The Crown's Obsession (WN)

When Madeline and Calhoun arrived back in the castle, she wasn't sure if Sophie had returned to the castle with Theodore or if they were still in the market. With just two of them now walking down the empty corridor, Madeline couldn't help but remember what Calhoun said about the mind being loud when a person was in a quiet place.

The maids and other servants who were working in the castle stopped by to bow their heads at them.

"How many times did you get poisoned?" she asked him curiously.

"A couple of times in a year or two," Calhoun who was looking ahead, shifted his eyes to look at her who had turned to look at him.

Madeline wondered if Calhoun didn't worry about death because he appeared to be calm about it or maybe it happened too often that he didn't care about it right now. Noticing the look of worry that came to shadow over her face, Calhoun took great pleasure in it.

"Why do you look troubled?" he asked her, one corner of his lips pulled up.

"Are you not bothered that one day they might be successful in poisoning you?" asked Madeline.

"If I am unable to save myself I would be an unfit person to rule Devon." He appeared to be confident in his words as if no harm would ever come to befall on him. Calhoun didn't fear death, thought Madeline to herself, "It is good to see you're worried about me."

"I was only curious," her words were quick to disagree with what he just said.

"Whatever you want to believe," came the dismissive tone of Calhoun, "The poison was sent by someone outside the castle who specialised in knowing about the night creatures. The maid was only helping or following the orders."

Madeline's eyebrows furrowed. This meant Calhoun was not safe, and in the future, he would be attacked again, but he seemed unfazed about it. When Calhoun stopped walking, Madeline stopped too.

"Are you planning to give me your blood to drink?"

"What?" asked Madeline at the sudden question as she hadn't done any mistake after coming from the cliff.

Madeline had been busy asking her questions that she didn't realise that she had been following Calhoun like a little cat. Calhoun leaned forward to her and said, "The doors that you see on the right is a room for me to feed on blood," and her eyes widened, "You can still choose to be the only person from whom I have to drink the blood from."

"You can take it from someone else," Madeline quickly said, her feet taking a step back when she noticed how his coarse tongue that had licked the surface of her wrist had peeked between his lips.

She didn't forget the coarsens of it, and her cheeks burned red in embarrassment. He could take the blood from anyone he wanted, and she would not stop him so that he wouldn't sink in those fangs of his into her own skin.

"Are you sure about it?" he asked her as if she would have a problem with him sucking someone else's blood.

"Yes," she answered, and he gave her a nod.

"When a vampire consumes blood from the person, it is not always about having blood and many more things happen behind the closed doors," stated Calhoun, his dark eyes staring at the girl who returned his stare.

"Why closed doors? Are you worried that someone will see it?" she asked him, and the words were only meant to be as a retort, but Calhoun used it for his advantage.

"If you are interested, you are welcome to stay and watch," his lips widened with delight when her cheeks turned further red.

She grinded her teeth, "I have no such interest!" Was that how Calhoun viewed her to be? Asked Madeline to herself, her eyes holding a spark of fire in them.

"Pity," replied Calhoun, his eyes continuing to look at the girl before he said, "Go have fun in the castle unless you change your mind to join in the room to watch," came his deliberate words and Madeline only glared back at him. He could do whatever he wanted except touching her. Maybe it would be good for him to be with another person and maybe he would change his mind?

But then who was she kidding. Deep down even Madeline knew it was too late for him to have a change of mind or heart. Though Madeline didn't want to do anything with him, she was interested in those wings that had caught hold of her attention. The large black wings that were made of feathers which she had never heard about.

Noticing Calhoun raising one of his eyebrows in question of what she was still doing here, Madeline bowed her head before turning around and walked away from him.

She didn't turn back to take a look at Calhoun if he was still standing there, watching her or if he had stepped inside the room. Stepping into another corridor, she finally felt she could swing her arms as there was no one to notice her do it. With the day that was moving past her and the others, somewhere she was relieved after seeing her family that they were doing well.

Two years ago when Madeline had been waiting for her father to return in the evening from his work, her father had been terribly late and he had not arrived even after the time of the supper. This had led her sister Beth and her to go to the market to see if he was there. Later, he was found in the forest where he was carrying back the log of woods on his shoulder. Back then she had hoped that there was something she could do for him. Now that he finally had two men helping him with the woods where all he would have to do is do the dealing, a smile came up on her lips.

But that came at the cost of her having to stay in the castle against her will, where she was forced to love the man who had turned her as a prisoner. Madeline didn't grow up thinking she would end up here, at least not where a night creature would have taken an interest in her as the village she lived in was one for the humans. She continued to walk when she heard the sharp clicking sound of heels on the floor.

Raising her head, she caught sight of a beautiful red-haired woman who was accompanied by a servant man. She wore a blue dress that flowed at the back of the hem on the floor. As they were walking from the opposite direction, Madeline realised this was the woman, who was going to accompany the King with his meal and other favours which Madeline refused to accept or offer.

Love, he said, thought Madeline to herself with her eyes narrowed. She knew she had told him he could do whatever he wanted, but if he really meant every word he spoke, he would have shown some self-restraint as a proof to her.

When Madeline was walking past them, her eyes couldn't stop looking at the woman who looked like a naturally carved statue because of her features. The woman's eyes snapped at her, and Madeline quickly looked away as it was rude to staring at the woman continuously.

Before Madeline could reach the end of the corridor, she couldn't help herself from looking at the woman who she had walked past, seeing the woman's red-hair that was let down. She frowned at the thought of the King's debauchery. She had heard about how the night creatures survived on the blood from the humans, but Madeline was unaware of how many times a vampire had to suck a person's blood. She wondered if the woman would be sucked dry until the very last drop of her blood.

Remembering the words of the maids of, how well they knew what the King liked and how he was rough, she pursed her lips thinking that the King was going to do something behind those closed doors.

How shameful of him to ask her to join to watch it!

Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, she walked away from there.