The Crown's Obsession

She did? Asked Madeline herself and she turned back to look at Calhoun who stood there in the same place. She looked down at the dress that she wore and then at her shoes that were on her feet. She had even smoothened her hair before stepping out of the room to make sure not to receive looks from people.

Calhoun took one step closer to her, towering her with his height and Madeline looked up, her brown eyes clear as they looked back into his red eyes. He leaned forward to press his lips on her forehead.

"You forgot the kiss," he murmured, and Madeline blinked, looking at him before her cheeks went back to turn pink.

Madeline didn't know how to react to such a simple gesture. Somewhere in between, her lips tried to curl, "Thank you for reminding me about it," she replied to him.

The smile on Calhoun's lips broadened at her reply. He wondered if it was alright to gobble her up right this instant. To hold her forever, it would be a joy, a joy he didn't know of until now, "No problem," he said, and the same time, they heard footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor. Madeline tilted her head to the side to see it was Theodore.

Theodore didn't interrupt them but stood far away from where they were, and he bowed his head.

"Don't get too close," warned Calhoun and Madeline nodded her head. Bowing her head, she made her way out of the castle before making her way through the forest, remembering the path Calhoun had used before. She finally came to stand in front of the hidden cave. She looked around to see guards who stood behind the trees, camouflaging themselves with the surrounding, making it look like they weren't standing here upon first glance.

Entering the cave, she was greeted with the sight of both her grandmother and James, who was still stuck in his werewolf form.

"Where is that blood-sucking leech? He's not here with you?" questioned her grandmother in a rude tone while sitting in the corner of the cage.

Madeline didn't know anymore how to perceive her grandmother. Her grandmother was no more the woman whom she knew all these years. The woman had only worn a mask of kindness in front of her.

"He's in the castle," answered Madeline, her gaze shifting on the werewolf who was in the other cage. The creature looked like it was in deep slumber with its eyes closed, and its body lax on the ground.

"How did he let you come here all alone? I thought he would come here with you. Or did he finally realise the kind of threat you are to the people around you and him?" asked her grandmother. Since the time Madeline had met her grandmother in the castle, the words that her grandmother used were nothing but taunting and hurtful.

"I think Calhoun knows I am capable of protecting myself, at least that is the impression you gave him of how lethal I am," replied Madeline while keeping her emotions together and trying not to be affected by her close relative. She had to remind herself that this was a person who wanted to harm her.

"That you are, which is why he should have you locked," retorted her grandmother with a huff, "We were trying to protect you, and you think we tried to kill you."

"I spoke to mother and father," began Madeline and her grandmother who was looking at the sleeping werewolf, raised her eyebrows. "They told me what happened and said things which you didn't. You hid things even after I asked you questions."

Her grandmother who was sitting until now, placed one hand of hers on the ground to stand up and walk to stand in front of Madeline, who immediately took a step back from the cage. "Do you think I am a talking parrot that will reply to everything you ask, girl?" questioned her grandmother, "Your father doesn't have the angel's blood running in him. He isn't like us, and he doesn't know the value of the fallen angel's existence. We are the people who have kept others like us safe and from being hunted."

"The High House, you mean," asked Madeline.

Her grandmother's face twisted, "They are not just High House, there are demons who have tried to search and hunt us down, while we did the same."

"Strange that you say you hunt demons, but when I killed them when I was young, you had an issue with it," said Madeline, turning her head away from her grandmother and going to walk to James' cage.

Madeline didn't want to listen to her grandmother's reasons anymore because she was tired of it. Her grandparents had failed to see that whatever that had transpired in the past, it was to defend herself, "You think they won't come to hunt you?" asked her grandmother.

"If people don't know, no one will ever come to hunt or harm," replied Madeline to see her grandmother shake her head.

"What a foolish girl you are. You think they haven't sniffed you? For years, the demons and angels have secretly tried to bring each other down. While most aren't aware of our existence, there are some old demons and fallen angels who have been trying to deflect each other."

Madeline didn't reply to her grandmother and instead looked at the werewolf who continued to sleep. "He isn't going to change. A lost cause," continued her grandmother. Madeline wondered if it would be rude to ask her grandmother to stop talking. James had a dirty greenish brown looking fur, his body more massive than the time when he was a human.

"James?" Madeline called the werewolf, "James?" she repeated to find no response. And even though the werewolf didn't react to her words, she knew that the werewolf could listen quite perfectly. Wolves were smart creatures, who were always awake. To test, Madeline moved closer to the cage where James was being held.

Placing a hand into the cage, she called again, "James?" and the very next moment, the werewolf snapped its eyes open that was a mixture of yellow and gold. The werewolf was quick to pounce towards her hand, and Madeline pulled her hand back to her side. The werewolf snapped its sharp ferocious looking teeth at her.

Madeline had to move away from the cage as she saw the werewolf start to rattle in the cage and looked like it suddenly grew in its size and was trying to break itself free. The cave echoed with the sound of the werewolf's growls and snarls as the werewolf continued to push itself out of the cage.

"Look at what you have done," tutted her grandmother, and Madeline furrowed her eyebrows.

"What did you do to him?" was the question that came from Madeline, and she turned to look at her grandmother who looked hardly fazed by the werewolf in the other cage.

Her grandmother smirked, "He was too noisy last night, so I decided to shut him up, but it didn't go well. You have either way decided to kill me, so it doesn't matter if the werewolf kills me as it will also kill you."

"Why are you so hell-bent on killing me? I am not like you or any other fallen ones. I do not want to be part of this war or fight that you have with each other. Nor do I care about redemption and you know why? Because I don't mind living as a human," shouted Madeline as the volume of the growls and snarls increased, "If the angels turned to fallen ones, it means they did something wrong, and it is not bad, to live as a human."

"That is because you do not know what it is to be an angel. People who have seen it-"

"Greed and thirsty for power, that is all I can see," Madeline interrupted her grandmother.

While the werewolf was using its paws and claws on the cage, pushing the iron grills around it, Madeline's grandmother laughed, "Don't lie, dear. I know you have seen dreams about yourself and others. Haven't you?" Seeing Madeline not reply, her grandmother continued, "Some of us have the gift of sight, to know or sense something that is going to happen."

"There is a reason why they are called dreams. Because they cannot manifest themselves to reality," Madeline replied, and at the same time, the cage that James was in toppled towards Madeline and she quickly took a couple of steps behind her.