The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: I'm Eleanor Reed by Tim Wynn

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Madeline stared at the darkness above her. She thought about what happened back there in the hut today. The incident that took place today had scared her, leaving her shaken, but worse was that her sister had stood outside as if Beth didn't know she was in there being attacked by two men.

"Beth?" Madeline called her sister, but receiving no response, she believed Beth was asleep. She didn't know why, but something didn't feel right to her. Seconds passed followed by minutes, and Madeline continued to lay down on the bed, wide awake.

After some time, she heard some sounds that were coming from outside the room, and wondering if her grandparents were awake at this hour of the night. She got up to sit upright on the bed. With the moon that showed itself in the sky, the moonlight fell into the room, and she could see things better than before now.

With more sounds coming from outside, she carefully pushed her blanket to the side and got out of the bed without waking Beth. Her family was everything to Madeline. She wondered if Beth had got scared and worried, which was why she didn't get inside the hut.

Padding her feet carefully towards the door, she heard the angry voice of her grandfather, "What were you thinking by doing something like that?! I thought we had already dropped the matter and decided to keep an eye on her."

Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, wondering about whom her grandfather was speaking about. Being inside the room, it was hard to eavesdrop on their conversation, and her hand reached out for the knob of the door, and turning it around, she stepped out of the room. It seemed like her grandparents were in their room, and they just happened to raise their voice which was why she was able to hear them.

"Because nothing dies that easily. We might have put her in the coffin, but that hasn't changed anything!" whispered her grandmother. "Sometimes I can sense the tinge of darkness around her, radiating because of who she might be."

"Rubbish!" her grandfather dismissed his wife's words. "It's been many years since she has been out and since then she has shown no sign of it. It only means the curse has moved to someone else."

"I know you don't believe in it. But I was close to finding out today. Mary said-"

"Mary is delusional. She thinks she knows better than what we know," came the stern voice of the old man. Madeline made sure to hide behind the wall and not be noticed by them. "She is not like us. You know how our lineage works. If I hadn't got there on time, things would have gone haywire."

"We would have known the truth!" said her grandmother, and Madeline wondered what truth and about whom and what they were speaking about. "I hired the two men to prod her ability so that it would unleash and let us know if the ability still runs in her. I have been waiting for that opportunity. I was following the girls since afternoon, knowing how much of a fool Beth can be. I even removed the sound through the spell so that Beth would not be able to hear a word that escaped from the hut."

The older man turned around, his forehead held a deep frown and his eyes narrowed. "You think the girls won't find it to be suspicious? We have been manipulating their memory for a long time. Don't you know how it works? The more we manipulate, the more space forms in their minds which will make them question before trying to get an answer for it."

Madeline's eyes widened hearing this, and her lips parted before pressing them together when she heard her grandmother chuckle.

"They are children. They have never questioned before, to do it now. And I have always been good when it comes to hiding their memory," said the woman. "I was so close, and you put back the spell of sound so that Beth and that useless man could hear the sound coming from the inside the hut."

"I did what was right. Going after something evil and then hoping something evil will come of use by harming our granddaughters is not something I will stand for. They are both humans, and we have verified it. Don't pull a stunt like this again," said her grandfather in a stern voice. Madeline stepped away from the wall, taking a step back for her back to hit something or someone.

When she turned around, Madeline came to face Beth. How long had she been standing here? Madeline brought her hands up to her lips.

"What are you doing here?" whispered Beth in question. "What did grandpa mean?"

Before Madeline could respond to the question, both the girls heard their grandfather say, "Fix it right now. Erase the memory. We don't want anyone asking questions." Madeline quickly held Beth's hand and pulled her back to the room. Closing the door shut, she took her sister back to the bed.

"What's going on, Maddie? What did grandma mean?" questioned Beth with a confused look on her face.

It seemed like Beth had heard only half of the things their grandparents had said while it was Madeline who had heard most of it. Her grandparents would be here at any moment, and for the first time, Madeline was more scared of her very own people than the strangers outside the house.

"Beth, what happened today?" questioned Madeline, staring into Beth in the moderately dark room. She had not pressed for an answer earlier, but she wanted to know now, "Quick!"

Beth furrowed her eyebrows, "I was looking for you. I came near the hut and thought that I heard your voice, but then I heard growling sounds coming from the hut. I mistook it, and I don't know why. I was going to reach out for the door, but I couldn't. It was like for a moment, I forgot something."

Madeline bit her lip. "Y-you weren't sure if I was in there?" Was that true, then? What her grandma told her grandpa? Was grandma the one to who had sent the two men? Fear trickled down her body.

"I feel guilty, and I am sorry I didn't open the door! I don't know what happened. One moment I heard your voice and the next, there were these growls. But when I saw you in there after Blake pushed the door…" Beth looked down, unable to meet Madeline's eyes.

Beth didn't know how it happened and why it happened. But after returning home and before heading to bed, shame had settled into her bones, and she didn't know how to make amends. The thought of Madeline mistaking her actions of what happened made it even worse.

"Get to bed, quick," whispered Madeline on hearing footsteps approaching their room.

Beth had no idea of what was going on, but seeing Madeline lay down on the bed, pulling the blanket to her neck before closing her eyes, she did the same. Soon the door of the room opened and in came their grandma.

The woman had brought a candle along with her, and she came to stand next to Madeline. Placing the candle on the bedside, she ran her aged hand over Madeline's head while the girls acted as if they were fast asleep.

A sigh escaped from the woman's lips, and she said, "I am going to get rid of the bad memories of what happened today. You will wake up tomorrow as if nothing happened and that it was all just a dream that never happened." The woman then whispered something under her breath.

Unable to resist, Beth, who had closed her eyes, slowly opened them. She saw her grandmother place her hands on Madeline's temples. Her sister's body jerked, and it had Beth worry about what was going on in here. What was her grandmother muttering? When Madeline gasped before her body turned slack as if she had turned unconscious, Beth turned concerned. She quickly closed her eyes when her grandmother looked her way.

Even though Beth had closed her eyes, she could feel the brightness increase around her as their grandmother came to her side of the bed, and Beth's body turned rigid, but she continued to keep her eyes closed.

Beth heard her grandmother whisper something incoherent, a language she had never heard before. The old woman then placed her hands on Beth's temples', and the muttering continued, but unlike Madeline, Beth's body didn't jerk.

The older woman looked satisfied with the work she had done here, and she blew out the candle that she had carried in here before closing the door behind her.

When the morning arrived, at the time of breakfast where both the girls were going to leave the village of Carnival to go back to their parent's place, their grandmother asked, "Did you both have a good time here in the village?"

Beth was quiet, helping her grandfather in spreading butter on the bread when her eyes raised to look at Madeline. Her sister smiled.

"We did, grandma. We'll be sure to visit as soon as we can again. Right, Beth?" on Madeline's question, Beth was slightly confused. So much had happened, and Madeline said they had a good time?

"I guess," replied Beth. Once she was done with the bread, she said, "I was wondering if I could go meet Mr. Blake-"

"For what?" came the sharp tone of their grandmother.

Beth sensed the hostility, something that Madeline overlooked. "I had to give him the book I borrowed from him. Both Madeline and I were thinking about visiting him before we leave."

"You can give it to us, Elizabeth. Mr. Blake has left the village and won't be coming anytime soon," this time it was their grandfather who had responded to her words. "Do you remember what happened yesterday, Madeline?" The question was direct without being beaten around.

Madeline nodded her head, "Beth and I went to the market to get the watermelon seeds to plant in the backyard of our house. We then went to visit Mrs. Heckle before returning home."

Beth wondered if she had dreamt what happened because yesterday had not been a good day.

"And what about you, Elizabeth?" her grandfather questioned her, his eyes staring straight into her. She put up a smile.

"We had delicious tea at Mrs. Heckle's house, Maddie forgot about the biscuits," said Beth and this pleased their grandparents.

"Wonderful," chimed her grandmother, and Beth caught the subtle exchange between the two older people's eyes in the room.

Once when Beth and Madeline left the village in the carriage, Beth decided to bring up the topic about what happened yesterday because everyone behaved like nothing bad had happened. There had been many times in the past where Madeline had taken the attention of the men whom Beth liked, which had filled her heart with envy, but that didn't mean she would do something like that to Madeline.

Her grandparents had behaved strangely and the way her grandmother looked at her, it was like she had a look of suspicion in her eyes.

"Um, Maddie?"

"Yes?" Madeline turned from looking through the window to face Beth. "Did you forget something?"

Beth didn't know how to say it, but she tried, "About yesterday-"

"We should go to Mrs. Heckle's home again. She enjoys both our company, doesn't she?" While Madeline went ahead in speaking about the tea, Beth noticed how her sister had forgotten the bad things that took place yesterday.

"It's about last night about grandma and grandpa," Beth chose her words carefully, but Madeline had a blank look.

"What about them?" asked Madeline, and Beth shook her head.

"Nothing," replied Beth before looking out of the window. Her grandmother had done something to Madeline. As her sister didn't seem to be bothered by it, Beth decided to drop and forget the incident.