Daughter of Obsidian

#4

Chapter Four – The Keeper of Secrets

Mavi’s chamber was still thick with the taste of smoke when Elif returned.

The tray clattered as her maid nearly dropped it, rushing forward. “Mavi? What happened?”

Mavi pushed herself upright, her palms slick with sweat. “Nothing. Just—just fainted.”

Her voice was steady, but the lie tasted bitter. The feather still lay against her palm, glowing through her fingers like an ember.

Elif’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not nothing. You’re pale as chalk.” She moved to set the tray aside and reached for Mavi’s hand.

Mavi jerked back too quickly. “Don’t. Please.”

For a heartbeat, their gazes locked—Elif’s sharp with worry, Mavi’s guarded. Finally, Mavi forced a smile. “I’ll eat something. That’s all I need. Go, please.”

Hesitation lingered in Elif’s eyes, but she obeyed, gathering her skirts and leaving with one last wary glance. The door clicked shut.

Mavi exhaled, the sound breaking like a sob. She pressed her forehead against the cold edge of the vanity, staring at the faintly glowing feather.

“This isn’t real,” she whispered to herself. “It’s grief. It’s exhaustion. It’s… it’s nothing.”

But her hand still burned. And her mind still echoed with silver eyes and the words the throne remembers its heir.

She didn’t sleep.

—

By dawn, her resolve was iron. She would lock the feather away, bury herself in her studies, attend another lecture, and by evening the whispers of shadows would fade into nothing. That was the plan.

It lasted until mid-morning.

She was crossing the university’s courtyard, a cluster of students around her whispering about last night’s lecture, when the air shifted. The hairs on her arms lifted. The world seemed to hush, even the fountains muting to silence.

And then he was there.

Standing beneath the marble arch, as if he had been waiting all along. Midnight suit. Silver eyes. Calm as death.

Her heart stuttered. She stopped short, nearly colliding with a classmate.

“Mavi?” the girl asked, puzzled.

But Mavi barely heard her. The stranger’s gaze was locked on hers, unyielding, commanding. Slowly, he inclined his head toward the shaded colonnade. A summons.

Her pulse thundered in her ears. Every part of her screamed to turn away, to keep walking, to drown him in silence. But her feet betrayed her, carrying her after him into the cool shade of stone.

The moment they were alone, she hissed, “You’re following me.”

“I’m watching you,” he corrected, voice velvet over steel. “Following implies I don’t already know where you’ll go.”

Her jaw clenched. “You have no right—”

“I have every right,” he cut in, stepping closer. The shadows seemed to ripple around him, as though bending to his will. “The Obsidian Court is waking, and you are its heir.”

The words sent a shiver through her spine. “Stop saying that! I don’t even know what it means.”

“Then listen.” His tone was sharp, but not cruel. Urgent. “The Court was once the shield between this world and the abyss. We were its keepers—its sentinels. And you, Mavi Altınkaya, are blood of its blood.”

Her laugh broke out brittle, edged with hysteria. “Do you hear yourself? I’m a girl with too much money and too many ghosts. That’s all.”

“Then explain the shadows at your feet,” he said quietly. “Explain the fire that spared you when it devoured your family. Explain the raven that chose you, and the feather that binds itself to your veins. Explain what you saw last night, when the throne called.”

Her breath froze. “How do you know about that?”

His expression softened, just barely. “Because I was there.”

Silence roared between them, louder than any bell or carriage.

“You’re lying,” she whispered.

“If I were, you wouldn’t be trembling,” he said, his gaze piercing. “You feel it, don’t you? The power in your blood. The Court’s call. You can deny it, but you can’t run from it.”

Her nails dug into her palms. “And what are you, then? Another… heir?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. I am a Keeper. Bound to the Court. To guard its secrets. To guide its chosen.”

“Guide me?” She barked a bitter laugh. “You terrify me.”

“Good,” he said simply. “Fear keeps you alive.”

Her heart hammered, anger and confusion tangling until she couldn’t breathe. She wanted to scream at him, to demand answers, to collapse against him all at once. Instead, she forced herself to meet his eyes.

“Then tell me my name,” she challenged. “Not the one they whisper in the streets. The one the Court calls me.”

He stepped closer, so close she could smell the faint scent of smoke and iron clinging to him. His voice dropped, low and reverent.

“Obsidian’s Daughter. Heir of Shadows. Keeper of the Crown.”

Her throat constricted. The world tilted. The feather in her pocket burned hotter than fire.

And then—

A scream split the courtyard beyond the colonnade. Students scattered, shouts rising in terror. Mavi spun, heart racing, as a shadow—no, not just a shadow, but something twisted, monstrous—tore free from the fountain, rising like ink spilled into air. Its shape shifted grotesquely, a maw opening in the dark.

Mavi froze.

The stranger’s hand closed around her wrist, his voice cutting sharp as a blade.

“Time to stop pretending, heir. Time to choose.”