Julitta watched as Diana was quiet after asking the question. Her gaze was distant and she could tell the woman was reminiscing about the event or whatever would have been the answer. Right there, she also knew that there was a huge chance that Diana would not tell the truth. She accepted whatever she was going to hear and wasn't going to force the woman. Perhaps it was too hurting for her to remember.
"He... He never really wanted me." She finally said. "I loved him."
Julitta became quiet. "It's alright. I'm sorry for bringing up sad memories as well."
"Neh.. I saw it coming." Diana waved it off. "I hate to see you leave now. I don't know how I can cope alone."
Julitta chuckled. "I tend to have that effect on people. Luckily, we live in the same town and whenever I'm on break from work I could always come and spend time with you."
"What's it like, being in the army?" Diana suddenly asked.
"It's hard, trust me," Julitta answered easily. "Difficult, torturous. Almost like a death sentence even."
"Woah!" Diana exclaimed. "Then why do you do it?"
"Well because I enjoy it. The training, the friendship... We go by a code. One for all and all for one."
"That's beautiful. I think I could survive there."
"You're pregnant, Diana," Julitta said with a laugh. "I doubt your baby will be happy seeing his mother all rigid and nothing soft."
Diana giggled. "I won't be at all rigid to him."
"You can already tell it's a boy?"
"Nah, I just rather it's a boy." So he can look like his father at least. She added in her heart. If she couldn't have Calhoun, she could at least have a part of him with her every day. As a not-so-subtle reminder of the love they never shared.
There was silence. Julitta wanted to leave. She hadn't prepared for work yet. At the same time, she didn't know how well Diana could cope. Diana on the other hand was exhausted and wanted to sleep. But she didn't want Julitta to leave.
She heard a ruffling sound that seemed like a radio searching for a signal.
"What's that?"
"It's a walkie-talkie. That's how we communicate in the army."
"Really?" Diana asked, interested. Just how back in time was Wisteria? "Can it reach out to anyone at all?"
"Not anyone at all. That person has to have a walkie-talkie and must be in the range of its communication server." Julitta explained. "So if you're hoping to reach out to someone even in the next town, it might not work out."
She answered the call. "Comrade J127, over."
"J127, commander demands your presence at camp base 009. Repeat, commander demands your presence at camp base 009, over."
Julitta sighed. "This is so annoying." She said to Diana. Then she pushed the telecom button. "Copied."
Julitta stood up. Diana stood up as well. They shared a hug. "I'll miss you," Diana said.
"Yeah. Hope you will remember me when I return and hopefully, I can recognize you too.
This might take up to six months."
"It's alright," Diana said. She walked her to the door and watched her leave. Each step she took made the weight of loneliness heavier on her. She sighed and entered back into the house, locking the door.
Once she did, she turned off all the lamps and went into her bedroom. She first sat on the bed with her legs folded. She wondered what would be happening in Wisteria.
"Does he care?"
She whispered. A soft wind brushed past her and she closed her eyes softly and lay down in the bed. In no time, she was fast asleep.
Calhoun was soaked in his bath. It was his way of relaxing after dealing with a Diana-less day. With his eyes closed, he listened to the conversations in the castle. The whisperings of the maids, the footsteps of the guards, the servants going here and there, trying to settle one thing or the other.
He wasn't perturbed until he heard one voice that sounded like the one he had been craving to hear all day. The voice was as soft as a cool breeze brushing past him and it calmed his nerves and made him feel as if Diana was right beside him, caressing his body.
He might have been very cruel, but when it came to Diana he noticed how calm he became. He cared so much about her and yet he didn't even know that there would come a time when he would feel such strong feelings for someone. Especially someone like Diana.
He relaxed in the water and it soothed his nerves. He heard footsteps approaching and he opened his eyes. He blinked twice as he tried to refocus his mind. He could sense who was approaching, it was a guard. He closed his eyes again, listening to the footsteps get louder as they approached his door and then stopped suddenly.
"Stop this madness!" A voice whispered. "The king, he will find you out!"
"Don't stand in my way, brother." Another voice whispered in a very strained manner.
"Remember, if I go down, you go down with me."
"And that's why I do not want you to go down! I don't want you to go down!"
"There is no stopping me."
"The king will find out!" The voice sounded frantic. Almost as if he was worried. Calhoun's eyes remained closed. He heard his door knob twist in the slightest way possible. At that point, he regretted having locked the door. He would have had the chance to see who his traitor was. Where was George by the way?
"The door is locked? But... Pat told me that the door was open and he just went in to soak."
Calhoun's brow went up. He opened his eyes. He was mad. He came out from his dip and dried his body clean. The two idiots were still arguing at the door. Calhoun took out his nightshirt and trousers. He wore them slowly.
He was taking his time and wasn't trying to be quiet at all. He wanted to see how smart they were. After wearing his nightshirt, he took out his robe and wore it over his shirt. Then he wore his slippers. He walked over to the door and leaned on it. He unlocked it. Then he stepped away from the door and went into the bedroom.
"Let's go since it's locked."
"I'll try again." The other one said. He twisted the knob and it went open. "See."
He peeped into the room and saw how dim it was. There was no sign of Calhoun anywhere in his sitting room. He quickly went and dropped the package on his table and was about to leave when the lights suddenly came on.
"I could smell your folly from the day you began to plan." Came Calhoun's cruel voice. He had a terrifying smirk on his face and it made the other guard shiver uncontrollably. He knew they were going to get caught.
Right, that moment he turned to run, and he came face to face with George. He knew he was done for. George pulled him into the king's chamber and slammed the door shut.
"My king, what's going on?" George asked. "These two rascals?"
Calhoun's brow came up. "Rascals? Have they done anything evil before now?"
"As a matter of fact, they were caught involved in a treacherous act with the other four who were beheaded. They were pardoned because they told the truth and were not in deep trouble like the others."
Calhoun hummed. "Beheading sounds nice. But I think cremation is better."
"M..my king? I swear I warned him not to! I warned him. I told him to end it but he refused."
"Shut up, Paul," George said, kicking the younger man in the back of his knees to have him fall to the floor. "Alfred is really a tough nut to crack."
Alfred didn't seem any more perturbed than his usual expression. If he could get the king to just sip the wine, even if he died, he would die a happy man.
"I don't think so, George. Look, he brought me wine! He wants us to celebrate." Calhoun announced. "Come on, George. There should be some glasses in my cupboard. About six or seven. Bring four."
George went into the king's cupboard and found seventeen glass cups. He sighed. He took out four glasses and brought them out.
"Paul, why don't you do the honors," Calhoun suggested.
"M..m..my king?" Paul stuttered. What honors? There were no honors in that wine bottle!
"Open the wine and serve us." Calhoun elaborated. "So dumb."
Paul stood up shakily. He grabbed the bottle. His hands were shaking badly.
"If that bottle drops from your hand, I will use the pieces to give you marks," Calhoun said lightly. He wasn't planning to threaten them.
The man gulped. He steadied his hands and opened the wine bottle. He divided them into four glasses, equally.
"Good. Now, let everyone take a sip." Calhoun suggested. George was a little afraid. "George, there's also a bottle of vinegar there. I think I need a little sour wine."
George went to grab the vinegar. He assumed it was vinegar. He put some for the king and some for himself.
Alfred's expression began to twitch. He couldn't take the wine at all. The boss had warned him severely to make sure that he didn't even sniff the wine. It could cause severe health damage to a regular werewolf like himself.
Calhoun and George had sipped the wine and nothing had happened. Calhoun took out a small dagger from his pocket. They had only one question. Why would he keep a dagger in his nightshirt?!
Before anything could be said, Calhoun had stood up and was behind Alfred in a second. He grabbed the wine, slit Alfred's mouth open and emptied the glass in his torn mouth. The man grunted in pain. He never wanted to give the king the satisfaction of hearing his cry of pain.
George gagged at the sight before him. It was gore. Blood gushed out from the slit wound and then the man seemed to be transforming into something even gorier. Alfred's hand would twitch and then his talons came out from his hand. Calhoun was not surprised that the man was no longer a man but a werewolf. He had been able to sniff it. He had intentionally gotten humans to work in his castle to prevent any gory situation.
The man used his hand to cut through his chest and brought out his heart. Paul passed out at the scene before him. Calhoun did not care. The sight of blood was appealing to him. He smirked. Alfred bled to death with his heart in his hand. Calhoun took the heart from his hand.
"Call me Patricia." He said. George went and brought the woman. Patricia was calm and undisturbed until she saw Alfred dead. Her heart began to drum in her chest.
"Here, prepare me a tasty soup with this heart. Be careful with the seasoning. This one has a bitter heart and I want to taste the bitterness."
Patricia stared at the heart in his hand. Her own heart was slowing down its pace because she felt as if it was her own heart that was in his hand. She didn't dare to not accept it, she took them from his hand.
Calhoun returned to his seat. He took the glass of wine and gulped the entire thing down. George was afraid of what would happen.
Calhoun was not disturbed. But then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He winced and his face contorted a bit.
George was by his side immediately. "My king?
Are you okay?"
Calhoun placed his hand on his stomach and he felt wet. He brought the hand to his face and he saw red. He gagged as he bled. George was yelling for help. The king was dying.
Calhoun passed out.