The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: What if? - Guy Jackson

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Theodore came back to sit next to Lucy, watching her closed eyes and her breathing steady. Hours passed by, and he spent his time in the room with the only few visitors who were the maids.

After some more time passed where the dawn had broken to allow rays of light to fall on the lands of Devon, Theodore finally heard the flapping sound of wings, a sound he was too familiar with. It seemed like Calhoun had returned.

"How is she?" Calhoun entered the room, walking inside while looking at Lucy. His clothes were covered with blood that was black and red.

"Same," replied Theodore. "Were you able to bring both of them back?"

Calhoun nodded his head, but Theodore noticed something seemed to be weighing on his mind, and he finally let it out.

"We found the antidote for the werewolf transformation, but Elizabeth didn't take it until the last drop. It left some traces of werewolf wolf venom behind in her body, and…" he paused for a moment, "Raphael is dead."

Theodore's eyes subtly narrowed at this information, but that didn't seem like it was all to the story. He heard Calhoun continue to speak, "Do you know how all demons die, Theo?"

"By being shot?" asked Theodore. The weapons made in the church with the help of spells and prayers, silver bullets often killed a demon, at least purging the person to Hell.

"Elizabeth clawed him, and he lost a lot of blood," said Calhoun, walking towards the bed where his sister laid, and he looked at the bruises on her face. "A normal demon would have splattered into a mass of black blood, but it didn't happen."

"You found his body?" asked Theodore, and Calhoun nodded his head. If what Calhoun was saying was real, it meant Raphael wasn't a normal demon. But then he was never a vampire. "I don't think any of us suspected him to be anything else."

"True. I guess I will have to go to the place where the demons reside to see if he's there," and before Calhoun left the room, he decided to drop another information and said, "By the way, do you remember the Belmount mountain that in the past we tried to get near? Apparently, my grandfather who is actually the Devil lives there. He was the one who kidnapped Madeline."

Theodore raised his eyebrows at Calhoun's casual tone, "Seems like we learn new things every day."

Seeing Calhoun leave, Theodore returned to sit in the chair.

The castle continued to be busy with the High House members who arrived at the Hawthrone's castle after finding out about the attack that took place in the night. Calhoun spoke and gave all the information they needed to them while Theodore continued to stay next to Lucy, watching over her.

Once in every few hours, Theodore dipped the clean cloth in the cold water in the bowl and then dabbed it against Lucy's forehead to make sure she wouldn't feel hot or uncomfortable. The snow that had fallen on the previous day had melted, leaving the ground slightly wet.

Hours passed before Lucy finally regained her consciousness from the pain she had felt before losing her awareness. Her eyes felt blurry as they opened, blinking while trying to adjust to the brightness of the candle and the light coming from the fireplace. She was greeted by the ceiling of the room, staring at it for a few seconds as she tried to take in where she was now.

She was in the castle, thought Lucy to herself. Was she still dreaming? Because the last she remembered was her walking in the forest and surrounded by the clouds. As her consciousness had returned, pain erupted from the wound that she had received from Samuel, and she noted that she wasn't dreaming.

Sensing someone to her left side of the bed, her head turned, and her eyes caught sight of him.

Theodore was sitting on the chair next to her bed and had his head placed on the bed as if he was sleeping, his eyes closed, and his face turned in her direction.

How long has he been here, that he had now fallen asleep, Lucy questioned herself.

She looked at his sleeping face that was calm, the same as when he was awake, and she wondered how much he had practised maintaining such a constant demeanour without being ruffled.

He hadn't removed his glasses, and she wondered if it was uncomfortable. As if he knew she was awake, his eyes opened to look back at her, and he sat upright on his chair.

"You are awake," whispered Theodore, and she could see the sense of relief in his eyes. He asked her, "How do you feel?"

"Much better than the last time when I was awake," replied Lucy. Though she didn't know how.

"It was Paschar, I mean Reginald. He tried to heal you," informed Theodore, "Do you want to eat or drink something?"

"Blood," whispered Lucy, and Theodore nodded his head. "What hour is it?"

"It is seven in the evening," answered Theodore, and he stepped out of the room and called the maid, ordering the maid to get him a jug of blood for Lucy to consume. Once it was brought, he poured it in the glass before helping her drink it.

Taking the glass from her, he placed both the jug and the glass on the side table and got back to her side. "You should go get yourself something to eat too," said Lucy.

"I am fine," replied Theodore, silence filling in the room except for the sound of the crackling fire that came from the fireplace. He took the opportunity to apologise to her, "I am sorry," he bowed his head, "I shouldn't have left you in your room by yourself."

A small smile appeared on her lips that met only halfway to her eyes, "It wasn't your fault that Samuel came to kill me. I was the one who lived with him. I should have known."

Theodore shook his head, "Samuel was a demon. We should have found out about it sooner, but he was too smart to hide it from Calhoun and me, from everyone who was acquainted with him."