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With Maven’s announcement over, most of the students shuffled to take their seats for dinner, but Thalia slipped out of the hall unnoticed.She felt pulled by an invisible current toward the Howling Forge.She told herself it was the ancient sigils that drew her — the mystery of forgotten symbols etched into stone by unknown hands — but the rapid beat of her heart suggested another truth.The memory of Kaine's face, inches from hers, heat radiating between them before Senna's interruption, lingered in her mind like an unfinished spell.Thalia quickened her pace, boots echoing against the stone corridor as shadows lengthened around her, the day's fading light barely penetrating the narrow windows cut into the thick walls.

As Thalia pushed open the heavy iron door, she was met with unusual silence.No hammers struck anvils, no bellows pumped air into hungry flames, no instructors barked orders.The forges stood cold and dark, tools hung in perfect order on the walls, the usual frantic energy replaced by stillness.

Thalia hesitated in the doorway.With everyone at dinner or preparing for tomorrow's duties, she had the vast chamber to herself.The emptiness made the space seem larger, more imposing, the high ceiling disappearing into shadows untouched by the few lanterns that remained lit along the walls.

She moved with purpose toward the far corner where the unused furnace stood, its exterior blackened with the soot of fires long extinguished.Behind it lay their discovery — ancient symbols carved into the stone foundation of Frostforge itself, predating the academy by centuries if Kaine's assessment was correct.

Kaine.Her stomach tightened at the thought of him.She should be wary of his reputation, of the rumors that swirled around him like smoke.

Thalia knelt beside the furnace, running her fingers over the grooves of the symbols.They seemed to pulse with a faint warmth that defied the perpetual chill of Frostforge, though she couldn't tell if it was an actual magical property or merely her imagination.The markings formed interlocking patterns — circles intersecting with jagged lines, spirals feeding into what looked like stylized waves.

"What were you trying to say?"she whispered to the unknown carvers, tracing one particular symbol that resembled a flame encased in ice.It reminded her of the sensation she'd felt when working metal for the first time—that paradoxical moment when fire transformed solid into liquid, when destruction enabled creation.

Her fingertips tingled as they passed over the markings, a subtle vibration like the hum of magic preparing to manifest.Was this what had drawn her to metallurgy so instinctively?Some ancient connection between her innate abilities and these forgotten techniques?

The sound of a throat clearing shattered her concentration.

Thalia spun around, heart lurching into her throat.She'd been so absorbed in the symbols that she hadn't heard the door open, hadn't sensed another presence until it announced itself.

Senna stood ten paces away, her straight black hair falling like a curtain around her sharp features.In the dim light of the forge, her silver-gray eyes seemed to gather what little illumination there was and reflect it back with cold intensity.She wore the standard academy clothing, but somehow made the utilitarian garments look like battle armor — every line crisp, every edge precise.

"I thought I told you to stay away from Kaine Ember."Senna's voice cut through the silence, each word shaped like an icicle — beautiful, cold, and potentially lethal.

Thalia froze, her pulse quickening at the unveiled threat.She straightened slowly, trying to mask the unease creeping up her spine, but found herself unable to form a response.

Senna advanced with measured steps, her movements fluid and controlled as she closed the distance between them.Unlike Thalia, who had grown up in Verdant Port's chaotic streets, learning to fight with desperate, scrappy movements, Senna moved with the precision of someone trained in formal combat from birth.A predator who knew exactly how much force was required to subdue her prey.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough," Senna continued, her voice dropping lower, almost conversational."My warning wasn't a suggestion, Greenspire.It was a demand."

Something in her tone — the absolute certainty that Thalia would comply — sparked a flicker of defiance through Thalia's fear.

"Kaine is helping me with my forge work," she managed, her voice steadier than she felt."Instructor Maven assigned him as my mentor."

A cold smile curved Senna's lips, never reaching her eyes."And you think that gives you special privileges?That it makes you...important?"She laughed, the sound devoid of humor."You're not the first Southern girl to bat her eyelashes at Kaine.The novelty will wear off.It always does."

The accusation stung, partly because it reduced whatever connection she'd felt with Kaine to something trivial, and partly because it wasn't entirely untrue.There had been attraction in that moment before Senna interrupted them — a pull that went beyond academic interest.

"I'm not interested in —"

"Save it," Senna cut her off, closing the distance between them until she stood close enough that Thalia could see the tiny flecks of blue in her silver irises."I don't care what you think you're doing.I'm telling you what you will do, which is to keep your distance."

Understanding dawned on Thalia like ice water down her back.Senna hadn't been warning her away from Kaine as some twisted favor.She was staking a claim.Marking territory.Kaine wasn't someone Senna was protecting; he was something she believed she owned.

"Kaine doesn't belong to you," Thalia said, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

Senna's expression hardened, the temperature in the already cold forge seeming to drop several degrees."You know nothing about Kaine, about what he's been through, about what binds us together."She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper."Did he tell you about his father?About what really happened that night?"

Thalia's heart hammered against her ribs.The rumor… what if she’s just making up lies?Trying to keep others away from Kaine.Perhaps there was no truth to it at all.

"No," she said aloud.“He didn’t.”

"Of course not."Senna's smile was razor-thin."Because you're nothing to him.A diversion.A temporary project.I've stood by him when everyone else believed the worst.I've earned my place."

"This isn't about —"

"Let me be perfectly clear," Senna hissed, her composure cracking just enough to reveal the rage beneath."Kaine is off-limits.To you.To any other pathetic first-year who thinks they can climb the ranks on their backs.Know your place, Southerner.It's at the bottom."

She reached out suddenly, fingers brushing against the compass that Thalia had tied with a leather cord around her neck — her father's compass, her most precious possession.Thalia jerked back instinctively, a surge of protective anger flaring through her.