Lyla Emberfell:- House of Secrets

 Something dark had been poured into the light that morning — and Thornwick would never be the same again.

The infirmary air was too still. As if it were holding its breath.

Lyla awoke to colors swirling on the stained-glass ceiling — golds, violets, and blues casting spells of silence across the room. Every sound was muffled, distant, like echoes under water. She tried to speak. Nothing. Not even a whisper.

Across from her, Keal stirred, his chest rising with shallow, painful breaths. He tried to sit, failed, and collapsed back into his pillows.

The door creaked open.

Ilisha stepped in, her face pale but calm, carrying a silver tray with two glass tumblers filled with a glowing lavender potion. Beside her was Mistress Tara, her robes rustling like whispered warnings.

"Let's sit you up, Lyla," Ilisha said gently. Her voice, though soft, cracked at the edges.

Lyla nodded faintly, letting herself be propped up.

Mistress Tara looked her over. "You'll begin to hear again in about ten days. Speaking… might take longer. But you're safe now."

Lyla clutched the potion with trembling fingers. Its glow pulsed gently — as if it breathed.

Keal groaned.

"Let me," Tara said, guiding Ilisha to feed him with a spoon.

Keal took a sip and immediately grimaced. "Ugh. This tastes like feet dipped in ash."

Ilisha raised a brow. "After nearly dying, you were expecting mango lassi?"

Lyla chuckled — or tried to. It came out like a soft wheeze.

But the laughter didn't last.

A knock at the door. Aravelle and Daelen Windgrove entered — Keal's parents. Their faces were tight with exhaustion and fear.

"You're the girl Keal talks about," Aravelle said to Ilisha, smiling with teary eyes.

Daelen nodded. "Thank you… for standing by him."

Ilisha lowered her gaze. "He would've done the same. We won't let him fall again."

Mistress Tara stepped in. "Ilisha, you need rest. Go eat. We'll take it from here."

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall…

Rive sat alone at the Mystveil table, stirring cold porridge.

The noise of breakfast hummed around him — but it all felt far away.

Then Mona approached. A kind smile on her lips. A drink in her hand.

"Here," she said. "It's something I made. Calms the nerves. Might help… after everything with Keal."

She slid the tumbler toward him.

Rive hesitated, then picked it up.

Just as the glass touched his lips —

"RIVE, DON'T!"

Adien shot across the hall like an arrow. In one motion, he slapped the tumbler from Rive's hands.

The glass shattered. Purple liquid splashed like spilled ink across the stone floor.

Everyone froze.

Mistress Vanya appeared in a blur. She knelt beside the broken glass and sniffed.

Her face changed.

"This… this is blackroot fang essence. A banned venom. Just one drop could kill."

Gasps. Screams. Tables pushed back. The Great Hall erupted in chaos.

Adien pointed at Mona. "She made it! I saw her in the potion lab last night!"

Mona stood calmly, the tray still in her hands.

Then Principal William appeared. His staff blazed with blue light.

"Silence!" His voice cracked through the stone walls.

"All students — to your dorms. Classes are suspended!"

As professors began herding students out, many looked back — some in fear, others in disbelief — at the girl who once brewed calming teas.

Now she brewed death.

Later, in the Round Chamber…

Ancient magic shimmered across the domed walls.

Mona stood at the center, surrounded by Thornwick's top staff, her family… and her silence.

Principal William's gaze was hard. "Mona Emberfell. Did you prepare the potion?"

"I did," she said. "But I didn't lie. I said it would clear his mind."

Daelen's fist slammed the table. "You nearly killed my son!"

Mistress Vanya stepped forward. "Where did you get the recipe? Blackroot fang is outlawed."

Mona said nothing.

Solen Emberfell, her mother, stepped forward. "Mona… what are you doing?"

Mona whispered: "I followed orders. I always have."

"Whose orders?" William asked.

She raised her eyes.

"Thorne's."

The room recoiled. Thorne — the dark entity who had attacked Lyla and corrupted the school's peace.

Mona continued. "He reaches me in dreams. In whispers. The potion. The attack on Keal. All of it — came from him."

Zara gasped. Leo whispered, "He's using her."

"No," Mona said. "He's guiding me."

William stood tall. "This is no longer about mischief. This is war."

He turned. "Mona Emberfell. Until the Council arrives, you will remain under strict supervision. No unsupervised classes. No more potions. No more—"

"I'm not afraid of you," Mona snapped. "Or them."

Daelen's voice was ice. "You should be. Of what you're becoming."

One by one, they left the chamber.

Mona stood alone in the center of ancient stone and shadow.

Then she whispered to herself, with a voice barely audible:

 "He said this wo

uld happen…

He said they would all turn against me."

And in her eyes, a flicker — not of fear… but of something deeper.

Something darker.