Page 43 of Frostforge: Passage Four
"You need to see this.Now."Senna pushed past Thalia without waiting for an invitation, her eyes scanning the room with military precision.
"By all means, come in," Thalia muttered, closing the door against the draft that followed in Senna's wake.
Luna had already cleared space at the common table, shoving aside books and half-finished metalwork projects.Ashe remained on her bed, knife still in hand, watching Senna with the wary gaze of a predator assessing another of its kind.
Senna placed the oilcloth bundle on the table and unwrapped it with careful fingers.Inside lay a scroll of parchment, its edges damp with melted snow.The wax seal was cracked, but still bore the faint impression of a sigil Thalia didn't recognize — not the Northern runes she'd grown familiar with, nor any Southern mark she knew.
The raven shifted on Senna's shoulder, its claws clicking softly against her metal pauldron.Its feathers twitched and bristled, wings adjusting slightly as if agitated.Beady eyes fixed on the scroll with uncomfortable intelligence, its head tilting to regard the parchment as though expecting the message to be reattached to its leg.
"I intercepted this about half an hour ago," Senna said, keeping her voice low despite the privacy of their room."Near the eastern watchtower, where the ravens roost.This one had just taken off — and was heading for the sea, not the Reaches."
"And you thought of us immediately?"Thalia raised an eyebrow."I'm touched."
"Don't be.I thought of the saboteur, and then I thought of you," Senna replied, her tone flat."After what you told me about those messages, I've been watching the birds.This one was flying south-southwest.Not toward any settlement we typically communicate with."
Thalia exchanged a sharp glance with Luna, whose expression had shifted from suspicion to intense curiosity.Carefully, Thalia lifted the scroll, unrolling it between her fingers.The parchment was finer than standard military communications, the ink a peculiar shade that looked almost blue in the firelight.
The message read:
Nails (twelve) - Oats (mold in south bin) - Rakes (four broken) - Tack (needs oiling) - Halters (replacements overdue).Training of the bay mare continues as planned to finish before the term's end.
Thalia frowned, reading it twice more."What is this supposed to be?A supply list from the stables?"
"That's what I thought at first," Senna said, her voice tense."Frostforge has mountain ponies in the stables, but… no bay mares."
Luna had moved closer, reading over Thalia's shoulder.Her fingers traced the air above the parchment, not quite touching it."Look at the first letter of each item in the list," she whispered.
Thalia's eyes tracked back to the beginning.N-O-R-T-H.North.
"It’s a code," Luna continued, her voice barely audible."The message itself appears innocent — maintenance needs, stable concerns — but it's concealing something else entirely."
"What does it mean?"Thalia asked, looking between Luna and Senna.
Luna shook her head, forehead creasing in concentration."Impossible to say without more information.This is just one message, likely one of many — we have almost nothing to build from.But the fact that someone is passing information through coded messages at all..."She trailed off, her implication clear.
“It’s our saboteur,” Thalia realized.“The one who received the missive from the gull.”
"'North' definitely indicates something's happening," Luna continued, tapping at the parenthetical notes."Why else would they put it in code?And I'd wager there are further instructions buried in these numbers and details.Twelve what?What's significant about the south bin?Four broken rakes could mean four targets, four ships, four people…."
"Or it could be a legitimate supply request with a coincidental first-letter pattern," Ashe offered, though she didn't sound convinced.
"No," Luna said firmly."It’s not.And the code itself is a bad sign.The saboteur knows someone might be intercepting their messages.They're being cautious, which means they're on guard."
Thalia stared at the parchment, its innocent-seeming words now sinister in their ambiguity."So what do we do?"
Luna pondered for a moment, her dark eyes distant."You should talk to Wolfe," she said finally."I know we’ve avoided talking to instructors, but whatever this is, it’s a sign of imminent escalation.Show her both messages we've intercepted.See how she reacts, watch for signs that she’s the traitor — it's due diligence, if nothing else."
"And in the meantime?"Thalia asked.
"We keep the raven," Luna declared, a smile slowly spreading across her face."Birds like this are trained to return to their sender.It could be useful in the future."
Ashe groaned, flopping back on her bed."And where exactly are we supposed to hide a raven?In case you've forgotten, pets aren't exactly permitted in the dormitories."
"It's not a pet," Luna said brightly, extending her arm toward the bird.To Thalia's surprise, it hopped from Senna's shoulder to Luna's forearm without hesitation."It's evidence."
Ashe sighed deeply as the raven took flight across the room, its wings beating the air before it settled on the windowsill with a loud, grating caw.
***
