The Crown's Obsession

Mr. Moryett also supported Calhoun by saying, "Lady Helena, King Laurence had already given his approval for Calhoun to be the King. And this was mentioned today during the time of lunch. It might be possible that someone wanted to silence the King from his words coming to be true."

"Minister Merten must have spoken to the King before killing him and Lady Samara!"

The truth was that Calhoun had sent a message through Theodore that he would be meeting one of the guests outside the castle to show him the wolves in the kennel. One would have to leave the guests' company and then step out of the castle that gave Calhoun quite sometime before he reached the kennel as if he was already there, waiting for the gentleman.

They stayed there to admire the wolves before getting back to hear what had taken place. It was also why Calhoun was one of the last few people to reenter the place again.

Some of the guests came in rescue of Calhoun while most of the fingers were pointed at the minister. Even the servant had explained that the minister had lied about the place, and Helena tried to weigh what was true and the lies that were spoken in the castle.

Calhoun Hawthrone, Helena wondered if he killed the King, especially considering Calhoun's history with the King.

Frankly, Helena was not looking forward to dealing with this because this was Laurence, the nut head King whom she wasn't particularly fond of. The King seemed like he deserved what he had received, and though all evidence proved that it was Minister Merten who had killed the two people who were of the highest standing figure in Devon, her suspicion fell on Calhoun.

Both Dimitri and Helena walked away from the people so that they could discuss.

"Do we execute the minister right now or shall we wait for a few days and try to find out what is going on?" asked Dimitri.

Helena's lips twisted out of unpleasantness, "People's memories are like dreams, Dimitri. The longer we wait, the faster the details in their minds evaporate. Lady Lucy believes it is the minister who killed her parents, while she believes Calhoun had nothing to do with it. At the same time, Rosamund, the King's sister wants Calhoun in the dungeon, though she isn't affected by the death that took place."

"It seems like everyone is a culprit," stated Dimitri, and a small chuckle escaped Helena's lips that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"That is because they are. We live in a world where everyone does bad things and lies. The decision is where we spare the ones who do the least wrong," Helena exhaled the air through her lips, and she said, "Did Daphne mention that this man works for the Queen and Rosamund?"

Dimitri nodded his head, "She did."

"Hmm," responded Helena. "The girl believes that Calhoun would do no wrong."

"Do you believe it?"

There was a deep frown on Helena's forehead as Dimitri questioned her.

Back inside the castle, the room where everyone was had turned quiet except for some occasional murmuring. After a while, when the High House members stepped back inside the room, the people's eyes turned to them anxiously.

"We will be taking Minister Merten with us for further interrogation, also Calhoun and Lady Rosamund, you will be asked to come visit the High House. I hope to see you cooperate with us," said Helena before her men took the minister out of there. "As most of the fingers are pointed at Merten, we would like to keep him with us before executing him."

Everyone agreed on it, and both the dead bodies were taken to another room for their wounds to be cleaned so that they could bury the bodies in the royal cemetery.

Before leaving, Lady Helena took a stop in front of Rosamund and said, "There was something I needed to ask you."

"Anything that I can help you with," came the quick response from Rosamund, guessing it was about Calhoun.

"Your mother was collecting jewels. A whole set, and I was wondering if you knew about it as one of the necklace seemed to be missing from it. They had red rubies in them," said Helena and Rosamund stared at the woman.

"I am sorry, but I am not sure which one you are referring about," Rosamund offered the head of the High House a polite smile.

"That's alright. I was only curious," said Helena before leaving the room with the rest of the High House members.

The next day, Laurence and Samara were placed in the cemetery, where only a few relatives came to pay respect to the deceased. Lucy stood there with Samuel, her aunt Rosamund and her family, brother Calhoun, Theodore and some other relatives in front of the grave. She brought the handkerchief to her face to wipe the tears. It was like a nightmare to have her family taken away from her, and she was glad that she still had Calhoun and her husband, who had been supportive of her, by being there for her.

Calhoun watched people come and pay their condolences to Lucy, Rosamund and him now and then. He stood in front of the graves with little to no emotion in his eyes for the death he had caused. He felt no guilt or remorse over what he did. Even though Lucy was sad now, one day in the future, he hoped she would understand why he did what.

'Are you at peace, mother?' asked Calhoun to Constance, whose body lay in a nearby grave.

He did what he had come here for, but there were still snakes around that he wanted to torture. He despised Laurence, and he had killed him without waiting to draw out the time. But the person he despised more was the Queen.

After two days, the High House sent a note that they found Minister Merten guilty of killing King Laurence and Lady Samara. The man had been tortured to reveal things about the Queen he worked for that didn't put him in a good light in the past. To make things worse, Rosamund, who had planned to expose her brother's actions, had come to Helena's notice that made Calhoun less suspicious and putting Merten and Rosamund in the eyes of the High House.

"Minister Merten has been framed, Lady Helena, you cannot be seriously thinking of executing him!" one of the members in the High House objected to her judgment.

Another person who worked for Rosamund said, "The man has no prior intention of doing something like that-"

Dimitri cut in to say, "Lady Helena took the decision after speaking to everyone. And we already know he has been working for the Queen while trying to dethrone the King so that Rosamund Wilmot's son could take the throne."

"That doesn't mean murder!"

"This is Calhoun's work for taking the King's throne. He has never liked the King, nor the Queen-"

"That's enough!" came Helena's loud voice to silence the commotion in the room. "Are you part of the High House or the market?" Helena glared at the men, a look of annoyance in her eyes.