Page 57 of Frostforge, Passage Six
The room wasn't large to begin with, and with five people, it would be cramped.But it was clean, private, and warm—a vast improvement over the communal hall.
"You and Mari can take my bunk," Thalia said, gesturing to her bed."I'll sleep on the floor."
"Absolutely not," Celeste objected, but Thalia was already pulling spare pelts from the storage chest at the foot of her bed, arranging them into a makeshift pallet.
"I've slept on worse," she said, which was true.During her time aboard the schooner, she’d had to deal with the constant swaying of the hold, and she still held tight to her memory of the Frost Walk, of the night she’d spent out in the frigid Golem Fields, exposed to the elements. "The floor here is positively luxurious by comparison."
Mari looked uncertain."But it's your bed, Thalia.We can't take it from you."
"You're not taking it," Thalia replied, smoothing the pelts."I'm giving it.There's a difference."
Eventually, they relented, and Thalia felt a bittersweet satisfaction as she watched her mother and sister settle onto her bunk, their expressions betraying relief at this small comfort.She'd spent so much of her life trying to protect them, to provide for them—first with her labor in her mother's herb shop, then by attending Frostforge to spare Mari from the Selection.This was just one more link in that chain, one more sacrifice in a lifetime of them.
But was it a sacrifice, really?As Thalia lay on her pallet that night, the stone floor hard beneath the layers of fur, she found herself smiling into the darkness.The room was filled with the soft sounds of sleep—Luna's barely audible snoring, Ashe's measured breaths, the occasional rustle as Mari turned in her sleep.Her body ached from the day's labor and the unyielding floor, yet there was a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with the furs wrapped around her.
For the first time since arriving at Frostforge, Thalia felt the pieces of herself coming together—the daughter, the sister, the soldier, the friend.Here, in this crowded room, with her family close enough to touch and her comrades alongside her, she felt whole.
The Deep Tide still approached.The Isle Wardens remained imprisoned on the plateau above.The future was as uncertain as ever.But for tonight, at least, Thalia allowed herself to drift toward sleep without the weight of the world pressing quite so heavily on her chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Darkness clung to Thalia as she slipped through Frostforge's western corridors, her footsteps silent against the cold stone floor.The fortress slumbered around her, its massive walls holding in secrets and conspiracies like breath trapped in lungs.
She paused at each intersection, counting heartbeats between guard rotations that Luna had meticulously mapped over the past two days.Each shadow might conceal one of Wolfe’s loyalists, each distant footfall could herald discovery, yet she pressed onward—driven by the memory of black waters spreading along the mainland's coast and the knowledge that soon, those waters would bring something ancient and hungry to shores that had never known such terror.
The cleaning rags tucked into her belt provided the perfect excuse if anyone questioned her presence—just another demotion duty, scrubbing floors while others slept.Three days of servitude had taught her the rhythm of Frostforge at night, which instructors worked late, which corridors stood empty, which guards could be bribed with a smile or distracted with a well-placed question.
She reached the abandoned common room tucked into the western wing's forgotten corner—a space once used for Northern students' private gatherings before the Southern influx had necessitated larger meeting halls.
Dust motes danced in the single lantern she'd placed earlier, its flame turned low, casting long shadows across worn furniture pushed against walls to create an open space at the center.Perfect for those who needed to gather unseen, perfect for rebellion born in whispers rather than shouts.
Thalia settled on a threadbare cushion near the lantern, her back to the wall, eyes fixed on the door.Waiting.Heart drumming against her ribs with each passing minute.Luna had promised to bring the others, messages passed in quick whispers during meals, notes tucked into folded linens, signals exchanged across crowded halls.But would they come?Would they risk their positions, their futures, for truths that defied generations of belief?
The door hinges protested with the softest creak as Kaine slipped inside, his broad frame momentarily blocking the dim light from the corridor.Relief flooded through Thalia's veins—not alone, not anymore.His eyes found hers immediately in the gloom, a flicker of something fierce and protective sparking between them before he stepped aside to admit Roran.
Roran entered like wind before a storm—restless energy contained in human form, curls wild around his face, fingers twitching with the static electricity that always gathered when his emotions ran high.He took position near the door's left side, shoulder pressed against the wall, eyes scanning the room with the wariness of one who had learned early that safety was never guaranteed.
"Any trouble?"Thalia asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Kaine shook his head."Senna's busy drilling her squad on the east side of the keep.Wolfe's in conference with Marr about the Warden prisoners.We have at least an hour."
"If we're lucky," Roran added, his voice tight with tension."Your roommate nearly ran into a patrol on her way to fetch Ashe."
As if summoned by his words, the door opened again to admit Luna and Ashe, moving in tandem like shadows joined at the edges.Luna's eyes gleamed with excitement poorly disguised as caution, while Ashe's face remained impassive, betraying nothing of her thoughts.
"Did you spread the word?"Thalia asked, looking between the four trusted faces that had gathered first.
Luna nodded, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth."Everyone who matters, everyone we trust.They'll come."
"If they're brave enough," Ashe amended, practical as always.She took position near Roran, her back straight, hand resting casually on her blade as if such gatherings naturally required armed defense.Perhaps they did.
The door opened again, admitting three figures who moved with the awkward determination of those unused to subterfuge.Rasmus entered first, his lean Northern frame tense with suppressed energy, chin lifted in defiance of imagined accusers.
Behind him came Daniel, bronze skin flushed with excitement or fear, eyes darting around the room as if expecting traps.Felah slipped in last, her slight frame nearly lost in the shadows until she stepped into the lantern's glow, dark curls framing a face pinched with worry but firm with resolve.
More followed in their wake—students who had served under Roran and Luna in their squadrons, even a few first-years who had heard whispers of the truth.Twenty in total, faces shadowed but determined, gathered in a ragged circle around the single lantern that seemed suddenly insufficient to hold back the darkness.
"This is everyone?"Thalia asked Luna, who had taken position at her right side.
