Seraphina's POV
Cassian breaks the chains.
The silver metal shatters like glass, falling away from his wrists. His eyes—they're not gray anymore. They're glowing pure silver, bright as moonlight.
"That's impossible!" Prince Lucien stumbles backward. "Those chains were enchanted! No one can break—"
"You talk too much, cousin." Cassian's voice is different too. Deeper. Echoing with power.
He moves faster than my eyes can follow. One second he's at the post. The next, he has Lucien by the throat, lifting him off the ground.
The dark mages surrounding them panic. Purple energy crackles as they prepare to attack.
"Don't!" I scream, running forward. "You'll hit your own prince!"
But they don't care. Dark magic blasts toward Cassian from all sides.
He doesn't even flinch.
The magic hits some kind of invisible barrier around him and bounces back, striking the mages who cast it. They scream and collapse.
"What is he?" someone whispers in the crowd.
