The Ward household had seen better days.

Edmund sat down to have a discussion with Amelia, his second wife. He had been pushing back that moment for a while, now. “My dear, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” began Edmund, “but I have not been feeling very well lately.” “Yes, darling, I have.” “Well, I went to see the doctor today and he didn’t have good news for me” added Edmund, with a grim face. 

“What do you mean?” asked Amelia, trying to sound very much concerned. She was used to hide her real emotions but it was becoming harder and harder. Edmund spoke softly. “He said I will soon be passing away.” “Oh! My darling! Don’t say such things!”  

“But it is the truth, alas.” Edmund was feeling very tired. “I just want to make sure that when I’m gone, my sweet Abiona, you and your daughters will still live comfortably.” Amelia hid her annoyance the best she could at the mention of Abiona.

“I’ve made arrangements and the four of you should never be in need,” finished the man. “Now, don’t you worry about those things, my dearest,” replied Amelia. “You should get some rest.” “I will. Thank you, my dear,” said Edmund as he left the room. “Please, tell Helena and Isabel but let me tell Abiona about this myself.” “Very well, darling.” Amelia couldn’t wait to let her daughters know.

Later that day, Amelia went to find her daughters, who were taking a turn in the garden. “Girls, I believe the day we have been waiting for is almost here,” announced the woman, trying to keep her voice low. “What do you mean, Mother?” asked Isabel, the youngest, dark-haired and not the brightest of the two. 

“Edmund just told me that his illness has taken a turn for the worst and the doctors have no hope for him anymore,” continued Amelia, with a coy smile. Helena, the eldest, understood immediately what that meant. “Finally!” she exclaimed. “I’m getting so tired of having to be nice to that idiot and his daughter!”  

“Now, we will still have to watch ourselves until Edmund, well, passes away, but I don’t think it shall be that long,” added the mother. “I’ll make sure his will favours me over Abiona.” “And then, we can make her life miserable! Ha!” said Helena.

Isabel didn’t quite understand why they had to make Abiona’s life difficult, but she was willing to follow the lead of her mother and sister, as always.

The following morning, Edmund asked his beloved daughter to join him for a game of chess. He still couldn’t look at Abiona without thinking about her mother, his first wife and the love of his life, Diana. She looked so much like her! Her death, almost five years ago, had saddened him immensely and he had managed to stay strong only for Abiona’s sake. He had remarried the year before, thinking that Amelia would be able to give Abby a more complete education. He truly thought he had done the right thing. And now that he was dying, he was relieved that his little girl would not be left completely alone.

Trying to keep his voice even, Edmund repeated to his daughter what he had told Amelia the day before. Abiona felt her eyes fill with tears. “But, Father, no! It’s not possible!” “I’m afraid it is, Abby,” he sighed. “Believe me, I would rather fight this disease…” “Then, you must!” interrupted Abiona. “Please, Father!”

“I’ve been trying,” Edmund replied, not knowing how to make his daughter accept the truth. “And I will continue as long as I can. But I want you to be prepared.” “That’s nonsense,” she said, her voice trembling. “No one can be prepared to become an orphan.”

“You will not be an orphan, darling. Amelia, Helena and Isabel will be there for you, don’t you worry.” Abiona did not share her father’s opinion about them, so she said nothing. After a while, she simply added “I’ll take care of you, Father. You’ll see.”

The truth was, Edmund’s health was fast deteriorating. He often had trouble breathing and would rest for hours, thinking about what the future held for his family.

Abby, even if she didn’t want to admit it, knew that her father’s illness had weakened him. She spent a lot of time looking at the pictures of him and her mother she kept in her room, away from her stepmother and her stepsisters.

She had a feeling life after her father’s death would be extremely different. She knew her dad loved Amelia in his own way, but Abby did not felt close to that woman or her daughters. She dreaded what was to come.

And she missed her mom so badly! Now, she would have to say goodbye to her father, too. “Life is so unfair!” she tought.

But Abiona kept smiling in front of Edmund, not wanting him to spend any of his energy worrying about her. Instead, as she had told him, she took great care of him. When Edmund could not leave his bed anymore, Abby stayed with him to talk about all sorts of things and to read to him. “I really have the sweetest daughter,” the old man would tell her.

Soon, Edmund called his wife to his room. “Amelia, I don’t think I have much longer…” he began. “Don’t say that,” she said, automatically, because she felt it was expected of her.

“I want you to know it’s been an honour to be your husband. You are a good woman,” he kept on. “I’ve reviewed my will this week with Master Thompson and made it so that you will get everything.” Amelia felt happiness, relief and excitement wash through her, but she made sure none of those emotions could be seen in her face. This was perfect.

Edmund was still talking. “Now, the only thing I ask, is that Abiona stays here until the moment she decides to leave, perhaps when she marries. This is her home and I want you to take care of her as if she was your own daughter.” “Oh, darling, of course! Of course I will take care of her and she can stay as long as she wants!” Amelia said. What she didn’t say was that she would make sure Abby would want to leave very, very fast. “Thank you, my dear.”

After that, Amelia and her daughters started making plans for their life after Edmund’s death. Needless to say, those plans did not include Abby. “How much longer, Mother?” impatiently asked Helena, as she did every single day since Edmund kept to his bed. “Be patient, darling. We do not want to look suspicious, now, do we?” asked Amelia.

“Of course not, but this is taking so long,” the girl complained. Amelia was also getting impatient. “We’ve waited over a year. What’s a few more days? I’d rather focus on what we’re going to do with that girl of his.”

“Oh, I have ideas, Mother,” grinned Helena. “Believe me, she won’t be in our way too long, once the old one is gone.” Her mother smiled in return and the two women started discussing the details of the plan.

When Helena saw her sister, she quickly told her about it. “So, I have to fight with her?” asked Isabel, finding that idea very strange. “With my fists?”  “No, you dummy! Just get into arguments with her!” “But, about what?”

Helena was starting to loose patience. “I don’t know! Anything! Everything! She has to feel that she is NOT part of our family and that she’s not welcome here. You get it?” “Hum, yes, I think. And what else?” “We’re going to ask her to do all the work around the house,” added the eldest. “We’re going to make sure she wants to leave this place as soon as she can.” Isabel nodded. “Okay. You can count on me.”

Quicker than Abiona wanted, but later than Amelia wished, the entire family gathered around Edmund’s bed to say a final good bye. Abby was fighting very hard to keep from crying while Helena was suppressing a triumphant smile.

“I know you will all be good to each other. Do not cry for me, I will be joining my lovely Diana soon,” Edmund managed to say, with the breath he had left. “Abby, you’re strong. You’ll have a wonderful life, I know it. I love you.” And with that, the man closed his eyes forever.

Abiona gave one last kiss to her father and ran out. She didn’t want Amelia, Helena and Isabel to see her cry. But cry, she did. Every time she was by herself, she would feel the tears filling her eyes. She still couldn’t believe her caring father was gone. She was alone.

That feeling was reinforced by her stepmother and stepsisters’ attitude. They started to treat Abiona like a mere servant, asking her to do their chores and being absolutely rude to her. Both Helena and Isabel would find any reason to complain to her. “You did not make my bed properly,” would scream Helena.

“Have you taken a bath recently?” would ask Isabel with a look of disdain. “You smell, it’s disgusting.” Of course, Abby didn’t know they were acting like that specifically to make her feel unwelcome. To her, they were just showing their true nature, like she had always suspected them to really be. She understood that Amelia had kept a façade and that her father had been too kind to see through it.

She accepted all the work because it kept her mind from thinking too much. And she didn’t mind taking care of the house Edmund loved so much, to keep it as pretty as when he was alive.

Still, she often went to her father’s grave, to speak to him, to cry and to have some quiet time by herself.

A few weeks later, Amelia spoke to Abiona harshly. “Girl, I’ve asked you too many times to go clean and empty your father’s old chest!” “I know,” replied Abby. She knew she had been putting it off, but it seemed so final. She wanted what was left of Edmund to linger on. That way, he was still there, kind of.

“Well, that’s enough,” continued Amelia. “If you don’t do it by the end of the week, I will do it myself!” “Oh! No!” exclaimed Abby. She knew her stepmother would throw away every single thing and she wanted to keep some souvenirs. “I’ll do it, I promise.”

The next day, while the rest of the family was in town, Abiona headed upstairs to finally empty the chest. She knew her father kept some of his most treasured objects in it and she intended of hiding most of them in her own room. There was no way she was throwing anything away!

She opened the chest and started going through it. She spent most of the afternoon sorting all the different things she found. Letters, old newspaper clippings, portraits of Edmund’s family, old uniforms, etc.

It wasn't until she reached the bottom of the chest that she found something she never even knew existed.

It was a small box with her mother’s name, Diana, written on it. Abiona was very curious to know what was in there, but she knew her stepmother would soon be back so she hid it as best as she could. It would have to wait.

That night, after everyone went to sleep, Abby took the box out and opened it. She found some jewellery, love letters her parents had written each other and a journal filled with what seemed to be Diana’s handwriting. Feeling sad but also excited, Abiona started to read it immediately. “Mother kept a journal I knew nothing about!” she thought.

At first, she didn’t understand what she was reading. But as she turned the pages, it all became clearer and clearer. “I cannot believe this… is it even possible?” she whispered to herself, completely astonished.

But the words in the journal were clearly implying it. Diana, her very own mother that she had loved so much, was a witch! And from what she wrote, her powers would be inherited by her eldest daughter. Which meant that Abiona was also a witch!

Abby rose to look at her mother’s portrait. “Could it really be? Could I have some magical powers?” She was finding all of this very difficult to believe. But then, she started remembering some things her mother would say or do. Diana would always repeat “When you’re sixteen, darling, you’ll understand, I promise.” But Diana had died when Abby was thirteen, so she never found out about anything.

Needless to say, Abiona didn’t sleep much, that night. So many things were going through her mind. She was wondering if her father had known about what her mother was. “Probably not,” she told herself. “Father would never have read someone else’s journal, he was an honest man.” Also, she was thankful that Amelia had not found the journal herself.

Most of all, Abby had questions and she wanted answers. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she was thinking “I’m a witch. Really? Am I?” She was most definitely confused. But she knew that life here could not bring her the answers she desperately needed. So, at dawn, her mind was made. She would leave this place in search of someone who could tell her more about her mother and if she was, or not, a witch. “Anyhow,” Abiona shrugged, “Amelia will be very happy to see me leave.”

Wanting to start fresh somewhere far from here, Abby changed into clothes that wouldn’t draw attention. “After all, I am an orphan, now,” she told herself with fierce determination. “I’ll make it on my own.”

She visited Edmund’s grave one last time. “I’m sorry, I have to leave, Father. I know you would understand. I just need to understand and find out who I am exactly. I love you.”

And without looking back, but still a bit sad, Abiona left the house for a new beginning.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

Please do feel free to comment on Boolprop and give me constructive criticism, it’s always appreciated!

Until next time, I leave you with a sweet moment between Abby and Edmund, before he died. And don’t worry, I used a clone of Abiona for this prologue so the legacy rules will be respected! :)