The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: Ton Oil by Tim Wyn

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Calhoun stared at the Salvette Mortem that had stepped inside the room without noise while holding an axe in its hand. It didn't move but stood in its place, looking at him with its hollow eyes as its face was only made of bones with no actual flesh.

His eyes shifted to look at Madeline who continued muttering the spells, and the candle's light flickered further as if a window had been opened for the air to pass by. He stepped closer to her while hoping she wouldn't open her eyes and find the creature of the death in the room. Calhoun knew it would only make her worry more, but he had faith in their future, knowing nothing would ever come to harm him or her.

Madeline had reached the point where she wouldn't need to be supervised or kept an eye on as she was capable of defending herself. She was learning, and Calhoun took pride in it. The beautiful bud of rose had slowly grown and bloomed along with the thorns to protect itself.

In a blink of an eye, the creature disappeared from its place, but Calhoun, who had a keen sense of things around him, could feel the creature had not vanished from the room. Instead, it stood right behind him as if gauging him and getting itself ready to relay the message to the next Salvete Mortem on whom to pick.

The candlelight flickered again before they suddenly blew out, leaving the room moderately dark with a low amount of light that passed through the windows that had the curtains draped over them.

When Madeline opened her eyes, the Salvete Mortem had left the room that had turned dark, and she had finished uttering the spells that would possibly either delay or keep the moon away from appearing in the sky tonight.

"Is that all?" she heard Calhoun, and the next moment light appeared back in one of the candles where Calhoun had used his fingertips to touch the end of the candle where the flame was moments ago.

"I think so," answered Madeline. "The book speaks about using the clouds as a shield to stop the moonlight falling on the lands and affecting the creatures that reside here. I used two spells, one from the lunar page, and another that speaks about barring the evil," she paused before adding, "I think I used the right words with slight interchanges. This way, we can keep the moon from appearing in the sky."

"Let us hope it works," stated Calhoun, placing his other hand on the top of her head before he petted her. He ran his hand over her silky blonde hair. "You are doing your best, Maddie. Making use of everything available to fight the odds when it comes to your sister turning to a werewolf."

Madeline didn't forget the way Beth had snarled and growled before changing back to her human self. She was scared of losing people whom she cared for. Her eyes wandered around the room, looking at the furniture and the empty place where the creature of the death had been standing before the candle lights had been blown out.

"I think I understand how you felt. Maybe not a lot, but I can feel the pain of what you felt, Calhoun," said Madeline to him. In her case, Beth was still conscious, and they knew the reason. But in Calhoun's situation, he didn't know back then why his mother had fallen sick. She being the only person in his life, it must have been really hard for him to lose her and put her in the coffin.

Her hand reached out for his, and she squeezed his hand at the top. "I wish to be there for you, the way you have been with me."

"I know, darling," Calhoun responded to her. What happened in his past was something he couldn't fix as he didn't have control on the time, but he did have control over his present and his future. "You do know that even if the moon doesn't appear today, it will come and at that time, you will need the antidote."

Madeline was aware of it. As it was still the time of post noon where the sky was bright, and the moon was yet to show up, they didn't know if the spells worked or if it had only blown the candle out. Only at the time of night would they know if it worked.

"Elizabeth is rapidly turning to a werewolf rapidly without waiting for the moon to appear. This might be a new case where she might completely transform before we even know it," said Calhoun and Madeline turned worried. He didn't want to raise her hopes, for it to only shatter into million pieces later.

Madeline bit into her lip. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it. According to what Raphael said, Beth still had time, but instead of having time, she had already turned to a werewolf once.

"I was thinking of moving her to another room," offered Calhoun.

Madeline looked up at him, "You mean the dungeons?" It was only logical to have a werewolf locked in the dungeon, instead of causing harm to the ones who live in the castle. At the same time, she felt uncomfortable to think that Beth would need to spend her time in the cell.

"It is the safest. But if it makes you feel better, I arranged another room that has shackles and chains to keep her safe. Let me show you," said Calhoun, getting up to stand and then offering her his hand to take. Madeline placed her small hand in his before getting up and following him out of the room.

They made their way up the stairs of the northern tower, where in the past, Madeline had broken the glass and fallen out of there. It felt like it was only yesterday that it was still raining where Calhoun had caught her before she would have turned to a squashed pumpkin on the ground. The rain was replaced with snow, and the hand that was once cold had turned warm. Madeline's hand gripped on to Calhoun's hand as they continued to make their way up the tower before coming to stand in front of a locked room.

"This was once used to keep members of the royal family locked up here, relatives and guests who opposed or would cause possible treason against the crown," said Calhoun. He placed his hand on the door, and the lock automatically opened with a click. "I spent two days here." There was a faint smile on Calhoun's lips as his eyes swept across the room.

Madeline caught sight of the empty room where one corner of the room was filled with hay. There were shackles and chains connecting the walls and a large window placed on the opposite end.

"Why did you end up in here?" inquired Madeline, her eyebrows drawing together as she stepped at the centre of the room.

"I was accused to have stolen a valuable item that belonged to one of the guests, as it went missing, and the blame fell on me."