The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: David's Writings by Christopher Willis

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Madeline paced back and forth in her room. Every five minutes, she stepped out to see if Calhoun returned to his room, but the darkness shown through the windows of his room let her know that no candle was lit inside the room. When she remembered her conversation with her family and she bit her bottom lip.

"What happened there, Madeline?" asked her mother in a worried tone.

"Mr. Wilmot put a false allegation at the King, telling Calhoun was the one responsible for the girl's death. The girl whose body was found in the backyard of Mr. Heathcliff. He lacked and failed in his evidence, while the King had his own proof that he had nothing to do with it. Before anyone knew it, Mr. Wilmot fled from there," explained Madeline to her parents.

"Do they think that Mr. Wilmot was involved in the murder?" asked her father.

"I think so-"

"That's not possible! Markus is not someone who would kill a woman," Beth interrupted right away, not happy that her fiance was on the run and was being framed for the murder, "It is a big misunderstanding."

Madeline continued to bite her bottom lip in the thought of what was going to happen. Beth looked upset, and her parents were in a confused state. She would have never thought that the Wilmot's would take such a drastic step by trying to expose Calhoun by confronting him.

"Why are you staying up?" Madeline heard Calhoun's voice and she turned around to find him sitting on the bed. When did he enter the room? She asked in her mind. She saw him pat the space on the bed which was next to him.

Calhoun sat with his legs crossed one over the other, his hands moving behind him to support his upper body as he slightly leaned back. He watched Madeline walk slowly towards the bed. Her features were filled with worry, "Sit." And Madeline sat next to him.

"Where is my grandmother and James?" Madeline questioned him. It was something she wanted to ask since they visited the empty dungeons.

"They are in the dungeon," he replied to see her furrowed eyebrows.

"Were they moved back again?" Madeline had been worried when Lilith had suggested that they take a look in the dungeon. Each and every room in the dungeon had been checked closely, "How?"

Calhoun offered her a smile, a smile that didn't have any trace of mockery or any trace of sarcasm in it.

"Come with me," he said, and both of them left the King's quarters to make their way towards the dungeon. Reaching the cell rooms, where her grandmother was kept in, she was greeted again with the sight of the empty room.

She then turned back to look at Calhoun with a questioning look, her frown deepening as she didn't know what she was looking at.

"You won't find it if you are merely looking at the room. Take a closer look, go on," he pushed her back gently into the room.

There was a faint smile on Calhoun's lips. Madeline stepped forward, her brown eyes looking at every nook and corner of the room and she heard him say, "There are too many rooms in here. Sometimes we fail by missing the important details." Madeline continued to look until she found something strange at the diagonal corners of the room. There were no shackles in here. Every room had shackles to hold in the prisoners.

The more time Madeline spent looking, the more strange it felt, and she took a step forward while bringing her left hand forward when she felt something stop her hand from moving forward.

"What is this?" whispered Madeline.

"An illusion, darling," Calhoun responded, "Why don't you make use of that ability of yours," he encouraged her.

It took her less than a second to break whatever was covering the other half of the room, and she finally saw her grandmother who was sitting in the corner glaring at her right now. Whatever was behaving like the illusion mirror, it wasn't a mirror as the pieces of it never fell. It was only an illusion in the room. A small amount of smoke had formed to start to disperse in the room slowly.

Not staying there for long, Madeline and Calhoun went to the other room where James was locked in. Upon breaking another illusion, she caught sight of James, who was in his werewolf form, lying on the ground.

"Raphael was the one who took care of it, both James and your grandmother," informed Calhoun, who stood behind her. Madeline remembered Raphael had left the dining room with the rest and maybe it was then did he took care of this.

"Is it his demon ability?" she inquired, intrigue mixing with worry, and she turned around, "But you cannot hide James in here forever."

"Right. The High House will find out about it if we keep him here. I will be shifting James to a safer place where he won't be hunted by others," stated Calhoun, "Do you remember what Lilith said about werewolves? They either learn to sustain their human selves, or they completely turn to rabid werewolves."

"What is going to happen to James?" Madeline turned back to look at James, who had not turned to his human self. With the High House involved and Markus who had dipped himself in the pool of the events that were transpiring, she wondered if Markus would be the one to take all the blame.

Calhoun answered, "We don't know. Every person has their own level of coping mechanism. Most of the time, a bite from werewolf can turn one into a rabid creature, thus not remembering who they once were or what memories they had while they were human."

She hoped nothing would happen to James. They stepped out of the room for the guards to take James away from the dungeon cell he was in and castle, while leaving her grandmother behind with Calhoun's relatives.

On their way back, Madeline questioned, "The maid they spoke about. Was it you?" Calhoun didn't answer her, but he did spare her a look, and it answered her question. Madeline didn't ask him why, because she had already heard about it during the time the High House members were interrogating Markus and him. A slip of her abilities had caused a wave of opinions in people's mind.

Both of them made their way back to the castle. Standing at the door where Madeline didn't try to slip back into her room, she instead stood in front of Calhoun. She wondered what was going on in his head. Even though Markus had been foolish in his attempts, it didn't mean the High House members weren't keeping an eye on Calhoun's actions, when it came to the present and past.

When she raised her head, to look straight into his eyes, Calhoun took a step forward towards her. He leaned and pressed his lips on her forehead, which came as a surprise.

"Are you doing alright?" Calhoun asked her.

"I wasn't the one who was questioned for the murders," Madeline reminded him. She wondered how strong or cunning one had to be to hold the position of the throne.

A grin broke through Calhoun's lips. He couldn't resist but want to touch Madeline. She had tried to protect him in front of everyone by kissing him in the courtroom, and it meant the world to him.

"I am fine if that is what you are asking," replied Calhoun, and he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Not letting go, the back of his fingers caressed her cheek, and he watched how Madeline's eyes closed at his touch.

"Calhoun?" his name sounded the sweetest from her lips. He saw her open her eyes to meet his gaze, "What if they try to frame you for the murder? James is not going to show up for alibi, and Lady Rosamund will not take no for an answer." For people who had been trying to get the throne back to their side, Madeline doubted it would be a peaceful fight.

"Both you and I are aware that it wasn't Markus or me. Nor was it James but Catherine Barnes who killed Lady Layla. Let's write a letter to her," Calhoun offered her a smile.

It took less than three minutes for Calhoun to draft a letter in his room before it was put into an envelope and sent in the hands of Theodore. They had come to his room as Madeline's room didn't have the parchments or the ink to write.

Madeline didn't understand why Lady Catherine would stoop so low as to frame James for the murder when they were going to get married. She could barely imagine the vampiress trying to kill someone less frame one.

"I should get back to my room," informed Madeline but before she could turn around to start walking, Calhoun caught hold of her arm, and she stopped.

"Stay," said Calhoun.

Her heart skipped a beat. The tone he used wasn't one of demand, but it had a tinge of request in there. Madeline stared into his eyes that looked almost black, "Just for tonight. Stay here."

Calhoun had never given her a choice before, and this was the first time, where she could refuse and return to her room, but it was the choice offered to her that made Madeline give a thought of consideration to his words. But Calhoun had given her a choice after understanding the state of her mind when it came to him.

He didn't want to let her go yet, and he wanted to keep her near him. She parted her lips, trying to find the words to answer before she said,

"Okay."