The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Hamnet's Grave - Patrick Doyle

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Odin carried the clothes of his Master in his hands, walking around the room to keep them in the cupboard. He then stepped out of the room to clean the stairs of the castle in Belmount. His Master had refused the idea of appointing someone else for the job because he had him with him. Him meaning Odin himself. 

Being the beloved servant of the Devil, Odin knew every little thing when it came to tidying the place or cooking for the Devil or taking orders that had to be delivered to the demons in Hell. 

"Odin," he heard his Master calling him, and within a second, he dropped what he was doing to run to his Master, who was in the hall. "Helena and I are going out. Make sure to take care of things here in the castle."

"Yes, Master!" Odin bowed his head. Ready to protect this place with his life, but then it was not needed at all, as the mortals were scared to step anywhere close near the castle. The rumours about beasts and other creatures continued to spread that turned this place unapproachable. 

"Else, go make yourself useful in the Hawthrone castle," ordered Vladimir, who was going to a meeting that Helena had set with one of the Kings of the neighbouring lands. 

Seeing his Master leave, Odin turned himself to a bat, and he quickly flew to the Hawthrone castle. On the way, he was disturbed by a vulture that wanted to take a bite of him, and it took a while before he arrived in the middle of the corridor.

"Damn bird," muttered Odin under his breath. 

"Odin!" Madeline greeted him, walking to where he was. She asked, "Where is Vlad?"

"Master has gone out with Lady Helena, milady," replied Odin. "Master said I should make myself more useful here."

"Is that so, you will find Morven in his room. I believe he will be happy to have you here," came the polite words from Madeline and Odin bowed his head. 

Making way to the little boy's room, Odin caught sight of the boy who was scribbling something on a paper, "Good afternoon, Master Morven."

"ODII!" came the excited voice from the boy on seeing Odin in the room. With no children of the prince's age in the castle to play with him, Morven enjoyed Odin's company the most as he got to play with the demon. Recently, apart from running and hiding in the bushes, Morven had started to climb the roofs of the building, which had given Odin quite a run as he was the one who mostly babysat the young prince. 

Walking inside the room, Odin sat next to Morven, glancing at the paper in front of the boy. 

Morven held a crayon in his hand, and there were other colours spread around the floor. On the paper, he saw the drawings of stick figures that one couldn't identify who was who. But Odin saw it to be a drawing and he praised, 

"What beautiful art you have here, Master Morven, I am sure you will turn into an excellent artist." Odin clapped his hands together. Hearing this, Morven beamed in a wide smile. 

The little boy searched for a sheet from the pile of art he had made before handing it to Odin, "This is for you," came the sweet voice of Morven. 

Odin brought the drawing forward and saw blue and red stick figures in there, "Is this me and you, Master Morven?" asked the demon, his eyes shining. 

Morven shook his head and said, "It is you and great grandpa Vlad."

Hearing the boy's words brought tears to Odin's eyes, and he whispered, "Thank you. I shall make sure to put a frame on it and have it hang in my...room. The best art ever, Master Morven." The boy's gesture deeply touched odin. 

Odin sat next to the small prince, watching over him while his thoughts wandered. The warmth he felt that came from his company reminded him of the time when he was still part of the mortal world. When his parents were still alive and when his twin brother was alive too. His family was warm and loving. 

'Lian, where are you?' Odin had tried to look for his brother, who was a few minutes older than him. 'Lian?'

'Come up here, Odin,' his brother answered him from the top of the tree while hanging upside down on the branch. 

His brother had often been like that, always doing strange things instead of helping his parents. 'We need to take the sheeps out. It is time for them to graze. If papa finds you here, instead of helping, he won't be happy to find you like this.'

'Do you know how different the world looks from where I am?' asked his twin brother Lian. 'The sky looks like an ocean, and the birds that fly look magical. One day I will sail, Odin. Mark my-OW!' he fell on the ground as the branch had broken down. 

Both the boys left the forest and went with the sheep to graze in the grassy lands. Surrounded by the fluff looking sheep, his brother looked at him and asked, 'What about you? Have you planned to stay here forever and never leave?'

Odin gave a thought to what his brother said before shaking his head, 'I must be happy where I am. Satisfied to be next to mama and papa. You can fulfill your dream and then one day you will be sick of it and come back home.'

'Do you think I plan to come back? Maybe I will come back when I turn into a rich lord of the land,' said Lian, and Odin only exhaled at the castle that his twin had built. 

A few hours had passed since then, and when the sheeps had their fill, Odin noticed one of the sheep had gone missing. Odin said, 'I will go take a look around, and you can take the rest of them back.'

'Don't keep on looking for it if you don't find it. I am sure she will come back on her own,' and saying this, his brother left with the herd of sheep. 

It took Odin quite a while to find the lost sheep. Carrying the small sheep in his arms, he lightly scolded the sheep, 'This is the second time you have decided to wander away from your family. Always trying to escape, I should name you Lian after my brother.'

While making his way back home, he noticed another sheep that belonged to his family, which was left behind. Did his brother miss this one? Questioned Odin. But when he tried to take it back, he noticed some more sheep scattered around the place, and his brother was nowhere to be seen. Something seemed odd, and he called his brother, 

'Lian? Where did you go, leaving the sheep here?' 

Receiving no response, Odin turned worried, and he looked around before heading towards his home as fast as he could. Reaching the front place of his home, he noticed his father and mother laid on the ground with their throats slit with blood oozing out from it. 

'Papa! Mama!' Odin screamed, going to their sides, but they laid on the ground motionless with their eyes wide. Getting up, he frantically searched for his brother, 'Lian? Where are you? Lian?' his voice filled with panic. 

Hearing some sounds coming from the backside of the house, Odin quickly ran to the back and saw a person standing right behind his brother, holding a rope around his neck. 

'Let go of him!' shouted Odin, seeing his brother being strangled. 

But before he could reach where his brother stood, another person came from behind him and hit his back. Odin didn't know what was happening or who these men were. And when he fell down, he saw a third man, who came in front of his brother and stabbed him to death. His brother was quick to bleed, falling on the ground and dying in front of him. 

Odin felt a sudden pain in his stomach, but as fast as the pain he had felt, it disappeared until he felt nothing. Opening his eyes, he saw nothing but clear sky above him. As the thoughts about what happened rushed back, he got up looking around the place where he was, noticing the clouds that surrounded. 

It took him quite a while before he found his way back to his house. But by the time he reached where his family was, they were being buried along with his body. 

Was he dead? Odin had asked himself, trying to reach out for people and trying to talk to them, but no one could hear or see him. 

Years had passed and Odin had tried to hunt down the people who had killed him and his family, but he couldn't. He had ended up turning into a wanderer like some of the souls after their death, refusing to enter Heaven as he wanted to avenge his family death. One of those days, he was sitting in front of his parents grave, when someone spoke to him.

"What are you doing here, instead of entering Heaven."

Odin turned around in surprise, his eyes wide as it fell on a person who wore white robes. There was a halo above his head and wings that were white and big. His hair was dark and the expression on his face serious. 

The angel said, "I see you sitting here everyday."

A frown came to form on Odin's face, and he said, "I lost my family. They were killed and I am trying to find where those murderers are."

"And what do you plan to do after that?" questioned the angel, his clear eyes directly looking at Odin. "You should already know that you aren't a mortal anymore. Even if you find them, you cannot touch them. It goes against the laws of the realms."

Odin's hands turned to fists, understanding the situation but unwilling to let go of things in the living world. "Are they in Heaven? My family?"

"They are in Heaven," said the angel, but he didn't mention what would happen to a soul after they entered the gates of Heaven. 

"Do you think God will punish those men for hurting my family?" asked Odin, his eyes not leaving the angel's gaze. 

"When the time is right, everything will fall in its place and the wrongs will be punished," responded the angel before continuing, "For so long, you have wandered here all alone by yourself and it is time for you to leave the mortal world."

Odin nodded his head and then got up from his place. He followed the angel to enter Heaven, not knowing one day the same angel would turn out to be his beloved Master.