Page 22 of Frostforge: Passage Two

As they gathered their things to leave, Thalia cast one last glance at the ancient furnace.Through the stone and iron, she could still feel the faint magical resonance of the hidden runes, like a pulse from the distant past.Whatever the Founder's Price was, it had left an imprint on Frostforge itself — in its walls, in its very foundation.

And as she followed Kaine out of the forge, Thalia couldn't shake the feeling that they had barely scratched the surface of a truth that had been buried for centuries.A truth that someone, even now, might want to keep hidden.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Thalia arrived at the forge early, her tools bundled carefully in the leather wrap she'd purchased with part of her monthly stipend.The familiar warmth should have been comforting after the bitter cold of the Frostforge grounds, but something in the air felt wrong.She noticed it immediately: hushed conversations cutting off as she walked past, Northern students standing in tight clusters, their eyes following her with barely disguised suspicion.Another weapon had gone missing overnight — this time, a third-year student's prized war hammer, the product of a month’s work.

"Three more weapons from the east armory too," a girl with short-cropped red hair whispered to her companion."And Riverton's personal daggers — all five of them."

"Those were enchanted," her friend replied, voice pitched low but not quite low enough."Worth more than what most of us will earn in our first year of service."

Thalia kept her gaze fixed ahead, the weight of stares pressing against her back as she moved to her station.

"Morning," she said to the Northern student at the station beside hers, a formality she'd maintained despite weeks of receiving only grunts in response.

Today, she didn't even get that.The boy — Asher, she thought his name was — turned his broad back to her, the sun-pale hair at the nape of his neck bristling like an animal's hackles.

Four stations away, Einar Frostborne worked with his usual intensity.Unlike the standard training models most first-years struggled with, Einar's creation was ambitious — a predator's form with blades concealed beneath overlapping plates of steel.

Einar stood back, assessing his work with narrowed eyes.The golem's torso lay open on his bench, internal mechanisms exposed — coiled springs that would drive the hidden blades, interlocking gears to regulate their deployment.Pride straightened his shoulders as he reached for the central component, a curved steel plate that would connect the power core to the primary movement mechanisms.

"Perfect," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

He lifted the component high, as if showing off a trophy, and Thalia watched the light catch its polished surface.Then, with a theatrical flourish that went wrong, his fingers slipped.

The fall seemed to happen in slow motion.The curved steel plate tumbled through the air, striking the edge of the workbench before clattering to the stone floor.

Silence crashed into the forge.

Einar's face went from shocked to incredulous as he bent to retrieve the piece.When he straightened, he was holding two pieces, the steel cracked cleanly where it had struck the bench.

"No," he whispered, then louder: "No!"

His face, already flushed from the forge heat, darkened to crimson."This isn't possible.This alloy is rated for combat.It shouldn't break from a simple fall."

His head snapped up, eyes scanning the room until they locked onto Thalia."You," he snarled."What did you do to my materials?"

The accusation hit her like a physical blow."What?Nothing!I've never even touched your station."

"Liar!"Einar's voice echoed off the stone walls.He stormed toward her, the broken pieces clutched in his fist."First the weapons disappear, now this?Northern steel doesn't just break.It's been compromised — sabotaged!"

Students backed away, creating a circle around them.Thalia stood her ground, though her heart hammered against her ribs.

"I had nothing to do with your component breaking," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady."Maybe you made a mistake in the forging process."

Einar's laugh was ugly."A Nordhall, making a basic forging mistake?My family has been working steel since before your Southern Kingdoms even existed."He thrust the broken pieces toward her face."This is sabotage.And who better to sabotage Northern weapons than a Southerner with unexplained talent for metallurgy?"

Other Northern students pressed closer, their expressions darkening.

"She's the only one who got her golem heart to animate on the first try," someone called out."Maybe because she's been studying our methods by tampering with our materials."

The circle tightened.Thalia's fingernails dug into her palms.She knew how quickly suspicion could turn to violence in Frostforge.

"I've been working on my own projects," she said, each word precise and clear."I don't have time to sabotage anyone else's work, even if I wanted to.Which I don't."

"Enough!"

Instructor Wolfe's voice cut through the tension.The crowd parted as the weathered forge master approached, her icy blue eyes sweeping over the assembled students before settling on the broken component in Einar's hand.

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