The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Philip by Martin Phipps

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Madeline didn't fall asleep immediately. Being held in Calhoun's arms for the very first time in the bed, it took time for her to adjust to the brewing feelings she felt in her chest right now. Oddly she felt safe and comfortable with him like this. Who knew that there would be a day where she would feel like this in his presence.

She felt Calhoun's breath softly hitting on her skin every time he exhaled, tickling and stirring her body. The night was much quieter than a few hours ago that was filled with commotion because of Markus who had run away in the presence of Calhoun and the High House members. Though the candle lights had exhausted themselves in time, the fireplace continued to burn, making a crackling sound every once in a while.

The heat in her cheeks had reduced, and her heart beat had gone back to its normal rate. Though Calhoun had told her to sleep, it was hard for her to fall asleep. Her body felt aware of his hand around her waist. Several minutes had passed, and with her back facing him, she wondered if Calhoun had fallen asleep. If he was sleeping, she didn't want to move and wake him up.

They were sleeping in his bed like they were already married, and she could only wonder if this was how it would be in the future. Since the time she was in this room today, when Calhoun had asked her, she knew what he wanted to hear. And every time she agreed, she noticed how his dark red eyes brightened with emotions.

"Is it uncomfortable? The position," Calhoun's sudden question startled her.

"You didn't fall asleep," she whispered.

When Calhoun hummed, Madeline felt goosebumps rise on her nape. "How can I sleep when you haven't fallen asleep?"

"I never knew you could be this sweet."

The words were supposed to stay in her mind, but they slipped through her lips, letting Calhoun know exactly what she was thinking. Madeline questioned herself if it was the calmness of the midnight that was helping her to speak her mind or if she was only getting comfortable with him.

"I was always this sweet," his words reverberated on her skin.

"Hard to say," Madeline's words were short, and she heard Calhoun chuckle.

"Haven't I always treated you with utmost respect and love," his hold on her waist tightened to bring her closer to him, "Maybe only when I felt the need to tease you. Don't deny that you haven't enjoyed it."

Madeline didn't respond to it, and it seemed like the big bad wolf would make its appearance known if she were to poke it. On the other hand, Calhoun couldn't help but smile at her silence. He enjoyed having her in his arms. She was the treasure of solace he had been searching for all these years.

"I wonder if it is because you are an angel, that you smell so sweet to me," commented Calhoun as he took a whiff of her scent near her neck. The scent was something he had picked the first time when he had crossed paths with Madeline in the ballroom.

When Calhoun saw Madeline from the balcony, ready to walk towards the exit, he had made his way towards her just for the thrill of it. He enjoyed a good hunt, and when the prey was this delectable, it was hard for him to not test and chase it. But when he had walked past her, he had stolen her handkerchief while taking in the sweet fragrance near him. It reminded him of something very home-like, and he tried to pinpoint it, but every time he tried to trace back the smell, the memory was lost. It had made him run his hands through his hair several times before as he still hadn't found out about it.

"Do you think angels have their own scent which is different?" Madeline questioned, her body didn't turn or move but continued to stay in the same position, "How do demons smell?" she asked curiously.

"How do you think I smell?" Calhoun asked her in return and Madeline was about to sniff the air, but she cleared her throat in the end.

"I don't know," she whispered. She closed her eyes as she couldn't believe that she was actually going to sniff the air around them. Sneakily doing it, she didn't find any difference.

"Considering your grandparents and parents didn't hold such fragrance and appeared to be normal, I would say you are an exceptional case," she heard Calhoun reply to her, "Has your sister ever broken anything before?"

Madeline gave it a thought before shaking her head, "No. I don't think she ever broke anything. Why do you think she was skipped from the generational gene?" By her understanding, Madeline believed that both Beth and she were supposed to share the same abilities. But according to her grandparents, she was the only rotten apple out of the whole lot in the family.

"Maybe you are the chosen one," he responded, and Madeline couldn't stop the faint smile that reappeared on her face which Calhoun missed. "Compared to what your grandparents portrayed it to be, you might be the opposite. Sometimes...the most powerful things take time to evolve and learn to handle who they are. And it is possible that your grandparents never had enough knowledge about it."

"But they were angels. Angels don't kill others." There were too many doubts when it came to theories of angels as Madeline had killed people and her grandparents were willing to kill her. So where did one draw the line of who was right and what an angel was allowed to do?

"Fallen angels are nothing less to demons because of their deeds. You shouldn't ponder too much on it."

It was hard not to think about it. Calhoun was right. The fallen angels were angels who had committed some mistake, which was why they were thrown out from the heavens. Angels who were cursed to lead their lives like humans were death was inevitable, and they had to go through the burdens of life.

Calhoun had the menace in him, just as a demon would. There were some qualities of him which she was ready to over look. Wasn't that what life was about, with adjustments.

In the past, as eager as she was by imagining a life with James, she came to wonder how things would have proceeded with her being an angel and if James was not bit by a werewolf.

She doubted she would have been at ease. Calhoun appeared to be a wiser choice before she even could make a choice of her own.

Calhoun continued to hold her in his arms, and Madeline felt a sense of security, knowing nothing bad would happen to her tonight while she slept next to him. She was a dark angel, and he was a demon vampire, and in some sense, both of them didn't know much about their lineage.

"Tell me about your mother," she said to Calhoun in a whisper. Though she knew bits and pieces, Madeline wanted to know more about Calhoun and his family, about his life from his young age till the time he turned to a King.

"She was a composed woman, my mother. We had a good relationship. A normal mother and son," Madeline heard Calhoun say, "I had the habit of bringing things home, or where we stayed which she didn't approve of."

"What did you bring?" she asked him curiously.

"Dead people," Calhoun answered and Madeline who wasn't facing him all this time, turned around to face him. She turned around just to see the expression on his face if he was joking or he was telling the truth.

Her eyes anxiously looked up at Calhoun, "Why would you do that?" she was stunned.

"They were people who often crossed me or insulted my mother in public for who she was."

Calhoun was glad that Madeline had turned as he could now take a look at her beautiful face. Her eyes had slightly widened, and her lips were parted. The urge to run his finger over her bottom lip was high, but instead, he settled his hand on the curve of her waist.

"When you are by the King's side, people envy you and once you leave, the envy turns to demeaning words and actions. Men in the village liked to take advantage of the situation, and sometimes it worked…"

Madeline bit the inside of her cheek.

Though Madeline had met Calhoun's mother only in her coffin in the graveyard, and even though she didn't know the woman personally, Madeline felt her heart turn heavy.

"Every week it was someone, and I brought the person back home, even though I knew it was something that disturbed my mother. But it did bring me a great deal of satisfaction," confessed Calhoun. "Vengenace when found in its purest form, nothing can beat that feeling."

Madeline pursed her lips for a moment before asking, "Do you remember when you killed for the first time?"

Calhoun twisted his lips, a thoughtful expression coming to settle on his face.

"Must be around when I was eight," a grin appeared on his lips and Madeline didn't understand how he could smile while revisiting such harsh memories. He continued, "I think it was because after killing, I didn't know where to put the bodies. So I took them to my mother. At the beginning of the time, she helped me hide the dead bodies."

So this is where Calhoun's words came from, thought Madeline to herself. The notion of helping to hide the bodies to protect his loved ones.

"People didn't find out about it?" Madeline frowned in thought.

Calhoun stared straight into Madeline's eyes, "When someone found out, I had to make them disappear from the village too."

"I don't know how to feel about it," Madeline answered truthfully to see him give her a smile. "I am sorry for what your mother had to go through."

"Hm," Calhoun hummed, "There was a day where she wondered what would have happened if she didn't leave her father's side. If she continued to stay there, probably she would still be alive, but I wouldn't have come to exist, and we wouldn't be here."

Hearing what Calhoun said about the past, Madeline wondered if she was ready to hear the rest of it. It wouldn't be just her but also him, who would be revisiting the past, living the memories all over again.

"Why did they put you in the dungeon?" questioned Madeline.

Calhoun's hand slowly left Madeline's waist, and it went up to reach her face so that he could caress it.

"They wanted to get rid of the heir. It was my grandmother and her daughter, Rosamund who sent me in there. I am merely returning the favour of the past," he grinned, his eyes holding amusement in them.