"You can feel that?"

Thalia hesitated.Her ability to sense the properties of metal and the magic embedded in it wasn't something she advertised, especially after learning how unusual it was.But this was Kaine, who had his own secrets, who had never once treated her Southern origins as a mark against her.He was also familiar with the technique; last year, he’d all but admitted that he shared the ability.

"I can feel patterns in metal," she admitted."Not just see them — feel them.Like currents or...or heartbeats."

Kaine studied her for a long moment, his expression unreadable.Then he nodded toward the smaller runes."It’s meant to channel the cryomancy, make sure that the runes are never overloaded."

"Brilliant," Thalia breathed, genuinely impressed.The complexity of the design spoke to hours — no, weeks — of careful planning and execution."When it's finished, this could change battlefield tactics completely."

"If it's finished," Kaine corrected."The magic keeps destabilizing at the connection points.I've reforged those sections three times now."

Thalia grinned, setting the shield back on his workbench."You’ll crack it on the fourth try, then.I know it."

Her confidence seemed to catch him off guard.For a moment, the tension in his shoulders eased, and something almost like a smile touched the corners of his mouth before disappearing.

"They’ve put you in advanced metallurgy this year," he said, changing the subject.It wasn't a question.

“Yes, apparently my 'unconventional approach' to metalcraft earned me a spot."She didn't mention the sideways glances she'd received from her Northern classmates when the assignments were posted, or the whispers that followed her in the halls.

"Good."Kaine had already turned back to his forge, checking the temperature of the coals."The others would only hold you back."

Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded like flattery.From Kaine, it was simply an assessment of fact.Thalia felt a rush of warmth that had nothing to do with the forge's heat.

She watched him work for a moment, noting how many projects littered his station — far more than required for any class.An elegant rapier with a frost-blue blade.A breastplate with reinforced joints.Half a dozen daggers in various stages of completion.

"What happens to all of it?"she asked suddenly."All the weapons and armor we forge — yours especially.You're always working, far more than needed for classes.Where does it all go?"

Kaine's hands stilled.He straightened slowly, turning to face her with an expression more serious than usual.

"Most of what we make here doesn't stay at Frostforge."He met her gaze directly."It goes to the war effort."

Thalia blinked, processing his words."The war effort?You mean against the Isle Wardens?"

"What other war is there?"He gestured around the forge, where dozens of students hammered and shaped metal into instruments of combat."Frostforge isn't just training warriors.It's outfitting them."

The implication settled over Thalia like a weight.The weapons they created weren't just for training or display.They were being wielded in real battles, by real soldiers, against real enemies.

"I thought..."She paused, trying to articulate the vague assumptions she'd been carrying."I thought most of what we made was practice.Exercises."

"It is."Kaine turned back to his forge, using iron tongs to shift the coals."The flawed pieces, the failures — those stay here for training.But anything of quality?"He shrugged."The armies need weapons."

Thalia glanced around at the forge, seeing it differently now.Every blade she would forge, every piece of armor she would craft — all of it potentially destined for the front lines of battle, just like she was.

CHAPTER SIX

The Howling Forge lived up to its name.The wind whistled through unseen vents in the vaulted ceiling, creating an eerie, constant moan that mingled with the hiss of cooling metal and the rhythmic clanging of hammers.Thalia's skin prickled with goosebumps that had nothing to do with the perpetual chill of Frostforge.Advanced metallurgy.She shouldn't be here — not according to the whispers of the Northern students who flanked her on either side, their glances sliding over her like she was an imperfection in otherwise flawless steel.

Thalia kept her eyes forward, focusing on the massive hearth at the center of the circular chamber.Flames leaped and danced, casting long shadows across the stone floor.The walls around them were lined with hulking figures: incomplete ice-steel constructs, their metal frames gleaming dully in the forge light, hollow eye sockets dark and waiting.

Golems.Dozens of them.Each one was easily twice the height of a man, with broad shoulders and limbs thick as tree trunks.

"Second-years," a sharp voice cut through the forge's ambient noise."Gather."

Instructor Wolfe stood beside the central hearth, her tall figure silhouetted against the flames.Unlike Maven's weathered appearance, Wolfe was all angles and edges — high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and eyes pale as winter ice.

Thalia moved with the group, careful to maintain the precise distance that would keep her from being singled out.Not too eager at the front, not suspiciously hesitant at the back.The sweet spot of invisibility she'd cultivated over her first year.

"You've been placed in advanced metallurgy because you've shown aptitude," Wolfe said, her gaze sweeping over them before settling, briefly, on Thalia."Or because someone believes you have potential you've yet to demonstrate."