The wedding ceremony between princess Lucy and Duke Samuel was a short yet a private one where only the bride and groom’s close relatives came to attend it. The castle was filled with merriment, and the relatives who came to attend, couldn’t stop gossiping. Happiness seemed to fill the place, but it was only an outward show as the bride was not truly happy with the marriage.
Away from the castle, in the forest which had grown behind the castle abundantly, Theodore sat near the rocks. He had stayed in the castle to help Calhoun, but he didn’t stay there to watch the wedding ceremony proceedings.
Theodore heard the footsteps behind him.
“I thought I would find you here,” said Calhoun, walking to where Theodore sat on one of the large rocks. “Morganna was looking for you, wondering if you went off to kill another maid of hers.”
When Calhoun came to stand next to Theodore, he noticed the empty bottle next to Theodore’s leg.
Theodore had purposely skipped attending the wedding as he didn’t want to see Lucy getting married, even though he had pushed her to get married to Samuel. There was a prick and an uncomfortableness that he felt in his chest when he saw her with that man.
“Did she leave the castle?” asked Theodore, his words blunt without hiding his emotions.
“She will in the next twenty minutes,” replied Calhoun. “I thought you would like to see her off.”
Both the men stared at each other before Theodore sighed. “I think it would be best to not do that…”
Listening to Theodore’s decision, Calhoun went to walk around, and he came to sit next to Theodore. “You could have asked her to not agree to the marriage if you didn’t want her to go.”
Theodore didn’t respond to it, and he stared at the trees that were ahead of him. “Did you hear anything from Helena?” questioned Theodore. With Lucy away from the castle, she wouldn’t end up on the kill list, and now he could concentrate on the rest of the Hawthrone family. He wanted her alive and to live her life without being under her grandmother or mother’s control.
It had been quite some days since they had heard anything from the High House members.
“Morganna has created many other cases to divert their attention from you and her,” said Calhoun. “I heard from Dimitri that the King of Warring has asked Helena to meet him. It might be why it’s taking longer than expected. I will need you to do something tomorrow, Theo.”
“What is it?” asked Theodore, turning his face to meet Calhoun’s eyes.
“Speak to the Queen and tell her that I know about her shifting the money to her own vault from the treasury.” Hearing this, Theodore frowned, wondering if it was a good idea.
“Why not expose her deeds to the King of how she’s stealing the wealth that belongs to him and Devon?” asked Theodore with a small frown.
Calhoun stood up from where he had taken a seat. He said, “Laurence is the same as Morganna. A little slip like this isn’t enough to spark a fight between them. He might take it back and not do anything about it. I will be going back to the castle,” he walked away from there.
When the next day arrived, Theodore did just as Calhoun had asked him to do, and the Queen, after hearing it, turned outrageously furious.
“Get Calhoun to my room,” Morganna glared at Theodore. “Right now,” came her low, threatening voice.
Theodore bowed his head and went to fetch Calhoun.
Morganna paced back and forth in anger, while a slight hint of nervousness filled her chest, thinking the woman who was responsible for handling the treasury had given out this detail. She would have the woman executed! At the same time, she thought, if this news hadn’t reached Laurence yet, it meant Calhoun wanted something from her, and she wanted to hear it.
The room’s door was knocked, and in came to Calhoun while Theodore stood outside the room, waiting for him.
“Grandmother you wanted to see me?” inquired Calhoun in a sweet voice that irked Morganna.
“Take a seat, Calhoun,” ordered Morganna, and she saw the boy make his way across the room to sit in the plush chair which she always sat in. “I underestimated you. I should have known better that people from the streets are often smarter than what they show.”
Calhoun offered her a kind smile, “I am flattered by your praise, grandma. If I didn’t know better, I would tell I am your favourite grandchild. Aren’t I?”
Morganna stared at Calhoun, making her way to the chair next to him, and she asked, “Tea?”
Calhoun bent forward, reaching for the pot. He said, “Allow me to do it.”
“Hmph, it’s good to know that you at least have some basic manners to not allow the Queen to make tea for you,” commented Morganna.
“Don’t misunderstand my words, grandmother. I prefer to make the tea myself because who knows if you try to poison me,” he gave her his charming smile.
Morganna’s glare only increased, but she tried to calm herself, “I heard that you know about the treasury and my involvement in it. What is it that you want? I believe there’s some motive behind your actions of not informing the King.”
“Motive?” Calhoun chuckled, “Why would I have a motive, grandmother. I love you to pieces,” he stressed the word on pieces as he poured the tea in two cups. “I thought it was better to let you know that it would be quite shameful if people came to find out that their beloved Queen is stealing their hard earned money.”
Morganna’s eyes narrowed, “Don’t look triumphant just because you have the useless High House who haven’t been able to solve one case in days.”
Calhoun nodded his head, “I will have to blame it on you, considering you don’t let them inside the castle so that they can investigate. How many cubes of sugar would you like me to add?”
“None,” answered Morganna and Calhoun’s smile broadened. “What?” she asked, annoyed.
“Don’t mind me,” said Calhoun before adding two cubes of sugar. “With the amount of bitterness that you are made of, one or two cubes of sugar might help in sweetening you up.”
