Elara's POV
Caspian's shadows are eating everything.
They pour from him like black smoke, swallowing light, turning the beautiful festival into a nightmare. Students scream and run. The temperature drops so fast I can see my breath.
Caspian, stop! I grab his arm, and miraculously, the shadows pause. You're losing control!
I can't His voice is strained, desperate. Black veins crawl up his neck. His eyes are completely dark now. The poison it's in my blood. I can feel it taking over
Fight it! I hold onto him tighter, even though his magic burns where it touches my skin. You're stronger than this!
But all around us, chaos explodes. Students who breathed in the poisoned air lose control of their magic too. Fire bursts from someone's hands, wild and uncontrolled. Another student screams as ice covers their entire body. The courtyard becomes a war zone of uncontrolled power.
Guards rush forward, trying to restore order. That's when Lucian's voice cuts through the chaos.
She did this! He points directly at me, his face twisted with false horror. Elara Ashwood poisoned the air! She's trying to kill the Duke and frame our family!
What? No! I stumble backward, still holding Caspian's arm. That's insane!
Arrest her! Lucian screams to the guards. She's using dark magic to control Duke Noctis!
The guards move toward me, weapons drawn. Caspian's shadows explode outward in a wave of pure rage that sends everyone flying backward. People crash into walls. Tables shatter. The wave of darkness is so powerful it cracks the stone ground.
Anyone who touches her dies. Caspian's voice doesn't sound human anymore. It's cold and deadly and terrifying.
This is it. The moment from the book. The rampage.
But everything's wrong. In the original story, Caspian lost control because someone poisoned him. Now the whole festival is poisoned, and Caspian's fury isn't mindless it's focused entirely on protecting me.
I'm making everything worse.
Students scatter, screaming. More guards arrive with weapons that glow with anti-magic enchantments. Professor rush forward, trying to contain the chaos. The situation is spiraling toward complete disaster.
Caspian, please! I cup his face with both hands, forcing him to look at me. His eyes are black voids, no trace of the man I know. You have to stop. You're going to get yourself killed!
Then I'll take this kingdom with me before I let them hurt you. His shadows grow darker, more violent. Everyone who wants you dead will die first.
Brilliant light floods the courtyard, so bright it hurts my eyes. The shadows recoil instantly.
Prince Adrian strides forward, his sword drawn and glowing with holy magic. Beside him, Seraphina raises her hands, light pouring from her palms like liquid gold. They look like heroes from a storybook beautiful, powerful and righteous.
Stand down, Noctis! Adrian commands, his voice carrying across the chaos. Release the girl and surrender immediately!
She just saved my life, Caspian snarls, and his shadows writhing around us protectively. And you dare accuse her?
All I see is you attacking innocent people! Adrian's sword points directly at us. Surrender now, or we'll put you down like the monster you're becoming!
The wine was poisoned! I shout desperately. I stopped him from drinking it! Check the glass!
Seraphina looks uncertain now, her light magic flickering. Poisoned?
A brave guard kneels by the shattered crystal glass, examining the burning spots on the stone. His face goes pale. He touches the liquid carefully with a gloved hand, and the glove immediately starts smoking.
It's... it's nightshade extract, the guard says, his voice shaking. Concentrated. This would kill a human instantly. Even a powerful magic user would
He looks up at Caspian with new understanding. If Caspian had drunk that wine, he'd be dead right now.
The crowd goes silent. Students stop screaming. Even the uncontrolled magic seems to pause.
Adrian's expression shifts from righteous anger to confusion. If the wine was poisoned, then who
Looking for someone, Your Highness?
Everyone turns. Lucian is trying to slip away through the crowd, but guards block his path. His face is pale, sweating. Guilty.
Lucian Noctis, Adrian says slowly. Did you order that poison?
I would never Lucian backs away, his eyes wild. It was supposed to work! He was supposed to drink it and lose control and prove he's a monster!
The words hang in the air. A full confession.
Lady Margot's face goes white. She grabs her son's arm. Lucian, be quiet
No! I'm tired of living in his shadow! Lucian points at Caspian with shaking hands. He gets everything! The title, the power, the respect! And for what? Just because he was born first?
So you tried to murder me, Caspian says flatly. His shadows are calmer now, but still swirling. Twice.
You were supposed to become the monster everyone feared! Lucian's voice cracks. But she He glares at me with pure hatred. she keeps saving you! Keeps making you look noble! It's not fair!
Guards seize Lucian and Lady Margot. Adrian orders them arrested immediately. Evidence is gathered. Witnesses questioned.
Slowly, the truth comes out: Lucian orchestrated both poisonings. The blade in the library. The wine tonight. And the poison in the air was a backup plan meant to trigger Caspian's dark magic when the wine failed.
But Lucian never expected me to stop it.
As guards lead him away, Lucian screams: It doesn't matter! The prophecy will still come true! The Duke will destroy everything! You're all just delaying the inevitable!
The festival crowd watches in stunned silence as the Noctis family is dragged away in chains.
Caspian's shadows finally disappear completely. The black fades from his eyes, leaving them their normal dark brown. He says, and I catch him before he falls.
I've got you, I whisper.
You always do. His voice is weak but human again. Thank you.
Professors work quickly to heal students affected by the airborne poison. Seraphina uses her light magic to purify the air. Prince Adrian organizes the guards to restore order.
The disaster is ending. We survived.
I should feel relieved. Triumphant. I changed the story. Saved lives. Exposed the real villains.
Instead, I feel a cold dread settling in my stomach.
Because as I help Caspian toward a bench to rest, I see something that makes my blood freeze.
A figure stands in the shadows at the edge of the courtyard. Tall. Wearing a hooded cloak. Watching me with eyes that glow with an unnatural light.
When I blink, the figure is gone.
But written on the wall behind where they stood, in letters that seem to burn with dark fire:
YOU BROKE THE STORY. NOW YOU'LL PAY THE PRICE.