England, 1491

"Brother!" Kol greeted Elijah cheerfully. "It has been a while."

"Yes, it has," Elijah replied. "I was not aware that you were in England."

"Oh, I just arrived. I was in France; Paris is lovely this time of the year."

"Yes, I am sure it is."

Kol glanced at a servant boy who was standing quietly next to the wall and motioned him to fill his goblet. They were in the library; Elijah had just been informed that his brother had arrived.

"So, how are Bekah and Nik?" Kol asked and casually lifted his feet onto the table. He was sitting on Elijah's favorite chair in front of the fireplace.

"They are both fine," Elijah replied.

"Hmm. Nothing new?"

"Well… There are some things."

Kol didn't seem even slightly curious.

"Oh let me guess, Bekah have found another poor devil she thinks she is in love with and Nik is planning to kill him? Am I right?"

"Not quite, brother."

"What then?"

Elijah didn't have time to reply when a young woman entered the library. She was very young, only 14 and she was wearing a light purple gown. Her big doe eyes widened in surprise as she noticed Elijah and Kol.

"Oh, pardon me, my lord," she said and curtsied. "I did not mean to disturb you and your guest."

"That is quite alright, my lady," Elijah replied kindly. "As I said, you are welcome to come here whenever you like."

"Thank you, my lord, you are very kind."

Kol observed the girl before lazily standing up.

"And who might this little beauty be?"

Elijah hesitated for a brief moment before replying.

"Brother, this is the Lady Bethany. My lady, this is my brother the Lord Kol."

"Honor, my lord," she said, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"The honor is all mine," Kol replied. "Are you a guest here, my lady?"

"No, my lord, this is my home."

Kol raised an eyebrow and looked at Elijah.

"Her home?"

"Yes, brother," Elijah replied calmly. "Lady Bethany is Niklaus' wife."

For the first time in almost five centuries Kol was speechless. He stared at the girl disbelievingly.

"What? Are you kidding?"

The girl looked hurt, but she got over that quickly and forced a smile on her face.

"No, my lord. I had the honor to marry your brother."

"Please forgive my brother, my lady," Elijah said. "He is tired after his long journey; he did not mean to disrespect you."

"Of course, my lord," the girl replied. "I shall leave you to talk, excuse me."

She curtsied again before leaving the room. Kol was still stunned and Elijah couldn't deny that the look on his face amused him. Kol certainly wasn't speechless very often.

"What… Nik married a child?"

"Yes," Elijah replied calmly. "You know it is customary here to marry noble girls off when they are still young."

"Yes, young, but that one is a child. Why on Earth Nik married her? And how did you allow that?"

Those were both very good questions. When Niklaus had informed what he was planning to do, Elijah had been outraged. He hadn't believed what he was hearing and he had thought that Niklaus had lost his mind. As Kol had pointed out, the girl was still a child. A very innocent child. Elijah had become very fond of her during the time she had lived with them.

He couldn't imagine who could hurt someone like her and he couldn't deny that he had thought that his brother had lost what was left of his humanity and truly become a monster. For once he was nothing but happy for being wrong. What Niklaus had done for this girl… It seemed that there was still some hope for him after all.