Protector | Ambrose Spellman and Nicholas Scratch [1]

06 | we're being summoned

six
we're being summoned.

"DO YOU KNOW what this is?" Zelda questions the next day as Selene and Sabrina walk into the kitchen to find Zelda, Hilda, and Ambrose waiting for them. The girls had gone to school like always, but it had seemed weird. Selene felt like hell all day, and couldn't focus on any of her schoolwork. She knows there will be consequences for what happened last night, and not knowing what they are terrify her. "I'll tell you. It's an Infernal Summons."

"A what now?" Sabrina asks in confusion as Selene walks over to the eldest Spellman and plucks the letter out of her hand. Selene curses under her breath as she reads the letter, knowing her father is going to try to punish the whole Spellman family.

"Oh, God," Selene's eyes widen as she turns to Sabrina. "They're trying to charge you with Breach of Promise."

"You made a promise to sign the Dark Lord's Book of the Beast and then, when you ran in horror from your dark baptism, you broke it," Zelda yells angrily at her niece. "You humiliated our master in front of the entire coven, and now, you will be judged and tried in front of the entire coven. Never, in all my years, has a Spellman been summoned to the Court of Witches."

"I don't understand," Sabrina shakes her head, grabbing the page from Selene and scanning over it. "Someone is suing me?"

"The Dark Lord," Hilda answer's quietly. "He's determines to get you on the Path of Night."

"I saw him today, the Dark Lord," Sabrina admits, gaining Selene's attention. Sabrina has never told her this. "He took possession of Principal Hawthorne and threatened me."

"Can you imagine how enraged he must be?" Zelda scoffs. "I-"

"Well, it doesn't matter," Sabrina cuts her aunt off. "I don't want to be a part of his coven, I don't want to step foot in the Academy of Unseen Arts, and I am certainly not gonna stand trial."

At this, Selene sighs, having been the only one of the two who read the full letter. "Sabrina, you have to stand trial, because if you don't, you could face the death sentence. So could Hilda, Zelda, and me... We're all on trial."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Sabrina retorts, confused.

"Well, me and Zelda are your legal guardians, lamb," Hilda sighs, before looking at Selene. "And Selene's always been here to protect you. So, in the eyes of the Court of the Witches, your actions are our actions. We're as guilty as you."

"Don't you mean innocent?" Sabrina scoffs, unaware that the Court of Witches has different beliefs than mortal courts. "Innocent until proven guilty?"

"That's mortal law," Ambrose speaks up somberly. "Witch law is the complete opposite. Guilty until proven innocent."

Zelda then holds up a bloody tooth. "Sabrina, do you know what this is? It's your Aunt Hilda's tooth. We have been stripped of our powers. Which means that we will age and rot, rapidly, until a verdict is reached. Your trial begins at midnight."
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