Settling down into their lodgings was easy and efficient. The entire process had been managed by Everwinter's administrators. The brothers were given a shared duplex room inside a large student residence on the northwest corner of Everwinter's campus.

Molly was relocated to the stableyards where she received ample attention from the other mammoths and plenty of feed from the stablehands.

Frost had been quite surprised to see how quickly the entire process transpired. From his arrival to being fully settled was less than a day. The university operated at a high level of efficiency with surprisingly minimal bureaucratic waiting periods.

On top of that, their arrival coincided with the beginning of the school year. Perhaps that had been why Thomas and Quartus had helped the process move so quickly?

On their first day, the brothers were treated to the Welcome Feast in Greatwinter Hall. It was a massive wooden building that looked almost like a cathedral. Inside, there were long, oak tables that ran vertically from end to end. Fiery torches burnt like pyres from chandeliers. There were more along the walls, providing ample lighting to the room.

Each table contained a feast worthy of a king. Roasted turkeys, mashed potatoes, and apple pies gleamed at them from decorative red and white ceramic plates set on top of neatly pressed white tablecloth. The waitstaff served a variety of drinks from sweet orange nectar to warm apple cider. Lining the walls were additional tables full of trays for self-service including meatballs, fried potatoes, battered fish, and warm stew.

Artisanally designed plates and bowls were set at each seat with immaculate placement. Folded red napkins were rolled around metal utensils. Seat cushions lined the hard wooden chairs. Candles topped each table, adding even more ambiance to the already festive scene.

Frost and Frolick could not believe their eyes.

Never had they seen such a sumptuous feast. The tables were lined with students wearing pressed uniforms, greeting each other actively in lively conversation.

"Hello there," a girl said, walking up to the two brothers who stood dumbstruck at the entrance to the hall.

"Um," Frost said. "Hi."

"I'm Prisma," the student said, reaching out her hand. She looked to be a similar age as Frost. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Not really," Frost said, shaking his head.

"Well, grab a seat," Prisma said. She had jet black hair and wore a blue uniform with a yellow crest in the shape of a six-sided frost star. Resting on her nose were enormous wooden glasses. "Welcome to Everwinter. You can join us if you like." She pointed to a table on the far side of the hall, in the distant corner.

"Sure," Frost said.

"He means sure, we'd love to," Frolick said, lips curling up. He elbowed Frost.

"Right, um," Frost said. "We'd love to."

"Don't mind my brother," Frolick said. "We've never been to a place quite like this before."

"Don't worry about it," Prisma said. "This far up into the Northern Reach, most foreigners wouldn't expect it."

"How did you know we're foreigners?" Frost said.

"Your accent, your dress, your surprise," Prisma said. She feigned a look of surprise with an open mouth and wide eyes. "Oh, it's all right. Come join us."

Frolick and Frost followed Prisma to her table at the far side of the hall. Several dozen students chatted in lively conversation.

"This is Alex," Prisma said as Frost and Frolick seated themselves. They sat across from Prisma and a young man who looked surprisingly like her. He had black hair, a pointed nose, and wore the same collared blue uniform as everyone else.

"Guests again?" Alex said, annoyance in his voice. "Prisma, why do you keep bringing strays to our table?"

Of course, they were the only ones seated at their table.

"Oh, be nice," Prisma said. "Forgive my brother. He's got no manners. None at all." As she spoke, her glasses slide off the tip of her nose. They fell to the ground, each lens shattering into ten thousand pieces.

Frost immediately bent down to assist. "Oh no," he said. "Let me help you."

"There you go again," Alex said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Don't help her. She'll be fine."

Who was this guy? Frost thought to himself. Could he be any more rude? Before Frost could be of much help, Prisma had snatched up the wooden frame of her glasses. The frames were intact, but both lenses were missing, their pieces coating the floor of Greatwinter Hall like precious diamonds thrown into the ocean, and lost forever.

"I'm so embarrassed," Prisma said. "Sorry about that. Just one minute."

"I'm sorry about your glasses," Frost said politely. "Will you be able to see?"

Prisma dipped her left hand into a cup of water. As she flitted her wrist, water trailed the tip of her index finger like the tail of a kite floating in the wind. She playfully formed a figure eight in the air, water curling into the pattern she drew. Frost looked on in awe.

Prisma then touched her finger to the wooden frame. The water snaked over the glasses and then spread out, forming an icy lens, congealing into frozen ovular shapes perfectly fitted to the wooden frames. Geometric patterns momentarily spread across the lenses before dissolving, giving way to perfectly refracted glass lenses.

"See," Alex said, matter-of-factly. "Told you.

"Wow," Frost said.

"Neat," Frolick said. "That was amazing. Haven't seen that trick before."

"Oh," Prisma said, blushing. "It's nothing. Our father runs the Refractory in Hailstone. We're both apprenticed there."

Alex held up his fingers and flitted them in a mock display of power.

"Your father?" Frolick said. "Does that mean you're—"

"Prisma's my twin sister," Alex said. He picked up a glass of hot cider and sipped it. "I know, a little embarrassing. For me."

Frost tilted his head.

"Welcome to Everwinter," Prisma said, her lips forming a line. "I am guessing that you are both first years like both of us. Can I ask where you are from?"

"Capscatia," Frolick said. "We're not sure it's worth saying that too loudly though. Don't want people to take advantage of us, being foreigners and all."

"Oh," Alex said. "They'll take advantage of you. Especially Halorax." He eyed a boy seated three tables away. He was a massive young man with broad shoulders, a scruffy beard, and dark brown hair. Halorax laughed heartily while holding onto a half-eaten leg of a duck. Seated around him were a group of other boys who seemed to laugh as if on cue.

"Oh, ignore him," Prisma said. "He's just being a gossip."

"Halorax's family owns Hailstone Foundry, at the heart of Hailstone Keep," Alex said. "They're literally the wealthiest Frostmarked family alive except maybe Quartus himself."

Frost scratched his head. Foundry? Well, at least that was something he was familiar with.

"Anyway," Prisma said, changing the subject. "I want to hear more about you. What is Capscatia like? We've never been outside the Northern Reach." Her eyes darted between Frost and Frolick.

"Well," Frost said. "It's not much in comparison to this place, that's for sure."

Suddenly, Frost was interrupted by a loud gong from the stage at the back of Greatwinter Hall. The sound reverberated through the enormous room like the boom of a Flintlock cannon.

Thomas stood on the stage alongside a dozen other professorial types. They were much older than the students. Some had gray hair, while others had no hair all.

"Welcome," the man at the center said. "To Everwinter University." He wore a blue robe lined with geometric stars in a hundred subtly different patterns. He was tall and lanky with a white wizened beard, not too different than that worn by Quartus. Was that part of the local style?

The crowd hushed. Students sat with attention at the end of their seats. Frost thought he could hear the slightest clink of spoons in the silence.

"To first-years," the man continued. "I am Master Alderton, your headmaster. Before we begin the opening ceremonies, however, I would like to announce that we have two very important new students at Everwinter."

Frost's stomach immediately backflipped, and he exchanged glances with Frolick. He sincerely hoped Alderton was not referring to them. Their preference being, of course, to keep a low profile.

"It is rare that we receive a royal scholarship from Quartus himself," Alderton said, his voice intonating upward as he spoke. His lips curled upward. "Which I was happy to accept when I learned that two young men saved his life. I would like you to all welcome Frostilicus and Frolick Shatterblade."

Alderton immediately fixed his gaze on the two brothers and motioned from them to stand up and come to the stage.

So much for keeping a low profile.

Frost's stomach felt like it was thrown into a blender and puréed. He walked onto the stage with the wide eyes of four hundred students watching him intently.

Very uncomfortable.

If this was a war, he could manage that. In the heat of a battle, his adrenaline kicked, in and he moved on instinct. But in front of the prying eyes of four hundred strangers?

That was a completely different experience.

Frolick, on the other hand, patted him on the back and walked up confidently onto the stage with a puffed-out chest and a wide grin. Five, his brother was a natural. Frolick clasped the hand of Master Alderton and shook it vigorously, accepting the praise of the headmaster.

Frolick leaned over and whispered into Frost's year, "C'mon Frost, just pretend it's a game, an act. Put on a show."

So that was the trick, huh? Frost relaxed his gait and followed suit. If Frolick could do it, then so could he.

"I would like to personally thank you," Master Alderton said. "For saving the life of King Quartus from the hands of the Flintlock. Our kingdom owes you a great debt of gratitude. We are honored to have you study at our humble school." Alderton bowed slightly at the waist as did Thomas and the other professors.

Five, it didn't look like a humble school. This hall alone was as big as half his village. And the food. Well—

"We are the ones honored to be here," Frolick said, his voice chipper and his posture confident. "This place is amazing. And this feast is something else."

Alderton chuckled. "Young man," he said. "We saved the best for last. And you're invited to do the honors. Master Hamblett?"

A stout woman emerged from one side of the stage. She wore a gray apron with a blue star pinned to the top. She rolled a heavy wooden barrel on its side across the stage toward Alderton. The rickety wooden stage rumbled under the pressure of the enormous keg. Frost could sense its coldness. Was there frost magic inside it?

"Ahh," Alderton said, licking his lips. "The best indeed."

"What is this?" Frost asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"The first scoop," Thomas said, leaning in. "Or, I suppose the first two scoops. It's considered a high honor at Everwinter."

"The first scoop of what?" Frost asked, staring questioningly at the barrel.

"Why ice cream, of course," Thomas said, beaming.