The Crown's Obsession

When Sophie arrived in front of Madeline's room, she found a maid standing next to the closed door so that the servant could be of use if the lady inside needed help in anything. On seeing Sophie's arrival, the maid bowed her head.

Sophie was looking on the other side of the corridor, trying to get a glimpse of the King's room, when she said, "Tell the lady I am here," with an air of superiority she often carried with herself that had ingrained into her since she was young.

"Milady, Lady Madeline is not here," answered the maid and Sophie's jaw clicked against each other. She knew it. The human had blatantly avoided spending time with her.

On the other side of the castle, Madeline had not been to the quarters since the time of the morning as she was still trying to find out who the servant might be who had tried to poison the King. And to think that she had the meal the same night the poison was mixed, she sighed. The evening had arrived, and the sky had slowly started to change colour. She could hear the birds chirping as they were flying back to their nests, and it made her smile. She wished she was a bird so that she could fly away.

"There are birds in the shed," came a voice not too far away from her and Madeline who was looking up at the sky, turned to look at the man who wore clothes that suited the castle. Not knowing who the person was, she stayed quiet to hear him introduce, "I am Samuel Pemberton. I work for the King," he bowed his head.

She bowed her head, "Madeline Harris."

"If you enjoy the sight of birds, the King has his own collection of them in the castle. I have some of them back at my mansion too," he was of average height who had blonde hair with one ear pierced to have a silver ring.

"I will keep that in mind," she replied. He was another vampire with red eyes, who looked at her curiously, and before he had more time to stare at the girl, Theodore arrived at the corridor to steal the man's attention.

"You are late with your report," informed Theodore in a voice that lacked energy and was as dull as the weather that one was bored with.

Samuel smiled, "I was speaking to this lovely lady here about the birds," the man's eyes shifted back to look at Madeline.

"She's the King's woman," Theodore broke the news like it was nothing big, but a warning towards the man named Samuel that raised his eyebrows.

"What kind?" chuckled Samuel and Madeline felt her mood dampen more than the time she had caught the maids gossiping about her.

And though no words passed through Madeline's lips, it didn't stop her from glaring at the man for the way he questioned about who she was. It seemed like people who worked in and around the castle didn't know how to be polite.

"The kind where he wouldn't want you asking any questions related to her," came the answer from Theodore and Samuel's gaze finally left Madeline's, "The King is waiting for you in the court."

Samuel nodded his head and started to head to where Theodore stood, but on the way as he was walking past Madeline, the man's eyes darted back to look at the girl who Theodore had warned to stay away but this only made the man curious. After all, she was a mere human.

But before the men left the corridor, Theodore informed her, "Lady Madeline, the King wishes to see you," and Madeline nodded her head. She didn't know what Calhoun wanted to do with her, but she followed them to the courtroom. Walking through the corridor, Madeline noticed how quickly the sky had started to change colour where it started to turn dark.

When they reached the court, the man named Samuel got down on his knee and bowed his head to greet the King, "Long live the King of Devon," he said, "My apologies for returning late as I had an issue with the carriage's wheel that took time to repair. I have brought the signed parchment from the Flemings' house," the man stood up and pulled out a scroll from his vest.

Calhoun was sitting on the throne with his leg placed one over the other. He took hold of the parchment, "Three days is too long to fix a carriage unless you dismantled the carriage and decided to rebuild it," he said, his red eyes staring down at Samuel.

Samuel who had walked back to his earlier standing place, said, "We were stuck in the middle of the forest that had no civilization-"

"What a pity that even being a vampire one can end up helpless," commented Calhoun to pull up the parchment and see the black seal on it, "Looks like they have complied sooner than the last time without any demands. Beheading the relatives turned in our favour. Everyone needs the right push to be motivated, isn't it," he hummed, letting the parchment roll back and handed it to Theodore, "Though I must say I was waiting for you to return back nearly a week ago. The scroll needs to be handed to the next Kingdom."

"The carriage-" Samuel began only to be interrupted by the King.

"Yes, the broken carriage. Three days to fix it," stated Calhoun, "I wonder what you did the other days. Hopefully been a good man and not having fun there. But then I am sure you know how important the work you had been assigned with was," his lips twisted in amusement.

Madeline, who stood in the courtroom, looked back and forth between the King and the vampire named Samuel.

"I went for work, my King. I wouldn't betray my wife," replied Samuel.

"That is good to hear. I wouldn't want to hear complaints from Lucy on how her dear husband is fucking another woman. Because I for sure would not be pleased if you broke her heart," said Calhoun, as one side of his lips pulled up, "Well, good job on getting it signed. I will see you tomorrow." Madeline could feel the tension in the air. She wondered who Lucy was as it appeared that the King cared about someone.

"I won't disappoint you, my King," said Samuel.

Calhoun replied, "Let's hope for both our sakes you don't," his dark red eyes then leisurely shifted to Madeline who had been standing quietly, "What are you doing there, my sweet, come here," Madeline's cheeks turned red on his words of endearment, and she walked towards him.

He noticed how Samuel's eyes fell on Madeline, staring at her with intrigue. When both the men's eyes met, Calhoun smiled. A smile that was empty. "If that is all that was there to speak, you can take your leave," Calhoun dismissed the man, and Samuel bowed his head again.

Once the man left, Madeline heard Calhoun said to Theodore, "Traceback on what he was doing during the last two weeks. I want every single detail about where he was, who he met, what he spoke."

"Yes, milord," obliged Theodore.

Calhoun sighed, "His character is questionable that makes one doubt if he has anything to do with the recent poisoning," and he chuckled at the end.

Only Calhoun could laugh at these kinds of matters, thought Madeline to herself. With the man gone, the King's attention fell on her.

"How was your day? Found anything interesting?" asked Calhoun, giving her all the attention, "Theodore said you were in the dungeon. If you are interested, we can make a room for you there."

Madeline's eyes glanced to look at the man who worked for the King before it went back to look at Calhoun. It looked like Theodore was no less than a tattle tale, and everything that fell under his gaze was reported to the King.

"I didn't," she frowned.

"Tomorrow will be an exciting day. You know why?"

When he didn't continue, Madeline asked, "Why?"

"Because someone is going to pay for their actions but that isn't all. I have asked Theodore to get the scaffold ready in your village. Are you excited?" asked Calhoun, his eyes shining with mirth and his lips pulled up in a wide smile.