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Maven's lip curled."Your experimentation with copper instead of the assigned iron already shows a dangerous tendency to ignore instructions.If you're trying to impress me with your knowledge of exotic materials, you've failed.This kind of reckless behavior gets people killed at Frostforge."

She straightened, addressing the room at large."Back to work!The sun waits for no one."Then, to Thalia: "Clean this mess, restart your forge, and proceed with the assigned materials.Any further disruptions will result in immediate failure."

Maven stalked away, leaving Thalia standing over her ruined forge, her face burning with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.First, someone had tampered with her frost gloves.And now this — magnesium planted in her forge that could have blinded her when it ignited.

Someone was targeting her specifically.But who?And why?

Thalia worked quickly, replacing the soaked coals with fresh ones from the communal bin, her mind racing.By the time she had rekindled her fire, most students were already hammering their heated metal into shape.She was falling behind, but she refused to abandon her copper experiment.If she was right, it might save her from Maven's night watch punishment when they tested the frost enchantments.If she was wrong… well.She wasn’t wrong.

As she placed her copper ore into the now properly-burning forge, she sensed a presence beside her and turned to find Kaine Ember watching her work.Her heart skipped — partly from surprise, partly from something else she didn't want to examine too closely.

"What are you doing down here during the exam?"she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral despite her racing pulse.The second-year student cut an imposing figure, his broad shoulders and height making him seem older than his years.The forge light caught the sharp planes of his face, casting shadows that emphasized his perpetual scowl.

"I'm always in the Howling Forge," he replied, his deep voice barely audible over the surrounding noise."Even when it's in use for classes."

Thalia raised an eyebrow, turning her copper ore with metal tongs."Do you ever attend your other classes?"

A corner of his mouth twitched — not quite a smile, but close."Sometimes.When I feel like it."

"How have you not been punished for truancy yet?"The question slipped out before she could stop it.

His almost-smile vanished."I have been.Punishments have a way of...rolling off me."

The words sent a chill through her despite the forge's heat.Thalia's mouth went dry as she focused intently on her heating copper, hoping he would leave.

"What do you want?"she finally asked when it became clear he wasn't moving on.

To her surprise, his expression softened slightly."You did well recognizing the magnesium."

Thalia glanced up, searching his face for mockery but finding none."I didn't exactly recognize it.I just sensed it was dangerous."

"You sensed its volatility?"There was genuine curiosity in his voice.

She nodded cautiously."It felt...wrong.Like it was waiting to explode."

"That's exactly what it would have done," Kaine confirmed."When exposed to flame, magnesium burns with an extremely bright white light.It's difficult to extinguish — water makes it burn hotter in some cases.It could have blinded you, or worse."He paused, studying her with an intensity that made her skin prickle."You’ve made yourself an enemy.”

Thalia exhaled sharply through her nose.“It seems so,” she muttered.“I just wish I knew who it was.”

Kaine didn’t reply for a long moment.When he did, he didn’t offer any suggestions or join her in speculation.“Well done,” he said simply.

"Thank you.”It felt strange to accept his praise.All she’d accomplished was a narrow avoidance of disaster.

Kaine nodded once, then turned and walked back to the workbench in the far corner where she now noticed an elegant blade lying in progress, intricate patterns half-etched into its surface.

Thalia returned her attention to her forge, extracting her now glowing copper with tongs and transferring it to her anvil.But as she raised her hammer for the first strike, she felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck — the unmistakable feeling of being watched.

She glanced over her shoulder, scanning the room until her eyes met Brynn's.The Southerner stood at her forge, hands paused mid-task, her gaze fixed on Thalia with open hostility.When Thalia caught her staring, Brynn didn't look away or pretend to be doing something else.Instead, her lips curved into a cold smile before she deliberately returned to her work.

Thalia turned back to her own task, bringing the hammer down on her cooling copper with more force than necessary.The metal yielded under her strike, beginning to flatten into what would eventually become a blade.Her mind raced with questions as she worked.Was it Brynn who had sabotaged her forge?

The copper began to take shape beneath her hammer, and Thalia forced herself to focus on the task at hand.She would forge this blade, imbue it with frost magic, and pass Maven's test.And then she would find out who was trying to hurt her before they got another chance.

She struck the copper again, the ring of metal against metal joining the chorus of the Howling Forge, determination hardening in her like steel being tempered in flame.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Thalia stood before Instructor Maven, her copper short sword balanced across her palms like an offering.The blade gleamed in the forge's light, its surface etched with delicate frost patterns that caught and refracted the glow of nearby furnaces.Her heart hammered against her ribs, but her hands remained steady.Hours of relentless work — measuring, melting, molding, cooling — all culminating in this moment of judgment.And she knew, despite the sabotage attempt with the magnesium ore, that she had created something exceptional.