The black throne heir

CHAPTER EIGHT- whispers do not sleep

I am waking up before the bell rings

My body feels foreign, like I’m not fully inside it yet. My head still throbs faintly, not pain exactly, more like a reminder. I sit up slowly, pressing my palm against my temple.

Across the room, Vera groans. "If today turns out to be worse than yesterday, I am dropping out."

Mara rolls onto her back. "You say that every morning."

"And yet I am still here," Vera replies. "That should count as bravery."

I swing my legs off the bed. "Do you think people will talk."

They both go quiet.

Mara sits up, "They already are."

I look at her. "How do you know."

"Because I went to the water hall earlier," she says. "Two girls stopped talking the moment I walked past, one of them asked if I knew you."

My stomach tightens. "Asked what."

"If you were… special," Mara says carefully.

Vera snorts. "Which is elite language for dangerous."

I pull on my boots, hands trembling slightly. "I did not do anything."

"That is never the point here," Vera

says.

"You were seen."

Breakfast is louder than usual.

The hall is packed, but the noise feels different. Conversations pause as I pass, I feel eyes tracking me from every direction.

"Do not look at them," Vera whispers beside me.

"Act like you belong."

"I do belong," I murmur.

"Exactly," Mara says.

"Convince them."

We sit.

A group of girls across the hall glance over openly now.

"Is that her," one of them asks, not even trying to lower her voice.

"The one from the balcony," another replies.

"She does not look noble."

I grip my spoon too tightly.

Vera leans forward. "If they say one more thing, I will flip this table."

"Please do not," I whisper.

A boy passes behind me and mutters, "Careful where you stand at night."

I turn sharply, "What did you say?"

He keeps walking.

My appetite vanishes.

The corridor to first class feels narrower than usual whispers follow us like shadows.

"She fainted in his room."

"They say he carried her."

"I heard she is cursed."

"I heard she is chosen."

Mara grabs my arm. "Ignore it."

Then I feel it.

That awareness again.

I look up.

Kael stands on the upper level, leaning against the railing. He is speaking to two instructors, but his attention is not on them, It is on me.

Our eyes meet.

My breath catches.

His gaze is steady, As if he is fitting puzzle pieces together in his mind.

Vera hisses, "Is he looking at you."

"Yes," I whisper.

"Do not faint again," she says. "Please."

He looks away first.

Class is worse.

When I sit, I notice my desk has been shifted closer to the front. My books are stacked neatly, not how I left them.

Mara frowns, "Did you move your things."

"No."

A faint symbol is etched into the wood. It vanishes when I blink.

My pulse spikes.

The instructor enters.

"Good morning."

No one responds properly.

He sighs. "Seating has been adjusted."

I raise my hand slowly. "Sir, Why."

He pauses. His eyes flick briefly toward the door.

"Orders."

"From who," someone asks.

He straightens. "Focus."

After class, a woman in deep blue robes stops me outside.

"You are Nyra," she says.

"Yes."

"Be careful where you stand," she adds quietly.

I swallow, "Is that a threat?"

She smiles faintly, "It's an advice."

Before I can ask more, she walks away.

Training grounds buzz with tension.

A girl with silver rings on her fingers mutters loudly, "Lowborns are getting bold."

Another replies, "Or someone powerful is bored."

When I lift my hands to cast, my magic responds too fast, the air shimmers. A few students step back.

The instruction clears his throat. "Enough."

As we disperse, Vera grabs my sleeve. "You are scaring them."

"I am scared," I whisper back.

Later, as I walk alone toward the dorms, someone steps into my path.

It is Kael.

My heart nearly stops.

"You should not be walking alone," he says.

My voice comes out thin. "You told me to leave."

"That was last night."

Silence stretches.

"Did you change my schedule," I ask.

"Yes."

"Why."

He studies me. "Someone is testing you."

I tense. "You believe me now."

"I never said I did not."

"Then why did you act like I was lying."

His jaw tightens, "because belief does not change protocol."

I clench my hands, "Someone tried to kill me."

His eyes darken slightly, "And they failed."

"That is your comfort," I say. "Not mine."

A pause.

"You will report anything unusual," he says. "Immediately."

"Is that an order."

"Yes."

"And if I do not."

His gaze sharpens. "Then I will assume you want to handle it alone."

I lift my chin. "I survived without you before."

Something flickers in his eyes. "Did you."

He steps back. "Go."

I watch him leave, my chest tight.

Back in the room, the girls crowd around me instantly.

"You spoke to him," Mara breathes.

"He spoke to you," Vera corrects. "There is a difference."

I sink onto the bed, "He changed my schedule."

"Why," Mara asks.

"Because someone is watching me."

Lysa grins nervously. "Well, that makes two of them."

They laugh, the sound brittle but warm.

"Maybe it is the blonde," Mara says. "She looked ready to stab someone."

“Or the fire girl,” Vera adds

“She hates competition.”

“What if it’s someone quiet,” I murmur.

They go silent

Outside the wind brushes the windows.

I lie back, staring at the ceiling, someone wants me gone, and someone else is making sure i stay.

The thought should comfort me but it does not.

Mara suddenly sits up.

“No,” she says

I turn my head, “No what.”

“No way this is random, Nobody almost does at a balcony in Obsidian and it’s random.”

Vera props herself on one elbow, “ say it louder.”

“I am serious,” Mars says as her eyes widens with confidence, “someone has it planned out.”

I exhale slowly, “I know.”

Silence between us, thick and uneasy.

Vera breaks it first.

“Okay, let’s list the suspects.”

Mara’s eyes lights up, “finally!”

“Why are you excited,” I ask.

“Because I love gossip,” she replies

Unapologetically.

“And because this one might save your life.”

I sit up. “Fine, who?”

Mara counts on her fingers, “ first, the blonde, the one who always looks like she’s smelling something rotten.”

“Seraphine,” Vera says.

“I saw the way she looked at you during the trials.”

“She hates losing,” Mars adds .

“Especially to someone she thinks shouldn’t exist.”

“I barely interact with her,” I say

“That never stops people like her,” Vera replies

Mara continues. "Second. The girl always with Kael."

My chest tightens. "The brunette."

"Yes," Mara says. "She looks at you like you're a stain."

Vera nods. "I saw it too like she wanted to peel you out of the room."

I frown. "Who is she."

"No idea, but I heard she's his girlfriend" Mara says.

"Which makes it worse."

Vera leans back. "Third option.

, someone higher than all of them."

I glance at her. "What does that mean."

"Council-connected," she says quietly. "Someone who doesn't want balance disrupted."

I swallow. "by me?"

"By what you are," Mara corrects.

The room goes quiet again.

I run a hand through my hair. "Kael said someone is testing me."

Vera eyes widen. "He said that?"

"Yes."

"Like… directly," Mara asks.

"Yes."

They stare at me.

Vera finally whispers, "Stars above."

"He does not trust me," I add quickly.

"That is not what that sounds like," Mara says.

I shake my head. "He thinks in systems, not people."

Vera smirks. "And yet he caught you mid-fall."

My face heats. "He was nearby."

"Very nearby," Mara says pointedly.

I stand abruptly. "I am going to wash my face."

At the basin, cold water splashes against my skin, my reflection looks different.

A knock echoes softly on the door.

Vera's voice follows. "Someone's coming."

I dry my hands and step back into the room just as the door opens.

A boy I recognize vaguely from contracts class stands there, shifting awkwardly.

"Yes," I ask.

He clears his throat. "Message."

"For me?"

"Yes?"

"From who?"

He hesitates.

"It was… delivered."

My stomach twists.

"Delivered by who?"

He swallows.

"A fairy guard."

Mara mutters, "That's never good."

The boy hands me a small folded slip of parchment and leaves without another word.

I open it slowly.

Nothing is written.

Then the ink bleeds through, dark and slow, forming words as if pulled from the page itself.

YOU SHOULD HAVE FALLEN.

Vera gasps. "Oh stars."

Mara grips my arm. "Okay. That's official."

My pulse pounds in my ears. "They're not hiding anymore."

"No," Vera says. "They're escalating."

I crumple the paper. "I am not leaving."

Mara's jaw tightens. "Good."

The next day feels heavier.

Every corridor hums with tension. People whisper behind hands. Some stare openly now.

In Advanced Contracts, the professor pauses mid-lecture.

"Miss Nyra," he says.

I stiffen. "Yes, sir."

"Explain the reaction between intent and proximity."

I blink. "When two forces with compatible resonance enter close range, contracts may awaken prematurely."

He watches me closely. "And what happens if one force is destabilized."

"The system reacts," I answer slowly. "Often violently."

A murmur ripples through the class.

From the corner of my eye, I see Kael at the doorway.

He is not supposed to be here, he's a senior.

The professor notices him and stiffens. "Lord Morvane."

"I'm observing," Kael says calmly.

His gaze flicks to me.

I look away first this time.

After class, I try to slip out unnoticed.

I fail.

"You," a girl snaps, stepping into my path. "What did you do?"

I meet her stare. "Excuse me."

"You don't get to pretend," she says. "People don't fall off balconies at Morvane-sponsored events unless something breaks."

"I was pushed," I reply.

She laughs sharply. "Sure."

Kael's voice cuts in. "Move."

She freezes.

"I said move."

She does.

I do not thank him.

He walks beside me anyway.

"You received a message," he says.

I stop. "You are monitoring my mail now."

"Yes."

"That's invasive."

"So is attempted murder."

I clench my fists. "Do you know who it is."

"No."

"Do you suspect anyone."

"Yes."

"Who."

He studies me. "If I tell you, you will confront them."

"And."

"And you will be unprotected."

I scoff. "You think I am protected now."

He leans closer, voice low. "You are alive."

Our eyes lock.

Something pulses between us. Not magic. Something worse.

That night, as I lie in bed, I hear footsteps outside our door.

A shadow passes under the frame.

Then a whisper drifts through the wood.

"Run."

My eyes snap open.

The same word.

I sit up slowly, heart racing.

Vera murmurs sleepily, "What."

I shake her gently. "We are not alone."

Somewhere in Obsidian Crown, someone is watching again.