Calhoun sprang up from his seat, staring intently at the empty seat opposite him.
"Enjoy your meal, Mr. Thomas. I have an urgent matter to deal with." He said. Thomas simply nodded. He felt very uncomfortable under Damita's watchful gaze. Calhoun left the room with George hot on his tail.
Damita turned her gaze from the door to Thomas whose entire face was buried in his meal.
"You." She said, gaining Thomas's attention. The man raised his head and Damita was taken aback. He was too good-looking, even better than her husband. Truthfully, Damita never loved her husband. She only married him for wealth's sake. She always wanted the throne and never liked that Calhoun was born. She assumed that her brother would not bear any child since the curse was made.
"Who are you to the king?" She demanded. Thomas stared on in mild confusion. Who was he to the king? What was he supposed to answer?
"Mr. Thomas?" George came in right at that moment. "Come with me."
Thomas stood up painfully. He didn't want to leave the meal before him.
"The king feels you will be uncomfortable here so he has ordered the maids to serve you in your room. Come on, let's leave."
Thomas followed the man out, much to the annoyance of Damita. Nevertheless, the action only led her to believe that Thomas was a prominent man in the kingdom. Gigi could already guess what was going on in her mother's mind.
"Mom, you seriously cannot be thinking of sleeping with that man!" She exclaimed.
"Zip it, Gigi. You know nothing about relationships and feelings."
"You are so unfaithful to dad, yet you expect me not to want to marry Calhoun?"
"Calhoun is your cousin's brother. You should not develop feelings for him." Damita scolded. "Especially since he is such a bratty fool."
"It doesn't matter what or who he is, mother. I love him and I want to wed him." Gigi announced.
Damita scowled. "He is a curse! Do you ever want to birth a child?"
"I don't care! I only care about the throne mama. I want Calhoun and I want the throne."
Damita sighed. Sometimes she wondered why her children were so stupid.
"Not another word about this." She growled. With the way her eyes flared and glowed, Gigi knew she had upset her mother. She hissed and turned the other way, folding her arms.
Thomas followed George through the hallway. He had a lot of questions to ask.
"The lady at the dining, who is she?" Thomas finally asked.
"Calhoun's paternal aunt," George answered. "You have never heard of her because when Montego was cursed, his children began to leave one after the other. When it was time for the throne to be taken, they all returned to claim it. But Calhoun's father was the only one who stayed, hence he was given the throne."
"Was Calhoun's father not the original heir?" Thomas asked.
"Oh no no. Calhoun's father was the last child. Also the weakest." George explained. "You see, many people judge Calhoun based on who he is. Calhoun is only this way because his father was ridiculed for being the weakest in not just the family but the entire pack. But when he got married and birthed Calhoun, he was granted the position."
"Is it because of the curse?"
"Exactly. Montego wanted someone who could continue the legacy." George said.
Thomas thought about it. "What if Calhoun isn't cursed?"
"No no, we have considered that as well. But you see, the curse was not placed only on the person but the throne itself." George answered. "So Damita does not know that if her son sits on that throne he would become impotent and will never be able to reproduce."
"The curse was for our kind to go extinct and not just for Montego's lineage. So eventually if Montego's lineage goes extinct and the throne moves to another family, that family will cease to reproduce and it spreads and the entire werewolf kind will be extinct."
Thomas was trying to digest the news. "So how could the curse be broken?"
"Well, we do not know. We hoped that Diana would be able to break it but I guess she wasn't strong enough to endure Calhoun."
Thomas's heart cut at the mention of Diana's name. He felt the weight of guilt increase on him.
"Well, that's all for history. You should go in and rest." George said, stopping before Thomas's room. Thomas smiled at him and entered his room. If Diana was able to break the curse, that meant she would be carrying Calhoun's child. It was almost a year since she had left. Did that also mean she would have given birth?
George watched Thomas close the door and he stood for a few minutes before leaving. Calhoun had instructed him to ensure Thomas was far away from Damita before he would handle them. Everyone in the castle hated when she was around.
He returned to Calhoun's veranda where he stood, watching Will prance around the castle like a prominent man. His eyes were hardened as he watched him.
Will was speaking to the guards and servants, forcing them to bow to him in greeting. Calhoun smirked.
"My king, these people being here now is no coincidence. Something must be up."
"I know that, George. I know exactly what they want." He said.
George looked from Calhoun to Will. "What exactly do they want?"
"Power," Calhoun said. "So I beat them at their own game. They have come to do two things. One, to prove that I am too ruthless to rule the humans. Two, to take over the throne."
George scoffed. "That can't happen."
"But they don't know that," Calhoun stated. "Now, I'm going to gather the villagers and we will have a banquet. I will announce and tell them that it's forbidden to bow to anyone aside from their king. So whoever bows to anyone else has indirectly performed treason and will be sentenced to death by hanging. Or beheading, whichever suits my mood."
"Your mood?" George asked in fear. If it was that then he wouldn't be surprised if the person would be hung, beheaded, and burned. "My king, I think you should just select a punishment before the announcement."
"Also, whoever allows himself to be bowed to would be banished from the kingdom and forbidden from stepping feet in the castle."
George sighed softly. "I'm yet to understand how your mind works."
"It's incomprehensible." Calhoun bragged. "Also, I need to get a sample of River kingdom's bullet. It's something else, what they use."
"What do they use?"
"Some special bullet. It's so painful and it's not made of the regular silver.. or maybe there's another component they add to it."
"I can send some spies," George suggested. Calhoun shook his head. The bullet will immediately kill anyone else aside from himself.
"I will go myself. Hopefully, they have not come up with something else." Calhoun said, rubbing his chin.
George wasn't going to refute. He was going to let him do whatever he wanted to do. Calhoun was almost a mindless beast. Just that once in a while, he could be mindful of his actions.
"But for now, let's go and say hi to my favorite cousin, shall we?"
George sighed. He watched Calhoun jump from the veranda to the ground, behind Will. Even after jumping from such a height and landing, he still managed to be silent that Will did not know someone was behind him.
"You know..." He began and smirked as Will jolted a little, turning quickly to see him standing at ease behind him. "Forcing my subordinates to bow to you is also called treason."
"Good to see you, Calhoun," Will said, managing a small smile. He hated the fact that Calhoun was still able to sneak up on him.
"I wish I could say the same but I do not lie," Calhoun said. "At least not to my fellow men."
George chuckled a little. He had caught the meaning behind Calhoun's words.
"What has got you laughing? You lowly servant! Calhoun, when will you get rid of this fool?" Will demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Don't be like that," Calhoun said. "George is a nice man. He serves better and is very important to me."
"More important than your own family?" Will asked with a smirk directed at George.
"Of course! George is of greater importance to me than you all." Calhoun answered shamelessly. "Everything you do is come around and try to steal the throne from me, not knowing how I manage to keep it standing till date."
Will stuttered. "Steal the throne?" He laughed wryly. "Cousin, you are so funny."
"I don't know if speaking so informally to the king is allowed because you are my relative, but I rather you keep some comments to that tiny brain of yours and give respect when due." Calhoun scolded. "Come on George. We have given Will a wonderful welcome. At least now he knows what to do first when next he shows up here for a visit."
Will's expression turned angry in an instant. Calhoun had put him down before the servants. Nothing annoyed him more than that. He watched the two men leave and his anger rose with each step they took. He had to find his mother. He couldn't digest any more of Calhoun's brags.
Gigi had left the dining room to find Calhoun. She began to loiter in the castle halls, trying to find her way to Calhoun's chamber. She met a maid along the hall and stopped her immediately.
"You, what's your name?" She demanded. Patricia eyes her and sized her. She knew that the girl might be an important guest but if she wasn't someone important to the king, she wasn't answerable to her.
Gigi felt enraged for being ignored. "I'm talking to you!" She screamed. Patricia still ignored her. Gigi lunged forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her back. Before Patricia could say anything, she raised her hand to hit her.
"Bring that hand down and you will find yourself out of the castle to never return." Calhoun's cold voice came from behind her. Her hand, which was high in the air, was frozen. She gritted her teeth. How can Calhoun say such threats before the lowly maid? Patricia however had a justified smirk on her face. Gigi immediately changed her enraged expression to a bullied one.
"Calhoun." She whined. "How can you side a maid over me? You didn't even wait to hear what happened."
"I don't need to know what happened, I can see that you have bullied the girl. Let her be." Calhoun ordered. "Now."
Gigi released Patricia and turned back to face Calhoun. Patricia bowed before Calhoun. Calhoun watched her leave from the corner of his eyes. Why was the girl getting prettier? Was it because she was showing signs of bravery? Diana had been too weak and submissive. She was always a coward when it came to him, but Patricia held this spark of defiance in her eyes when she was with him.
"Calhoun -"
"Address me as the King. I don't know what gave you the right to call me by my first name." Calhoun corrected. "Don't join your mother to exhibit stupidity, Gigi. You are too old for that. Suitors have begun to come, right?"
"Y..yes," she answered. "But I haven't found anyone who caught my fancy.
Calhoun smirked. "That's alright. I can help you find a few men who would catch your fancy. I'm throwing a banquet real soon. You are the first ear to hear of it. So prepare your best. I will introduce you to some eligible bachelors."
Gigi's face turned sour. "I don't think I would want you to find me a suitor."
"You don't want to get married?" Calhoun asked, raising his brow. "Here I thought it would be nice but it's obvious you don't want to get married."
"That's not true!" Gigi exclaimed. "The only reason I have turned down other suitors is that I ... I wish to marry you."