The Crown's Obsession (WN)

When the guards had dragged Markus, it was the most humiliating thing he had ever experienced. To be pulled and dragged out of the court like he was the criminal when in truth, he wasn't the one who was responsible for both the maid as well as Lady Layla's death. His hands had not been freed nor were his legs. He now stood in the cell that was surrounded by iron bars.

"Markus!"

"Mother!" exclaimed Markus upon seeing his mother, who came to stand in front of the cell room, "You need to speak with the members of the High House again! You and I both know that it wasn't me who did it."

Rosamund's eyebrows furrowed as she said, "Sophie has gone to inform your father so that he can go and speak to Dimitri and Hudson to request for another trial."

Markus shook his head, "Nothing is going to happen. You need to expose Calhoun, this very instant!" He had attended enough trials that were conducted by the High House to know what was going to happen to him, that there was no hope.

"Don't give up hope, Markus. We still have time until tomorrow morning," Rosamund then continued, "If they cannot do anything, I have another way for it." Rosamund also had the key which could open the dungeon locks. She could get rid of the guards and then free Markus by putting the blame on the guards. That way, her son would still be alive.

"Where is the werewolf?!" demanded Markus. He had seen it right in here! The werewolf was there with the tailorman, but they said they never found anything in here. That was not possible!

"I don't know. Calhoun must have hidden the werewolf somewhere," whispered Rosamund. She had got her own people to snoop around, but none of them had found anything, "Someone is coming. I will come back later," she quickly said before leaving Markus behind in the cell.

To Rosamund her children were important, and at the same time, they were also a way to get to the throne. She had done everything one could do in her position to make her way towards the throne. She was the daughter of the previous to the former King of Devon! If only Markus had not run away yesterday in between the trial! But the error had already been made, and the only way to fix this was sending a request for another trial or helping Markus escape from the dungeon.

On her way, she saw Beth near the gate of the dungeon, ready to make her way inside to meet her son. Not sparing another glance over the human, she walked past her.

Beth was hurt when Lady Rosamund didn't look at her. The guards didn't stop her seeing how Lady Rosamund didn't question her presence in front of the dungeon. Her eyes anxiously searched for Markus until she caught sight of him standing in the corner of the cell. Her footsteps increased its pace, and she went around to stand near him.

"Are you doing, okay? What is going to happen?" Beth asked, her voice anxious.

Markus was in no mood to have Beth around him, and he looked irritated by her presence. There were other things that were occupying his mind right now, and he didn't have the time to deal with her, especially not with someone who was of no help.

"What are you doing here?" Markus asked in a cold tone which he had never used on Beth until now. She was slightly taken aback by his tone, but she brushed it away, believing it was because of his current condition.

"I came here to see if you were doing alright," came Beth's innocent words, "I have asked Madeline to help."

"Your sister won't do anything, Elizabeth," said Markus, "She will do what the King says. The King wants me dead. I didn't even kill those people. It was the King who trapped me."

Beth, who was unaware of the details between the King and Markus, asked, "Why would he do that? Do you think if I asked him, he would let you free? Tell me what I can do, to get you out of here."

Markus stared at Beth's face, calculating if she could be of any use. Would she kill herself for his sake? Would that have her sister to coax Calhoun to stop the execution? But he knew what kind of person Beth was. He had moulded her carefully, making her dance to his tunes, and it was time to take advantage of it.

"Do you remember what I said in the carriage last time?" Markus questioned Beth, and she nodded. "The King won't stop my execution, the only other way is to tumble the crown. Bring it down." Seeing how Beth was still trying to follow what he meant, he whispered, "There's a little bottle in the second room of the West Wing, a black bottle that is hidden in between the books. I need you to serve it to the King, through your sister's hands."

"What does the bottle contain?" questioned Beth.

Markus looked around to make sure no one was near to eavesdrop on their conversation, "It is a poison that can freeze a vampire's heart and put them into a frozen state of sleep. If your sister gives it, the King will surely drink it."

"But how is that going to be of any use?" It wasn't like it was going to kill the King.

"When a vampire consumes that liquid, they go into sleep, and it takes days for them to get out of sleep. All you have to do is, get the King to drink it and then let people know that the crown has fallen. This way, my execution will be put on hold." And even if someone found it, the blame would fall on Madeline or on Beth, which Markus didn't go to explain to her.

Beth wanted to help Markus to come out of this situation, but she didn't know if she was brave enough to go and poison the King. She saw Markus look at her with hope and Beth bit her lip.

"What if the situation can be fixed by talking to the King?" asked Beth and Markus let out a dry laugh.

"If the King wanted to save me, he would have done it by now by coming down here. He is not here, Elizabeth. We have only a few hours, and you need to do it quickly," Markus stepped closer to her and placed his hand on hers that was holding the iron rods, "You are the only person I can trust and believe in. No one else."

Beth finally gave him a nod, and left the cell. When she stepped out of the dungeon, she took a turn away from there to hear,

"Don't do it."

Her head snapped around to see the shabby-looking man standing near a tree as if he was waiting for her to come out.

"What?" asked Beth.

"Whatever Mr. Wilmot asked you to do, don't do it," said Raphael.

"He didn't ask me anything," Beth's face turned hard. She doubted this man had heard anything Markus said and was only making it look like he had heard them speak, when in truth he had not even entered the dungeon.

Raphael responded to this, "I once had a neighbour who wanted to jump down from the cliff as it was his last dying wish. But then he died before he even reached the cliff," he gave her a kind smile and then said, "I know dying people often have ridiculous wishes. Which is why I said not to heed to it."

Beth wanted to tell that Markus was not going to die, but instead of wasting her time by arguing with this man, she bowed her head and went back inside the castle.

Seeing Beth leave, Raphael's eyes moved back to the dungeon, and he made his way through the dark passage after letting the guards know that he was here on the King's word.

"Good evening, Sir Markus," Raphael greeted Markus who looked annoyed with his next visitor. He wanted to get out of this place and save his life, but instead, he was being humiliated.

Raphael pulled out the cards from his pocket, spreading it out in his hand and bringing it forward so that Markus would pick one of it.

"I thought you would be bored and would like to play."