The Crown's Obsession

She looked at the people who had bowed their head by uttering one sentence on the King's arrival in the village. Everyone had a look of surprise and shock on their face as they stared at the King without being too evident as it would only award them with punishment for showing disrespect to the King. Madeline knew where she stood, and she couldn't help but let her eyes wander in the direction where her home was located before it moved back to look at the King who was listening to something that the minister was telling him in whispers.

"We have got your seat ready, milord. Please, let me take you there so that you will be able to witness the execution comfortably," said the minister who had his head bowed and didn't raise until the King spoke,

"Has the culprit been brought here?"

"Yes, my King. Just as you have commanded," replied the minister whose eyes fell on Madeline who stood behind the King. The minister couldn't hide the look of curiosity he had in his eyes which was similar to the other people who had been working for the King.

Madeline had turned her gaze away, to look at the crowd that had gathered, and she tried to see if she found someone she knew, and she did. There were some young and older people she had conversed with in the past, but she felt as if, the same people didn't recognize her. Did she look that different? Asked Madeline to herself.

The friendly eyes which she was used to in the past now looked at her like she was an outsider in this village and it was strange, "Let me lead the way," requested the minister and they followed the person. Sophie and Theodore came two minutes later, and they were soon to follow the King, who now sat down on the raised platform. The chair was placed just for him to sit while the other three stood, watching what was going to happen.

The minister who had earlier spoken to the King got on the scaffold where the axeman stood with a mask on the upper part of his face,

"Men and women, children! We are here today to execute the person who tried to harm our King. The person brought a bottle of poison and tried to mix it with the food for our King to eat," shouted the minister and the people who stood below murmured amongst themselves, "The culprit needs to be executed! What do you think?" he asked the crowd which had formed around the scaffold.

"Burn the person!"

"Kill!"

"Cut his head off!" came the angry shouts from the crowd and it wasn't just men but also women who screamed, waiting for the culprit to be brought up on the scaffold.

Sophie, who stood next to Madeline couldn't stop the smile that was on her lips, "I always enjoy these. There's nothing more satisfying than handing down justice and punishment, is it not?" Madeline's eyes moved to Sophie before looking back at the minister who spoke,

"You need to remember people! No one harms our King! The person who brings justice and who wants nothing but peace!"

Obviously, the people had never seen the King before, not even during the time of Hallow when they were invited to join for the celebration in the castle. And now that they saw the King in flesh and sight, the people looked at him in awe for the presence he carried. The women could barely keep their eyes to themselves, and they appeared to be scared yet enchanted by the devil-like handsomeness that he possessed.

Madeline then saw from the corner of her eyes where a man was pulled through the throngs of the crowd, which was filled with whispers. Her hands clenched that the servant Oswyn was being brought here to be executed for something which he hadn't done. Tearing her eyes away, she looked at Calhoun who was looking at the people with a smile.

With Oswyn standing on top of the scaffold, the minister said, "This man here was the one who was caught with the poison!" Hearing this was enough to have people rage. Madeline noticed, people were easily fuelled with words and her eyes glanced in the direction of the shop that was located far away from where she stood. Her heart started to thud for different reasons, "But he was not the person who tried to poison the King. The actual culprit is right here. Bring her!" shouted the minister and at the same time a guard dragged a female who was brought up through the two stairs of the scaffold.

"Who is this person?" questioned Sophie surprised, "I thought it was the man there who tried to poison brother Calhoun."

"The man was only framed for what the girl did, Lady Sophie," Theodore filled in who stood on the other side of Sophie, "It was the girl who was caught with one more bottle of poison which she tried to slip into another maid when the servant's rooms were being checked."

"Why did she do that?" asked Sophie. A gunny bag had been placed over the maid's head. Both Sophie, as well as Madeline, noticed it was the servant who had been asked to serve Madeline. "How strange that the maid decides to poison the same time Lady Madeline enters the castle," taunted Sophie, "I guess we should all be careful of each other."

Madeline had an inkling since the head cook of the castle had spoken about how the maid who worked under Nicola was from Yorkshire. when Madeline had tried to get more information, it appeared that she was a nice girl because she might have been one of the maids who didn't look at Madeline as if she was an odd one in the castle.

When the gunny bag was removed from maid's head, Madeline noticed how the maid's mouth was right now tied around with a cloth to stop her from moving her mouth to speak.

"This is the person who tried to kill the King! Our King!" shouted the minister and the people around looked at the girl with disapproving eyes. Though the people in the village here were mostly humans, who had not seen the King and only heard of his reign, at any day, they would always side with him as the Crown was the absolute law.

"Kill the witch!" screamed one of the people in the crowd.

Madeline noticed fear in the maid's eyes. There were apparent tears that fell down from her eyes that streaked down on her cheeks. The village guard pushed the girl on her knees, and she tried to keep herself still, but her eyes kept moving back and forth before it fell on the King. She appeared to cry more, but Calhoun's expression didn't change even for a fraction of second.

The maid's cries and muffled sounds were drowned by the crowd's voices that didn't reach where Madeline and the other's were. The girl continued to cry, her eyes begging Calhoun to save her while also asking for mercy, but the King didn't care about her.

When the minister turned to the King, Calhoun raised his hand as if in a sign and the maid suddenly started to shake her head in fear and panic. The guardsman who had accompanied her kept her still. The maid was then pushed to place her head on the wooden piece of slab-like structure. Madeline, who was shielded by sight like this by her parents in the past, now stood there, watching the maid who continued to cry.

Her own hands trembled when the axeman raised his hand, everyone holding their breath before the sharp axe was dropped right down on the girl's neck for the head to roll and fall away from the scaffold while leaving blood gushing out of the dead body. The crowd cheered at the death of the traitor.

This was the second time Madeline had witnessed a person being beheaded, and this one felt sicker than the previous one.

It was a warning for everyone to know what could happen to them if they were to go against the King. Madeline's eyes moved away from the dead person, and as she looked at the crowd, she noticed Mr. Heathcliff, who stood behind the crowd, looking at her.