your fate has already been sealed, that the colonel has had his suspicions for a while now. When the riot stops at the lake, and Syrena’s drift meets you, you watch Violet’s world crash around her. The hate in the gaze she levels at you is as strong as what you saw the first day you became her shadow, and it haunts you. You never want to hurt her, and your silence, Xaden’s silence, everyone’s secrets, does just that. But you’re once again impressed by her, by her resolve and her compassion, when it’s clear at Athebyne this really is a suicide mission. Shattered world, shattered trust, aside, Violet does what’s right to help protect the people in Resson.
When Deigh is attacked, you know it’s over. Despite Violet and Tairn saving you, again, the wyvern is out for blood. You know you won’t survive this battle. As she gets you down to the ground, you look up into her tear-filled eyes. It’s fitting that Violet is there at the end, Violet and Xaden. You don’t regret not getting the chance to love her like Xaden does because no one else could love her better, even if things right now are bad. You beg her to listen to him, to let him explain, looking out for Xaden as best you can. And though things between them are bad now, you don’t regret never telling her how you feel, don’t regret not ever taking a chance. Saying anything to her, even months ago, would only have caused her pain because you’ve known how she’s felt. She’s loved him longer than you’ve loved her.
You only regret having to leave them, this man you owe your life to and the woman you would die for.