The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Franziska & Magnus by Ben Frost

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Lucy walked in the corridor, her fingers twiddling in a circular way while wondering why her grandmother had summoned her to her room. When she arrived in front of the doors, the guards who stood on either side of the doors pushed it open so that she could enter.

Stepping inside, Lucy caught sight of her grandmother sitting on the couch and she bowed.

"Did you want to see me, my Queen?" asked Lucy, her tone polite.

"Yes, Lucy. Come sit with your grandmother," offered Queen Morganna, patting the empty seat next to her with a smile on her face. There was only one maid in the room to serve tea and to help the Queen while the rest of them had been dismissed. "Come," said her grandmother when Lucy hadn't made an effort to move from where she stood.

Apprehensively, Lucy walked to where her grandmother was sitting, and she took a seat next to her. Her governess was teaching her, when a servant who had been sent by the Queen appeared in the study room, asking her to meet the Queen.

"What would you like to drink? There's different flavours of tea powder that has been brought from the other lands. Or would you prefer to have blood?" asked Queen Morganna, being hospitable and too sweet to her granddaughter.

Refusing to drink with the Queen was nothing less to being disrespectful, and Lucy replied, "I will have the blood."

The Queen didn't have to order the maid for it as the maid stepped forward to the side table, bending down, she started to pour the blood from the teapot into the cup and offered it to Lucy.

"Go on, drink it," advised Queen Morganna, and Lucy smiled before bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip of the blood. "It has been long since we sat together by ourselves and drank tea, isn't it? How are your classes going on with Ms. Lewis?"

Lucy nodded her head, "It is going well, my Queen. Ms. Lewis said she is almost done teaching me everything I would need."

"Things that will come in use after the marriage I believe?" asked Queen Morganna, and Lucy slowly nodded her head.

"Queen Morganna, there was something I would like to ask from you."

Morganna raised her eyebrows in question, "What is it?"

"Do you think it is possible for me to take part in the discussions that take place in the royal court? I tried to learn and understand everything, I was hoping I could be useful-"

Her grandmother clicked her tongue, "My dear granddaughter. We already have men and women to work for such things. Too many people will only crowd the court. I thought your mother made it quite clear the last time when she spoke to you about this. Leave the court matters to us while you can concentrate on getting married to a valuable husband and have children with him," the woman's tone then turned serious, "Don't concern yourself with things that are going to be of no use to you."

"But I know I can-"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Queen Morganna offered Lucy a smile that was not warm but chilling. "Samuel is a good man, what do you think of him? Isn't he wonderful?"

Lucy pursed her lips, a small frown coming to form on her forehead. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? Silly girl, you have been spending time with him every day. You don't have to be shy about it," said Morganna.

Lucy wanted to tell her grandmother that she didn't want to meet any of the suitors as her heart had already decided whom she wanted to be with. But at the same time, she was scared of her grandmother's reaction. The Queen had opposed the idea of her being present in the royal court room. It was obvious she would never come to accept her love for Theodore.

Queen Morganna then came to the topic, "I wanted to know you if you met your maid Amice before she left the castle."

Lucy shook her head, "I haven't spoken to her since mother had her shifted to another work."

"Is that so," said Morganna, taking a sip from her cup and then placing it on the saucer with a little clink sound. "You have been meeting the other maid and look what you did to her?"

Ruby, thought Lucy and her heart ached for the deceased woman. "I didn't do anything to her," she firmly stood her ground, and Queen Morganna raised her eyebrows.

"If it weren't for you who had decided to go against your mother's and my words, the maid would have still been alive, but look at what you did. We have been teaching you to follow the rules of the castle, but it seems like you have always preferred to break the rules," Morganna looked down at her teacup with a displeased look on her face.

Now that the subject had been brought up, Lucy clenched her hands, and she asked, "Why did you do it? Ruby did nothing wrong."

"You both broke the rules, Lucy. Considering you are my granddaughter, there is only little that can be done here. But she deserved it for going against our words," stated Morganna with not a hint of remorse in her voice. "She was leading you on the wrong path."

"Like what?" questioned Lucy, placing her teacup on the table. "Ruby never taught or led me on the wrong path. She was there when I needed her, beside me-"

"That's absurd," Morganna interrupted Lucy, rolling her eyes, she said, "You have us. Your mother, your father, me. You don't have to rely on a servant."

Lucy looked at her grandmother in disbelief, shaking her head, she got up, "I don't know why it took me so long, but you are not what I thought you are," she whispered, and Morganna narrowed her eyes, getting up to stand in front of Lucy.

Ruby had died because her grandmother had ordered the guards to kill her, and Lucy could only imagine the pain Ruby went through with the noose around her neck until she died.

"Careful with what you speak, Lucy. Just because you are my granddaughter doesn't mean I will take your accusations kindly," warned Queen Morganna. "Sit down now so that we can finish our talk."