Page 42 of Frostforge: Passage Four
"Just making an observation," Roran replied, his voice level."About the volatile nature of certain forces."
Einar glared at them both, his pale fingers tightening on the book before him."I haven't sent any damned ravens to my clan," he spat."So you can take your threats elsewhere."
Roran spoke again, his voice quiet but firm."You've been the loudest to complain.It's not a stretch to imagine you running crying to your grandfather."
"For your information," Einar said, each word cutting like ice, "I've only received missives from my clan's elders.I haven't sent any back."
Thalia frowned, caught off guard by his insistence."Has anyone?To your knowledge?"
Einar shook his head, the motion sharp and impatient."Not that I know of."
Thalia exchanged a glance with Roran.If Einar was telling the truth — and his indignation seemed genuine — then he wasn’t their saboteur.
He was certainly one of the Northern extremists Senna had warned about; he was definitely responsible for some of the Southerners’ troubles.
But he wasn’t the architect of the chaos.He was merely a pawn.
"We're done here," Thalia said, straightening."Enjoy your reading."
They left Einar glaring after them, his face a mask of Northern disdain.Once they were safely beyond the archives' heavy doors, Roran exhaled slowly.
"Well, that was useful," he muttered."Or not."
Thalia shook her head, frustration bubbling in her chest."I'm sorry.I shouldn't have used the rumors about your magic that way."
Roran glanced at her, surprise evident in his dark eyes."It's fine," he said after a moment."It worked, didn't it?Even if we didn't get the answer we wanted."
They walked in silence for several paces, footsteps echoing against stone.Roran seemed lost in thought, his brow furrowed in the way that meant he was working through a problem.
“Whoever told their elders about the Command Challenge may well have been trying to stir up trouble,” he said finally, “but they weren’t doing it on behalf of the North.”
“No,” Thalia agreed, her mouth dry.“I’m inclined to think it was the intended recipient of the gull Luna found.The Isle Wardens’ informant on the inside, the one who was ordered to stir up tensions.”
“Which means we’re dealing with threats from all sides,” Roran muttered.“A genuine traitor, and all the useful idiots following their lead, whether they know it or not.”
Thalia nodded; he was right.The Northerners’ hatred for their Southern comrades was strong enough to blind.They would do the Wardens’ work for them, destabilizing the continental alliance, disrupting unity at Frostforge, with no knowledge of the consequences.And someone at Frostforge was intentionally fanning the flames of that discord, stoking suspicion and chaos like dry kindling in a gale.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Night descended over Frostforge Academy like a heavy cloak, the darkness pressing against the frost-etched windows of Thalia's dormitory.Outside, snow fell in a relentless whisper, each flake hissing softly as it struck the glass before melting into rivulets that refroze into intricate patterns.Inside, the warmth of the hearth fire bathed the stone walls in amber light, the flames crackling as Thalia, Luna, and Ashe prepared for the brief respite of sleep.
"I've been trying to form a list of suspects," Luna said, pulling a woolen nightshirt over her head.Her voice emerged muffled before her face reappeared, her short dreadlocks slightly disheveled.“Those who hold authority at the academy and would stand to gain from betraying Frostforge.”
Thalia nodded, unlacing her boots with fingers still sore from that day's metallurgy exercises.The constant manipulation of ice-bronze had left her fingertips raw and tingling with remnant magic."It must be an instructor.Only the instructors could move undetected like this, sow discord without drawing scrutiny."
Ashe, already dressed in a long linen shift embroidered with her clan's crimson symbols, sat cross-legged on her bed, sharpening her hunting knife with methodical strokes.The soft scrape of steel against whetstone punctuated their conversation."You're both forgetting Northern students know this place better than you ever will.We don't need authority to move undetected, and ‘influence’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘authority.’"
A sharp rap at the door silenced them.Three quick knocks, deliberate and urgent.
Ashe's hand stilled mid-stroke.Her muscles tensed, coiled like a spring as her gaze darted toward the door.With fluid grace, she set the whetstone aside and adjusted her grip on the knife, its blade catching the firelight.
"Expecting someone?"Thalia asked, rising to her feet.Neither Luna nor Ashe answered.
The knock came again, more insistent.Thalia approached the door, aware of Ashe shifting positions behind her, ready to strike if necessary.Luna remained perfectly still, her dark eyes calculating, fixed on the wooden barrier between them and whoever waited outside.
Thalia's hand closed around the iron handle, cold against her palm despite the room's warmth.She pulled it open.
Senna stood in the corridor, her angular features taut with urgency.Her breath came in quick, shallow bursts, as though she'd run across the academy.Snow melted in her black hair, dripping onto the shoulders of her uniform.In her arms, she clutched something wrapped in oilcloth, its edges dark with moisture.But what drew Thalia's attention was the raven perched on Senna's shoulder, its obsidian feathers gleaming, head cocked at an inquisitive angle.
