The Crown's Obsession

The woman named Astrate stood up, turning around to face Marina, "You should let him know who you are, and then see how he reacts. He wouldn't be happy to know that you are a demon. Let me help you with that."

When Marina's eyes turned pitch black, Madeline's eyes widened. Oh, dear God, she thought to herself.

"Don't you dare. You won't do anything like that! I can handle things here," Marina gritted her teeth when Astrate laughed before the smile on her face died down.

"Don't forget why you stepped into the living world. Our goal is to turn the angels against each other. To put doubt in their mind so that we can infiltrate Heaven. Do it when he still thinks you are an innocent human."

In a blink of an eye, the demoness named Astrate disappeared from the house, and Marina raised her hand at the door for it to shut close just by her gesture. Madeline, on the other hand, looked at Marina with her mouth wide open. This couldn't be, she thought to herself. The person who had conceived her was not human, but a demon. And here she thought things couldn't get more complicated than it was in her life.

When morning arrived with the sun shining brightly in the sky, at the Hawthrone's castle, Madeline's dream dissolved into something happier, turning her mood subtly back to the way it was before she had closed her eyes to dream.

Madeline snuggled closer into Calhoun's chest, her face pressing on his taut muscles while breathing in and out softly. Some of her hair had come to hover in front of her face, and Calhoun who was awake long ago, pushed her hair away from her face so that he could look at the sleeping beauty.

Feeling Calhoun's fingertips brush against her skin, Madeline started to wake up from her sleep, stretching her body while moving only closer to Calhoun.

"Good morning, my sunshine," Calhoun whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips against her forehead to hear her hum in response.

"Good morning," whispered Madeline, still groggy with her eyes closed.

"Sleep some more if you want. There's plenty of time before we go out and make an appearance. Or I have a better idea, stay in bed," Calhoun tucked the piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Maybe this is why everyone wants the throne," whispered Madeline with a smile, "So that they can sleep as much as they want." Her forehead creased when Calhoun caught hold of her cheek with his thumb and index finger.

"A person is restless when he's chasing the crown, and he might think the restlessness stops once he gets it, but it doesn't," said Calhoun. "When you have the crown on your head, there's another kind of restlessness of where one fears of losing their life."

Madeline opened her eyes to look at Calhoun's deep red eyes.

"But you don't feel that way," said Madeline as she raised her upper body so that she could look at Calhoun.

"Must be one of the advantages of being a demon, vampire and the Devil's grandson," Calhoun grinned, and Madeline returned it. Moving her elbows on the bed as she crawled closer to him, she pecked his lips. "Something seems to be bothering you. Bad dream?" asked Calhoun, staring at Madeline's brown eyes.

Things had only settled down in their lives after dealing with the demons and the fallen angels, and Madeline had hoped that at least for a day, they wouldn't have to deal with anything bad. No, not a day, but forever.

The dream she had dreamt wasn't vivid anymore, but that didn't mean she forgot about it. It was still there in her head, "It wasn't bad," she responded to Calhoun's question, "But I am not sure if it was good either. Life used to be so much simpler when I was ignorant about some things, and it makes me question if I should let some things as it is."

What happened before she was born, was it worth walking down that path? Madeline told Calhoun what she remembered from her dream whilst they spent their time in the bed.

Calhoun patiently heard what Madeline had to say, and once she was done, he said, "Your father still has no clue that he fathered a child with a demoness."

Madeline shook her head before taking a deep breath and letting it out through her lips. "She, Marina didn't want him to know that she was a demoness. I think even the other demoness who had killed her, didn't get the opportunity to reveal it to Paschar."

"The world is not black and white as people perceive it to be. It is grey," said Calhoun. He pulled Madeline close, to hug and comfort her.

The King and the Queen of Devon lazed in the bed talking to each other, while Madeline moved closer to Calhoun's chest to hear his heartbeat.

"How is it possible?" she whispered, "That a vampire's heart can beat just like a human."

"Because vampires are the creatures of the living world, just like humans. It is why we make use of a stake, pushing it through the vampire's heart to kill them," Calhoun brushed the back of Madeline's hair with his hand, weaving and feeling the texture in between his fingers.

Calhoun could feel the heaviness in Madeline's heart, but he didn't ask her, knowing her thoughts were lingering back to the dream she had while she was asleep. Paschar had failed to notice him being a demon until recently when he revealed it to him. Therefore, he didn't find it surprising that the angel had not been able to find his lover to be a demon.

He wondered what Madeline's dream meant. He didn't want her to feel burdened by anything right now. "What would you like to do today?" he asked her.

Madeline lifted her head from Calhoun's chest and looked into his eyes, "I was thinking about visiting the graveyard." Receiving a questioning look from him, she said, "It has been a while since we last visited your mother."

Calhoun gave her a nod, "Graveyard it is."