The Crown's Obsession

Madeline's heart was beating loud enough that she could hear every beat in her ears. The worse feeling was getting caught while telling a lie. Calhoun continued to glare down at her, and she didn't know how to get out of it.

"What was he doing here?" demanded Calhoun.

"I-I don't know. H-he must have seen me walking here and stopped by. I d-didn't expect to see him here. He said he came here for delivering the clothes," she explained to him because it was the truth that she didn't expect to meet James.

Madeline didn't want to let Calhoun know that James had come here for her. To take her back to the village which he had initially planned by speaking to the King but then he had decided to come back again some other day. With the way Calhoun's dark red eyes were fixed on her, she wished she could faint because she was in a stuttering mess and she didn't know how to deal with this man standing right in front of her now.

Calhoun continued to glare down at her, hearing her heart beat in her chest, "I warned you not to lie, but the first thing when we met today you lied to me. Did you do something you were not supposed to do?" he questioned her.

She quickly shook her head, but Calhoun didn't let her out of his sight and kept her where he wanted her.

"Why lie then? A person lies only when they want to hide something," his eyes moved across her face and then travelled to look at her neck before going back to her brown eyes, "I just find it too convenient that the man appeared to talk to you when you asked the maid to get water. Was it your parents who intimated him about you being here?"

"No, it wasn't them," her parents had nothing to do with it.

"Then how did he come here, searching for you? A mere tailor man has access only to the front of the castle and not inside the heart of the castle. Are you going to deny that you both didn't meet alone? Did he hug you?" The ball of anxiousness in her chest was growing, and she shook her head, "I need words here, my sweet girl. Did he hug you?" he repeated his question.

"No, he didn't," Madeline prayed, hoping he wouldn't find anything more than what he knew. All that had happened was, James had held her hands in his, but she wasn't going to let Calhoun know about it.

"Did he kiss you?" demanded Calhoun.

Her eyes widened by his question, and she answered, "He didn't."

And even though Madeline claimed nothing happened between her and the man, Calhoun was not pleased with how she had lied. He held a look of disappointment on his face. He tilted his head, "Don't let any man kiss or touch you," his voice was low as he decreed her.

Madeline wanted to retaliate to tell him she wasn't his, but his eyes looked at her warningly. Trying to fix the damage she confessed by bowing her head,

"I apologise for it. I thought you would be angry by his presence-"

"Oh, believe me, I am. I will find how he came here to meet you this soon, but before that, we have other things to deal with. I let you off too easily last night, didn't I?" he asked her dauntingly, "Naive girl, it's time for some good old punishments."

"W-what?" Madeline took a staggering step behind, but Calhoun didn't follow her.

"Let's add everything up, shall we?" this time Calhoun smiled, a wicked emotion lurking behind his eyes. He brought his hand forward and showed his thumb to say, "Disobedience in listening to the King. You ran away from the castle-"

"You lied to me about the entrance and exit of the maze. You implied that there was a separate exit," said Madeline, defending herself because the King appeared to be happy enough to list out her mistakes without considering the lie he told her.

"I did?" asked Calhoun with an oblivious look on his face, "I don't think I ever told that. You should have known better than taking up the deal without verifying what you were getting into. It was foolish not to do it. Don't blame it on me," he tsked, his lips twisted. He then pulled out his index finger to say, "Interrupting the King without waiting for your turn. Rude."

Hearing him speak, Madeline clenched her teeth together, "You cannot play fair like this by pulling out my mistakes-"

"So you agree you have been at fault. Glad to know that you acknowledge them. If you didn't I would have had to add it as the third in the list," Calhoun smiled at her and Madeline wished she could take one of the closest painting to throw it at him. He then pulled out the third finger, "Lying, treason caused towards the King," her heart sank in her chest, "Four. You come to the gallery and cause the mishap."

She stared back at him, "No matter what I say, you will never consider it."

"Did you give me a reason to believe you?"

"Neither did you," she responded.

"Touche. How clever of you to be playing that card but don't forget that you were the one who ran away from the castle. You could have stayed back and told me that I lied, but you chose to run away," his lips twisted when Madeline said,

"You never had the intention to let me go and played your lies to blame it on me-"

"Careful, Madeline," Calhoun scowled at her, "Do you know what happens to the person who stands against the King? They first get thrown in a cell which has dirt and where rats and other animals crawl. Then the person is sent to execution. Is that what you are aiming for? Just because I have favourites, doesn't mean I won't do it."