Page 19 of Frostforge, Passage Six
She was still angry at Kaine, but she was angrier at the instructors.At her superiors.The people who had decided to honor Kaine and Roran’s role in Frostforge’s preservation by sending them into the deep waters to die.
CHAPTER NINE
Fury propelled Thalia through the narrow streets of Verdant Port, her boots striking the cobblestones with percussive force.Each step carried her farther from Kaine and his orders, from the betrayal that still burned in her chest like swallowed embers.
The Frostforge pennant fluttered above the harbor ahead, a taunt sewn in blue and silver—the symbol of an authority that had decided her fate without consulting her, that had relegated her to messenger while sending her companions to likely death.She fixed her gaze on the weathered schooner that bobbed in the harbor's center, its wooden hull scarred from yesterday's battle.If Kaine thought she would meekly accept being sidelined, he understood nothing about her at all.
The docks teemed with activity, a stark contrast to yesterday's desolation.Fishermen mended nets with practiced fingers, while others readied small boats for the day's catch.Children darted between crates and coils of rope, their laughter a strange, discordant note in a city still bearing fresh wounds of occupation.
Had it truly been only a day since they'd driven the Wardens away?The thought seemed impossible, yet the evidence surrounded her—bloodstains not yet washed from the planks, splintered wood where harpoons had struck, scorch marks from Roran's lightning.
She scanned the moored vessels until she found what she needed—a small rowboat tied to a weathered post, its oars crossed in the bottom like abandoned weapons.Thalia untied the rope with swift, angry movements, her fingers working the knots as her mind worked through possibilities.
No one challenged her as she pushed off from the dock; in the chaos of reconstruction, one woman taking a small boat attracted little notice.
The oars felt smooth and familiar in her hands, a comfort when everything else had been upended.She set a quick rhythm, each pull a physical manifestation of her frustration.Water splashed against the hull, droplets catching the morning light like scattered glass.
Behind her, Verdant Port spread across its natural bowl, the city of her childhood now transformed by violence into something she barely recognized.Before her, the schooner grew larger with each stroke, its shadow stretching across the water like an invitation or a challenge.
Thalia's arms burned pleasantly by the time she reached the vessel's hull.The physical exertion had cleared her head somewhat, replacing the blind rage with something more focused, more dangerous—determination.She wouldn't be left behind.She wouldn't be protected.And she certainly wouldn't return to Frostforge like an obedient messenger while her friends sailed into peril.
Movement caught her eye—a figure leaning over the railing above, watching her approach.Roran.His wild curls were pulled back in their customary fashion, highlighting the sharp planes of his face.For a moment, he seemed merely curious.Then recognition dawned, and his expression shifted through surprise to something more complex.
"Throw me a line," she called, refusing to shout despite the distance between them.
He disappeared briefly, then returned with a coiled rope which he tossed down with practiced ease.Thalia secured it to the rowboat's bow, then gripped the rope and began to climb, her body remembering the movements from countless childhood ascents up the sides of fishing vessels.
Roran extended a hand as she neared the top, and she grudgingly accepted it, allowing him to pull her over the railing onto the schooner's deck.
"This is a surprise," he said, releasing her hand once she'd found her footing."Thought you'd be spending every moment with your family."
His eyes studied her face, and whatever he saw there made his easy smile fade.
"Oh.You found out."
"Yes," Thalia said, the single syllable sharp enough to cut."I found out.A fortress-whale?Really?"
Roran raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, his palms weathered and calloused from years of work on ships and, more recently, from channeling storm magic."Look, I wanted to tell you.From the beginning.But Kaine's technically in command of this mission, and he gave direct orders not to mention it."
Thalia paced across the deck, her steps quick and agitated.The wood creaked beneath her boots, salt-stained and worn smooth by years of use.She could feel Roran's eyes on her, patient, waiting for the storm of her anger to break.
"And you just went along with it?"she demanded, turning to face him."Keeping me in the dark while the three of you planned a suicide mission?After everything we've been through together?"
"What choice did I have?"Roran countered, though his tone remained level."I'm on probation as it is, Greenspire.The instructors barely trust me to breathe without supervision.It was only a few months ago that they sentenced me to death, remember?"
The reminder of his near-execution deflated some of Thalia's righteous anger.Roran had faced a tribunal at Frostforge for using storm magic—his inherent, Isle Warden-inherited ability—to defend the academy.Only his valor in the academy’s defense had spared him from the executioner's blade.He lived now under a suspended sentence, his talents too valuable to waste but his heritage too suspect to trust.
"Are you even angry about it?"she asked, studying his face."About being ordered to what might be your death?"
A bark of laughter escaped him, genuine despite its edge."Of course I'm angry.What sane person wouldn't be?"He leaned against the mainmast, crossing his arms over his chest."But what am I supposed to do about it?Say 'no, thank you, I’d rather not’?"He shook his head.“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, so brace yourself for a shock, but my reputation doesn’t carry much weight at Frostforge.”
Despite herself, Thalia felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward.Roran had always had that effect on her—the ability to ease tension with his irreverent humor, to make light of situations that would crush most spirits.It was maddening and endearing in equal measure.
"Do you think it's even possible?"she asked, her voice softer now."This mission.Infiltrating a fortress-whale."
Roran's expression turned thoughtful, a vertical line appearing between his brows as he considered."Honestly?Yes.Difficult, beyond dangerous, but possible."He pushed off from the mast, moving to join her at the railing."No one on the mainland actually knows how they work.The fortress-whales are the Wardens' greatest advantage—living ships that can navigate deeper waters than any continental vessel.If we could gather intelligence on their inner workings, their weaknesses..."He trailed off, gesturing expansively with one hand."It could change everything."
Thalia absorbed his words, weighing them against her anger, against the rational part of her that understood the strategic value of such a mission."Have you ever been on one?"she asked."A fortress-whale, I mean."
