Page 38 of Frostforge: Passage Four
Behind a massive oak desk sat Instructor Wolfe.Her muscled forearms rested on the desk's surface, hands clasped together like she was physically restraining her anger.
"Enter and close the door," she instructed, voice cutting through the silence.
Thalia and Luna obeyed, taking positions along the wall.The room felt smaller than it was, compressed by tension.
Without preamble, Wolfe began."What happened last night was a disgrace to this academy."Frost spread in delicate patterns from her fingertips across the surface of her desk."I want to understand what started it, so we can prevent it from happening again."
Her gaze swept over each face, lingering longer on Einar and Levi."Who speaks first?"
Einar straightened, expression smoothing into practiced innocence."I was merely speaking the truth about what happened at the Command Challenge.The Southern teams performed poorly because they lacked the fortitude and discipline needed for—"
"I'd watch your next words carefully," Levi cut in, voice trembling with barely contained rage."You called us gutter trash.Say you didn't."
"I spoke facts," Einar replied with a shrug."The rankings speak for themselves."
Wolfe's fist came down on her desk with a crack that made everyone flinch.A spiderweb of ice spread across the wood."Enough.I'm not interested in who said what.I want to know who threw the first punch."
Silence fell, and Levi stepped back, dropping his arm.Thalia glanced at Roran, who hadn't moved or spoken since they'd entered.His detachment unsettled her.This wasn't like him.
Luna cleared her throat."With respect, Instructor, this didn't happen in a vacuum.”Her voice remained even, but her eyes flicked briefly toward Einar."Someone's been deliberately pushing these tensions."
Einar scoffed."Typical Southern excuse-making.Blame others for your failures."
Wolfe slammed her palm onto the table again, sending another rush of frost across the wood.The temperature in the room plummeted."This ends now."Her voice was deadly calm."You were all extremely fortunate that no instructors were harmed in your childish display.One more disruption — any of you — and you will face far more serious consequences than this warning.Are we clear?"
Nods circulated through the room.
"Dismissed."
As they filed out, the tension followed them into the corridor.Roran walked ahead without looking back, his shoulders rigid beneath his uniform.Levi muttered something under his breath, glaring at Einar, who responded by spitting on the stone floor near Thalia's feet before stalking off in the opposite direction.
Luna waited until they were alone in the stairwell before speaking."They've got exactly what they wanted."Her voice was low, meant only for Thalia's ears."Look around.Everyone's pointing fingers at each other instead of asking who benefits from the chaos."
Thalia felt a chill that had nothing to do with Frostforge's perpetual cold."The saboteur."
Luna nodded grimly."Whoever they are, they're probably laughing themselves sick right now.We're doing their work for them."
***
Thalia stood in the stone corridor outside Instructor Calloway's classroom, her back pressed against the cold wall as she waited for the lecture to end.From within came the instructor's precise, measured voice, dissecting Isle Warden command structures with clinical detachment.Thalia had rehearsed her approach a dozen times since dawn, the words arranged and rearranged until they formed a case that even the stringent Northern instructor couldn't dismiss.Evidence, not emotion.Facts, not accusations.The last thing she needed was to be labeled as a Southern student making excuses for poor performance.
The classroom door swung open.Students spilled into the corridor like water freed from ice, their voices rising in a sudden wave of conversation.Fourth-years, mostly Northern, their confidence evident in the set of their shoulders and the ease of their movements.Several glanced at Thalia with fleeting curiosity before moving on.
She waited until the flow thinned, then pushed against the current, slipping through the doorway as the last students departed.The classroom held the lingering warmth of too many bodies in too small a space.Maps of the archipelago hung on the walls, marked with currents and wind patterns in precise blue ink.At the front, Instructor Calloway stood before a chalkboard covered in chalked diagrams of Warden family structures.
Calloway was gathering her materials, stacking books with methodical precision.Her dark hair, streaked with silver, was pulled back in a severe knot that emphasized the sharp angles of her face.Her icy blue eyes flicked up as Thalia approached, assessing and categorizing in an instant.
"Greenspire," she acknowledged, her tone neither welcoming nor dismissive."I assume this isn't a sudden interest in Isle Warden coming-of-age rites?"
Thalia straightened her spine, squaring her shoulders."No, Instructor.I wanted to speak with you about the Command Challenge."
Calloway continued collecting her papers, her movements unhurried."Your team's performance has been noted in the official record.If you're seeking to contest your scores —"
"I believe my team is being sabotaged," Thalia interrupted, then immediately regretted her bluntness as Calloway's eyebrows rose fractionally."Not just my team.Several Southern teams."
The instructor paused, setting down her stack of books.She wiped chalk dust from her hands with deliberate care."That's a serious allegation."
"I have evidence," Thalia said, stepping closer."Felah's blade was tampered with before the melee exercise — the core was weakened, causing it to shatter on first impact.Daniel's shield cracked during training from internal stress, not from blows.Our canoe had a puncture along the waterline during the maritime combat.So did Levi’s."She hesitated, wondering whether to say something about the localized storm during the fjord race; eventually, she opted not to.That had clearly been the product of different forces, Isle Warden interference rather than Northern extremists within the academy.
