Page 22 of Frostforge: Passage Four
Thalia's concentration slipped, and her ice lattice shattered, the fragments falling like diamond dust to the stone floor.She exhaled slowly, gathering her focus.Across the room, Roran's perfectly formed lattice gleamed, its patterns strained, more brittle than his usual work — the result of his desperate effort to suppress the storm magic that wanted to flow instead of ice.
Everyone is hiding something.Everyone is afraid of exposure,Thalia thought.The perfect environment for a saboteur to thrive.
"Again," Ashe said quietly, and Thalia raised her hands once more, frost gloves glowing with channeled energy.
Outside the high windows, beyond the delicate patterns of ice that obscured the view, ravens circled against the slate-gray sky, bearing messages that threatened to tear Frostforge apart from within — before the Isle Wardens ever had the chance to strike.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The great hall of Frostforge pulsed with the low murmur of hundreds of students, their voices bouncing off the ice-veined stone walls and dissipating into the vaulted ceiling above.Thalia stared into her bowl of stew, watching the steam curl upward in lazy tendrils, carrying the scent of salted venison and winter herbs.Each mouthful tasted like ash.Since the instructors had announced the Storm Chase would proceed despite Isle Warden sightings, a hollow dread had settled in her stomach, pushing away any semblance of appetite.The kitchens’ predominantly Northern staff didn’t do much to help with that.
She glanced toward the high table where the instructors sat, their faces cast in sharp relief by the flickering torchlight.Wolfe occupied the center seat now — Maven's old position.The thought of the former head instructor sent a spike of cold rage through Thalia's chest.
"Stop poking at your food and come with me."Luna's voice, barely above a whisper, startled Thalia from her thoughts.Her friend had materialized beside her bench, face uncharacteristically grave."Now."
Luna's fingers encircled Thalia's wrist, tugging her away from the table with unexpected strength.Thalia abandoned her bowl and followed, threading between clusters of students until they reached a shadowed alcove near the hall's side entrance.
"What is it?"Thalia asked, noting the tense set of Luna's shoulders.
Luna leaned closer."She's been spotted.Maven.Near the coastal perimeter, not far from the fjord's inlet."
The words hit Thalia like a physical blow.Her lungs seized, vision narrowing to pinpricks of light.She gripped the cold stone wall behind her, steadying herself as the world seemed to tilt.
"That's impossible," she breathed, though she knew it wasn't."She tried to kill me.She'd be a fool to come anywhere near Frostforge again."
Luna shook her head."Maybe.Or maybe she's after something worth the risk."
"Who saw her?"Thalia demanded, her voice sharper than intended.
"No one I trust directly."Luna worried her bottom lip between her teeth."It's secondhand, from crew on the supply ship that came in yesterday.They claim they spotted a woman matching her description on the shoreline, building a fire from driftwood.”
"Did they report it to Wolfe?"
"They reported seeing a woman.Not necessarily Maven."Luna shrugged."You know how sailors talk — half truth, half tall tale."
But Thalia's mind was already racing ahead, conjuring the memory of her last encounter with Maven.The instructor's single eye, cold and merciless as she prepared to sacrifice Thalia, too, bolstered the academy's defenses.The Founder's Price — an ancient blood sacrifice that Maven believed would restore Frostforge's failing wards.Thalia had barely escaped with her life.
And now Maven might be back.
"I need to know for sure," Thalia muttered, more to herself than to Luna.
"What are you thinking?"Luna's dark eyes narrowed, instantly suspicious."Thalia, don't —"
But Thalia was already moving, striding across the hall toward the high table.Her heart hammered against her ribs, but her steps remained steady.Instructors Virek and Calloway were engaged in hushed conversation, while Marr stared fixedly into his goblet as if it held answers to questions he hadn't yet asked.Wolfe sat alone at the center, her vivid green eyes surveying the hall with predatory awareness.
Thalia stopped before her, back straight, chin lifted."Instructor Wolfe.A word, if I may."
Wolfe's gaze sharpened, her head tilting slightly."Greenspire.It takes some nerve to approach the high table unbidden."A hint of amusement played at the corners of her mouth."What troubles you?"
"I'd like to volunteer for reconnaissance," Thalia said, keeping her voice low."To investigate the Maven sighting."
Wolfe's expression didn't change, but Thalia caught the subtle tightening of her fingers around her goblet."What sighting would that be?"
"Near the fjord's inlet.Yesterday."
The head instructor leaned back, assessing Thalia with a calculating stare."No reconnaissance missions are being sent to find Maven, Greenspire."
"With respect, that's a mistake."Thalia's palms were slick with sweat, but she pressed on."She's dangerous.She knows Frostforge better than anyone.If she's back —"
