The Crown's Obsession (WN)

The snowflake that was going to settle on Madeline's hand suddenly turned to dust, withering away with the wind that blew near her. The tension that had left her mind returned, and she could feel the slight headache reappear.

She had been glad to see all the Salvette Mortems leave the castle as people who had to die were gone, and there wasn't going to be any more bloodshed as the people who had come after her had all died. Then why was there still one creature hanging around in the castle? She felt goosebumps appear on her skin, and when she continued to look at it, the creature disappeared.

Madeline looked back and forth, trying to see where the lone Salvette Mortem had disappeared to. She hadn't even got the chance to see which one of the Salvette Mortem it was. Did it carry an axe? Or was it standing empty-handed? Or worse, was it standing with its bloody hands?

Unable to stand still, Madeline quickly started to first walk before she ran, trying to see if the creature was still hanging in the castle, but the castle was too big to cover in a short time. While she was walking in the corridor, she heard a slow sound of the metal being dragged behind her.

Gulping, Madeline's head snapped around to see the creature of the death standing not too far away from her. Servants were walking past her, and for a second, they stopped to see what the Queen was looking at, but they found nothing but space.

The stag-like creature didn't do anything but stand there, staring at her, and Madeline noticed the axe that it carried along with it, which was bloody. If only she knew who was going to die next. Not fearing it, she started to walk towards it.

And when she took three steps towards it, the creature disappeared and at the same moment, Calhoun appeared with Helena and Dimitri around one of the corners of the corridor.

"There will be re-election to fill the empty positions that were left by some of the High House members' death and disappearance. But that will be held after the meeting with the fellow Kings and the people who work for the High House," informed Helena, standing there and talking to the King of Devon. "You should know that even though some of them are dead, there are still people who are ready to influence others and point their fingers at your rule, against you."

"Wouldn't it be easier to kill all of them?" questioned Calhoun in a nonchalant tone.

Helena's lips set itself in a thin line, and she gave Calhoun a look, "We cannot go killing people, my King. Of course, I will cover the deeds that happened in here, but I doubt the word about the existence of demons and angels would be kept a secret for long to the public."

"I don't see why it should be a secret," responded Calhoun. "When the existence of vampires was first revealed to the humans, most of the reactions were screams of horror but they accepted it later. You'll be letting them know there's good and bad. The demons and the angels."

Helena noticed how Calhoun had shifted the order of the words, but she didn't care much about it as she was a demon herself.

Calhoun continued, "Given it will be chaotic for a while, but people will at least know what they are living with," he raised one of his eyebrows.

"This will need discussions, and it can be done once the position of the main High House members is filled. The meeting is in two days," Helena let him know, her expression grim as she could still smell the hint of blood wafting in the air.

The woman then saw Madeline standing on the other side of the corridor, and she bowed. Madeline bowed back.

"I will get the reports about the deserted town," said Dimitri and the two High House members left the corridor to walk straight so that they could leave the entrance of the castle, while Calhoun walked to where Madeline stood.

"Did it go well?" she asked him. Calhoun had told her that he would be informing Helena on what had happened so that she could help them if they would ever need it in the future.

"Some of the matters are still under discussion, but for now we don't have to worry about the High House. At least not with the people who are now dead. Reginald or Michael are not joining back," remarked Calhoun. He stared at her face and asked, "You looked like you had seen a ghost. You okay?" he raised his hand to brush it against her cheek.

Madeline's eyes wavered from his gaze, "Does Vladimir know every Salvette Mortem?"

"Maybe. Did you see one now?" he questioned, a frown coming to settle on his forehead when she nodded. But if one was taking the devil's help, the devil would ask something in return.

"Do you remember the one that came for you?" asked Madeline, and he nodded. "Do you think someone will try to kill you...like the angels?"

"I don't think they are so stupid to start a war between Hell and Heaven. But then you never know," remarked Calhoun. "If one does come for me, I will always resurrect back, my sweet love. I won't die that easily." Madeline had not gone dark angelic on him, and she hoped that that day would never come in the future.

"I don't think the Salvette Mortem was taking a walk in the castle," said Madeline, and this brought a smile on Calhoun's lips.

"Well, we do have lovely architecture and gardens. Maybe it got lost in the maze. Or it just decided to stick around and enjoy the view," joked Calhoun and Madeline smiled. "But regardless of it, I will check with Vladimir to see what that creature of death is doing here."

"What time do you think he will be here?" asked Madeline. Vladimir had mentioned about meeting with some of the guests in Hell, and she didn't have to guess too hard on who his supposed guests would be. She wondered how that was going.