POV: Maya Chen
"Where were you last night between midnight and dawn?"
Sir Cedric towers over me in the throne room, his hand on his sword. Behind him, twenty guards form a wall of steel and suspicion. Adrian sits on his throne, watching me with those cold blue eyes.
The modern pen lies on a velvet cushion between us. Impossible. Damning. Proof that someone from my time is here.
"I was in the sick ward," I say, forcing my voice steady. "All night. Treating patients. Teaching servants about hygiene. There were dozens of witnesses."
"Convenient," a noble sneers from the crowd. "She establishes an alibi while her demon magic commits murder elsewhere."
"I don't have magic!" My hands clench into fists. "I'm a scientist, not a—"
"Then explain this." Cedric picks up the pen, holding it like it might bite. "The murdered advisor, Lord Balthar, was found with this devil's tool stabbed through his eye. What manner of weapon is this?"
A pen through the eye. Brutal. Efficient. And absolutely not something I would do.
But someone did. Someone from 2024.
"It's called a pen," I say carefully. "Where I come from, people use it to write. It's not a weapon."
"Not a weapon?" Cedric examines it. "This needle-sharp point says otherwise."
"My lady speaks truth." A servant girl pushes through the crowd—Elara, who brought me food yesterday. "She was in the sick ward all night. I saw her. I helped her treat patients until dawn."
Other servants murmur agreement. Relief floods through me, but it's short-lived.
"Perhaps she has an accomplice," Lady Seraphina glides forward, beautiful and deadly as a snake. "A fellow demon who does her bidding while she creates alibis. Your Majesty, this proves what I've said from the beginning—the witch brings death to our kingdom."
"She also brought life." Adrian's voice cuts through the noise. "Thomas the gardener lives because of her. Three patients in the sick ward showed improvement by morning. All because she applied her knowledge."
"Knowledge gained through dark bargains—" Seraphina starts.
"Silence." Adrian stands, and everyone falls quiet. He descends from his throne and picks up the pen, studying it with scientific curiosity that surprises me. "This is made of materials I don't recognize. Smooth, colored like nothing our craftsmen produce. The writing stick inside contains liquid ink that flows without dipping."
He's smart. Analytical. Actually looking at the evidence instead of screaming about demons.
"You said you use these to write in your homeland," Adrian continues. "Prove it."
He hands me the pen and a piece of parchment.
My hand shakes as I take it. This pen isn't mine—I had nothing on me when I time-traveled except the clothes I wore. But I know how to use it.
I click the top. The ballpoint extends. The crowd gasps at the mechanical sound.
I write on the parchment: This is modern writing from the year 2024. Someone else from my time is here.
Adrian reads it, his expression unreadable. "Your time?"
Damn. I wrote that without thinking.
"I mean... from where I come from." I scramble to cover. "Where these tools are common."
"2024," Adrian reads aloud. "You wrote that year before. When they tried to burn you. You claimed you were born in 1998." His eyes lock on mine. "Six hundred years from now."
The throne room erupts in shocked voices.
"She admits it!" Seraphina cries triumphantly. "She's a demon from the future, sent to destroy us all!"
"I'm not a demon," I say desperately. "I'm just a person who was thrown through time somehow. The explosion in my lab—it sent me here. I don't know how. I don't know why. But I'm not trying to hurt anyone."
"Yet someone died," Adrian says quietly. "And the murder weapon comes from your time."
"Which means I'm not the only one here!" I step toward him, urgent. "Don't you see? Someone else from 2024 is in your kingdom. Someone who still has their belongings. Someone who committed murder using a modern tool."
"Or you're lying to cover your tracks," Seraphina suggests.
"Why would I kill a random advisor?" I demand. "What would I gain? I'm trying to survive here, not start a murder spree!"
Adrian raises his hand for silence. "Lord Balthar was found in his chambers with the door locked from inside. No signs of forced entry. The window was sealed. It's as if the killer appeared from nowhere, murdered him, and vanished."
"Or used witchcraft to pass through walls," a priest adds darkly.
"There's no such thing as—" I stop myself. Arguing about magic versus science won't help right now. "Lord Balthar was an advisor. Who benefits from his death? What did he know? Who were his enemies?"
Adrian's eyes sharpen. "You think like an investigator."
"I think like someone who's been framed before." James's smiling face flashes in my mind. "I know what it's like when someone sets you up to take the fall."
"She raises valid questions," Cedric admits grudgingly. "Lord Balthar was investigating financial irregularities in the treasury. Someone's been stealing from the kingdom's coffers."
"And now he's dead before he could report his findings," I say. "Convenient for whoever's stealing."
Adrian nods slowly. "Cedric, continue Balthar's investigation. Find out who had motive and opportunity. As for you—" he turns to me, "—you'll remain under guard at all times. No more wandering freely. Guards inside and outside your door."
"You're imprisoning me?"
"I'm protecting you." His voice drops. "If there is another person from your time, they've proven they'll kill. You're either their accomplice or their next target. Either way, I'm not taking chances."
He's right. I hate it, but he's right.
"The marriage contract is postponed until this is resolved," Adrian announces.
"Your Majesty, surely you'll cancel it entirely!" Seraphina looks hopeful.
"Postponed," Adrian repeats firmly. "Lady Mira's knowledge is too valuable to waste. Once we determine her innocence—or guilt—we'll proceed accordingly."
His words hit like ice water. He still doesn't trust me. To him, I'm a resource to exploit, not a person to protect.
Just like James. Just like everyone who used me.
The guards escort me back to my room. This time, they don't leave. Two stand inside with me, two outside the door. I'm truly a prisoner now.
I pace the small space, my mind racing. Someone from 2024 is here. Someone who kept modern items. Someone who kills.
James? Lisa? Both?
If it's them, they're targeting me. Making me look guilty. Trying to get me executed so I can't expose them.
The same pattern as before. Destroy Maya Chen and take everything.
Night falls. I can't sleep. I keep seeing that pen, that impossible modern object that shouldn't exist in 1434.
A soft knock at my door makes me jump. One of the guards opens it slightly.
"You have a visitor, my lady."
Seraphina glides in, beautiful and poisonous in a green silk gown. The guards step outside, giving us privacy.
Bad idea. Very bad idea.
"Lady Seraphina," I say carefully. "What do you want?"
She smiles like a cat cornering a mouse. "To give you a warning. You won't live long enough to wear the crown."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a promise." She circles me slowly. "Adrian's mine. I've been grooming myself to be his queen since we were children. Then you appear—a nobody from nowhere—and steal what's rightfully mine."
"I didn't steal anything. He made a political arrangement to keep me from being burned."
"You think I care about your excuses?" Seraphina's beautiful face twists with hatred. "I orchestrated your little witch trial in the village. I paid the priest to accuse you. I wanted you dead before you ever reached Adrian."
My blood runs cold. "You tried to have me burned alive?"
"And I'll succeed next time." She leans close, her voice dropping to a whisper. "That pen? I placed it at the murder scene. But I didn't kill Lord Balthar. Someone else did—someone who conveniently left behind a modern weapon. I just made sure the guards found it where everyone could see."
"You're framing me for murder?"
"You're already framed. I'm just making sure everyone sees it." She straightens, smoothing her dress. "By tomorrow, the whole kingdom will know the demon witch killed a nobleman. Adrian will have no choice but to execute you. And I'll finally take my rightful place at his side."
She walks toward the door, then pauses.
"Oh, and that man you treated? Thomas? His wound will open again soon. I made sure of it. When he dies from your failed treatment, it'll be more proof that you're cursed. Everything you touch dies, Mira. Even your hope."
She leaves, and I hear her laughing in the hallway.
I stand frozen, my mind reeling.
Seraphina is actively trying to kill me. She has allies, resources, and no moral limits.
And someone else—someone from my time—is killing people too.
I'm trapped in a medieval castle with at least two people who want me dead, and one of them has modern knowledge.
I sink onto my bed, fighting panic.
Then I notice something odd. On my table, next to the medical supplies, there's a folded piece of paper.
I didn't leave that there.
With shaking hands, I unfold it.
The message is written in modern English, in handwriting I recognize from a thousand lab reports:
Dear Maya,
Surprised? You should be. The explosion sent several of us back—me, James, and two others you don't know. We've been here six months, building power bases in different kingdoms.
I killed Lord Balthar because he discovered James's operation in Mordania. Loose ends, you understand. But leaving the pen at your murder scene? That was James's idea. He wants you dead. Again.
You have two choices: work with me, or die. I'm offering partnership. Together, we could rule this world. We have centuries of knowledge these primitives can't match.
Refuse, and I'll make sure everyone believes you're the killer. Including your precious Demon King.
You have three days to decide.
—Lisa
My hands shake so hard the paper flutters.
Lisa is here. James is here. They've been here for six months, building power in enemy kingdoms.
And they're doing exactly what I feared—using modern knowledge to dominate medieval times.
But worse: they're working together to destroy me. Again.
And I have three days to decide whether to join them or fight them.
Either way, I'm at war.