Page 53 of Frostforge: Passage Four
The truth of his words did nothing to lessen the weight in her chest.Thalia swallowed hard, fighting to form the question that had been burning in her mind since the battle ended.
"Did Wolfe say where Roran—" The words faltered, caught in the vise of her throat.
"He's being kept in the keep’s prison wing," Kaine said, his expression carefully neutral.
Thalia blinked."I didn't know Frostforge had a prison wing."
"I didn't either."Something shadowed his face then, some memory or knowledge he wasn't sharing.
A fresh wave of guilt crashed over her, even as a voice in the back of her mind insisted that Roran, too, had made his choice.If he hadn't unleashed his storm magic the way he did, many more students would have died beneath Isle Warden blades.The lightning that had arced from his fingertips had driven back the attackers long enough for the younger students to retreat across Virek's frozen path.
Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she had failed him, too.She had known his secret, had kept it close and guarded, and now it was exposed for all to see.The very power that had saved them had condemned him.
Kaine tentatively held out an arm, offering comfort without demanding she accept it.For a moment, Thalia stood rigid, pride and grief at war within her.Then something crumbled, and she allowed herself to lean into him, just for a moment.His warmth was grounding, the weight of his arm strong across her back — but it did nothing to soften the guilt gnawing at her ribs.
She had thought she wouldn't cry until she was back in her bunk, shielded from the world's judgment, but the tears began to fall now, something raw inside of her ripped open by Kaine's gentleness.They slid silently and hot down her cold cheeks as she stared out at the field of ice that had become a battlefield, then a graveyard.
"We should have seen it coming," she whispered, the words barely audible over the wind that curled around the docks."The note, the ravens, the sabotage — all of it was leading to this."
Kaine's arm tightened around her shoulders."No one could have predicted this.Not even the instructors saw it coming."
But someone had, Thalia thought.Someone had sent a message with the time and place of the Command Challenge.Someone within Frostforge had betrayed them all — and now Roran was paying the price.
She pulled away from Kaine's embrace, wiping the tears from her face with a sleeve stiff with frost.The numbness was receding, replaced by something hot and sharp that cleared her mind like a blade through fog.
"I need to see Wolfe," she said, her voice steadier than she expected."Now."
Kaine studied her face, his expression unreadable.After a moment, he nodded."I'll take you to her."
As they turned away from the dock, Thalia cast one final glance at the frozen fjord.In the pale light of dawn, it resembled nothing so much as a broken mirror, each shard reflecting a fragment of the destruction they had all survived — and that some had not.
***
Thalia stood alone, fists clenched at her sides, listening to the muffled debate of instructors who held Roran's fate in their hands.The words were indistinct through the thick wood of Wolfe’s office door, but their tone was clear enough — clipped, authoritative, final.Without allowing herself a moment to reconsider, Thalia raised her fist and pounded on the door, the impact sending a jolt of pain up her arm that she barely registered.
The voices inside fell silent.Footsteps approached, measured, and unhurried.The door swung open to reveal Instructor Virek, his slight frame silhouetted against the glow of lanterns within.The spiderweb of scars across his hands seemed to shimmer in the light as he regarded her with an unreadable expression.
"Greenspire," he said, his whispering voice colder than the fjord outside."This is a closed meeting."
"I need to speak with Instructor Wolfe."Thalia fought to keep her voice steady."About Roran Bright."
Virek's gaze flicked over her shoulder, as if expecting to find Kaine or another student lurking in the shadows.Finding no one, he stepped back, a reluctant invitation.
The disused classroom beyond had been transformed into an impromptu war room.Maps of the fjord and surrounding territories covered a large table at its center, weighted down with brass instruments and carved stone markers.Lanterns hung from hooks in the low ceiling, casting pools of amber light that did little to soften the grim faces of the assembled instructors.
Wolfe stood at the head of the table, her emerald eyes sharpening as they fixed on Thalia.Calloway and Marr flanked her, the former's silver-streaked dark hair pulled back severely, the latter's scarred face impassive.
"I apologize for the interruption, instructors," Thalia said, the formal words at odds with the fire in her veins."But I need to speak on behalf of Roran Bright."
"Your concern for your fellow student is noted," Wolfe replied, her tone making it clear thatnoteddid not meanvalued."However, this matter is beyond your jurisdiction."
"He saved dozens of lives."Thalia stepped forward, uncaring that she had not been invited to approach."The lightning he summoned held the Wardens back longer than any weapon could have.Without him, more students would be dead."
"And yet," Calloway interjected, her icy blue eyes boring into Thalia, "only Isle Wardens wield storm magic.Northern law is explicit: all Isle Wardens are to be executed upon capture, never harbored."Her words fell like stones into a still pond, the ripples of their implications spreading through the room.
Thalia felt her pulse quicken as Calloway held her gaze.Calloway had sent Marr up there, into the path of the oncoming Isle Wardens.Had she known the attack was coming?Had she deliberately placed Marr in danger while remaining safely below?
Could Calloway be the traitor they’d been looking for?Or was it someone else in this room, one of the other instructors, quietly pulling strings while the rest of Frostforge remained blind?
