Chapter 2: The Letter
The morning after her sixteenth birthday, Elira woke to a silver raven tapping at her window. It clutched a sealed letter in its beak marked with the royal sigil. Her hands trembled as she opened it.
It was from the Royal Arcane Council.
A single line changed everything:
*"The Midnight Heir must return."*
Her mother, pale and shaking, said nothing just handed her a small black key and whispered, "Your time has come.