that their voices were all wrong. Her lip curled when she’d seen that I’d gotten a handle on the spell, but I was certain by the smoldering look in her gaze there was something else she wanted to talk to me about.
“Shut your babbling trap, Helena. You sound like a deranged seal,” Korva yelled at the alicorn girl who’d giggled earlier. Tears beaded in Helena’s eyes, and she didn’t try casting the illusion again.
Revulsion for Lady Korva curled up inside me. I didn’t know how this woman was still allowed to teach at the university. She had a degree in emotional abuse.
It took Kiara the rest of the class to learn how to disguise her voice, but by the end, she’d done it. I was able to hold the illusion without any effort at all for the entire time, though when I tried to practice other things, like changing my nose, it didn’t last for long. It looked like I was better with casting illusions on things that were unseen rather than things one could witness.
I’d grown a lot since I’d first arrived at Arcanea University. I was proud of myself. Ever since the King’s Contest, I’d been practicing every day with my magic, and it was like my powers were unbound. I was happy that I didn’t have to struggle so much anymore, at least.
I packed my things into my bag. I could feel Lady Korva’s eyes burning through me as Kiara and I made our way to the door. Most of the class had already cleared out, and I wanted to get out of here before—
“Miss Sosna, I need a moment with you. Alone.” I cringed as Lady Korva called me as my hand was on the doorknob. I hesitated. I looked to Kiara, begging her not to leave me alone with this crazy woman.
Kiara’s gaze was sorry. “I’ll be right outside the door,” she whispered before she ducked out, leaving Lady Korva and I alone.
I swallowed and turned to face Korva. Her heel was tapping on the floor. “Yes, Lady Korva?”
Korva wrinkled her nose. “There’s no need to play coy. I know it was you and your little friends who snuck into my office and stole the necklace from me.”
I gaped. A shudder ran up my spine as Korva ventured closer. “If I had known you had taken my necklace before your entry into the King’s Contest, you would’ve never competed. The fact that you used dark magic to cheat your way to the crown is highly dishonorable. It borders on the edge of being unforgivable.”
I remained silent, and Korva pressed closer. “That necklace was a priceless heirloom, passed down through my family for generations,” Korva spat. “And now it’s been confiscated by the state, because you couldn’t keep your filthy hands off of it.”
I stilled. The necklace was an heirloom? But it had dark magic in it. Did that mean Elijah had Unseelie blood? I knew Elijah was with the Black Claw, but that didn’t mean he was descended from dark fae... right?
I wasn’t sure. Anything was possible at this school. Whenever one secret came out, another took its place. And they were hardly ever in my favor.
Korva didn’t notice my reaction and kept ranting. “You’re lucky I didn’t have you arrested for breaking and entering into my home.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I spat back. I wasn’t going to sit here and take this from her.
Lady Korva paused, and I knew the answer instinctively. She hadn’t turned me in, because no matter what she said about the necklace being an heirloom, she wasn’t supposed to have it.
“I care about the welfare of my students,” she flung out. “Making one mistake doesn’t mean you can’t be steered on the right path. You are new to the Arcanea ways. It’s only to be expected you’ll make mistakes.”
I suppressed a snort. Yeah, right. She didn’t give a shit about me, or anyone she taught. She was just covering her own ass.
My eyes flickered to the crystals lining the shelves of the classroom. I’d noticed them my first day here, and hadn’t thought anything of them, because I didn’t know anything about Arcanean society then. But now I knew that crystals were regarded as dark magic, and forbidden by fae to use. So why was Korva putting these on display?
Korva caught my suspicious expression and said, “Confiscated items, from disobedient students like yourself. They’re there to serve as a reminder of things that can get you expelled.”