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"Please.It's the only way.For Mari."

Her mother's shoulders sagged, her fight ebbing away as if carried off by the same sea breeze that had always breathed promises of distant lands and fortunes never meant for them.She stared at her daughter for a long moment, her lips pressed tightly together as if trying to hold back everything she wished she could say.

“I’ve failed you,” Celeste finally said in a brittle tone, as though she were holding back a sob.“It was my duty to protect you – both of you.”

“I am of age,” Thalia said softly.“This is my decision.”

Her mother's lips parted as if to argue, but the words never came.Celeste's eyes were wet, though she didn’t let the tears fall.Instead, her hands shook as she folded them together, clutching the pouch of coins as if it were the last tether to the life they had built.

“You deserved more than this,” she whispered.

Thalia shook her head.“You gave me everything you had, and more.I’ll never forget that – and nor should you.”She took a shuddering breath, then added, “I’m going to come back to you.I promise.”

She forced herself to ignore the despair in her mother’s eyes, to turn away and face the recruiters.They watched her indifferently, waiting.

Thalia took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the salt-tinged air of her childhood, the scent of herbs and earth that drifted through the shop’s open door behind her.She extricated herself from Mari's grasp – her little sister clung to her with all the strength her small frame could muster, her face a mixture of confusion and fear.

“Don’t go,” Mari cried.“Please –”

"I have to, Mari," Thalia whispered, her voice barely steady.She crouched down to her sister’s level, her hands cupping Mari’s face gently."I’ll come back.I promise.You’re going to be okay.Mama and I will make sure of it.You just need to be strong for a little while."

Mari shook her head, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks."I don't want you to go.I don’t want you to leave me."

"I'm sorry," Thalia whispered, brushing a strand of hair from Mari's face."I love you so much.I'll come back.I swear it.”

The weight of that vow settled deep within Thalia’s chest, a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep, but one she couldn’t take back.She gently pulled away from her sister and strode toward the recruiters with her head held high.Thalia passed between two city guards, and they moved their halberds aside, letting her pass; she didn’t look at them.Her pulse thrummed wildly, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts, but she forced herself to remain strong – or at least, to appear that way to the onlookers, the recruiters, and the other selected students.

Frostforge would demand everything from her.She couldn’t afford to look weak, not even as she walked into the jaws of death, the shattered remains of her family in her wake.The fight for survival had begun, and it was a fight she intended to win.

CHAPTER TWO

Thalia's fingers curled tightly around the cold brass of her father's compass, a small anchor in the storm of her racing thoughts.Her other hand gripped the pouch of medicinal herbs she had in her second pocket.She could smell traces of lavender and chamomile mingling with the briny air, offering some comfort against the gnawing anxiety in her stomach.The dock beneath her boots vibrated with the footsteps of those gathered to witness the recruiters’ departure with their selected conscripts.Thalia scanned the throng of onlookers for her family, catching only fleeting glimpses of her mother's worn shawl and Mari's copper curls lost in the sea of bodies.

The ship that would carry them all to Frostforge cut through the harbor waters, its arrival heralded by the creaking of aged wood and the snap of sails.It was a behemoth, its hull scarred from countless battles with the sea.Ropes groaned under tension as the crew prepared for docking, their voices raised in an incomprehensible symphony of orders and calls.Thalia had spent her life amid the hustle of Verdant Port, yet the language of sailors remained foreign to her ears, spoken in a rhythm dictated by wind and wave rather than the cadence of market barter.

The vessel's shadow fell over her, the towering sails blotting out the morning sun.Salt stung her nostrils, mingled with the iron tang of rust bleeding from the ship's metalwork.Seagulls squawked overhead, circling like omens.With each shout from the deck above, Thalia felt the walls of her world expanding and contracting.

A wooden plank fell onto the dock with a resounding crash.The white-haired recruiter stepped onto it with an almost inhuman grace, ascending to the ship’s deck.She turned to gesture to the recruits.

“Come,” she said, her voice as sharp as the guards’ halberds, lowered threateningly toward the small group of recruits.“Or be brought.”

Fingers tight around the compass, Thalia ascended the gangplank, each step an assertion of her resolve.Beneath her, the ship heaved a living breath, planks groaning like old bones.The briny air clung to her lungs, heavy and pungent.

"Watch your step," a recruiter grunted, his hand at her back not guiding so much as propelling her forward.Wood creaked beneath her boots, the ocean's pulse syncing with her own unsteady heartbeat.She stumbled once, twice, catching herself before she could be swallowed by the churning waters below.

On deck, the world tilted anew.Ropes lashed against masts, and sails flapped in impatient anticipation.Below Thalia’s feet, the deck shifted and groaned as if the ship itself were alive.She steadied herself against the nearest rail, gripping it until her knuckles blanched.She had lived in the port city her entire life, but had never set foot on a ship.The view from here – the sloping hills of the city, dotted with terracotta roofs and lush greenery that curled around the harbor like a sleeping beast – was familiar and strange all at once.She knew every nook and cranny of Verdant Port, but had never before seen the city from this outside angle.

Her eyes fell to the gathered crowd below.She searched desperately, seeking out two figures; she needed to see them again, to draw as much strength from them as she could.There, amidst the throng, she spotted them: her mother, her body stiff with grief, still clutching the useless sack of coin, and Mari, a wisp of a girl with eyes too large for her thin face.They held each other, their bodies leaning into one another as they strained for one final glimpse.

Thalia's throat tightened; the compass pressed against her palm as a silent testament to the father who had ventured out to sea and never returned.She wasn't just leaving home; she was following in his wake.

Thalia felt the deck lurch beneath her boots as the crew heaved against thick ropes.With a groan of timber and the snap of canvas, the ship pushed away from the dock.She watched the sails billow like the chests of giants, catching the wind and pulling the vessel out into the harbor.

Tearing her gaze away from the city, Thalia forced herself to take stock of her fellow recruits.She recognized many of them, even if she didn’t know them by name.The Selection had taken its toll on the city’s slums, and most of the recruits came from the poorer districts, their misfortune reflected in their worn clothes and downcast eyes.Some of them watched the churning waters of the harbor as if they were considering vaulting over the ship’s railings and swimming to shore.Thalia could see the calculation in their eyes as they weighed their odds of survival against their chances at Frostforge.The white-haired recruiter stood upon the stern, her relentless stare fixed upon these recruits, as if daring any of them to act on their impulses.

Not all of the recruits were so miserable.A cluster of well-dressed youths from the upper district congregated near the bow, their laughter carrying over the wind and the shouts of the sailors.Their fine cloaks fluttered in the breeze.Some of them had swords at their hips, weapons worth at least a dozen bribes.These were the privileged who had been sent to Frostforge not out of necessity, but due to their families’ expectations.

Many of them, Thalia knew, had trained in combat since childhood, their skills honed in private lessons.That would give them an advantage, no doubt — at least in the physical trials — but Thalia wasn't sure that would be enough to carry them through all of the challenges ahead.They were used to luxury,