Page 29 of Frostforge, Passage Four
Thalia pushed the door open to find Wolfe seated behind her massive desk of polished granite.
Maps of the fjord and surrounding territories covered the surface, weighted at the corners with chunks of raw ore — iron, copper, ice-bronze, and others Thalia couldn't immediately identify.
The room smelled of pine resin and metal polish, with undertones of the herbs Northern warriors burned to sharpen their senses before battle.
Wolfe looked up, her emerald eyes immediately assessing Thalia from beneath heavy brows. The instructor's muscled forearms rested on the desk, fingers steepled beneath her chin. Her sharp incisors caught the light as she spoke.
"Greenspire. This is unexpected."
"I apologize for the intrusion, Instructor," Thalia said, closing the door behind her. "But I've discovered something concerning."
Wolfe gestured to the chair across from her desk. "Sit. Explain."
Thalia lowered herself into the hard wooden seat, gathering her thoughts. The weight of Wolfe's attention settled on her like a physical presence.
"A few days ago, Luna Meadows intercepted a message tied to a gull's leg," Thalia began, her voice steadier than she felt. "It contained explicit instructions to destabilize Frostforge by exploiting the tensions between Northern and Southern students."
Wolfe's expression remained unchanged, but her fingers tensed almost imperceptibly against each other.
"The message mentioned someone with influence inside the academy," Thalia continued. "Someone working to undermine Frostforge from within. At first, we thought it might be connected to the Northern elders sending ravens to their students, but..."
"But the message came by gull, not raven," Wolfe finished, her voice flat. "It couldn’t have come from the Reaches. Continue."
Thalia nodded, reaching into her pocket to withdraw the folded parchment.
"Last night, Senna Drake intercepted this message from a raven departing Frostforge.
The contents appear innocuous, but she believes it's a coded message. And based on the vector of the raven’s flight, it was intended for Isle Wardens. "
She placed the parchment on the desk between them. Wolfe made no move to touch it, her eyes scanning the message where it lay.
"Note the first letter of each item in the list," Thalia said, leaning forward. "It spells 'north.' And there are other peculiarities — references to a bay mare when Frostforge has none. Numbers and details that seem unnecessary for a simple supply list."
Wolfe's gaze remained fixed on the message, her expression unreadable.
The silence stretched between them, taut as a wire.
In the stillness, Thalia could hear the soft hiss of snow against the window, the distant creaking of the fortress settling into the cliff face, the blood rushing in her own ears.
"I believe," Thalia said, filling the silence when it became unbearable, "that something is about to happen. Something bad. These messages, combined with the sabotage of some teams' equipment during the Command Challenge trials, point to a coordinated effort to disrupt Frostforge."
Her words hung in the air. Wolfe remained motionless, her sharp features illuminated by the harsh northern light filtering through the frost-covered window. The muscles in her jaw worked beneath her skin, the only indication that she was processing Thalia's information.
Thalia couldn’t tell whether Wolfe’s silence was an admission of guilt, or merely her stoic demeanor.
Her fingers twitched with the urge to snatch back the message, to flee from the crushing weight of Wolfe's silence.
But she forced herself to remain still, to meet the instructor's gaze without flinching.
What if Wolfe herself was involved? The thought slithered through Thalia's mind like ice water. Maven had been the head instructor before her betrayal was revealed. What if corruption ran deeper than any of them suspected?
Finally, Wolfe uncurled her fingers and reached for the message. She lifted it with surprising delicacy for hands that had forged countless weapons.
"You've done well to bring this to my attention," she said, her voice calm and measured. "But you must understand something, Greenspire." She set the message down and leaned forward. "Since you and your friends intercepted this message, it never reached its intended recipient."
Thalia blinked, processing the implication.
"Which means," Wolfe continued, "that whatever action was planned has not been set in motion. The chain of communication was broken."
"But the sender will realize that soon enough," Thalia protested. "They'll know something went wrong when they don't receive a response."
"Perhaps," Wolfe conceded. "Or perhaps they'll assume their message was simply ignored. Either way, it buys us time."
Us. The word should have been reassuring, but something in Wolfe's tone kept Thalia's guard raised.
"I'll increase patrols around the academy," Wolfe said, folding the message and slipping it into a drawer that she locked with a small iron key. "And I'll investigate these references personally."
She looked up at Thalia, her green eyes sharp as cut glass. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Greenspire. You may return to your duties."
The dismissal was clear. Thalia rose from her chair, a hollow feeling expanding in her chest.
"Is that all?" she asked, unable to keep the incredulity from her voice. "Shouldn't we—"
"We should proceed with caution and vigilance," Wolfe interrupted, her tone brooking no argument. "Not with panic. I will handle this matter. You focus on your squadron and the Command Challenge."
Thalia nodded stiffly and turned to leave, her hand already on the door handle when Wolfe spoke again.
"Greenspire."
Thalia glanced back.
"Trust is earned at Frostforge," Wolfe said, her expression inscrutable. "Remember that."
The corridor felt colder as Thalia made her way back to the dormitories, the stone walls closing in around her. Wolfe's reaction — or lack thereof — replayed in her mind. No alarm, no urgency, just cool assessment and dismissal.
Was that the response of someone genuinely unconcerned? Or someone playing a deeper game?