The Crown's Obsession

392 Rose and thorns- Part 1

Standing on one of the patio's of the castle, where she could see the entrance of the castle, she noticed the guests starting to leave one after another.

"Are you doing okay?" came Beth's voice, who had entered the patio and she came to stand next to Madeline. She asked the question because the time during the breakfast had been tense, and both the King and the Queen had disappeared from everyone's sight after that.

Madeline offered Beth a smile, "Yes, I was looking at the carriages."

"So I see," commented Beth, taking a look at the carriages before her green eyes fell on Madeline, "You know...when I used to dream about living in a big mansion, and castle like this, I never considered the number of dangers that came with it."

"We all mold into the situations we are pushed into," said Madeline, her voice gentle as ever. A life in the castle had never been her dream, but Beth's, and now that she had stepped into it, it was time for her to start changing her perspectives with how she saw things around her. She was glad to have Calhoun next to her, knowing she could always lean towards him for support.

"The King is smart to have picked up on the necklace in less than five seconds," said Beth, "It is good that you have a shrewd partner. I must confess something to you, Maddie." The brunette girl looked slightly uncomfortable, and she didn't meet Madeline's eyes.

Madeline broke her gaze away from the carriages and some of the guests who stood next to the carriage, "What is it, Beth?"

Beth's cheeks had turned red by just the thought of what she was going to tell Madeline, but she believed this was something she should come out clean about, "I, out of spite wrote a letter to James in your name-"

Madeline placed her hand on Beth's shoulder, "I know. I have known about it, and it's okay." Beth looked taken aback by this, to see how forgiving Madeline had always been towards her until now.

"I am so sorry," Beth whispered, and she then said, "I have been thinking about something since yesterday, about you looking into my memories again. Do you think you can tap back into it to get more information?"

Madeline replied, "We went back to the time which had the key information. Raphael said it was better to not disturb the memories by walking through it again and again, as it could damage the person's own memory."

Madeline was tempted at that thought, but it was after years did Beth's memories return to her, and she wasn't willing to risk losing Beth. "Maybe there's another way apart from going through one's memories," and Beth gave a questionable look at her.

They left the patio and on their way down, Madeline caught sight of Lucy walking next to Ethan Moryet on the other side of the castle. It was after a long time did Madeline catch sight of the unbridled smile on Lucy.

On Madeline's step inside the courtroom, the people who once had ridiculed her on her first day in the castle now stopped talking and stood up, bowing their heads with deep respect that her position demanded from them.

"Do you think I could borrow Raphael's company to go outside the castle?" asked Madeline when she came to stand in front of Calhoun, "I want to go to Cossington." It was the village where?the church she recently visited was situated and also the place where Beth had come to meet Jennine face to face.

"Did you forget something there?" asked Calhoun, his red eyes staring back into her eyes. He offered, "I can arrange for someone to pick it up."

Madeline shook her head, "I wanted to read something there," and this had Calhoun intrigued, "Beth will be with me, and I think Raphael would be a good company." Especially considering how Jennine had disappeared on his arrival as he belonged the a higher level in the demon hierarchy.

Before Calhoun could say something, one of the men who worked for the court arrived and announced, "The head of the High House, Lady Helena has arrived, along with Mr. Dimitri and others."

"I wonder who has died that has brought them here unless they are here to give gifts," commented Calhoun, his voice dry that showed the lack of uninterest of meeting the people from the High House.

Madeline herself wondered what the High House members were doing here in the castle. Not a minute later, the High House members appeared to step inside the courtroom. Helena had an unimpressed look on her face, something she often wore and made one wonder if the woman ever smiled. Next to her was Dimitri, probably older than her in appearance, and the rest of the people included Weasley and Lilith, who had joined them for breakfast earlier that day before departing from the castle. At least that is what she had thought.

"Greetings to the King and the Queen," said Helena, bowing her head only as much as it was required, unlike the dramatic bows that had been offered by some of the guests who had come to attend the wedding.

"Good morning, Lady Helena. What do we owe you, the pleasure of having you here at this hour of the day?" humoured Calhoun with a smile on his lips.

"It has been informed that one of your relatives is in possession of one of the cursed treasure that belonged to Queen Hanima. Is that correct?" asked Lady Helena, and if one wasn't aware of who this woman was, they would have mistaken her to be Calhoun's mother because of the authority she exuded from her mere words.

"Surprisingly yes," replied Calhoun, "My distant relative had no clue that the jewellery she gifted was more than what she thought it to be. I am sure Weasley and Lilith have already filled you in with it."

"Yes, they did. Where is the jewellery? And your relative?" demanded Helena who wanted to see them. There was a reason why the artefacts had been taken away from the public eye and placed somewhere safe so that it would never come to be of any use or harm on people.

"Lady Aubree is currently resting in the guest room. She seems to have entered into a little-" Calhoun raised his hand to bring two of his fingers to emphasize it, "-shock."

Helena's eyebrows furrowed, "Did she wear it?"

Being part of the High House for more than two decades now, Helena had tried to keep everything under control, but there was always something or someone to disrupt it. The last pieces of the cursed jewels they had collected had left people ill in health to the point of no recovery as they died. This was the first she had heard that a woman had gone in a state of shock.

Calhoun smiled, "I don't think so."

"Why is she in shock then?" inquired Helena.

"That might be because I told her I would put her up for execution and behead her," Calhoun whispered the last two words which was still heard by the people in the court to hear.

Helena's lips were set in a thin line. This was no time to be joking, and it appeared like Calhoun was up to no good, "Daphne," she called one of the High House members who was under her direct charge, "Go get the woman in here right now. I would like to question her about a few things."

The woman named Daphne bowed her head and stepped out of the courtroom along with a guard who accompanied her.

"Where is the cursed jewellery?" asked Dimitri, and Calhoun raised his hand. As if on cue, Theodore was the next person to step out so that he could bring the box that was gifted to Madeline this morning at the time of breakfast. "The woman should be punished for holding and making use of something that belongs to the High House."

Helena didn't pay any heed to his words and looked at Calhoun with a scrutinizing gaze while he looked unaffected. In the meantime, Madeline's eyes fell on Lilith who continued to stare at her, before her eyes shifted to look at the silver-haired man who stood with the High House people. As if sensing her gaze, the man turned around to bow his head to her, and she did the same.

Madeline heard a light commotion fill up the room, and in came Lady Aubree whose eyes looked livid, "Stop pulling me! I am perfectly capable of walking on my own!"

Everyone saw the High House member pull the vampiress by her hand who had an unwilling look on her face.

"There is no need to manhandle the woman," commented Luther with a small smirk on his face.

"She was planning to run away through the window," stated Daphne, pushing the woman's back so that she could step forward.

"Rubbish! I was only going to close the windows of the room. The cold wind can sometimes shrivel my skin!" answered Lady Aubree before clearing her throat after she noticed the number of people who had gathered around. She bent down to greet everyone, "I was only taking a nap when this woman decided to barge into my room."

Daphne shook her head. The reason why she had barged in because the lady had not opened the door and was making an attempt to escape from there. It was often a typical response from people who thought they would be punished for their actions.

Helena didn't care what the red-headed woman was doing in her guestroom, "We would like to know from where you received the jewellery which you tried to give it to the Queen as the gift."

Lady Aubree turned to look at Helena, "I already told it to the King that I received it from a merchant named Elias." action

"Weasley," called Helena, "Take the description from her on how the merchant looks, it will be useful if we don't find this person named Elias. How much did you pay for it?" At the same time, Theodore arrived in the room, and he opened the box for Helena to see before it was passed on to Dimitri.

The vampiress wrung her hands together, "I...I paid around four thousand gold coins for it."

"That's a lot of gold coins. Your family must be wealthy enough to throw gold and buy things," commented Helena, "Did the man say something about it before he sold it to you?" she continued to question, one of her eyes peering through the monocle that made her look strict.

"I-I heard about the Hanami-"

"Hanima," corrected Helena.

"Yes, Hanima. Long ago, during one of the soirees I attended, I had seen the pictures of it that were acquired from an artist. When the merchant showed this necklace to me, I identified it immediately!" exclaimed Lady Aubree, "I asked him about the curse, and he said it wasn't true, and even if it was true, the curse had been lifted. And I thought it would make a wonderful gift. I didn't know the merchant lied to me! I swear on my family. Even the merchant agreed it would make a good gift to the Queen."

"Weasley," Helena ordered the man, who came forward and took the vampiress to the side so that they could speak about how the merchant looked like. He pulled out the scroll of parchments and started to draw in the corner.

Helena stepped forward, walking towards where Calhoun was, "I know you don't have a hand in this as the gift was something that was decided for the Queen. Not everyone knows the outcome of this cursed jewels, and if it is given to her…" Helena's eyes met Madeline who was standing next to Calhoun, "It makes me wonder if you are more than what you seem."

Calhoun chuckled, that broke Helena's gaze from Madeline to look back at him.

"I think the question you need to be asking is which person from the High House stole it away from it's safekeeping to be put back in the market," stated Calhoun, "It looks like you have a thief within your members of the High House."