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Conscription Day is always the deadliest. Maybe that’s why the sunrise is especially beautiful this morning—because I know it might be my last.
In this quote from the beginning of the novel, Violet reflects on what might be the last sunrise she ever sees: the one over Basgiath War College on Conscription Day. The term “deadliest” sets up how foreboding this first chapter feels, emphasizing the high risks that Violet is taking by joining the Riders Quadrant. Her remark about the sunrise being "especially beautiful" also introduces a striking contrast between the beauty of her surroundings and the strong sense she has that she may die this very day. Knowing that there’s a high chance she will meet her demise during either the Parapet challenge or when she comes face-to-face with a dragon, she views the world with newly heightened awareness.
Just like it always does, my stupid, hormone-driven heart stutters at the first sight of Xaden. Even the most effective poisons come in pretty packages, and Xaden’s exactly that—as beautiful as he is lethal. He looks deceptively calm as he approaches, but I can feel his tension as if it’s my own, like a panther prowling toward his prey. The wind ruffles his hair, and I sigh at the completely unfair advantage he has over every man in this courtyard. He doesn’t even have to try to look sexy…he just is.
This passage comes from Chapter 20, when Violet’s conflicted feelings about Xaden are first becoming undeniably evident. Her attraction to him is still strongly tinged with caution, as the metaphor “the most effective poisons come in pretty packages” shows. Even as she experiences attraction to him, she also reminds herself that that pull itself could “poison” her. Ironically, Violet herself is also a “pretty package” containing poison. She uses poison as a tactical weapon in sparring, weakening other more physically prepared cadets by poisoning their food and disabling them before they can land a blow. She seems oblivious to this irony however, as she carefully warns herself away from Xaden through linking the fact he is “beautiful” with the other, more pertinent one: that he’s “lethal.” Describing him as “deceptively calm” and “like a panther prowling,” suggests that Violet finds Xaden’s controlled, predatory strength very appealing, an “unfair advantage.”
“I’ve got you, Violet,” he promises, his breath ragged pants against my lips. “Let it out.” Lightning whips through me, flashing so bright that my eyes slam shut. Heat flares above me as thunder cracks immediately.
In this scene from Chapter 30, Xaden and Violet are deep in the throes of their first sexual encounter. Violet is holding back her orgasm, and Xaden wants to provide her with the assurance she needs to let go. Violet has felt vulnerable and frightened since she arrived at Basgiath, but with the phrase “I’ve got you” Xaden is suggesting that in this moment he’s both her lover and her protector, both literally bringing her to orgasm and providing stability amidst the roiling mass of uncertainty and fear that still threatens to overtake her. The strong auditory and visual imagery of “lightning” and “thunder” and the “ragged pants” of Xaden’s breath enhance the scene’s intensity even further. This language also echoes how climactically important Violet feels this moment is, as she has been waiting for this moment and resisting Xaden for so long.
