Title: Arranged Marriage
Pairing: Klaroline
Rating: T
Summary: Klaus, conqueror and reigning king, has requested Caroline's hand in marriage. Given no way to refuse, Caroline accepts. However, Caroline is an assassin, and her mission is to end Klaus' reign. KLAROLINE. KINGDOM AU.

Prologue

"Really, Elijah, there's nothing to worry about."

His brother fixed him with a disbelieving gaze, and a stern frown, but Klaus simply shrugged at his look. "It's simple, really. Arranged marriages happen all the time."

"Yes, but killing off your bride-to-be in six months doesn't."

Klaus couldn't help letting out a bark of laughter at his brother's words, and before responding, lifted the glass in his hands to take another sip of fine, cultured wine. "I'm sorry, brother, is six months too short? Maybe we should go for a year. That'll be sure to get the Council off my back."

When Elijah didn't answer in favor of giving Klaus a foreboding stare, Klaus sighed. "Elijah, Elijah, where's your sense of adventure? We certainly never tried this before. And besides, this will prevent a war! We just need to get rid of one silly girl and no one will be the wiser. Accidents happen all the time, my dear brother."

Elijah slowly nodded at his words, though the furrow in his eyebrows didn't go away. "I just don't think I'll be able to treat her nicely if I know she'll be killed off in a manner of months."

"Then don't. You surely don't have to treat…" he trailed off as he searched his memory for the name of his new bride. "What was her name again?"

"Caroline," supplied Elijah, and this time there was a slight quirk to his brother's lips.

"Ah, yes, Caroline. You don't have to treat her nice at all. Me, on the other hand," and here his smile became dark and predatory, "she'll be so in love with me that when I kill her, she won't even know what hit her."

It had become a routine to her. Sharpening her daggers, oiling the leather that held them, and then hiding them in her bodice. These things all came as natural to her as gossip had come natural to her in her teenage years. Wistfully, Caroline thought back to those carefree days, when her biggest worry was which guy had been checking her out and her happiest moments were the ones she spent with Bonnie and Elena.

It was funny to think that those days were what was going to save her.

After she had turned twenty, she had been told the truth about the neighboring country. There was always a sense of mystery about Mystic Falls, but since the kingdom was so strong, no one ever dared to utter anything bad about them. Mystic Fall's empire was steadily growing, and it was all thanks to the new king Klaus. Ever since Klaus had been put into power, it seemed as if all the country wanted was more land and cared about little else. Unfortunately, that greed had worked out for them, and now Mystic Falls encompassed most of the neighboring lands. The Council was the last kingdom that was standing in between Mystic Falls and world domination. And unfortunately, with the arranged marriage, that was soon to change.

When the letter had come asking for a peaceful agreement, it had been disguised as a request. But it was obvious to everyone, that the letter was an order, and not an agreement. Although the Council matched Mystic Falls in resources and land, it could not dare to compete against Klaus' world elite army. As such, the arranged marriage was the royal family's only hope.

Thankfully though, the king had one daughter who had kept to the shadows most of her life. As such, she had never been introduced to the public eye and Caroline, a now renowned assassin in her own right, could take her place in the marriage to Klaus. It was deceit, in a way, but it was the only way to stop the Conqueror.

Caroline didn't lie to herself though. She knew this request was going to be anything but easy. She had only five years of training under the tutelage of her mother, and definitely shouldn't be the one taking on this job. But she was the only one qualified. Stefan and Damon weren't the right gender, and Katherine had a fiery streak to her that made it impossible for her to pass off as a silly airhead. That left only her.

But that didn't mean she was going to fail. Klaus' reign had to be stopped, and if she had to put away her pride to do so, she would.

Pausing in her thoughts, Caroline unscrewed the cap that kept the red liquid in its container. Sticking a long brush inside of it, she quickly took it back out and slowly stained her lips blood-red. With her pale skin, big blue eyes, and now strikingly red lips, Klaus wouldn't be able to say no to a single request.

Gathering her long skirts, she stood from the stool in front of the dresser and headed toward the door. She hesitated before she left, turning to look at her reflection in the long mirror and sighing as she caught a look of herself. She hadn't been so dolled up since she was a teen, and to see it now made her grimace.

But her heart beat faster to think of the games to come. She couldn't wait to make a fool out of Klaus and of the court who would think her nothing but a simpering young noble with only air for thoughts.

With a slow smirk, she spoke to herself, "This is going to be fun, isn't it?" And then swept out of the room.

A/N: just throwing this out here to see if people like! :) Please review and fav and alert! It makes me happy like no other ^_^