Bloodwing Academy, #1
On Wings of Blood
by Briar Boleyn
Contents
Chapter 48
Overview
Blake coerces Pendragon into drinking his blood to grant her temporary strength for the Games, then reveals his most dangerous secret: Aenia is not his sister but a blightborn he turned as a child. The confession exposes tribunal-level risk, Marcus’s brutality, and deepens the moral rift between highbloods and blightborn. Their argument ends in stalemate as Blake departs, leaving fragile trust and high stakes.
Summary
Blake approaches Pendragon with an offer to help her and Regan survive the upcoming Games. After rejecting physical feeding, Pendragon reluctantly drinks a vial of Blake’s blood, gaining a temporary boost to strength and speed.
In exchange, Blake reveals a lethal secret: Aenia is not his sister. Marcus slaughtered Aenia’s family when she was two; Blake found her dying and turned her, creating a “foulblood.” Blake’s mother hid the act and later claimed Aenia as her child to protect Blake. If exposed, a four-house tribunal could execute Blake and allow Aenia’s killing.
Pendragon presses the hypocrisy: Marcus would face no consequences for murdering blightborns, while Blake risks death for turning one. Blake recites the official line about restraint and blightborn utility, but the imbalance is clear and enrages Pendragon.
They argue over loyalty and culpability—Pendragon asserting Marcus deserves punishment, Blake forbidding insults to his family despite privately agreeing. Blake confirms Aenia, increasingly feral, is hidden “somewhere safe,” then ends the confrontation and wishes Pendragon luck in the Games, leaving their bond strained and the stakes heightened.
Who Appears
- BlakeHighblood narrator; has Pendragon drink his blood; reveals he turned Aenia; fears tribunal and family fallout; defends yet doubts his kin.
- Pendragon (Medra)Reluctantly drinks Blake’s blood for a temporary edge; challenges highblood hypocrisy; pushes for truth about Aenia and Marcus.
- AeniaRevealed as a blightborn child Blake turned; considered a foulblood; now feral and hidden; her existence endangers Blake.
- MarcusBlake’s brother; brutal hunter who killed Aenia’s family; likely unpunished under highblood norms; a looming threat.
- ViktorBlake’s uncle; likely knows Aenia’s origin and uses it to control Blake; promotes restraint publicly.
- Blake’s motherHelped hide Blake’s turning of Aenia and later claimed Aenia as her child to protect him.