The Maid and Her Princess - Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Madoka opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor. She sighed. Tomorrow did arrive and it was today. Sunlight soaked through the windows and blinded her for a moment. The night before was not a dream. It weighed heavily on her bones. Madoka placed the thought of the bird as a mere nightmare. It was chilly in her room but she remained sweating and engulfed in nervousness.
Outside her window where the bird rested at, however, was the clear view of a pillar of light piercing the sun. Madoka recalled it flying directly up in the night sky. That trail of light piercing the heavens must be left by the ominous bird. Was it a warning sent by the kind gods?
Madoka cursed herself for sleeping later than she should. She quickly got up and avoided looking at the princess's chambers. Madoka assimilated with the other maids while suppressing an uneasy feeling forming in her gut. She would sleep with the other maids in the shared quarters from now on. Those soldiers were going to come for her and the Palace seemed to be much more oppressive than lately. She still believed Elise will survive this ordeal, although she could not erase the princess's screams from last night out of her head.
As she did her duties, she could not help but feel nervous at every sound. Madoka's neck felt strained from looking over her shoulder. She was in a hallway, expecting signs of the whispers's return or anything ominous but nothing happened. Before she closed the curtains on a window, she noticed the pillar of light still remained from across the view.
Suddenly heavy boots stomped near her and startled her. Some of the guards looked at Madoka and laughed at her reaction before saluting the patroling soldiers but they left her alone. The other servants seemed as carefree as they were before. How could they act normal in times like this? In a way, she envied their ignorance. On the other hand, she could not help but feel like she was truly crazy.
She swore the soldiers would immediately take her away but they simply walked on by as she attempted to dust things. By all accounts, she was just another invisible slave serving in the Palace. At least that is what she hoped. Madoka was not going to take any chances so she made herself scarce. She hoped no one would notice her shirking her duties. A pit in her neck still formed from the guilt of doing so. Madoka ignored it and rounded the corner directly into a soldier's chest.
"Please! Don't take me away!" Madoka begged as she cowered.
"Madoka?"
A friendly voice came above her. It was Squash-face's voice.
"Squ- Jacob?" Madoka looked up at him. She felt a wave of relief at the sight of his face and she never thought she would feel that way.
He looked at her with a worried face.
"Madoka?" He asked again. Madoka cleared her throat and recovered by briskly wiping her skrit off. "Why are you cowering like that?"
"A-Apologies, sir. You startled me," Madoka did not trust him and tried to walk away but Jacob laughed.
"There's no way someone like me can startle you like that," he joked but got serious. "Hey, so I heard some crazy news."
"It's the princess, right?" Madoka tried to play ignorance of Elise's arrest, hoping the quivering in her voice did not show. Squash-face leaned in closer.
"Yeah, they got her in the middle of the night," he said. "How mad is that? Roughed her up something fierce."
Madoka's heart sank.
"Your breath stinks," Madoka said to him because he was too close. The soldier backed off and bowed.
"Whoops, sorry," he said. "It's just that, I figured you would be more worried. I can't help but feel like this Palace has gone backwards lately. Kind gods seal my lips, but the princess seemed harmless if not a little eccentric. Why did they arrest her?"
Madoka's face said it all to him the moment he said that.
"Can you take me to her," Madoka asked him then she withdrew. It was foolish to ask such things. "Nevermind, forget I said anything."
"I could try, I guess," Jacob shrugged. "She is kinda in a bad state, so I don't want to make you more uncomfortable. The Prince's soldiers have pretty much taken my patrol duties away so I have nothing better to do."
"Take me to her," Madoka insisted quickly. Jacob raised his hands defensively.
"Hai, hai," he said. "No need to worry about you, I suppose. Are we skipping our duties today?"
Madoka gulped but Jacob laughed.
"I'm just messing with you," Squash-face seemed ignorant of what was to come and Madoka could not blame him. He looked around the corner and back to her.
"Yeah, coast is clear," he shrugged. "Come with me."
"Wait," Madoka noticed a cart with a tray on it nearby. The maid inside the room nearby was distracted, so Madoka took it.
"Smart and diabolical," Jacob laughed. "Good thinking."
Madoka could not stop her heart from pounding as he guided her through the Palace. She swore the tray on the cart would rattle off the surface from her nervous shaking. No one seemed to question a soldier and a servant following him as they passed by. Elise was right, Madoka thought as she looked around the Palace's lower commons. This place truly had many useless rooms. It was all a mere distraction from the storm in her mind. They found themselves at the edge of the Palace's walls and the exit which led to the dungeons.
They took her here?
"Yeah," Squash-face could read the disbelief on her own face. "Told you the dungeons were creepy. This one only has her. We gotta hurry though. They might get on our backsides if they catch us being lazy."
They quickly moved to the prisoner quarters that held Elise captive. Jacob stopped at the door. The guards spoke with him and he fumbled an excuse to pass by. It seemed like they did not care either way that the two were there. She bowed to them with her cart and they waved her off. Madoka assumed they were dozing off in this secluded area and had no reason to be suspicious of a simple maid.
"I-I'll keep a look out," he said. "You two probably got some secrets to share. Don't say I didn't warn you though, she looks like hell."
That alone made Madoka hurry to see her princess. The place was damp and gross. Something new burned in her heart as she moved along. She could not figure out what it possibly was though. Beyond the dilapidated open metal gate was her princess, chained to the wall. She was not moving.
"Elise!" Madoka rushed to the cell.
At the sound of her name, Elise slowly looked up at Madoka. Madoka fell to her knees at the cell door as she saw what became of her princess. Blood trickled down her cheek and through her torn dress from multiple coin-sized wounds, with her ragged chest rising and falling like a poorly patched sail in the wind. Her skin was purple-black to Madoka's horror. Madoka noticed she had a light ring of magic pulsing around her heart. Was it keeping her alive?
"Hi, Madoka," the princess said, weakly.
"H-How could they do this to you?" Madoka's words fell like her tears in a splattered mess. A chain clinked as the princess made a motion. Her cheek was bright red, glistening from blood from sustaining a beating.
"I'm sorry, Madoka," the princess whispered. "I made... miscalculations. They're moving quicker than I thought."
"Never mind that," Madoka cried. She checked the entrance to the dungeon and considered tearing the cell door apart to free Elise but the princess stopped her. As always, she knew Madoka's intentions.
"Don't," Elise said weakly. "This pain is nothing."
"How can you say that?" Madoka's sorrowful voice gutted the silent air.
"It's okay," Elise hushed her. "I now know what to do."
"You do?"
Elise lifted her bloody head at her maid. Madoka realized there was something familiar in the princess's eyes. It was something in common within Madoka, burning inside of her since she entered this terrible place.
"Can you trust me?" Elise asked Madoka quietly.
"Yes," Madoka simply said. She wished she could hold the princess in her arms. Madoka got up and wiped her tears off the best she could.
"Go now, let me rest," Elise said, hanging her head back down. The core around her heart faded. As Madoka turned away and exited with the cart she memorized the look in Elise's blue eyes. It was anger roiling inside of her soul. Madoka wished she could get back at those nobles but Elise was much smarter than she was, so Madoka would hold onto her faith in her princess.
"Not a pretty sight, eh?" Squash-face looked at her expression. Madoka shook her head. "Let's get out of here, yeah?"
They split ways when Madoka got to the main entrance. It was oddly quiet, so she made herself look busy while her heart felt like it was going to explode. The night fell and Madoka was nervous. The whispers had not bothered her since last night but the sight of Elise in that pitiful state scarred her mind. She never wanted to see her princess in pain again. She feared that was only the beginning as she made her way to the servant quarters.
The ornate lanterns of the Palace were the only things keeping her company as she walked. Madoka found that odd, since even at night the servants still had their duties. She was praying the princess's plans were successful when she heard footsteps that were not her own. There was someone following her. Kind gods, Madoka froze.
"You're not going to your own quarters?"
It was the Prince himself, standing behind Madoka. She seized up for a moment but turned and bowed.
"Y-Your Highness! Apologies I did not see you," she spoke in reverent Noble. The Prince regarded the maid for a moment. He had many features that resembled Elise's. He was truly her brother, but Madoka was worried the voices would strike her again. No, no, no! Madoka's head pounded but her face remained neutral as she kept up her act. "The Head Maid has called for me since Her Highness has been absent."
It was not a lie for the Head Maid did tell her that. Prince Fiara stood tall, broad shoulders and his mantle had a decorated version of his crest, and waved her off.
"You don't have to be nervous around me," he said, beckoning her to follow him. His voice was still soft, but Madoka could see right through his intentions and they terrified her. "Come."
Madoka could not help but feel like she was being dragged to her own death. What was that prophecy Elise had for Madoka again? Whatever it was, it was not good. The Prince was leading her towards somewhere she recognized, stopping at a doorway. It was a side entrance to the throne room. He turned to her.
"I know it's difficult to believe me," Prince Fiara spoke. Madoka's heart pounded as an ominous presence emanated from behind the door. The voices were creeping in her ears again like pervasive tentacles tickling her mind. Madoka could not hide the fear on her face at the anticipation on what will happen next. "But as much as you love the Princess, so do I as her Brother. We're not so different, you see?"
Death.
Roots.
Cut.
Red String.
Take.
"W-Why," Madoka struggled to speak up. An air of malevolence filled the room as she did like an oppressive odor. Her voice shook with anger and determination. "Why do the voices disagree with what you say?"
At the mention of the voices, Prince Fiara's face went pale. Then the whispers stopped immediately as he spoke. Was he controlling them with magic? Madoka choked on the air and realized she was holding her breath. It felt like invisible hands were wringing her neck like a wet towel.
"You can hear them, too?" He asked. Madoka started crying as the doubts in her wavered her convictions about him momentarily. Prince Fiara went to embrace the maid. She tried to back up, but as she looked down at her feet horror struck her. Black roots have formed around her legs. The Prince hugged her firmly. "Hush, faithful servant of my Sister. Hush..."
Pain unlike any she's ever experienced pierced through her whole body before Madoka knew what was happening. Prince Fiara withdrew his blade from her heart, erupting blood out of her. He deftly side stepped the mess as she hacked up more with her heart beating out of control. She could not scream as her body fell on its own to the ground. The prince's remorseless eyes standing over her were the last thing she saw before her vision faded.