#7
810 Words
Chapter Seven – The Summons
The raven came at dawn.
It perched on her windowsill, its feathers shimmering like oil-slick glass, silver glints dancing across the black. Its crown was carved of shadow and light both, weightless yet undeniable.
Mavi sat frozen on her bed, the echoes of Kael’s warning still ringing in her skull.
Tomorrow, the Court will come calling.
The raven tilted its head. She didn’t hear the flap of wings, only a whisper curling into her mind: Rise, Daughter. The Seven are waiting.
The floor beneath her shivered, shadows uncoiling like roots. Before she could scream, the ground opened, swallowing her whole.
⸻
When Mavi’s feet found stone again, she gasped.
She stood in a vast hall carved entirely from obsidian. Torches of black flame lined the walls, their light swallowing more than it gave. Shadows writhed across the floor like restless serpents, alive and watching.
And at the far end — seven thrones carved into the stone itself, each different, each terrifying.
They sat there like gods.
The Seven Seats of the Obsidian Court.
Her breath caught as her gaze swept them:
Kael, cold and immovable, armored in darkness, his silver eyes locked on her like shackles.
Lady Seraphine, draped in silks the color of blood, smile sharp enough to bleed.
Varick, monstrous in size, iron chains coiling lazily around his arms like pets.
Eira, statuesque and pale, a sword across her knees, her gaze cutting sharper than steel.
The Ash Priest, faceless beneath a hood of ash, hands folded as if in prayer.
The Twins, lounging side by side, their mirrored faces both amused and unnerving.
And above them, the Empty Seat, carved with a raven crowned in obsidian. Waiting.
Mavi’s knees trembled, but she forced herself to stand tall. Her mother had always told her — never bow unless you mean it.
Kael’s voice carried through the hall. “Mavi Altınkaya, daughter of fire and shadow. You stand before the Court of Obsidian. By blood, you belong to us. By power, you must prove yourself.”
Her throat was dry. “Prove myself how?”
Varick’s laugh was a low growl, echoing against the walls. “By surviving.”
The chains on his arms rattled as if eager.
Seraphine’s voice slithered across the room, smooth and velvet. “Poor little heiress. Do you think crowns are handed out like sweetmeats? You are no more than a flame-flecked girl until we make you.”
Mavi’s fists curled. “I didn’t ask to be part of your court.”
“Neither did your ancestors,” murmured the Ash Priest, his voice like cinders in the wind. “Yet their blood wrote the oath in shadow. And now it burns in you.”
The Twins giggled, voices overlapping like broken glass.
“Will she scream?”
“Will she kneel?”
“Will she rule?”
“Or will she burn?”
The sound made Mavi’s skin crawl.
She turned to Kael, the only one who had spoken to her in the waking world. “You said the Court would come calling. You knew.”
His expression didn’t change. “I warned you.”
Her chest heaved. “And if I refuse?”
Eira rose, the scrape of her sword unsheathing cutting through the silence. “Then I’ll be the first to cut you down.”
Seraphine clapped her hands, delighted. “How delicious! She thinks she has a choice.”
Varick leaned forward, eyes glinting. “No one refuses the Court and lives.”
Mavi’s heart slammed against her ribs. She wanted to scream, to run, to claw her way back to the world above. But something inside her — the same fire that had answered her terror in the alley, the same shadow that curled when the raven watched — flared hot.
She lifted her chin. “Fine. Test me. But don’t expect me to crawl.”
A hush rippled through the hall.
Then Kael spoke, voice like steel on stone. “So be it. You will face the Trials of the Seven. Each Seat will test you in turn. If you survive, the Court may acknowledge your claim to the Empty Throne.”
“And if I don’t?” she asked, though she already knew.
Varick’s smile was pure hunger. “Then your bones will decorate our hall.”
The raven’s call echoed suddenly through the chamber, shrill and ancient. Its wings spread wide across the shadows, casting Mavi’s silhouette against the wall — a girl crowned in darkness.
The Empty Seat glimmered faintly. Waiting.
Mavi’s hands shook at her sides, but she locked her gaze on Kael. His silver eyes were unreadable, but she swore — for just one flicker of a moment — there was something almost human there.
Pity. Warning. Or something worse.
Her fate was sealed.
The Trials had begun.
- Writer
