The wooden boards creaked as Stefan, two overprotective guards, the man who supposedly stole from the kingdom, and I all stood awaiting Stefan's next move. Stefan had caught this man from the village taking one of the red apple's from the castle and was now determined to provide him with the ultimate punishment. I was completely against any harm that would go towards this man, he was clearly hungry and we have plenty of apple's to spare. However Stefan did not feel as kindly as me, anyone who crossed him was to be punished, no matter how small or large the crime is. Stefan held the man by the arm, displaying to the rest of the village what the consequences of thievery was in our kingdom. He may only be the Prince of the town, but he could overpower his father any day, or even mine.
"Look upon this man's face." Stefan pushed the man viciously forward, forcing him to almost fall off the gallow. "Look at the fear in his eyes, the regret of having stolen from my castle. Look deep into his soul and take note of every emotion he is feeling in this moment, and remember those feelings, remember this moment next time you think of daring to try and challenge me." He gave this same speech every time a crime was committed in the village, the routine never changed, Stefan would say his speech then fasten the rope around the victim's neck, before dropping them to their death. After his final words he commanded the two guards that were standing with us to take the man over to the rope and perform the execution.
"Stefan." I said quietly, attempting to persuade him to think rationally, however he just shook off my words. The guards fastened the rope around the man's neck, and stood by the leaver preparing to drop him.
"Stefan he does not deserve to die, let him be!" I shouted, drawing the crowds attention. Stefan turned around sharply and stared straight at me.
"Quiet down, you're creating a scene." He said fiercely. Me? I'm creating a scene? I am not the one hanging a man from his neck because he stole an apple from my castle. However angry I was, I turned around and stayed silent, not wanting to witness the death of one of my people. As I turned around my eyes took focus on Stefan's older brother, Damon, whom was standing behind the gallow in the shadows, frowning at his brothers ways. His eyes met mine and we shared a moment of silence together for the man that was about to become deceased. I had not spent much time with Stefan's brother, we had not shared one conversation alone, it was a funny thing, that I had been engaged to be married to Stefan for a year now and not once had I shared a conversation with his brother. He was a very mysterious man, tall, dark, handsome, the accused bad brother, I heard stories about him, ones that I guess had influenced how much time I spent around him. Our eye contact broke when my eyes shut tightly at the sound of the man dropping to his death, my hands covered my ears but not in time to hear the gut wrenching sound of his neck breaking. The villagers gasped and followed my actions, covering their children's eyes and ears, protecting them from the harm of their prince. Stefan and Damon were the prince's of Mystic Falls, however their castle had been built on the border of the town and was given the name of Moonless Falls. Our castle was named after the main parts of the town, Mystic Falls. My father is the king of our land, however he is powerless when it comes to Stefan, Stefan is a persuasive man, he is also greatly liked. My father had chosen him for me to marry when I was 17, however we were not engaged until my 18th birthday. Stefan rules the town, but he is not in complete control until we are married and he becomes king. Stefan stood in front of the village sternly, proving his point even further, he showed no emotion on his face until he turned to me.
"Elena.." He began and reached for my arm. "Stand with me darling."
I shook my head with disgust and pulled away from his touch, then walking down the stairs behind the gallow. Damon watched me as I walked away and got into my carriage, then looked up at his brother whom was also watching me, however he was overflowing with anger and fury.
Later that night, our families gathered in my castle for supper, sitting at the long table, they laughed, ate, smiled, and acted as if today had not occurred.
"Elena sweetheart, aren't you going to eat your supper?" My father asked me, holding bread in his hands.
"I am not very hungry." I explained, I had lost my appetite after today's events.
"Oh don't be absurd, eat up! Don't tell me that you are squeamish at the sight of a little blood." Stefan laughed at his own remark, taking a stab at my gender.
"I am not squeamish at the sight of blood, unless it is the blood of an innocent man that is faced with a death penalty in order to enable someone else to appear more powerful, if he dies to send a message to villagers, then I become squeamish." I snapped back at him, his smirk quickly fading, and he became angry.
"Do you not believe in the death penalty?" Stefan's father asked curiously.
"If you mean taking the lives of our people for such petty things as thievery, rather than teaching them the right way, then no I do not believe in the death penalty." I explained, finally taking a bite of my food. The men grew silent, all staring at their plates, except for Damon, he smiled straight at me, approving my opinion, I smiled slightly back at him.
"Well I think I am to head off to bed." Stefan finally broke the silence, then came over and kissed me on the cheek. "Are you coming?" He asked me.
"I think I might stay a little longer." I replied.
"See you in the morning, sweetheart." I watched as he walked away, it was often a site I enjoyed seeing.
"Yes I think I will call it a night as well." One by one everyone else retreated to bed, until Damon and I were the only ones left at the table.
"And then there were two." He said, smirking.
"One, actually. I was about to leave too." I said apologetically, then pushed my chair back to stand up.
"Why do you not like me?" Damon asked, stopping me in my tracks.
"Pardon?" I stayed seated, suddenly intrigued by the conversation, well it was our first.
"You don't like me. Every time I see you, you give me a look as if I am some evil monster whom eats children for supper." He explained.
"I don't give you a look and I don't not like you." I defended.
"Yes you do. We've never even had a conversation before and you've already got your opinion on me set in stone." Damon argued, taking the placemat off of his lap and placing it on the table.
"I do not! How would you know that? Like you said we've never even had a conversation!" I gripped the edge of the table tightly, my frustration showing, he was utterly infuriating.
"I know that because I can tell, that is the kind of woman that you are." He copied my action, mocking me.
"Oh, yeah? Now who has a wrongly judged opinion on who?" I asked rhetorically.
"Why do you think that I'm the bad brother?" He asked calmly, my temper slowing.
"Because- because people talk! I hear stories, things that you do, or have done." I sat back in my chair, relaxing my body.
"I hear stories about you too, doesn't mean that I believe any of them." He copied my actions again, sitting back in his chair.
"Do you murder children?" I asked, half joking, half serious. Stories that I had heard about Damon terrified me, I guess now was a time to judge for real if they were true at all.
"Do you eat raw animals?" He replied, smirking.
"What?!" I was baffled as to where that accusation had come from, never would I ever eat a raw animal!
"Exactly." He smiled, proud of himself for making his point nice and clear.
I rolled my eyes and laughed out loud at his cleverness. "Perhaps I misjudged you, just a little."
"I never really believed that you were an animal killer." He mocked. "How about we put this behind us and try to get to know each other? I mean we are to become family soon."
"I'd like that." I smiled. "What did you have in mind?"
"There are these waterfalls near our castle, right on the border, Stefan and I used to bathe there when we were young, I can take you, if you would like?" He offered.
"As long as you don't murder any children on the way, sure." I teased.
AN: Hey kiddies this is a new fic i'm starting due to some graphics i made the other day and i felt like writing this, enjoy, let me know what you think, share it around, thanks love you guys!