The Crown's Obsession

Madeline didn't even want to think what the King was going to say, that was left hanging purposely by him for her to fill in. She didn't dare to ask him to complete his sentence because she knew it was going to be something she would find to be appalling to hear. Calhoun was atrociously shameless when it came to speaking his mind out.

Hoping to shift his mind from having to paint her, she asked, "Does this painting have an origin?"

Calhoun had placed his hands in his pockets, "It is one of the villages that belong to Wiltshire. An old village that has not been remodelled or retouched. The oldest of the old."

Madeline's eyes moved back to look at the painting which mostly made use of dark colours. It looked similar to the market that was there in her village, but this one had a peculiar feel to it as if it was melancholic. It looked like Calhoun was not just a shameless man but had talent when it came to painting.

Calhoun had not mentioned about the spider or James anymore. Therefore, Madeline decided to relax and not to worry about it for now. She wondered how things would go if James met the King and asked to take Madeline along with him.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing," came the quick answer from Madeline's lips.

She saw Calhoun come in her view and turn around with his back against the wall so that he could face her, "Your lies are too easy to catch, Maddie. Have you decided to add more than one punishment on your plate? Who knew you would be willing to do things that I want to do to you."

"I didn't mean to knock the painting down," Madeline didn't know how many times she would have to tell him to let it go, but so far her words had turned deaf to his ears.

"How do I know that?" he asked with a straight face, "You didn't want me to keep the painting and wanted to tarnish it."

"You know that is not true. You are twisting the situation to your advantage-" she stopped talking when he pushed himself from the wall, "It is not fair."

"Nothing is fair in this world," Calhoun responded. Madeline felt like a skittish kitten that was scared even if Calhoun breathed that would be enough to send her sprinting from this room. But the question was how far she would be able to run before being caught. The last time she had done it, she was stranded in the middle of the forest, "What did I say about being careful around me? It is not just me, but you should be careful with other people in or outside the castle. Friends can turn to foes and foes to friends unless you have something to offer. Do you understand that, my sweet girl?"

Madeline couldn't help but ponder over the words he said to her.

"Why do you say that?" she asked him. Her question was vague, but Calhoun didn't have to know what she was referring to.

But Calhoun ignored the question she was directing at and said, "Every time you break a rule that has been placed here, I will not be lenient over it. So tell me, what was with the spider," he brought her back to the question he had asked her earlier.

Hearing the question back on the spider was enough for her to turn pale, but Madeline was too adamant about protecting James, and she didn't break eye contact with the King as if she had not lied.

Madeline, who had been wondering why Theodore had helped her, didn't know that the King was a sharp and clever man while being cunning in his ways of getting things done. Theodore didn't bother to mention it because Madeline's racing heart had already indicated that something was up; therefore, he didn't see any reason on why he had to involve himself unless the King asked about it.

She didn't know why her sister Beth would try to write a letter in her name and instigate it for James to come and meet her with the thought that the King would let her go if James asked him as if she was a flower from the garden. But James didn't know that Madeline wasn't any flower in the King's castle. She was the flower Calhoun had handpicked to bring it to his castle.

He had asked her to be careful, and she would do just that, be cautious with him, "The spider I saw in the corridor?" asked Madeline.

"Yes, unless you know more than one spider here," came the sarcastic remark from Calhoun.

Fooling a layperson was already hard enough, and now James life depended on how well she could lie to the King. But with the way Calhoun was looking at her, waiting for her to come out with the lie, she didn't know how far it would work. Wasn't lying to the King also considered to be treason? Asked Madeline to herself.

She felt she was stuck between two walls.

"It just surprised me. I wasn't expecting the spider to be present in the castle," answered Madeline as she referred to James as the non-existent spider. If Calhoun were truly good at detecting the lies, he would find at least half of what she was saying to be true.

She saw Calhoun raise his hand to his front, checking his nails and the sharpness of it, "That is not what I heard from someone," he stated, and Madeline felt the blood drain from her face. Theodore had told him! His eyes shifted from his nails to look at her.

She swallowed her nervousness before blurting, "I didn't do anything. I didn't even know he was going to show up here. He just came here to deliver-"

"Clothes?" Calhoun's eyes turned dark.

The truth was no one had told him anything and he was only poking at her to see if there was truly a spider. One simple lie to bring the truth out of her lips. It seemed that his suspect was on point and he didn't have to search far to know who this 'he' was. When Calhoun had asked Theodore to get information about Madeline he had also found out who the man was, who had kissed her hand in the lonely corridor. It was the same man who Madeline claimed to have feelings for.

Madeline looked more than pale, fear coursing through her veins. She should have known that the King's right-hand man was loyal to the King and would not hide anything from him. Her legs that were covered with the skirt that she wore shook nervously.

Calhoun then stepped forward towards her, his hand reaching to catch hold of her lower face.

"What a brave woman you are, Madeline. To lie to the King," Calhoun commended her with his sarcastic words. He then let go of her face. Right now Calhoun's eyes looked furious. Madeline's heart was beating wildly and she could barely think after being caught,

"What was he doing here? Came to rescue the princess from the big bad wolf?"