The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Andrei by Martin Phipps, BBC National Orchestra

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The word that Madeline uttered was a simple one, but it held too many meanings. And she could tell that by the look that was on Calhoun's face he was surprised for a second as her answer to his request came easily.

The room was quiet, and the lights from the candles in the room flickered softly. Madeline stared into Calhoun's eyes that were keenly looking at hers. If it was a few days ago, she would have outrightly refused it, but with what transpired today and Calhoun giving her a choice, the answer to his request to spend the night in his room came without a second thought.

"Do you need to drink water?" Calhoun asked her in a polite tone, and Madeline nodded her head.

Receiving the glass of water from him, Madeline took a couple of sips before handing the glass back to him. Though in the past, Calhoun had spent his time in her room, she had never done the same in his room, and this was the first.

"Make yourself comfortable in the bed," said Calhoun and Madeline saw him leave her side to walk towards one of the many closets in his room.

Her footsteps were awkward as she moved towards the bed. Having already changed her clothes earlier in her room to the nightdress, she took a seat on the edge of the bed. Her back was facing Calhoun. Even though the windows were closed and so was the door, not letting the cold wind enter the room, Madeline felt a shiver run down her body, raising goosebumps even though nothing happened between them.

It wasn't like she was expecting and anticipating something to happen tonight, said Madeline to herself. Her hands gripped the front of her dress. The way Calhoun had asked her without any pressure, it had softened her already soft heart towards him.

The freedom to have a choice was something that she had been craving from the moment she had met Calhoun, and that little part of her freedom had been taken away in the beginning. At the start, Calhoun was forceful in his actions and words. The matter right now was a small one, but it meant a lot to Madeline.

"Do you want to change into something?" Madeline heard Calhoun ask her.

"No, I am fine," she quickly replied to his question, her cheeks slightly turning warm. Unable to resist not turning back to see what Calhoun was up to, Madeline slowly turned her head to see him standing in front of the closet with his upper body bare and only in his slacks.

It wasn't the first time for her to be seeing his upper body naked. Madeline continued to stare from the corner of her eyes while trying not to be too apparent as she was stared at him.

Having not seen many men exposed, except for some of the sculptures in the gardens of some of the elite families, Madeline could tell that Calhoun had a very good physique where his body was well built. He had broad shoulders that moved now as he tried to get a shirt to wear for the night.

As her eyes moved down, she noticed how his body tapered down to the hem of his slacks.

Her brown eyes continued to trail the black ink like markings that were on his back. It looked exquisite as it was something she had never come across, and it made Madeline wonder when he received it or if it was something he had acquired since he was a child. There were no scars on his back to show the openings to the wings that had appeared and disappeared time after time before their flight in the past.

While Madeline continued to look at Calhoun from the corner of her eyes, Calhoun stood there, feeling her gaze on him. He took his own sweet time in wearing the shirt he had picked. It wasn't every day that she agreed to his word with her own consent and also looked at him.

Calhoun knew what Madeline wanted. It wasn't that he didn't know about it earlier, but he had come to understand that she was someone whom he couldn't use force and had to handle with tenderness.

But the need to tease her was something hard to drop so quickly, and instead of wearing the shirt he picked up, he dropped it on the ground. Calhoun turned to look at Madeline, catching her staring at him before she quickly turned her eyes to look at the fireplace.

"Are you feeling cold?" he asked her.

"No, I am warm enough," Madeline cleared her throat. When Calhoun had asked her to stay, it reminded her of someone who needed someone's company so that the darkness wouldn't swallow them up. "When did you get those?" she asked, "The markings on your back."

Her eyes slowly shifted from the fireplace to look back at Calhoun to see him walking around the bed to come and stand next to where she was sitting.

"Probably around the age of twelve," answered Calhoun.

"Did it hurt?" she tried not to look at his naked torso and kept her eyes on his face. Calhoun's expression looked relaxed and calm. She had heard that markings on the skin was painful and hard to handle because they used some sort of needles. Calhoun here had inked the whole of his back.

Calhoun took in her concerned expression, "The markings that I have are not the ones that I got them made. One night when I was sleeping, it just happened to appear on my back." When he got on the bed, Madeline looked at his skin that looked tan. Was it always this shade or was it because of the dim light?

"How did it appear?" Madeline asked.

She herself got on top of the bed, leaving her shoes behind on the ground. Placing her bare feet inside the blanket which Calhoun had pulled out for her. Madeline settled the side of her body against the pillows that were placed on the headboard.

"My mother said it was something to do with the demon blood that runs in my veins along with the vampire blood. Most of the demons have markings on their body," Calhoun replied to her. He placed one hand to support the side of his head while looking at her, "Raphael and Lillith have it too."

"Lilith is a demon," Madeline said to herself, and she pursed her lips. The woman looked like in the past she wanted to share history with Calhoun, but he wasn't interested in it.

"She is," confirmed Calhoun, "So is Dimitri, but they don't know I am a demon too." This had Madeline raise her eyebrows at Calhoun.

Frowning, she asked, "How do they not know about it?" She would have never guessed that the High House consisted of demons in there.

"People, in general, are not aware about the existence of demons. Most think or have come to believe that some of us vampires are born with special abilities, who stand apart from the rest," Calhoun explained to her, "Most of the demons usually have markings on their body. It is an identification of who or what you are. Some of the markings are visible to plain sight, like on hands, face, or on neck but some of us have it concealed. And people are not allowed to speak about it. Actually, some of the humans or vampires cannot see it."

"Was it painful? When the marking started to appear on your back?" she asked.

One side of Calhoun's lip pulled up as he stared at Madeline, "It did. Like pain erupting within me before it started to spread all across the body. Some markings are small while some are big, something similar to the wings."

Madeline was learning many things from Calhoun, things she would have never heard about if she didn't meet him. At least not this soon.

Madeline had the urge to trace her fingertips across the markings, to take a closer look, but she only continued to look at Calhoun. He didn't try to touch her since both of them got in the bed, and this felt more normal and comfortable, to sit in the bed and speak with each other.

"What about your back?" he asked her, "Did it hurt again?" and Madeline shook her head.

"No. Not since the last time."

She couldn't help but wonder if she would be receiving her wings, to burn and then to regrow, she questioned what would happen. She was glad that Beth was kept in the dark when it came to her being a dark angel. At the same time, somewhere she felt guilty, not knowing what her grandparents did, not just to her but also to her sister. Madeline didn't know how much manipulation had been done by them to continue to exist with the rest.

In the comfortable silence they shared with each other, Madeline took in Calhoun's presence not just him in front of her but in her life. If she hadn't met him, would she now be resting in the coffin? The thought was enough to trigger the claustrophobic feeling in her mind, and she felt Calhoun place his hand on hers.

"Things need not be the way they have once been. You do not have to feel alone," Calhoun assured her.

Madeline knew that. She knew that even if her family was going to go against her, she had Calhoun next to her. Her eyes watered, and she blinked her eyes so that the tears would disappear. "They need to know what happened," she whispered, speaking about her parents. As good as the trick of illusion was, it would have to break one day, and the reality would come out.

"Are you worried that they will hate and despise you for your grandfather's death and for throwing your grandmother in the dungeon cell?" Calhoun's habit of not beating around the bush and getting straight to the point, making it easier to get an answer from her.

"It is sometimes hard to think...that what the future holds and what might happen," Madeline didn't know if her parents would hate her. Though she wasn't the one to kill her grandfather, she was still the reason for his death, "Raphael said he would try to speak to Beth so that it is easier for him to find her lost memories."

"I think what Raphael meant was to invite your sister for a cup of tea and slip in something in her cup so that she can be sedated," said Calhoun and Madeline's lips parted to an O. "He might need to do it to you too that is if you wish to look at your memories too. With Markus spending his time away, your sister might find time for other things unless she's plotting mine and your death."