Hunting Royalty

10. Spells and Spies

The spellcasting classroom is set up differently than my first two classes. Individual desks are arranged into a U shape with the teacher's desk at the front leaving a space in the middle of the room in everyone's view.

The teacher rises from behind her desk and walks to the center of the room. "Welcome to Spellcasting level one. I'm Mistress Grover, today I will do a short assessment so I can get a feel for each of your current abilities."

She singles out the girl directly opposite me and has her stand in the middle of the room. Grover has her cast a few basic level one spells before asking her to cast the most difficult spell she knows. She casts a level two spell to levitate an object but can only hold it for a few moments before it drops.

Most of the girls tested cast either a level two or three spell, as their most difficult. None of them manage to execute it particularly well.

The more I watch, I realize how advanced my magic is compared to theirs. When my turn comes, I face a dilemma, blend in or stand out.

I decided to aim somewhere in between. I cast a level three spell, one of my favorites; the invisibility spell. I hold it for a few seconds before letting myself flicker back into existence to mimic losing control of it.

Grover doesn't say anything just motions for the next girl. A few girls go before it's Clara's turn. She tries to cast a level four spell but it completely fails and she flushes red.

Once everyone is assessed she dismisses the class. "De Luca, Forrester please stay behind." Eva Forrester was the only other girl to successfully cast a level three spell. We both wait as the class empties out and Grover motions us over to her desk.

"You both impressed me, I'm going to recommend that you join a more advanced class," she says smiling, "You should receive your revised schedule tomorrow." We both thank her and leave.

Since we are both heading in the same direction, I decide to see if I can learn anything about the Forrester's.

"Well done, your spell was so good, there wasn't even that little tell-tale shimmer like most invisibility spells," Eva compliments me.

"Thanks I was really impressed by your spell too," I reply, "You made the whole room pitch black."

We are late arriving to our enchantments class, so we take a seat together in the back. It looks like we have missed the start of her introduction. "... some of you may not understand the difference between spells and enchantments so allow me to clear that up now." The teacher continues, "Spells are cast in the moment and only last as long as they are sustained. Enchantments are prepared beforehand and are always bound to an object. Almost all spells can become enchantments, however, they are far more complex to cast and require a lot more magic to create. Today we will begin with the basics of enchanting an object," she lectures.

Enchantments is my favorite form of magic, I love the complexity of trying to alter spells into charms. I already know the material we are covering so I tune out the class. Stupidly, I find myself replaying my conversation with Nate this morning. I knew that I would have to get close to him but I never thought it would affect me like this. When he looked at me it was... not important. I push the thoughts of him away and try to focus on the class.

After dinner, I'm writing in my journal when I feel a slight trickle of magic coming from my pocket. It's the portal mirror, I need privacy before I read the note so I reach for a piece of paper and write a note.

Clara,

I would love for you to join me for breakfast tomorrow, we have a lot to discuss.