The Crown’s Obsession

Chapter 47 - Lies

Madeline spent an hour more when she finally concluded that the deal she had made with the King was difficult. She tried to walk round and round only to meet up the holly plant walls that restricted her or sent her back to the path she had already walked through.

The sky was changing colour rapidly, and she felt her freedom was slipping through her fingers, but it wasn't like the time was precisely passing. The energy and motivation that she had before entering the maze had vanished, and she was desperate to get the exit. She tried not to lose hope. Her feet continued to walk to only be met with disappointment as she reached another dead end.

Madeline wondered how much more time she had right now. She looked up at the sky that had changed colour since she had entered the hedge maze, but there should still be time, said Madeline to herself. She doubted Calhoun would be standing outside, waiting for her. Therefore, she decided to find her way back to the entrance so that she could walk outside the maze and claim to have reached the end.

The only problem was that all the ways looked the same, and it felt like she was walking in circles inside the maze. There was no way she could climb on the holly plants as a wall, or was it possible? She asked herself.

Desperate times called for drastic measures. With no one in the maze where she was alone by herself, Madeline decided to look at the length of the wall before placing her hands on both the sides of the wall and trying to put her feet in between the plants. It took her several tries, and she tried her best to hold on, but just when she reached half of it, the grip on the plant was lost, and Madeline fell straight down on the ground.

The fall was harsh, taking a couple of seconds before she stood on her feet.

"Ouch!" she cried when she tried to move her leg forward. It seemed like she had caught something while climbing up and falling down.

Madeline found one of the creepers was stuck to her dress and when she pulled up the back of the dress, she noticed how the creeper had thorns and one of the thorns had pierced through her skin. She tried to remove it, but when she tried to touch it, it hurt so bad that she had sucked in a breath before taking the courage to remove it.

Blood trickled down her skin but with the wound not being too big, she had left it as it was without caring about it as she had other things to do. A week ago if someone told her that she would be walking in the maze of the castle, she would have been excited hearing, but right now, she didn't want to do anything with the castle.

After several turns, walking back and forth, trying to find the exit, she started to leave dried leaves as a sign that she had already walked through these paths and finally she was able to reach the entrance of the maze.

"I made it," Madeline murmured to herself.

As expected, Calhoun wasn't here, nor were there any guards standing in front of the entrance when she stepped out. Quiet and stealthily, she walked around the maze, moving from one point to another and then to the next one in search of the exit but when she reached the start point of the entrance Madeline gritted her teeth.

Since the beginning, Calhoun had no intention to free her from the castle and send her home. If she hadn't stepped out of the maze to check, she would have never found out.

Never had she been lied to in such a way. Now that there was no one around her, Madeline tried to make up her mind on what she was going to do. If she was not wrong, there was still time for the clock to strike six in the evening. Would that be enough time for her to run and make an escape? Not to forget the wolves were tied in the kennel.

"What am I going to do?" asked Madeline to herself. Her eyebrows drew in concentration. If Calhoun had no intention to let her go and he was only going to play with her by raising false hopes only to crush them back, there was no reason for her to try and reason with him. The King would never change his decision.

Taking a look behind her, Madeline started to walk away from the maze. Her feet as quick as she looked around her surroundings to make sure there was no one watching her, who would catch her and take her back to the castle. She had to act cool, said Madeline to herself.

She crossed the gardens that surrounded the castle, moving farther and farther away while making sure no one was following her or watching her. Thankfully there was no one. She took her path behind the plants and shrubs that led towards the main gates. She remembered looking at these during the time of Hallow as she left the castle in the carriage. Hiding behind the plants, she pulled up the front of her dress so that it wouldn't hinder her from running towards the gate which was far away compared to the castle that looked like a five-minute walk.

The evening wind blew across her face, rushing quickly with every step forward as she moved towards the gate. She decided not to worry about the guards now, and to worry about it once she would reach there. Her dress wasn't the colour that could attract attention right now.

Running away from here felt good, and she could hardly contain her happiness of stepping out.

Madeline could only hope that no one would catch and drag her back to the castle.