Chapter Ten
Contains spoilers
Summary
- An assassin posing as a cadet is killed by Mira, revealing General Sorrengail has enemies.
- Violet Sorrengail experiences shock as a first-year cadet kills Nadine, who is mistaken for Violet.
- Violet confronts the killer, using daggers and combat skills to defend herself despite being overpowered by his size.
- The assailant and Violet have a brutal fight, where Violet is determined not to die or let others die because of her.
- Violet strategically injures the assailant before he pins her down, attempting to strangle her.
- As she reaches the brink of asphyxiation, Violet stabs the assassin with a dagger multiple times, ultimately killing him.
- She pushes his dead body off and despite suffering immense pain and a concussion, insists on staying to finish the assessment day activities.
- Violet speculates internally that her assassination attempt was orchestrated by Colonel Aetos.
- Violet cleans herself and remains composed, concealing her emotions despite the traumatic events.
- Afterward, classmates and instructors support and examine Violet, noting the brutality of the attack.
- Violet asserts that the attack was a message to her mother, and similar events happened to her older sister.
- As the chapter progresses, Violet attends routine academy activities, pondering her relationships and the threat posed by Aetos.
- She has a tender but tense reconnection with Xaden, who offers her care and shares experiences from his new station at Samara.
- Violet opens up about her struggles with the candidates' deaths, resisting the desensitization process of the academy.
- Xaden leaves Violet with a letter he wrote, suggesting a deeper connection between them.
- Violet's mixed feelings about Xaden, protocol at the academy, and her own survival instincts are highlighted throughout the chapter.