“Welcome, everyone, to your first official class at the College of Song!” Fred clapped his hands, as a rolling cheer went out. The enthusiasm was infectious, and as Theo looked around, he could see everyone had smiles on their faces. Even those more taciturn had a quirk to their lips, or a crease around their eyes.

The room they sat in was what Theo imagined a classroom would look like (emphasis on imagined, as this was really his first experience in a proper classroom). Lots of wood, rows of seats radiating out from a central lectern. Fred wasn’t standing behind the lectern. Instead, the middle-aged man had pulled out a chair and sat down in front of them, elbows on his knees as he leaned forward (as if he was sharing a secret).

“First of all, let us get the boring paperwork out of the way. I’ll call the role, and when you hear your name, tell me you’re present.” Theo mentally checked out for a while, taking a break while names were being read out. And while he wasn’t exactly focused on it, he now knew that the accordion playing man was called “Astor”, and the poet who was very passionate about Maria’s speech went by Olivia-Marie.

“To those here that are poets and actors, this class will be invaluable to you. Listen well. To those that aren’t, as much as sometimes we may wish it to not be true, a large chunk of life and living consists of talking to others. So this class will still be invaluable.” A wry smile appeared on his face, as he chuckled (and the chuckle echoed through the students sitting there, rapt in attention. Theo caught himself chuckling along before he realised).

“It isn’t Persuasion, but knowing how to speak well can sometimes matter just as much as knowing what someone wants to hear.” Fred paused. While the passion and charm dripping through his voice was still there, steel started to shine in his eyes, conviction finding its place in his jaw. A few brows furrowed, and small exhalations of incredulity could be heard in the silence Fred left in his wake.

“Do not come to this College assuming that there are useful classes and useless classes. There is not a single class here that won’t save your life.” A few bodies sat up straighter, and the mood turned into cold steel resting on a neck.

“I know that some of you still don’t believe me. You’re the performers, the nobles, the people who don’t expect to use half of what is taught here. I pray for your sake that you are correct, and that the last thought you have before you die isn’t “if only I had paid more attention in class.”” Theo distantly noted (while trying to avoid the urge to run away or shit himself) that charisma, when turned to something other than being charming and fun, could be incredibly terrifying and effective. Fred trailed off, staring at the ground. While Theo saw a few students (including Astor the accordion player) starting to squirm and wanting to interrupt and ask for the lesson to continue, the sheer force of Fred’s presence kept them silent. Eventually, Fred looked back up, smile on his face again, and the room collectively let go of a breath they had been holding.

“That’s as good a place as any to start. Silence can be brutally effective, as you just saw. It is an invaluable tool in negotiation and bluffing, but also emphasising moments and statements. Do not feel obliged to fill up silence with meaningless words, or even worse, important words you didn’t intend to share.” Fred paused again, and this time nobody got restless, instead all focused on him and his every movement. After a pause long enough for Theo to complete the first obstacle course at the College of War, Fred smiled and broke the silence.

“Good, you’re learning. You’re listening. Which is also what we’re focusing on today.” Fred slowly rose out of his chair, maintaining a sweeping eye contact with every student.

“To learn how to improve your speech, you must first be aware of it. Before we can modify or consider it, we have to first understand what is going on.” Fred circled the group of students, hands behind his back as he strolled.

“Red leather, yellow leather. Red laurel, yellow laurel.” Fred slowly repeated, carefully enunciating every word as he walked.

“Red. Leather. Yellow. Leather. Red. Laurel. Yellow. Laurel.” He varied up how he pronounced it every time, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, quiet and loud, but every time enunciated and deliberate. Minutes later when he returned to the front, Theo had the phrase burned into his brain.

“I want you to say this. Slowly. Feel every word in your mouth, roll it around, understand its taste. Together now.” Fred raised his hand, and as a group they tried to repeat the tongue twister. He punctuated each new word with a swing of his hand. It was a mess at the start, people coming in and out and enunciating and holding words differently. There was not a single ounce of reaction on the teacher’s face, as he repeated the words and motioned with his arm over and over and over again, until everyone was in a chorus chanting that phrase. Gradually, Fred increased the speed at which he spoke (and swung his arm) and everyone managed to keep up. Eventually, as words flew like bullets, and Fred’s arm pumped up and down like he was waving, people started flagging and making mistakes, and it all fell apart like an ambitious cake baked by a novice.

“One more time.” Fred started again, waving his arm. Thankfully, this time, he didn’t get as fast as before, instead sitting at a leisurely speed, like strolling through a countryside. He stopped chanting, even as his arm continued to move and control speed.

“Think about how those words sit in your mouth. How does your tongue feel throughout the motion? What parts of your head are used to make the sound?” Fred asked, content to let the class continue introspecting and exploring these sensations for a little longer. After another minute of everyone repeating the tongue twister with a look of utmost concentration on their face, Fred’s arm came back down, and stopped. The room hushed as Fred looked around at everyone.

“Now, think about what you just did. What did you notice?” He sat in silence, content to watch the room as everyone pondered the question. Eventually a hand went up. It was the poet, Olivia-Marie. Fred nodded in acknowledgement.

“For ‘red leather and yellow leather’, my tongue was more forward. While for ‘red laurel yellow laurel’, it was more curled and hung nearer to the back.” She offered. Fred clapped his hands.

“Yes! Excellent Olivia-Marie. The physicality of speech, and how your mouth moves to accommodate that is integral to speech and something to look out for. Anyone else?”

For a moment, no hands were raised, but eventually a rather tanned individual with hair that was unruly like a sea urchin (which could be generously described as windswept by those willing to lie) started speaking (without raising his hand). Fred looked thoroughly unimpressed by the lack of manners, but didn’t comment on it.

“Every time I said it a little differently, and I don’t know why?” He scratched his head, a pondering look drifting across his face. Fred grinned at the comment.

“Good observation, Finn. Consistency is important for maximising impact and to make sure you deliver the meaning you intend to. But it is hard to train, and that is something to notice and practice.” Fred said, and the smile beaming at Finn was returned to Fred as Finn smiled along.

“There are many other things to note, but I will list them now so as to not spend half our time trying to repave a new road. Along with consistency and physicality, things to consider include tone, inflection, speed, emotion, and volume. That is not an exhaustive list, just what we will be covering in later lessons. For now, it is time for another exercise. I want you to get into pairs.” Theo turned to his left, and found a girl with long hair looking at him at the same time. She had the look of nobility in her eyes, and Theo had half a mind to look away and find someone else. Before that plan could come to fruition however, Fred continued.

“This is half practice, and half beginner introductions. You are going to talk to your partner. I want you to give a short summary of why you’re here, and what you had for breakfast today. I’ll let you know when to switch. If you’re not the one speaking, take note of everything we’ve discussed so far.” Fred moved backwards from his close chair, choosing now to stand at the lectern as he observed.

Before Theo could ask who should start, the girl was already speaking.

“Greetings. I am Rowena of House Flake. I am here, because I prefer action magic to focus magic. For breakfast I had a pineapple salad and coffee.” Theo raised his eyebrows (pineapples were not a cheap fruit in Union City), but tried to focus on what Rowena had been saying. The word choices, the pauses, the title she used. He nodded, giving Rowena a thumbs up. She looked at his hand with curiosity, before slowly mimicking the thumbs up and returning the favour.

“Swap time!” Fred projected, voice booming across the room with little effort. Theo took a deep breath.

“Hi, I’m Theo. I’m here because The Dancing Wind took a shine to me. I had bread and oranges for breakfast.” He smiled, and Rowena tilted her head in acknowledgement. Before either of them could fall into a more awkward spot, Fred spoke once again, having moved closer than the lectern.

“Now, discuss what you found with your partner.” Fred returned to watching the class, as people scattered around the room as best they could to make it a little bit easier to hear their partners. Rowena gestured for Theo to go first. He took a moment to reflect.

“You lead with “greeting” instead of, hi, and you introduced yourself as part a noble House, which makes sense. There was a longer pause after ‘I am here’, which emphasised it, but also made it sound like you almost forgot what you were saying?” Theo helpfully supplied. “It was easy to guess that you’re a noble because of how you hold yourself.” Rowena nodded thoughtfully, before replying with what she had noticed about him.

“You speak very softly, which made it hard to hear in a noisy environment like this, so I was focusing on making out what you’re saying. You use metaphors in your speech, like ‘took a shine.’” Theo was slightly surprised by that last comment, because he didn’t even register that the phrase was metaphorical. Before they could start a proper dialogue, however, Fred continued and steered the class back on track.

“Now, I want everyone to introduce their partners to the class, and tell us one thing you noticed about their speech patterns…”