The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Your part of the Bargain by Joby Talbolt

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She stood in front of the door for several minutes, crying and the tears never stopped. With her forehead leaning on the door, she finally pushed herself back. Standing straight, she turned to go to her bed.

Madeline felt her mind had turned numb as she stared at nothing in particular. It was one thing to be lying to her, and it was another to try to kill her. Was she a bad person? Did she take the lives of the innocents? But that wasn't all. Her grandfather was dead and would not be returning back. What was she going to say to her family?

Amid all the things that were going on, when she and Calhoun had gone to visit her grandparents, the last thing she had expected for them was to look at her in disgust, wanting to get rid of her. Climbing up on the bed, she laid down, recollecting the words exchanged between her grandparents, her and Calhoun.

She had spent sixteen years in the coffin, and her parents never came to visit her? Or did they visit her grave only with the thought that she was dead? The drops of tears continued to slide down one after another, falling on the surface of the bed which absorbed the water and made it wet.

Madeline didn't know how much time had passed, her eyes slowly lulled to sleep.

The next time she woke up, Madeline found herself to be standing in the graveyard. She didn't want to be here. The last time Madeline had dreamt, she had gone through the pain of finding the hard truth about what her family had done. She tried to wake herself up, but she couldn't. Instead, she came to stand in front of a coffin with its lid open, and she saw the person who laid in there was her grandfather.

With Calhoun who had torn the front portion of her grandfather's neck, she could see the bones peeking out, and it made her eyebrows furrow.

Her grandfather suddenly opened his eyes to look at her, making her gasp. "You will die soon, Madeline," he said to her. She took two steps away from the coffin, but that didn't stop him from getting up and looking at her, "It is because of you that I am dead. You have seen many deaths. Soon you will kill others and will also want to die."

Madeline told herself this was a dream, and it was just her imagination. Dead people didn't come back. But until now she wasn't aware of the angels and demons existence.

"You cannot accuse me," she whispered to her grandfather, "I didn't do anything."

Her grandfather's neck fell weakly on the right side of his shoulder. "I saw what you did, Madeline. You might want to forget, but this is what happened. You went to the house and killed the family members. Cruel and heartless. Wait until the time comes where you will bring nothing but bad luck. Crops will wither, the sky will turn dark."

He had always been strict with Beth and her since they were children. Asking them not to go anywhere alone when she and Beth visited their house. The truth was finally out that they were being sent to their grandparents house only to make sure that she and Beth didn't have a killer tendency.

"Why me?" asked Madeline, "Beth is a human while I am an angel. Why are we different."

"Because you were the rotten apple," whispered her grandfather. It broke her heart, thinking that the people she thought cared for her all this while had only despised her existence because they couldn't kill her.

Suddenly the scene in front of her changed like a drop of ink that diffused itself in the water. She woke from her dream. Her head felt slightly heavy, and she pushed herself from the bed to notice the room had turned dark. Night had approached. Quickly pushing her hair behind to make it look less messy, she headed out of the room.

Her grandparents had arrived at the castle during the time of morning. Had she been sleeping since then and nobody had come to wake her up?

"What hour of the time is it?" Madeline asked the maid who was walking by.

"It is six in the evening, milady," the maid bowed her head while answering Madeline. She hadn't expected to sleep for such a long time.

"Do you know where the King is?" inquired Madeline, but before the maid could answer her, her mother appeared in the same corridor.

"There you are, Madeline!" her mother walked towards her and Madeline's body froze. It felt different being around with any of her family members now, for the things they did. She didn't know if she had the right to be angry at them or not. In the end, she did grow up around them. "The King said you weren't feeling well and we should let you rest in room. How are you feeling now?"

Madeline couldn't help but try to interpret what the question actually meant.

Her brown eyes stared at her mother's black eyes before giving a nod, "I'm a little tired." By the way, her mother was looking at her she could tell her very own mother was trying to decipher her answer. Wanting to test, Madeline said,

"I was holding a glass earlier in my hand, and it shattered, mama. I must have held it too tightly." She noticed how her mother's eyes turned wide.

"B-break the glass?" her mother stuttered, and gulping the obvious ball of nervousness. "It must be because of the pressure of your hand. Go take some rest if you want. I will let others know. It's a good thing that your grandparents are attending the wedding. I mean if you fall sick, your grandfather will take care of you."

So that I could be put in the coffin, thought Madeline to herself. But her grandfather wasn't alive anymore, and her grandmother was in the dungeon right now. Her parents had always treated her kindly. But so did her grandparents until they showed their true colours. It was turning hard for Madeline when it came to placing her trust in people.

Madeline put on a smile on her face, "Yes, you are right. Did you see where the King is?"

"I have no clue dear. The King is never in one place. Did you have something to speak to him about?" asked her mother.

"It's just about the dress that was supposed to be stitched."

"Oh, yes! Did they hear anything about Mr. Heathcliff? Poor man," her mother shook her head.

Madeline pursed her lips and then said, "I heard Senior Mr. Heathcliff passed away."

"Oh no!" exclaimed her mother.

"Calhoun is looking into the matter right now. I will ask him about it and let you know," she said. After pausing for a second, Madeline asked, "Mama, can I ask you something?"

Her mother looked startled, "Anything dear. What is it?"

Madeline wasn't sure how to phrase it as she said, "If I were to ask you something, would you tell me the truth?" Her brown eyes stared at her mother, noticing how her mother was quick to oblige by nodding her head.

"You know I would never lie to you. Is there something you wanted to ask?" Her mother took her to the side of the pillar so that they weren't standing in the middle of the corridor even though there was no one to disturb them.

"Do you love Beth and me equally?" questioned Madeline.

She had never asked something like this before because it was an absurd question, but she wanted to know the truth now. Beth was a human unlike her. Her grandparents had claimed that she was a killler who was bound to cause destruction.

Her mother, for a moment, looked blank before laughing, "What kind of silly question is that? Of course, I love you both equally. A mother never has favourites, it is tough to pick favourites. You both have different nature, but I love you both." Her mother then stepped closer to Madeline, placing her hand on her cheek.

Madeline remembered her mother sitting on the chair and crying out of shock. Her mother had cried for her, at least that was what she hoped it to be. She didn't want to be negative, but with her grandmother, who jumped to kill her with a knife, it was hard to not watch over her back.

Despite all those thoughts that were hovering like dark clouds in her mind, Madeline placed her hand on her mother's hand that was on her cheek. "Thank you, mama," she whispered. She wanted to believe so that she could keep her sanity, to not to think about how others wanted her dead and back in the coffin.

"Come here, my child," her mother opened her arms, and Madeline hugged her mother. Letting her chin rest on her mother's shoulder while putting her hands around her.

"You ask some strange questions, Maddie. Is it because of the wedding?" she heard her mother ask.

"It must be," Madeline said with a lack of emotion in her voice.

"Don't worry. Everything will settle down in time. It is normal to feel stressed in this period of time."

While Madeline continued to hug her mother, who was still speaking to her, she saw Calhoun step into the corridor. The one person she could look at without doubting. He made his way slowly towards where they stood, and Madeline couldn't believe how things had turned. There was a time when she didn't want to see Calhoun, to stay away from him but after accepting him by her side, it made the current situation bearable.

He watched her unblinkingly. Keeping his eyes always on her.

Hearing the clicking sound of the shoes against the floor, her mother pulled away, turning to see the King make his way,

"Milord," her mother was the first one to greet him, and Madeline followed next, bowing her head while not breaking her gaze away from him.

"Hope I am not interrupting the mother-daughter time," Calhoun put a charming smile on his face, and Madeline wondered how he did it. To have a nonchalant expression on one's face for people to see, regardless of how he felt within.

"We were just talking about the wedding. I was asking about the wedding dress," said her mother with a small smile that quite didn't reach up to her eyes.

"I have told one of my men to check with the assistants regarding the wedding gown. They should bring it by day after tomorrow," responded Calhoun, and her mother quickly nodded.

"That's good to hear," her mother stood there for a few more seconds in silence. Calhoun had decided to look at her mother who looked unnerved by his gaze. "Well, I will leave you both and see what Madeline's father is up to."

Calhoun continued to smile, watching the woman leave and the smile fell a little from his face. "Did you sleep enough?" he asked Madeline.

"I fell asleep," she replied, to feel Calhoun's finger run under her eyes.

"But you didn't have good dreams," he noted.

Madeline asked, "When did everyone return to the castle?"

"Two hours after you left the room. Nobody knows your grandparents were here and let's keep it that way. Your parents might be harmless because of the lack of ability they hold, but I wouldn't be too sure when it comes to the people they are acquainted with. Not to forget, I asked your sister to send an invitation to your aunt," Calhoun let her know so that she was informed about what was going on.

"Do you think my aunt is involved in it?" asked Madeline worried.

"It is better to be cautious, isn't it? Because you mentioned spending your time with your aunt, and I believe both you girls were sent only after you reached an age of understanding," said Calhoun. "It would have caused too much suspicion if both of you spent your time only with your grandparents."