Kiara hadn’t spoken to me since the King’s Contest, before we’d lost the crown. I feared I’d lost her friendship. I slid into the seat beside her. “Hey,” I whispered quietly.
Kiara put the book down. “Hey.” She didn’t say anything more, so the silence was pregnant and awkward.
I wasn’t a person for small talk, so I got right to the point. “Are you mad at me?”
Gabby let out a particularly annoying cackle. Kiara’s eyes drifted to her before they settled back on me. “No. But I am disappointed.”
That was worse. “I’m sorry I used the necklace. You don’t know how much I regret it.”
Kiara sighed softly. “You did what you thought was best. I know you were trying to save Ethan’s life. I don’t agree, but I understand. Let’s move on and forget about it.” She gave me a kind smile, and placed a hand on mine.
Relief coursed through my heart. I was so relieved. Kiara was one of my closest friends. I couldn’t stand to lose her.
“Enough mindless chatter,” Lady Korva barked as she strolled into the room. The conversation died down instantly— one girl dared to give a girly giggle, but when Korva rounded her dagger-like gaze on her, the alicorn shrunk down in her seat.
Lady Korva crossed her arms and scowled. “This is your second semester of First Year Illusion. Seeing as how so many of you girls struggled to pass your exams, I expect you to pay attention this time around. Anyone who I deem not proficient will cease to move on to their next year of university.”
Geez. I thought she’d be in a better mood now that her son was going to be the future king, but I guess fucking not. You could paint this woman’s ass gold and stud it with diamonds, and she still wouldn’t be happy.
Lady Korva snapped her fingers. “Continuing our theme from last semester, we will begin by working on casting illusions on ourselves. For your first lesson, you must learn to transform the sound of your voice.”
We’d already learned how to change our appearances last semester. I had strained to change the color of my eyes, and now, I turned them and the color of my hair with ease— though I still struggled to hold facial features for longer than a few moments.
Changing your voice sounded difficult. But Korva expected us to keep up, because she cried, “Manipulating your voice is a trick on the ears, not the eyes. If you get it right, you’ll be able to hold the spell for as long as you please. This illusion is useful in matters of deceit.”
That made sense. The fae were notorious tricksters. Disguising your voice was very useful for going undetected and deceiving unknowing foes.
“To cast the illusion, imagine your voice as a collection of notes,” Korva said. “You raise or lower the pitch to create a completely new sound. Think of it as tampering with the volume of a song, rather than creating a new one. Those of you more musically inclined will have an easier time with this magic. Begin.”
Kiara and I faced each other. She cleared her throat before she waved a hand over her face. “How do I sound?”
“A little higher, but that’s all,” I told her. I barely noticed a difference.
Kiara made a face and tried again. “How about now?”
I almost fell out of my seat with laughter. “You sound like a fucking tuba.”
“Ha ha,” Kiara said. Her voice returned to normal as she said, “You try it, then.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath, then waved a hand over my face as I cast the illusion.
Illusions, at their base, were intention. I’d taken choir in high school, and although I had no idea how to read notes, I wasn’t entirely tone-deaf. I pictured my voice in my head on a level with different pitches that went up or down. I imagined dropping my pitch, while raising notes on a few particular syllables— like editing a song on a computer. “Did I do it?”
I clapped my hand over my mouth when I realized that my voice came out sounding strange. Holy crap, it’d worked!
“You sound beautiful, Emma,” Kiara praised. “Do it again.”
“What do you want me to say?” I asked, but my voice hadn’t gone back to normal. My eyes widened, and a huge smile bloomed across Kiara’s face.
“You’ve definitely got it,” Kiara said. “Teach me! I want to know.”
As Kiara and I worked, Korva ran about the room, shouting at girls