Less than a minute later, they were admitted into Veritas Hall. Vix was still breathless, her skin goosepimpled as chills ran through her like aftershocks, each weaker than the last. She had just used magic – real magic.

‘I could get used to this,’ she thought, shivering as the last of the chills ran its course.

Vix resisted the urge to shoot one last triumphant look at the guard captain. It would have been lost on him, anyway. He still wore an expression of supreme ...