Elara's POV
My head feels like it's been hit with a hammer.
I wake up slowly, every muscle in my body aching. White ceiling. Smell of antiseptic. Soft bed beneath me.
The infirmary. I'm in the Academy infirmary.
Memories flood back. The restricted section. Caspian dying on the floor. Me using magic I barely understood to save him. Then nothing.
You're awake. A healer appears beside my bed, checking my pulse. You overused your magic badly. Another hour and you might have damaged yourself permanently.
How long was I asleep?
All night and half the morning. She hands me a glass of water. Drink. You need to rest for at least another day before returning to classes.
I drink gratefully, my throat dry as sand. The healer leaves, and I finally notice what's sitting on my bedside table.
A single black rose. Perfect and elegant. And beside it, a note in handwriting so beautiful it looks like art:
You saved me. Now you're mine to protect. C.N.
My heart stops.
No. No, no, no.
This wasn't supposed to happen. I saved his life, and now Caspian Noctis thinks he owes me something. Worse he thinks I'm his to protect.
I grab the note, crumpling it in my fist. This is a disaster. I was supposed to avoid him. Stay invisible. Survive quietly.
Instead, I've made myself important to the villain.
The door bursts open and Iris rushes in, her eyes huge.
Elara! She practically throws herself at my bed. Is it true? Did you really save Duke Noctis last night?
My stomach drops. How does everyone know?
How does everyone Elara, the whole Academy is talking about it! Iris grabs my hands. They're saying you found him poisoned in the restricted section and healed him with advanced magic. They're saying he carried you here himself and stayed by your bed all night!
Heat floods my face. He did what?
The night healer saw him! Duke Caspian Noctis, the coldest person in the kingdom, sitting beside your bed like a guard dog. Iris looks between excited and terrified. And then this morning he sent you a black rose. Elara, do you know what that means?
I stare at the crushed flower on my table. What does it mean?
In noble society, a black rose is a declaration! Iris whispers urgently. It means he's claiming interest in you. It means he's telling everyone else to back off because you're under his protection now.
My mouth goes dry. That's... that's not what I want.
It doesn't matter what you want. He's a Duke. One of the most powerful men in the kingdom. Iris squeezes my hands. Elara, I'm worried. He's dangerous. People who get close to him end up hurt. You need to be careful.
I'll stay away from him, I promise, though even as I say it, doubt creeps in. I'll avoid him completely. It'll be fine.
But I can feel it in my bone sit won't be fine. Nothing will be fine ever again.
They release me from the infirmary that afternoon with strict orders to rest. I walk slowly toward my dorm, my body still weak from magical exhaustion.
I make it three steps out the door before I see him.
Caspian Noctis leans against the wall directly across from the infirmary entrance. Tall. Dark-haired. Devastatingly handsome in a way that makes my heart do stupid things.
He's been waiting for me.
His dark eyes find mine, and something shifts in his expression. Not quite a smile, but close.
Walk with me, he says.
It's not a request. It's a command wrapped in polite words.
I should rest I start.
The gardens are peaceful. The fresh air will help. He pushes off the wall and offers his arm like a gentleman from old movies. I insist.
Every instinct screams at me to refuse. To run back into the infirmary and hide. But students are already stopping to stare. Whispering. Pointing.
If I make a scene, it'll only make things worse.
I take his arm, and his hand covers mine immediately. Possessive. Warm.
Good girl, he murmurs, so quietly only I can hear.
We walk through the Academy grounds, and it feels like every single person stops to watch us pass. Students whisper behind their hands. Professors do double-takes. Even the birds seem to go quiet.
Caspian ignores them all, his attention focused entirely on me.
How are you feeling? he asks.
Tired. Sore. I don't look at him. The healers said I'll be fine.
You nearly killed yourself saving me. His voice drops lower. Why?
I already told you. I couldn't just leave you to die.
Most people would have. We enter the gardens, following a path between flowering bushes. Most people would have run for help and let me bleed out while they fetched a healer.
I'm not most people.
No. He stops walking, turning to face me. You're not.
Up close, he's even more intimidating. Tall enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. Those eyes study me like I'm a mystery he's determined to solve.
You knew about my stepmother, he says quietly. When you were healing me, you said she wanted me dead. How did you know?
My heart hammers. I said that? Out loud?
I... I was delirious. I don't remember
You also said I was 'supposed to die, but not like this.' He steps closer, and I step back instinctively. You said it like you'd seen my death already. Like you know my future.
I'm trapped. Literally my back hits a garden wall, and Caspian's hands brace on either side of my head, caging me in.
Tell me the truth, Elara. His voice is soft, dangerous. What are you? A seer? A prophet? Something else entirely?
I'm just a student
Liars make me angry. His face is inches from mine now. And you don't want to see me angry.
Fear and something else something warm and confusing floods through me. This is the villain. The man who kills me in six days.
But looking into his eyes, I don't see a monster. I see someone desperate for answers. Someone who's been betrayed so many times he doesn't know who to trust.
Someone who thinks I might be different.
I can't explain, I whisper. You wouldn't believe me.
Try me.
Before I can answer, a cold voice cuts through the garden.
How touching.
We both turn. A beautiful older woman stands on the path, watching us with ice-cold eyes. She wears expensive clothes and jewelry that screams nobility. Behind her stands a young man who looks like a cruel version of Caspian.
My blood runs cold.
Lady Margot Noctis. Caspian's stepmother.
And Lucian Noctis. His stepbrother.
The people who betrayed him. The people who sent the poisoned blade.
They're here. And they've seen us together.
Caspian's entire body goes rigid. His hands drop from the wall, but he doesn't move away from me. If anything, he shifts slightly, putting himself between me and his family.
Stepmother, he says coldly. What brings you to the Academy?
Concern for my stepson, of course. Lady Margot's smile doesn't reach her eyes. I heard you had a terrible accident last night. Poison, they say. How dreadful.
The way she says it like she already knows exactly what happened. Like she's the one who ordered it.
Lucian's gaze slides to me, assessing. And who is this? Your new... pet?
Caspian's magic flares. The temperature drops. Shadows writhe around his feet.
Careful, brother, Caspian says softly. Choose your next words very wisely.