I do not remember my mother.
She died just after my birth. Esther, the woman who took me in, told me about my mother when I was old enough. She had been beautiful, with chestnut locks and green eyes. Had but my eyes and hair matched hers in coloring, we could have been twins.
My mother had been a witch, although not a very strong one. If she had been stronger, she could have survived. But if she had survived, I would not have met the family whom I loved so deeply. Maybe that made me a horrible daughter, to rejoice in the death of my mother so I could become family to others.
I was only a few months old when my new family decided to leave for the New World. Finn and I were the only children at the time, although Esther was heavily pregnant with Elijah. He was born soon after we arrived, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik quickly following in succession.
I remember when we were younger, we would all get along for the most part. I doted on Rebekah, as she was my only sister, and she looked up to me. Elijah and I were the fastest of friends and even Finn enjoyed my company somewhat. Rebekah and Kol were very mischievous, but they often bothered me less than the others because I was Rebekah's favorite, aside from Henrik. Henrik, the baby of the family, was everyone's favorite. He even managed to break through Mikael's cold exterior. Niklaus, however, was not so lucky. His father despised him, constantly taunting him and calling him weak.
Mikael seemed to despise all of us at points, although Niklaus received the brunt of his father's hate. I was Mikael's second least favorite, although he told me before that he disliked me because I was not his own and that I was trying to replace his Freya. I never received the physical abuse given to Niklaus, but Mikael was not above verbally abusing me. The only one to constantly remind me that I was not worthless was Elijah. I do not know if I could have survived all those years without Elijah's support. I doubt Niklaus could have either.
Esther had noticed how close Elijah and I had been for a while. She had spoken to me on many occasions about marriage, hinting that Elijah and I could make a good pairing. I continually told her that Elijah was no more to me than a best friend. Besides, he was in love with another, as was Niklaus. Tatia, the most beautiful girl in the village according to most, had both young men wrapped around her finger. I disliked how she strung them both along, but I also resolved to keep my peace. If Niklaus and Elijah did nothing to prompt her to make a decision between them, then it was not my place to either.
I thought back to that night, when everything began to set me on this course my life had taken. It has been one thousand years, but everything was still as vivid as the day it occurred.
Samhain, 1001 A.D.
"Sister, would you care to join the dance?" Finn's voice cut through my thoughts. I smiled at my older adoptive brother before taking his hand and allowing him to lead me closer to the bonfire. My siblings may have believed Finn to be dull, but he did have a fun streak when you brought it out in him. Luckily, I was very skilled at bringing out his happier side.
We danced in time to the lively music, holding hands and laughing. Esther stood off to the side, helping the other women clean up after the meal. I should be helping her, but when I had offered, she had sent me off to enjoy myself, telling me I would only be young for so long. She smiled as she watched Finn and I before her gaze shifted to the side and her smile fell. Finn and I followed her eyes to see Niklaus dancing with Tatia. We watched as she paused and smiled in Elijah's direction before Niklaus grabbed her hand and drew her attention back to him. He lifted his mask so he could look into her eyes before placing a quick and chaste kiss on her lips. They separated moments later, Tatia blushing and looking at the ground while Niklaus grinned his dimpled smile. He grabbed her, pulling her close again, but her attention was distracted by Elijah leaving, a hurt expression tinging his features. I felt for my friend. The girl he loved seemed to have chosen his younger brother over him. Surprisingly, however, Tatia excused herself from Niklaus' side before going after Elijah.
"And just when we thought the girl had finally made her decision about which of my brother's she fancies," Finn said, shaking his head.
"Come, let us enjoy ourselves tonight," I said. "We need not concern ourselves with the drama of their love lives."
"Well, dear sister, you may want to concern yourself. You know how Mother has been wanting you to marry Elijah for a while, correct?" I nodded, listening attentively. "Well it seems she and Father may have decided that you shall be married to whichever of my brother's Tatia does not choose. Mother wants to keep you in the family, and if you marry one of my brother's, you shall be our real sister."
I sighed, gripping Finn's hand tighter. "If Esther and Mikael want me to marry one of your brother's, than I will. I would not be alive without them and I owe them my obedience. Although I do wish they would allow me to find someone of my own that I love."
"Lisette, I know you want to find love, but you are way beyond the marrying age. You are nearly four and twenty! You could have found love and birthed many children by now, if you had just settled down when you were asked all those years ago!"
I dropped Finn's hand, stilling our dance as others continued to frolic around us. "I refused Adam's proposal for good reason. He was abusive and I did not want to live in that environment for the rest of my life, nor bring children into that kind of torment. I shall see you later, brother. Thank you for informing me of Esther and Mikael's plans. It gives me some things to think about." With that, I turned away from Finn and walked over towards my adoptive mother.
She looked at my expression once before sighing. "I assume Finn has told you what I asked him not to," she said.
"You mean about me marrying the loser of Tatia's love contest? Yes, I heard," I responded in a put off tone.
"Now, Lisette, do not think of it that way."
"And how am I supposed to think of it? You and Mikael are so afraid of losing me from your family that you are going to make me marry one of your sons. They are like my brothers! And while I am sure I could grow to love either of them as more over time, it is such an odd thought!"
"Lisette, we do not want you to marry one of them because we are afraid to lose you. We want you to marry one of them so that you can be part of our family, in life and in name."
I sighed tiredly. "As I told Finn, I will go along with this because I owe you and Mikael my life. But be reminded, I will not be very happy about it."
"We shall take that into consideration," Esther said. "Now, off you go. Enjoy the rest of the night. I spoke with Tatia and she has told me she will chose either Elijah or Niklaus tonight, so we shall know by tomorrow which of them you are to marry. Then you two shall be joined in a month's time."
I walked away, frustration boiling inside me. How I wished I could make Esther understand!
"Are you alright. Lissi?" A voice asked, grabbing my wrist. I pasted a smile on my face as I turned to the man who had grabbed me.
"Of course, Nik, I am perfectly fine."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "You do not look it."
I felt the smile slip off of my face. "I guess you are right, Niklaus. Something is bothering me, but it is not important."
"Of course it is important, dear Lisette. If something troubles you, you must tell me and then Elijah and I shall vanquish it for you."
I laughed lightly at his chivalrous attitude. "Well, if you must know, Esther and I got in a disagreement."
"Shocking," he said in a smart tone. I shot him a look. "I only mean to say that you and mother never fight," he said in a playfully defensive tone. "I am surprised the two of you would have a disagreement."
"Yes, well she is trying to control my future again."
'Yes, Mother does have a bad habit of putting her nose where it is not always welcome," Nik responded. "I love her dearly, but she also has an intense desire to always be in control of every situation."
"Exactly," I muttered. "Anyways, you and Elijah won't have to wait long to find out what Esther and I were arguing about. You two will hear about it tomorrow when a decision is made."
"And what decision is that, dear Lisette?"
"One you shall have to wait to find out, dear Niklaus," I said mockingly. His smile disappeared, showing irritation, but I just laughed before kissing him on the forehead.
"I am exhausted from the events of the past two days have exhausted me. The sun has set some time ago, and we should be safe from the creatures lurking in the dark for one more year. I believe I shall retire now. Good night, Niklaus."
"Good night, Lisette. Sweet dreams." He pressed a kiss to my head as well before I stood up and walked back to our family home. I changed into my sleeping shift before laying down on the straw mat that Rebekah and I shared. I let out a long breath, trying to calm my nerves. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?
*Time Skip*
I woke up the next morning when the sun rose like I always do. I gently roused Rebekah next to me and she she sat up tiredly with a displeased expression on her face. She did not enjoy our early morning chores.
I've never minded the early rising or the work. It's a good way to loosen any stiff muscles from sleep and get your blood circulating. We dressed quickly in our day wear before heading outside into the crisp morning chill. I pulled my cloak around me tighter before grabbing two of the four buckets outside the door, leaving the other two for Rebekah. I heard her trudging tiredly behind me as I led the way down to the river, breathing deeply to fill my lungs with the cool autumn air. I felt alive.
A sudden wave of dread hit me. I would be finding out my future today and who I was to spend the rest of my life with. A heavy weight settled on my heart, almost as heavy as the buckets full of water we were lugging back home from the river. We set three of them outside of our house when we got back like we did every morning, making sure to keep them in an area that would be shaded all day to preserve a little bit of the water's coolness. It would be used for drinks periodically throughout the day. The last bucket was brought inside to Esther, who was already awake and pulling out supplies to make breakfast. Niklaus and Elijah were getting around now, Henrik, Kol and Mikael still dead to the world. Finn was, as always, at Esther's side, helping her rebuild the fire.
While Esther began making the porridge, Rebekah and I headed out to the hen house to get the eggs and tend to the hens while Elijah and Niklaus fed the other livestock. Rebekah picked up the dozen or so eggs that had been laid while I scattered grain about the enclosure, guarding my nose against the reek of the fowl.
Kol, Henrik, and Mikael were awake by the time were returned. Mikael sat in his chair by the table, sharpening his knife. He was planning on slaughtering two of the older hens today for our dinner. Henrik was to help him, which explained why the youngest Mikaelson sat beside his father at the table, also touching up the blade of his weapon. Kol placed out the bowls at the table, the shallow cups and silverware resting beside them. Finn followed behind him with the bucket of water and a ladle, filling the cups with water. Breakfast was always my favorite part of the day, especially during autumn because the water was cold in the mornings but not yet frozen. It sadly cooled down a lot during the course of the day.
We older children set to making our beds as Esther began to ladle our breakfast into our bowls. We were all used to our morning routine, smoothing over any small differences with well practised grace. After I helped Kol straighten out the wrinkles of his and Henrik's bedcovers (Mikael disapproved of disorder) we all went to our assigned places at the table. Esther prayed to the ancestors while Mikael scowled at the wooden table. All was normal and good. But I knew this familiar feeling of contentment would not last. Later, my life and the life of either Elijah or Niklaus would be shattered by the announcement of our betrothal. I felt the anxiety eating my insides. My churning stomach would have stopped me from eating, but Mikael had a rule that if you did not finish everything at breakfast, you did not eat again until dinner time.
We ate in silence as usual. Afterwards, Rebekah and I helped Esther clean up while Mikael took the boys off to help around outside. I could hear the heavy thud and crack of wood splitting as an axe cut through it, so I knew at least one of the was chopping wood. That is good, because we have been running low. Rebekah and I laughed softly as we joked around and washed the dishes, Esther smiling softly at our antics while shaking her head.
We continued on with other chores around the home, right up until lunch time when Esther looked at me with a serious expression. "Rebekah, darling, why don't you go outside and make sure your brothers stay out of trouble. Your father, Lisette, Niklaus, Elijah, and I need to have a private discussion." Rebekah nodded obediently, although confusion marred her gaze when our eyes met. I gave her a tight lipped smile before nodding to reassure her I knew what was going on and that I would be fine.
She returned the smile before walking out the door, Esther following behind to fetch Niklaus and Elijah. I sat alone in the house that had been my home for the past three and twenty years. In less than a month, I would be leaving it, along with my new husband, whichever brother that may be, and moving into our own home to start our own family. I breathed deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. I could do this. I could make it through this. Regardless of whom I ended up betrothed to, I knew both Elijah and Niklaus were honorable men and would do right by me. That did help still my fears somewhat, although they still festered beneath the surface under my now collected facade.
The door opened and I looked up to see Elijah and Niklaus file into the room with blank expressions on their faces, although confusion was clear in their eyes. They each took a seat on either side of me while their parents took the chairs across from us.
"Now that we are all together in privacy, it is time for us to have a serious discussion about the future. You two have both been chasing after Tatia for nearly a year now, and she informed me last night that she has chosen who it is that shall be allowed to court her." Both men on either side of me held their breaths in anticipation, although Elijah seemed less anxious about the situation than Niklaus.
"Elijah, you have won Tatia's heart," Esther said swiftly, preferring to rip the bandage right off the wound and get it over with quick. Elijah relaxed, but Niklaus paled beside me, his face growing lighter as he realized what had happened. His fists clenched tightly beneath the table and I discreetly reached over and placed my hand over his, feeling the tension ease slightly beneath my touch. I could still sense his anguish however.
"This brings us to Lisette's presence here." At Esther's words, both brother's directed their attention to me. I felt my breath catch as I waited for Esther to explain. "Because Lisette is far beyond a normal marrying age, it is not likely that many other men will want her now that she is getting older. Mikael and I are concerned about her future and want to make sure that she remains protected in the future, which is why she will be marrying Niklaus."
"What?!" Niklaus roared, leaping to his feet and glowering angrily in his parent's direction. He ripped his hand away from mine as he did so. I folded it gently into my lap, trying not to feel the hurt from this rejection. I knew he loved Tatia and probably always would, but it hurt to know that he didn't even seem to care about me in the slightest. "She is my sister!" Niklaus shouted, oblivious to my distress.
"Sit down, boy," Mikael snarled, causing Niklaus to get a hold over his temper and sink back into his chair, boring holes into the table with his heated gaze. "Lisette is not your sister by birth, which makes it perfectly acceptable for you to wed her. I don't care if you never love her, you will marry her, you will care for her, and you will ensure that our family name continues. Is that understood?" I cringed at the reference to children. I hadn't really put much thought into that yet.
"Yes," Niklaus bit out.
"Yes what?" Mikael hissed.
"Yes sir," Niklaus ground out, his teeth clenched to contain his anger.
"We will leave you two to discuss your future together," Esther said as she stood from her chair. "Elijah, come," she ordered, and he followed her out the door, soon followed by Mikael, who didn't leave before threatening Niklaus with bodily harm if he destroyed anything in the house out of rage. It could always be arranged that I married Finn or Kol, he had said, hinting at an ominous threat.
I closed my eyes as Mikael's footsteps advanced towards the door, the resounding thud of the shutting door echoing through my very soul. It was just us now. This should be interesting.
Hopefully you've enjoyed the first chapter of my first story! Updates should be fairly regular and I do have about 10 other chapters written so far, so I will hopefully stay on top of updates! *fingers crossed* Thank you so much for reading!
~Calli
