The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-273

Madeline felt half-naked in the presence of Calhoun, but it didn't feel uncomfortable. He enjoyed seeing her cry and moan, she noticed it in his eyes, the desire of fire only increasing, and there were times when she got worried about it. Could someone love so intensely, so ardently that their very life revolved around yours?

Calhoun's hand had not left her back, and his fingers continued to trace every inch and corner of her back, looking at the bruises that had formed.

"Let me go and get something for it," he offered, and Madeline was quick to refuse.

"It will go away in a few days. I get bruises sometimes. It goes by itself," she said to him.

Calhoun didn't listen to her, and instead, he took her to the bed.

"Lay down on the bed. You have been tending it by yourself, but I am here now," he said, walking away somewhere in the room while Madeline decided to listen to him. As she looked back at the way things were, it had changed. She would have never guessed that Calhoun could be this gentle and caring. Maybe he was always like this, but at the same time, it didn't mean he had changed in his overbearing manner. There were now things that she could only share with him, trust to share without being lied to too much.

"Did you ever have bruises like this before?" she heard Calhoun ask her from across the room.

"I don't remember if it happened before. I would have remembered," Madeline replied to his question while laying down on the bed with her head on the pillow, "What do you think is wrong with me?" she asked.

With every day that was going by, she felt less and less normal. It made her feel alone.

"Nothing," Calhoun responded to her, who had arrived at the side of the bed. He sat down, "Nothing is wrong with you. Maybe you are just trying to be you."

"It is hard," she whispered with a tinge of sadness in her voice, "To come to realize that you are not you but someone else."

Madeline was a sheltered girl. Maybe more sheltered than her sister, Elizabeth was the one who was outgoing while she had stayed back in the shadows. She was used to having her family supporting her, loving her and being there but now...she didn't know if she could rely on them anymore.

Some part of her was scared, scared about the future that was approaching in her direction.

"You can change to whatever you want, Maddie. If you want to stay the way you are, no one would question you," said Calhoun behind her.

"Is it that simple?"

"No," came Calhoun's straight answer, "Nothing is simple in life. But somewhere along the line you will learn to ignore and pick things that only matter. What is it that worries you?" he asked her.

"Everything." It felt like every day was bringing a new problem, and there was no solution. One thing over another, toppling like binds of parchments on the desk.

"If you think about everything at a time, it would be hard to fix or find a solution," Calhoun had poured something on his hand, and he placed both his hands on Madeline's back. He moved his hands, starting from the top of her shoulders while moving his fingers across her skin. He pressed his fingertips so that it would relieve the tension in her muscles, which would have caused because of the pain.

He had never seen a condition like this before which was why he had no answer to what was happening with Madeline. "If you go through it one by one, it will not only help solve things but also ease your mind."

"Is that what you are doing now?" she asked him.

"It is what I have always done. However, there have been times when I have sticked my hand in different situations, but I have always pulled through it. Don't worry about yourself, I have your back," said Calhoun and Madeline couldn't help but turn her head around to look at him.

She didn't know if she should feel bad or sad, or maybe happy that there was still one person who she could rely on. When did her life turn upside down? Madeline asked herself. Turning her head back, she let her chin rest on the pillow so that she could stare at the headboard while Calhoun's hand moved across her back.

"How did you get into the dungeon?" asked Calhoun in a curious tone. The guards near the castle and the gates were much more diligent when it came to work. It seemed like he would need to replace the entire staff.

"I threw stones. At the bushes," Madeline replied to him, sincerely. She doubted she would be able to do it one more time. Therefore, she didn't see a point to hide what she did.

"All you could have done was ask the guards," Calhoun stated casually.

"They would let me in?" She was surprised hearing this. Would it have worked?

Calhoun said, "They would bring you to Theodore or me." So it wouldn't. She shook her head. Somewhere between Calhoun rubbing her back, Madeline realized he hadn't stopped, and continued doing it. When his hands slipped to the corners of her dress, moving near her waist, Madeline's hands turned to fist, and she lowered her eyes from the headboard.

Madeline wanted to ask about James, but she didn't want to upset Calhoun again. But with him here, she didn't see why she should not ask.

"He lost his father."

"Who?" Madeline asked, wondering who Calhoun was speaking about.

"James. I heard from the caretaker who helped him to bury his father yesterday. It was a natural death," hearing this news from Calhoun, Madeline didn't know what to say. "He blamed me. That I was the reason why his father died and how he is being forced to marry Catherine."

Why was James putting the blame on Calhoun?

Wasn't it him, who had agreed to marry Lady Catherine?

"Is it okay for me to speak to him tomorrow?" Madeline asked, wanting to meet James when he was back to his human form. With the presence of the sun, James would not turn to a werewolf, and it would be safe to talk.

"What do you want to speak to him about?" She could sense the apprehensive tone in Calhoun's words. Even the pressure of his fingers increased before it turned gentle. He moved his hand from below the nape of her neck to run straight down until her lower back.

The first time when she had entered the room where James was tied, she had questioned why Calhoun had gone so far as to tie James' hands and legs with shackles that was connected to the walls. Now she understood it was because James was a werewolf.

"He lost his father...I would like to…" Madeline didn't know how to continue her words with Calhoun's fingers that pressed her skin.

"I will be paying him a visit tomorrow. You can accompany me there," Calhoun didn't want to leave both of them alone. It was a mystery how Madeline had even opened the lock to James' room in the dungeon.

Madeline felt bad for James. He had lost his mother long ago, and now he lost his father. She remembered James telling her he was going to die. If Calhoun was not going to kill him, was it because he was a werewolf and the transformation would kill him? It was possible, thought Madeline to herself.

"Did you find what happened in the village? Who killed the person?" Madeline inquired.

"Yes, I did. But I am still trying to get some more proof," replied Calhoun, "James' name will be cleared." To Calhoun, James was an obstacle that had been hard to remove because Madeline had been too stuck with the idea that James was the man for her. But the game had changed. James might not die due to execution because of the murder, but he couldn't guarantee James would be alive because of the werewolf blood coursing through his veins that could affect his life.

"I see," murmured Madeline.

"You said you wanted to say something to me," Calhoun recollected, and Madeline pursed her lips.

"Do you remember the girl we went to meet? My friend Jennine," Madeline asked him.

"What about her?"

"I think something bad happened to her. I don't think it was a vampire who killed her." When Madeline uttered those words, Calhoun's hand stopped and rested on her skin, making her feel his touch as he placed both his palms, "I dreamt of something this morning. I don't know if it was just my mind that made up the story or if it is true."

Calhoun questioned, "What makes you feel it is real?"

"I don't know...Some things were disturbing," Madeline found it hard to speak because her memory of her dream wasn't as fresh as it was when she woke up. There were parts of it which she remembered, like figments that she was holding tight on to so that they wouldn't disappear. "My family was there, back in the village where my grandparents live. Do you know...my parents don't visit the village often. It is usually Beth and me who go there. Not that my parents have a bad relationship with my paternal grandparents."

"So I have gathered. Did you find out why they don't visit the village anymore?" Calhoun inquired.

"I don't think my parents will answer my questions."

"I have a better way to get answers, of course not the method I use on you but the one I use on others. It is very effective." Hearing this, Madeline immediately turned and got up, her hands holding the front of her dress.

"You said you wouldn't harm my parents. You promised," she looked at him anxiously.

Calhoun smiled. His hand moved to push the piece of her hair behind her ear, tucking it to say, "Which is why we still have no answers to it." Torture would be the easiest way to get answers, but Calhoun was well aware of how much Madeline loved and cared for her family.

"What if I say that there might be a possibility that I have killed someone in the past?" Madeline questioned him, keeping her eyes on him.

"Then I would say it is a wonderful news," one side of his lips pulled up, and he leaned over to drop a kiss on her bare shoulder. He then said,

"I have had a fair share of kills which you are already aware of. Who am I to judge you over it? I would still look at you the same way I am looking at you right now."