Mikeal froze when he heard the cry. Esther.
He sprinted back towards his village, to his hut, but even his heightened speed would not get him there in time.
He smashed through the locked door and found his wife laying on the floor, her chest covered in blood. Beside her stood the boy he had believed for twenty years to be his son still holding Esther's heart in his hand, blood dripping onto the floor.
"What have you done, boy?" Mikeal demanded.
There were tears in Niklaus' eyes, but his voice was cold and angry. "Now she understands the pain of betrayal."
"I will kill you for this, boy." Mikeal growled.
"Add to the blood you have already spilt today, Father." Niklaus sneered.
"I am not your father. And you are not my son."
Niklaus tried to keep his stony facial expression, but Mikeal could see the hurt look in Niklaus' eyes, if for only a second. In an instant Mikeal was before Niklaus.
"I give you my word boy, for this atrocity, I will one day drive a steak through your heart."
"Do it now," Niklaus dared him.
"Rebekah is outside," Mikeal whispered dangerously.
Niklaus' eyes widened and he dropped Esther's heart. He tried to wipe his bloody hands, his mother's blood, onto his tunic.
"Father?" Rebekah called.
"One day, boy." Mikeal whispered.
Niklaus blinked and Mikeal was gone.
Rebekah walked in and her eyes met her brother's. Then she looked beside him, to her mother's body, and she cried out. She ran to her mother.
"Mother! Mother, no!" She knelt beside Esther's body. "Perhaps we can still save her, Niklaus." Rebekah said through her tears.
She bit her wrist and held it to her mother's lips.
Niklaus put his hand on her shoulder. "She is gone, Bek."
Rebekah burst into tears. "M-m-mother!" she cried.
Niklaus knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "It was Mikeal," he lied.
She turned and buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
After a few moments, she pulled away. "We cannot leave her like this Niklaus."
She stood, tears still streaming down her face.
"She is our mother. We must bury her." Niklaus said, taking Rebekah's hand.