Madeline sat on the bed with both of her knees pulled up. She was scared of what happened earlier back in the high tower. She didn’t dare to go and stand near any of the windows of the room even though they were small and some had grills on them.
Deciding to get some sleep, she pushed her body down, pulling the covers up to her chest and placing her head on the pillow. But she didn’t fall asleep right away. It took sometime for her eyes to turn heavy and she finally closed her eyes.
In her dream, Madeline was walking up the stairs of the high tower, a lantern in her hand and her legs bare with no shoes. The torches of fire had been exhausted, leaving the path dark with little light that came from outside with only the light of the lantern she carried with her.
Madeline continued to walk up, passing by the tall glass made window through which she had fallen before. Even though her mind alerting her to stay away from it, she continued to walk up the stairs until she reached the tallest part of the tower. It was an open space with no covered windows that let wind to pass through. She had been here before, Madeline thought to herself. Walking towards one of the sides to take a look at the surroundings of the castle, she placed the lantern down on the ground which was still burning brightly, and she leaned forward to look down.
Though it was the time of night and she couldn’t see things clearly, it still looked beautiful and made her question why she was trying to leave a place as good as this, where there was comfort, roof and food one would need.
While Madeline was looking down from the highest tower of the castle, she didn’t notice the flickering flame of the lantern that started to dim. She spent some time there, but when her eyes blinked, the next moment, she was not standing in the same place as she was before.
Was this a dream? Madeline started to panic as she was standing on the edge of the cemented tall window that had no glass. How did she get on here?!
Her legs started to shake. The edge of the window was cemented that was not thick but narrow. High, which was why she had been leaning forward earlier but why was she standing up here?!
She could feel the wind trying to sway her movements. The weather felt wet and cold.
“Madeline?” spoke a voice behind her. She was scared to turn, “Get down from the edge,” Calhoun said to her.
His words were gentle, somewhere warm yet cold, “I have had a strange dream,” she whispered, “No…”
Very carefully, her legs still shaking, she turned around, wobbling.
“Calhoun,” she said his name, seeing how he stood not too far away from her. He was in his nightclothes, “I don’t know how I came up here.”
Her eyes moved to look at the shadow and the light that fell on Calhoun face, a combination that made him look nothing less to a devil he was. He brought his hand forward, “Come down, and you can tell me about your dreams,” he offered.
Madeline shook her head, not knowing that she was not dreaming anymore. The dream she thought she was dreaming was taking place in reality. Calhoun’s eyes hardened, “Do you want to kill yourself?” he questioned her.
“I won’t fall,” stated Madeline.
Calhoun had gone to check on Madeline when he noticed the door of her room left wide open. No one was allowed to enter her room except him. The orders were absolute, and the servants knew not to cross the line. Upon checking, he was greeted with an empty bed, and he found her right in time. Standing on the edge as if she was going to dive.
“I feel like you are lying to me,” said the girl who had just woken up from her sleep state, and he raised his eyebrow at her.
“I don’t think I have lied to you,” which was a lie in itself because Calhoun knew it was not true. The lie came much more fluently on his tongue than the truth did.
“I want to see my family,” Madeline’s words were firm, yet there was a sliver of pleading in there. Nobody could demand the King, instead it was the King who demanded it.
“Do you think you will be able to go and meet them by jumping off the rails?” asked Calhoun, his words filled with sarcasm, “I had no idea that one would travel that way.”
Madeline frowned, “I didn’t mean to jump. I think…I was sleepwalking…” that was the only conclusion she could come up with.
“It gives me more reasons to have you shifted to my room,” Calhoun’s words made Madeline worried, “There are only a few days left before we get married. Surely, you don’t think that I will allow my wife sleep in another room while leaving my bed cold.” She gulped hearing this. Now that she was much more awake with her surrounding, she could feel the anxiousness slithering through her veins.
“You said you wouldn’t do something I won’t like,” came her low voice. That was the only hope she had. This big bad wolf had planned to gobble her up while she was still trying to see what to do.
Calhoun who had a passive looking expression until then finally smiled at her, a smile that stretched broad and wide, “You have my word, beautiful girl. I don’t think anything we have done together so far was not to your liking.” He reminded her of the kiss that had taken place in the carriage, and though it was midnight, Calhoun noticed how her cheeks turned red.
Madeline’s lips parted, but no word came through her lips.
“Do you disagree?”
“How can you expect a woman to reply to such things!” she looked away from him.
“That means you agree. Come here, my love, I will show you many more things that the world and I have to offer,” he moved slowly towards her.
Madeline stared at his hand and then at his face, “You will invite them here?”
“I did say, I would now. Didn’t I?” Yes, he did, thought Madeline to herself.
Instead of waiting for her to take his hand, he used both his hand to hold her waist firmly and placed her back on the ground,
“I would like to be excused to go back to my room.”
Calhoun hummed in response and saw her quickly leave from there. He wondered if it was the stress that had made her sleepwalk in her sleep, but her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at things around her.
Calhoun didn’t leave the high tower and continued to stand in there, looking at the landscape when Theodore appeared from behind, “I thought I heard some sound coming from here,” said Theodore.
“She’s like a child, a small baby chick or is it the kitten?” asked Calhoun, picking up the right description for Madeline, “Trying to act strong while still being cute. How was your day?” asked Calhoun, his head turned to the side to see Theodore make his way to where he stood.
“It went, as usual, milord,” answered Theodore and Calhoun nodded his head.
“I thought it would be different after seeing Lucy. She still hasn’t forgiven you,” a chuckle escaped Calhoun’s lips. He pulled out a box of cigars, picking one and offering to Theodore, who shook his head.
“I am fine, milord,” and Calhoun flapped the box back to place it at the edge of the open window. Lighting it, he took a puff from it before blowing the thick smoke in the wind, “I don’t think she will ever forgive me.”
Calhoun pulled the cigar away from his lips to say, “Understandable, isn’t it. It is what happens when you aren’t careful with your words. You broke her heart.” Theodore continued to remain passive while the King enjoyed rubbing salt on the wound that was healing, “But I don’t blame you. We didn’t have the powers then, and what happened later, it was too late. Actually, it isn’t too late,” said Calhoun, turning his head to look at Theodore, “Samuel had been fucking women during the time he had been sent for the job to complete. The report says that he tells Lucy that the work has been extended for more days so that he can spend more time away from home.”
Theodore continued to stay quiet. Not because he had nothing to say, but it wasn’t his place to say anything. Lady Lucy was married to a man, a man of high position and status.
“By the way, have you heard about a phenomenon where objects disappear? Not the kind where I kill people and make them disappear but actual disappearance,” Calhoun laughed at the end. He remembered the burn that he felt under the touch of the glass. Though whatever it was, the effect didn’t stay long as the next time he had checked, the glass reacted as any other ordinary glass would.
“I don’t think so, milord. I need to check about it,” Theodore responded to Calhoun’s question, “Was it what happened today?” Though Theodore was not there during the time of the incident, rumours spread fast in the castle, and the word went out that the lady was not happy and she had tried to commit suicide.
“Yes, something very strange that I haven’t seen before,” answered Calhoun.
When the next day arrived, Madeline slept until the time of noon, and when she woke up, there were two guards stood outside her room. Two maids were standing at the corner of the room without a word since the time of the morning, waiting for her to wake up.
Madeline’s head felt heavy. She got up and sat on the bed, her hand reached her head. The events that had occurred last night was blurry, but she came to realise she did something she was not supposed to do. While she was trying to get her head straight, one of the maids came to stand next to the bed, and the other went out of the room.
“Are you alright, milady?” asked the maid and Madeline nodded her head.
“I am fine. What time, is it?” Madeline asked the maid.
The maid wasn’t sure as she was in the room and said, “It must be the time of noon, milady. The sun has moved up in the sky.”
“I will get ready by myself,” Madeline said to the maid, but the maid didn’t move and continued to stand next to the bedside.
“My apologies, milady, but it is the King’s orders that we dress you up and look after you,” replied the maid.
Madeline sighed, “I am perfectly capable of doing that. I am not a child, nor am I sick. I will speak to the King if he questions about it,” she said to the maid, forcing her to leave, and the maid unwillingly stepped out of the room.
Yesterday was strange and last night was even stranger. Once she got ready and stepped out of her room, she made her way to the court to see if Calhoun was there, but he wasn’t. Was the session in the court adjourned? When she found a servant who was trying to walk past her quickly, she stopped him,
“Wait! Do you know where the King is?” she questioned.
“M-milady, the King, h-he is near the gallery room that comes to the r-right,” the servant stuttered as if he were scared to talk to her.
“Thank you,” she thanked him, and the servant quickly bolted away from the corridor.
Speaking to Lady Madeline was nothing less to walking on a room full of needles that were placed upright. Now that the servants knew who the lady was, they were extremely careful and prayed that they were not assigned to her. Similar to how they prayed not to be assigned to the King, yet they wanted to earn his favour. After all, he was the King.
When she made her way towards the gallery room, she met a maid who led her exactly to where the King was.
“What else do you have? I like this one better than the rest,” she heard Calhoun speak to someone.
On stepping into the room, Madeline took note of the sea of white gowns that were displayed on the ground. A man sat down on the floor while Calhoun sat on the chair. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of it. Theodore stood along with the four maids in the same room. Hearing Madeline’s footsteps, Calhoun said,
“Good morning, my sleeping beauty. Did you sleep well?” questioned Calhoun, “If you were going to sleep some more, I would have decided to wake you up with a kiss.”
Madeline bowed her head in greeting. No matter how their relationship was, she was not supposed to forget that he was the King, “Good morning, King Calhoun.” Calhoun didn’t take note of the place and time of where they were, getting used to it was going to take time, “What is with the white gowns?” she asked him, somewhere in the back of her head she could hear bells ring.
Calhoun smiled at her like a saint, “These? I thought I would take a look before running the best one through you. We will need a wedding gown for you, wouldn’t we?”
