Calhoun took the necklace in his hand and continued his journey to make certain that the decorations were to his taste.
Calhoun, being the lord of the castle, took a stroll to the kitchen to ensure that all the maids and servants were busy with their tasks. The upcoming banquet was only two days away and he wanted to make sure that everything was in order. He carefully observed each worker, making sure that they were all focused on their duties.
As he walked around the kitchen, he noticed the delicious aromas coming from the pots and pans. The chefs were busy preparing the meals for the banquet, and Calhoun couldn't help but feel excited. He knew that his guests would be more than impressed with the feast that was being prepared.
With a sense of satisfaction, Calhoun left the kitchen, confident that everything was under control. He knew that his staff could be capable and dedicated to their work, but they could still choose not to. He couldn't wait for the banquet to begin and for his guests to enjoy the fruits of his staff's labor.
In truth, he would be the one to enjoy the fruits of their labor. He didn't care if anybody liked it or not. He was his person and he didn't care about pleasing anyone.
Calhoun left the kitchen and climbed up to his tower where he liked to watch. He enjoyed the chilling air since the snow was bound to start soon. As he gazed over his kingdom, he began to think about the necklace he had taken from the maid. He didn't know if she had truly stolen it as Phoebe said or not. He just couldn't remember Diana wearing any neckpiece while she was with him.
Calhoun had always been a man of detail, and this was no exception. He was determined to find out the truth about the neckpiece. He decided to investigate further, looking for any clues that might help him solve the mystery.
He couldn't search through Diana's belongings since she had left for nearly two years. He was bound to find nothing. He decided that he would question Phoebe again, and if she insisted that the maid was guilty, he would probably have much more work to do.
Despite his efforts, Calhoun was unable to find any evidence to prove the maid's guilt or innocence. He was left with a nagging feeling that he had made a mistake in taking the neckpiece. As the wind blew harder and colder, he retreated to his chamber, still uncertain about what to do next.
Calhoun sat in his chamber, staring at Patricia's unconscious body. She was his slave and had trespassed, now she was perhaps dead, who knew? His mind drifted to Diana, the only woman who could give him sleepless nights. Despite his frustration, he loved the feeling of thinking about her.
As he sat there, he couldn't help but wonder what it was about Diana that captivated him, aside from being his mate, what else could it be? Was it her beauty, her intelligence, or something else entirely? He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew that he couldn't get her out of his head.
Despite his love for Diana, he couldn't deny the power he held over Wisteria. His supposed kingdom, but they were more like his slaves, and he had complete control over them. Perhaps this was what enraged Yara and the rest about him, hence they always tried to get rid of him.
As he sat there, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that he had such power. And knowing that nobody could ever take it from him made him even more satisfied.
George had been tormented by the terrible dream he had for several hours, he couldn't shake it off and it was affecting his mind. Finally, he mustered the courage to approach Calhoun about Patricia. He was aware that it could offend the king, but he had to know.
As he approached Calhoun, George's heart raced with fear. He stood before the door for a long time before he finally was able to knock on the door.
Calhoun's voice was low and almost inaudible. But he heard it loud and clear.
"Come in George." That was what Calhoun said. His heart raced even faster. How did Calhoun know it was him? Was his dream about to happen?
He opened the door and got in. Calhoun was seated in his chair, relaxing back and feeling so kingly.
"My king." George bowed. "I... How are you?"
Calhoun starred in mild shock. How was he? Why, nobody ever asked him how he was. They only ever hoped he was in a good mood.
"How am I? Why, I'm good." Calhoun replied. "Although I've been struck by an enigma, u tried to resolve it severally but I'm at a dead end."
"Well..." George muttered. "Couldn't you just break the wall? That's what you usually do."
Calhoun stared at him. Break the wall? Wasn't that what he always did? He smiled widely.
"George, you smart fool." Calhoun praised. George shifted between his two feet, putting his weight on whichever was balanced.
"My king... I uh, I wanted to ask you something." George said.
"Speaking about questions George, where is Patricia?" Calhoun asked, stroking his chin and humming deeply. George swallowed. This was exactly what happened in his dream. When he planned to ask Patricia, Calhoun asked him instead.
George stammered as he tried to speak. "I... That's exactly what I was about to ask you, sir."
Calhoun nodded. "I guessed. It is weird. I sent her to the kitchen to find out how the servants were doing and I haven't seen her ever since."
"You don't think she ran away too?" Calhoun asked. "Since it seems like I'm too hard on my slaves even after they fall in love with me."
George almost spat. He hated hearing that Patricia was in love with Calhoun.
"But why would she run away?" Without telling me? He completed it in his mind.
Calhoun wondered as well. "Maybe she got frightened of being in the kitchen again."
"You know how PTSD gets, one could feel so traumatized by a previous event and would feel too scared to move on, or repeat such a thing."
George nodded. "That's possible."
Calhoun nodded. "If that's all you could leave. I believe you still needed some rest after the journey and I haven't troubled you since."
"But George, now that Tricia is nowhere to be found, could you perhaps assign someone else to me? Maybe two maids this time around."
"You know how to reduce the workload on one person."
"Yes my king, do you have anyone in mind?" George asked.
"Yes yes, it could be anyone... Say, Phoebe and Mary." Calhoun said.
George was surprised. How did the king even get to know the names of two maids in the castle? He didn't know the names of anyone that hadn't served him directly or had any encounter with him.
Perhaps something had transpired between them. He needed to find out what it was before sending them to the king. He bowed and left slowly.
Calhoun watched the man leave. He kept his gaze on the door. Hoping that George would do exactly what he had planned for him to do. It would be exactly how he had planned it.
George walked down to the kitchen and he found everyone busy with the preparation. He didn't know why the king started the meal for the banquet, two days early.
"What are you all doing? Why cooking now?" George demanded. "The banquet is not for another two days, why make the food now?"
"It's the king's order." A maid answered. "It's not like we also would have begun the cooking now."
George sighed. "Where are Phoebe and Mary?"
"Out in the thirty-fourth hall." A girl answered.
George nodded. "Thank you."
Once he left, he found his way to the 34th hall where he found the two girls and four other girls decorating the hall.
"Phoebe, Mary, come with me," George announced. The girls looked skeptical about his sudden call. "King's orders."
Mary began to shake again. She thought it had been over, her arm still hurt from the fall although Phoebe had helped her put it back.
They followed him regardless to a separate corner of the castle. He stopped and peered over his back to be sure that they were alone.
"Tell me, when did you have an encounter with the king?" He asked.
They shared a glance. "Today," Phoebe answered.
"Wow. Today he's already hot his hawk gaze on you both." George muttered. "Please tell me about it."
Phoebe turned to Mary. "She had a necklace that was too similar to one that Diana used to wear when she was here."
"I told her to give it to the king when I saw her with it but she insisted that it belonged to her."
Mary nodded shamefully. "Yeah, while we were at it, the king came up behind us and began to question us."
"Whereas I tried to cover up, Phoebe blew it up and told him everything about it."
"I'm guessing he blew up at the mention of Diana's name," George said.
Mary nodded. "Grabbed my neck and threw me to the floor. I dislocated my right shoulder."
"Looks fine to me," George said.
"Phoebe helped me put it in place," Mary said. Phoebe nodded. "Just as an apology.".
"Okay well, the king thinks that you both can take over from Tricia and Diana."
"Both..."
"Of us?"
"Yup. So he's expecting you both in his chamber right now." George said. "Let's go."
The two girls had fright written all over their faces. They have only heard all negative things about the king from the people who served him. They shared a glance at each other.
George led them to the king's chamber. Calhoun was still seated in the same position.
"What took you so long? I believe they were on the 34th corridor and that does not take up to two minutes to get here." Calhoun said softly.
"Hello Phoebe and Mary, we meet again." He said, smiling. "George, do you know that I found a piece of jewelry claimed to belong to Diana, with Mary? Phoebe was the one who snitched."
"What a snitch," George said, glaring at Phoebe. "My king, do you think a snitch could work for you?"
"Oh come on, she could probably snitch on Mary, knowing Mary could do nothing about it," Calhoun said, waving his hand. "She couldn't ever snitch on me. She wouldn't dare to."
"Would you, Phoebe?" Calhoun asked.
"Never, my king," Phoebe said, shaking her head in fright.
"See? The little thing couldn't even stare me straight in the eye." Calhoun said. "She's too afraid."
George nodded. "What about Mary? The thief? Could she work for you as well?"
"Mary...? I don't think I have anything here that could be stolen. She can't even touch anything here that wouldn't scream or at least cause her to scream." Calhoun said. The words which he spoke caused fear to descend on and dwell among the three listeners.
"Oh come on. Mary, would you steal from me?" Calhoun asked.
"Never..." She muttered, crying softly. "I would never steal from you."
"See, we are all good," Calhoun said. "So let's do it this way, Phoebe serves me at night and Mary serves me in the morning. Good?"
They all nodded. Calhoun clapped his hand.
"Good. Let's see how brave Phoebe is, go in and make my bath water. Let's see if I have something that could make you scream."
"Y...yes sir," Phoebe said and bowed. As she left, Calhoun turned to smile at Mary. His smile caused her to shiver.
"You can go, Mary." He said. "Phoebe is fine, she can cope. The fact that she passed my bedroom and went to the bathroom without screaming is enough to let me know that she can survive."
Mary nodded too quickly. She bowed and left. Calhoun turned his gaze from the closed door to George. Phoebe prepared the bath water and then left the room, on Calhoun's orders.
"Spill." He said to George when they were alone.
"My king, I think that there's foul play with the neckpiece," George said. "The two girls still became friends even after the snitch case."
"Elaborate," Calhoun ordered.
"Mary dislocated her right shoulder and Phoebe helped her fix it back." He said. "There is something fishy about it. That's all I know."
"Thanks, you may leave," Calhoun said. It was just as he suspected. The jewelry did not belong to Diana, it belonged to someone else.
It belonged to someone else other than his beloved. This was just a ploy to use him or frame him, or curse him.
Something else was going on and he had to find out. He couldn't be unsafe again, never.