The Trial Begin

The invitation was not written in ink.

It was carved into red wax and sealed with a crest, Olivia had never seen before, a ring of thorns twisted around a silver flame. The note was short,

“The court of the vow convenes. You are called.”

Her hands trembled as she read it. She had heard whispers of the blood vow families, the ancient pact that bound her life to Ethan’s in ways neither of them fully understood. But whispers were one thing. A secret court? That was something else.

When Ethan read it, his jaw tightened. “They’re real,” he said quietly. “I thought it was just legend. But this…this means they’ve been watching us. Waiting.”

“And now they’ve called a trial,” Olivia whispered. “A trial for what?”

“For us.”

The court convened in a hidden chapel deep under the city. The air smelled of stone, smoke, and centuries of secrets. Candles flickered, casting shadows across faces Olivia did not know but felt she had seen in dreams.

The families sat in a circle. Men and women draped in black and red robes, their eyes sharp, their hands jeweled with ancient rings. At the center, a stone table carved with blood symbols.

An elder rose. His voice was deep, echoing.

“The blood vow was forged generations ago to bind families, to ensure loyalty, to control power. But tonight, it is broken. Blood was spilled. Promises shattered. And so, we hold trial.”

His gaze fell on Olivia. Then Ethan.

“You stand accused of breaking the vow.”

Jessica was there.

She walked into the circle as if it belonged to her, her dress flowing like a queen’s, her lips curved in a cruel smile.

“They betrayed the vow,” she said, her voice sweet yet venomous. “Ethan turned his back on me, his rightful wife. And Olivia has stolen what was never hers. Together they mock the covenant. They bring chaos. They endanger us all.”

Her words slide into the chamber. Some heads nodded. Others whispered.

Olivia stepped forward, her voice steady even though her knees shook.

“That’s not true. Jessica lies. She planted false notes, framed others, even tried to kill me. She is the one who broke the vow.”

The elder lifted a hand. “Proof.”

Olivia swallowed. Proof. She needed proof.

And then she remembered, the recording.

After the last attack, Olivia had gone through her mother’s belongings, desperate for answers. In a wooden box she had found a small recorder, old but still working. She hadn’t played it yet, fear kept her from pressing the button.

Now, with the eyes of the families on her, she pulled it out.

“This,” she said, “is my mother’s voice. Before she died.”

She pressed play.

The chamber filled with static, then her mother’s voice. Fragile, shaking, but clear.

“Olivia…if you’re hearing this, it means I am gone. You must listen. The vow must end. It was never meant to bind you this way. It will destroy you. End it…before it takes everything you love.”

Gasps echoed around the circle. Olivia’s heart cracked. Hearing her mother’s voice again felt like being cut open. Tears blurred her vision.

But the words were clear.

End the vow.

The elder leaned forward. “This changes things.”

Jessica’s face stiffened, but then she laughed, sharp and fragile. “A dead woman’s whisper? That is not evidence. That is desperation.”

Ethan stepped forward, fists clenched. “There is more. Olivia’s father, he’s not innocent in this either.”

Olivia turned to him, confused. “My father? What do you mean?”

Ethan’s eyes darkened. “When I disappeared…when I was shot…before that, I was threatened. A man cornered me, warned me to leave you. Said if I didn’t, Olivia would suffer.”

The elder’s voice boomed. “Who sent him?”

Ethan hesitated. “I didn’t know. Not then. But I found out later. It was her father.”

Olivia’s stomach dropped. “No.”

“He wasn’t trying to hurt us,” Ethan said quickly. “He was trying to protect you. He knew the vow families would come after us. He thought if I stayed away, you’d be safe. He paid the man to scare me off. But Jessica twisted it. She used it to frame others, to create chaos.”

The room erupted. Voices clashed, arguments sparked. Some shouted for punishment, others for mercy.

Olivia felt the world spin. Her father, the man who had raised her, who had stood silently at her mother’s funeral, he had been part of this too.

And her mother’s last words rang in her ears: End the vow.

The elder raised his staff, slamming it against the stone. Silence fell.

“This court will not be swayed by whispers alone. There must be trial. The truth will be burned from lies. Blood will decide.”

He gestured toward Olivia and Ethan. “You have until dawn. Bring forth proof that the vow itself is poison. Or you both will pay its price.”

Jessica’s smile widened. She leaned close to Olivia as the families dispersed.

“You’ll never prove it,” she whispered. “By dawn, he’ll be taken from you forever. And maybe…so will you.”

Her breath was warm against Olivia’s ear, her words colder than stone.

That night, back in the small chamber where they were held under guard, Olivia pressed her forehead against Ethan’s chest, trembling.

“They’ll kill us if we can’t prove it,” she whispered.

He stroked her hair. “We’ll find a way. We have to.”

But Olivia’s mind spun with her mother’s words. With her father’s betrayal. With Jessica’s venom.

She turned on the recorder again, hoping to hear something she had missed.

Static. A pause. Then her mother’s voice again, quieter this time, almost drowned in noise.

“Olivia…if you want to end the vow…you must spill blood at the altar. Yours, or his.”

The recorder clicked off.

Olivia froze, her breath caught in her throat.

Ethan looked at her, eyes dark with dread.

“What did she say?” he whispered.

Olivia couldn’t answer. Because the truth was too sharp, too dangerous.

To end the vow…one of them might have to die.