The Lies That Shift The Story
1504 Words
The heavy doors creaked open.
Everyone turned as the head healer entered—an old woman with silver hair tied back in a knot and eyes sharp enough to slice through lies. Two guards followed close behind her, their boots echoing across the marble floor.
Alpha Celdric stood stiff and cold, one arm still protectively around Loira. “Examine her,” he said, his voice hard as stone. “Tell me if she carried a child… and if poison was used.”
The healer bowed slightly, then went to Loira’s side. The air grew thick. You could almost hear everyone’s heartbeats.
Loira sat trembling, her lashes still wet with tears. Her act didn’t falter once as she whispered, “Please… I only want the truth, Alpha.”
Elara watched her closely, every nerve burning. She clenched her fists, praying that the healer would see through the lie. That something—anything—would expose Loira.
The healer placed her palms gently against Loira’s stomach and closed her eyes, whispering quiet words. For a long moment, the hall was silent except for the crackle of fire.
Then the old woman’s eyes opened.
“She was indeed with child,” she said. “But the child is gone. I also sense traces of poison… likely mixed into tea.”
The words struck Elara like a blow to the chest.
“No,” she whispered. “That can’t be right.” Her vision swam. “She—she wasn’t pregnant—”
Gasps filled the room. Loira covered her mouth, tears spilling freely now.
“See?” she sobbed, her voice shaking just right. “Even after all this, she still says I’m lying. Sister, please… stop. You’ve done enough.”
Elara took a step forward, desperate. “No! She’s tricking you! I swear it—”
“Enough!” Celdric’s roar cut through the air. Power burst from him like a shockwave, making everyone flinch. His aura was so fierce it almost stole her breath.
He turned toward Elara, eyes blazing. “You dare deny it again after the healer’s words? After the poison was found?”
Elara’s lips trembled. “I didn’t—”
“Do you take me for a fool?” he growled.
Every word hit like a strike. She tried to speak, but her throat tightened. The guards shifted, ready to move on his command.
Celdric drew his sword, the silver edge glinting in the firelight. “For harming my mate and my child, I should cut you down here and now.”
Elara froze, her pulse roaring in her ears. She wanted to scream that this wasn’t how it was supposed to go—that in the story she wrote, this scene wasn’t real. But her voice wouldn’t come.
Before he could move, Loira grabbed his arm, sobbing harder. “Please, Alpha! Don’t kill her!”
Her tears splashed onto the floor. “She’s still my sister… I don’t want any more pain. Let her live.”
The crowd murmured, admiration flooding their faces. “Such a kind heart,” one servant whispered. “Even after all this…”
Elara felt sick.
Loira’s act had worked. Every pair of eyes now looked at her with disgust—or pity. None with belief.
Celdric lowered his sword, but his face was still hard with rage. “Fine,” he said at last. “If not death, then punishment.”
He turned to his guards. “Take her to the dungeon. Let her rot until I decide her fate.”
Two men stepped forward immediately. Their hands clamped around Elara’s arms like iron.
She tried to fight, but they dragged her toward the door. “Celdric, please—listen to me! I didn’t do it!”
He didn’t even look at her.
The guards shoved her through the door, and the sound of it slamming shut behind her echoed like thunder.
Darkness swallowed her. The scent of damp stone and rust filled her lungs.
For the first time since she’d fallen into this world, Ysabel realized something terrible—
in this story, truth didn’t matter.
Only what people believed did.
And right now, everyone believed she was the villain.
---
The dungeon was dark, damp, and silent—except for the steady drip of water somewhere in the corner. Elara sat on the cold stone floor, hugging her knees, her breath trembling.
She still couldn’t believe it.
The healer had confirmed it—Loira really had been pregnant.
And the poison was real.
“But that’s impossible…” she whispered into the shadows. “She wasn’t pregnant in my book.”
Her voice sounded small, swallowed by the dark walls. She remembered every chapter she had written before being pulled into this world. Loira’s jealousy, her schemes, her fake miscarriage to win Celdric’s sympathy—but never an actual child.
So how could that old healer find signs of one?
Had her presence here changed everything?
Had her writing… rewritten itself?
Elara pressed her forehead against her knees, trying to think, but her mind spun.
If the story was no longer following what she wrote—then what else had changed?
And if she hadn’t even finished writing the novel before…
how was she supposed to know what would happen next?
A wave of helpless fear washed through her. She was trapped in a story without an ending—one that could twist in any direction now.
---
Meanwhile... Upstairs, in the grand chamber, Loira lay on her bed, her hand pressed gently to her stomach. The head healer had just left after giving her a pouch of herbs to “soothe her body and help her heal.”
As soon as the door closed behind the old woman, Loira’s tears dried instantly. Then, after a heartbeat, she began to cry again—louder, more dramatic this time, her voice echoing through the room.
Celdric rushed to her side, worry written all over his face. “Loira, please, don’t strain yourself.”
Loira sniffed pitifully, looking up at him through wet lashes. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about Elara. She’s my sister, the only family I have left from Father’s bloodline. I don’t want her to die, no matter what she’s done.”
Her voice cracked, trembling with perfect sorrow.
“She hates me, I know she does,” she whispered, “because Mother never liked her. Mother always said she was too proud, too… pretentious.” She let her voice break and covered her face, crying harder. “Maybe if I just go away… if I separate from you, Alpha, maybe she’ll finally be at peace.”
Celdric’s eyes darkened. He caught her wrist gently, pulling her hands away from her face. “Don’t ever say that,” he said firmly.
“But I only make things worse for you,” she sobbed. “And I’m afraid of what she might do next. I don’t want to be the reason for another tragedy.”
“Loira,” Celdric said, his tone roughening with anger—not at her, but at the woman now locked below the castle. “You’re too kind for your own good. Even after what she’s done, you still think of her.”
He clenched his jaw, his fury rising again. “That woman has no heart. No soul. But I swear to you—she’ll never hurt you again.”
Loira blinked up at him, her tears shimmering beautifully. “I just… don’t want to come between you.”
“You never could,” he said, his voice softening. “No one can take your place in my heart.”
Her lips trembled into a small, grateful smile as he stroked her cheek. “Now rest. I have to meet with the elders tonight to decide her fate.”
She nodded gently. “Go then, my Alpha. I’ll wait for you.”
Celdric kissed her forehead, then stood. His long coat swept behind him as he strode out of the room, the door closing softly after him.
The moment he was gone, Loira’s smile vanished. Her expression hardened into something sharp and cold.
“Fool,” she muttered, her voice dripping with disdain. “Such an easy man to control.”
She let out a soft laugh that soon grew louder, echoing around the chamber. “He’s nothing but a tool. A weapon I’ll throw away once I’m done with him.”
Still smiling, she turned to her maid. “Sisi,” she said smoothly.
The young woman bowed at once. “Yes, my lady?”
“Go,” Loira said, adjusting the silk around her shoulders. “Call Beta Nath. Tell him I need to see him now.”
Sisi’s eyes flickered nervously but she nodded. “Right away, my lady.”
As the maid hurried out, Loira leaned back against her pillows, her smirk returning. “Let the Alpha think he’s in control,” she murmured. “He’ll soon learn who truly is.”
- Writer
