When Klaus gets the news that his Queen is dead. It is denial that hits him first. Then anger. He would go into fits of rage. The anger of not being there for her burned through him. If he could not save his Queen, then how was he to protect his kingdom?
His court did not make anything easier. He knew they were standing just outside his chamber door as they listened to him destroy the furniture in his room. He hated his court. Only there to amuse him, having no opinion of their own, only thinking about their silly love affairs.
It was his anger at his courtiers that led him to the garden. He had left the palace in a storm, demanding no one come with. He was determined to go someplace where no one would bother him. And that is how he ended up in Stefan Salvatore's garden. Monsieur Salvatore was a one of many royal gardeners who had been hired to help with picking out the plant life for his new gardens at Versailles.
When Klaus first left, he had no idea where was going, but as the carriage left the palace grounds, he remembered Monsieur Salvatore. He only had met him once, and quite liked the man. He had been humble and was truly passionate about his plants. So he directed the carriage to Marseilles, where Monsieur Salvatore resided.
Stefan Salvatore had been working in his garden when the royal guard showed up telling Stefan that the king demanded to be in his garden alone. Monsieur Salvatore had no choice but to abandon his work and go back to his house, about a mile away.
Klaus had not really been paying attention when he first entered Salvatore's garden. The depression had taken over in the carriage, and now as he was taking off his coat and sitting down on the old wooden bench he was starting to wonder what he could have done.
He sat there for some hours in the sun, surrounded by flora. Thinking if he could have done anything differently.
He was deep in thought when she came. He hadn't even heard her opening the garden's gate.
"Oh!" a feminine voice exclaimed. Klaus looked up to see a beautiful dirt covered woman.
"Forgive me, Monsieur Salvatore, you surprised me," she smiled at him, and Klaus was speechless. This woman thought he was Stefan Salvatore! She did not even recognize her own King!
"I am Madame Caroline Forbes, I am from the Office of Building of Versailles to order the shrubs I require from your good self," she did a little curtsy as she introduced herself formally, "I have brought with me a selection of perennials and other flowers that we could exchange, as a thank you for your fine work."
Klaus was speechless as she talked. Not once in his life had anyone not known who he was. As he listened he observed her more. Her dress was plain, a rough brown color, perfect for her kind of work as a gardener apparently, and a rough off white shall was draped around her shoulders and tied in the front. Definitely a working woman. A beautiful working woman, who had no idea who he was.
Klaus remained quiet as he contemplated this situation.
Caroline Forbes began to fidget in the silence, not knowing how to take Monsieur Salvatore's silence. She had been excited to meet the master, for he was well known in the field for having a great amount of knowledge of fruits, and flowers.
She looked around the garden, a most beautiful garden, filled with flowers of all kinds, vegetables and fruits. A particular flower caught her eye.
"Is this the four seasons?" she asked. She approached the grouping of light pink flowers. They had bloomed well, and the color was radiant.
"Yes, I believe they are," Klaus finally replied. He still did not know how to make of the situation. Should he be offended? Were it not that people were supposed to be able to recognize his divine right as the ruler of France?
He watched slightly fascinated as Madame Forbes bent and smelled the flower, a small smile graced her lips. "Divine, and a radiant color," she said, and turned back to him. It was then that Klaus realized that he liked this. She was so natural in this element, and he knew the moment it was revealed that he was her King everything would change.
"You said, that you have a selection of plants?" he asked.
Caroline nodded, "Yes, I was able to move them into a cart and brought them down to be conveyed but no one seems to be around." The confusion of this was evident.
"I sent them away," Klaus explained, "I wanted to be alone."
At this Caroline started, "Oh, forgive me. I can come back if you need me to."
That was not what Klaus wanted, "No, no. You are the exact company I needed. I needed some advice on perennials any way."
And so Klaus would pretend to be Stefan Salvatore, because Stefan Salvatore did not have to run a nation, have a dead queen, and sniffling courtiers following him all day. No Stefan Salvatore was just a gardener, a simple person. Something Klaus desperately needed at the moment.
Klaus rose from the bench, "Allow me to assist you Madame."
Caroline smiled at him, a beautiful smile as radiant as the four seasons. Klaus quite liked her smile. "Thank you," she said, "You are most kind."
They started walking side by side, heading towards the exit of the garden. A small silence fell over them, and Caroline searched for something to say. "I know you are a devoted pear man, master," she said, referring to Monsieur Salvatore's work with pears. However, Klaus did not catch on to this.
"I like them, but by not much," he responded, thinking the question quite odd.
Caroline stopped immediately, and Klaus had to turn around to face her, "I think you must be playing a trick on me," she said, confused.
"A trick?"
"Yes, I have read your book on pears," Caroline said.
Monsieur Salvatore wrote a book on pears? Klaus was a bit baffled by this. It appears that the simple man, became simpler.
"Of course, my book on pears," Klaus tried to recover, "I believe I said I liked them a lot . . ." He almost cringed at that. What a stupid thing to say. He was the King of France, and he was floundering about in front of this woman because he had nothing to say about pears.
He could tell that Madame Forbes was suspecting of something. He did not like that suspicious glint in her eye, however she kept walking on and Klaus followed her.
"Do you like flowers, master?" she asked politely.
"Yes I like them a lot, however I do not get to use them as much as I like," Klaus said, he thought of his plans for Versailles how he wanted the place covered in flowers, but Master Lorenzo – the man in charge of the gardens - was against it. The sudden anger and frustration from before bubbled in him at the thought of it and suddenly he was rambling, "You see Master Lorenzo is entirely against having flowers at Versailles, but he indulges me with some parterres. I was hoping to convince him when we take up residence, however –"
Klaus stops when he realizes his mistake, as he sees Madame Forbes starting to curtsy low to the ground.
"It seems you are a smart woman, Madame," he said, as she straightened. Caroline gave him a look, one that said he should have known. "Can we ignore all of that? Today I am Monsieur Salvatore," he said, hoping she would go along. He needed it to last a little bit longer, before he could accept.
Caroline smiled again, but it was not the same sunny smile as before, more of an honest one. "Yes, we can, and you are," she responded.
Klaus motioned for them to go forward, and they left the garden.
"Are you looking forward to the move to Versailles," she asked as they approached the cart.
Klaus almost chuckled at that. Versailles was a great change for everybody. "I know it is upsetting for everybody, but being in the city stifling. I feel if I do not move in soon, the builders will not move out. Are you familiar with builders Madame?" he asked.
"Actually," she responded, "I am building in your gardens at Versailles."
This surprised Klaus immensely. He had recognized that she had the build of a skilled worker. He could see it in how she dressed and in her hands. He even saw it in her body, her arms were lean and strong. But it was such a rare thing for a woman to be a builder in these times. He was immensely impressed.
"What project?"
"The rockwork grove," she responded, the pride of it seeping into her voice just a little. He could see the light in her eyes brighten just a bit when she spoke of it. He could tell she had a passion for this. It had been a long time since he had seen such passion.
"I know of it," he said, "When Master Lorenzo showed me the plans I was most impatient to see how it would finish."
Caroline seemed to beam at this, "I am flattered, though I cannot claim all the credit. Master Lorenzo helped refine the rough edges of it all." Her voice had a reverence about it when she said his name.
"Do you like the Master Lorenzo?"
"He is a good friend, but I mostly admire his work," she started off, but then she leaned in conspiratorially, and Klaus could not help but do so as well, "But sometimes he can be a bit of an ass."
A grin broke across Klaus's face and suddenly he was laughing. Klaus tried to think about the last time he heard a woman curse like that, or even say such a thing about a person – though it was not a lie, Lorenzo could be a bit of an ass sometimes - , and no event came to mind. He heard a smaller laugh coming from his companion and he looked at her as she tried to cover her mouth as they laughed together.
They laughed together for a bit, and finally Klaus said, "Well I am glad that I am not the only person with that same opinion."
Caroline smiled at this. Klaus turned to the cart, "So these are your flowers."
The two unloaded the cart fairly quickly. Caroline took the largest loads while Klaus took the smaller ones once he realized he did not have the strength. Life as a King did not allow someone to gain strength he sincerely wished he was as strong as the woman before him. It only made him admire her more.
After they unloaded the cart, Caroline perused through the garden and picked out the shrubs she wanted. She explained to Klaus the species of each, and their meanings, what they would bring to the garden. For some she skipped off leaves and twigs so she could plant, while others she dug out pieces of root to plant.
Once the work was done, they picked some ripe pears form Salvatore's tree, and ate in silence.
"My wife died recently," the words came out suddenly, he did not know why he was telling her this.
Caroline nodded solemnly, "I heard, sire," she took a breath and responded, "I remember the day of your marriage.
Klaus gave a light chuckle, "I would hope so. It cost enough. Though her father did pay for a large portion of it," Klaus almost stopped. Almost.
"She was innocent honestly. But she was nice, devoted to me," Klaus almost could not believe how devoted she had been. No one had been so loyal. He reached for coat pocket, pulled how a tiny book. Her book.
"I found this after she died," he said, and showed Caroline the book, "It's just an account of our lives. The writing's almost like a child. Like here: 'Today I saved a flower from his Majesty' and then the time and place."
Caroline looked at Klaus with something in her eyes, something he could not place. "This woman's secret life," he shrugged, "I feel its loss."
Silence came over again, and suddenly Klaus was sure of the words that came out, "I will have to marry again, but this time I want it to be someone I choose," he said.
"Do you have someone in mind," she asked, genuinely curious.
"Possibly, but she is of no birth, so I am in a precarious position," he responded, not looking at her.
"Well, if the ceremony were private, just between the couple, no one would have to know. Then afterwards no would could say anything against it. They couldn't," she said, a mischievous glint in her as she suggested that the King of France should elope.
Klaus chuckled at this, "You are a very clever woman, Madame Forbes."
She shrugged as she took another bite out of her pear. "What about you? What drives you? What are your hopes and dreams? Is there someone you love?" he asked her.
Her smile seemed to lessen at this question, "That is not an easy question. I love many things, and people," she began, "And I could not tell you the first thing about my hopes and dreams."
"And why not," he pried.
"Because they are private," she replied, almost haughtily, "Besides you would not want to hear of it. And as for what drives me," she stopped for a second, as if to contemplated on what to say, "My work drives me. It gives me purpose, and it gives me independence. It tells me I can do anything I want to do."
Caroline stared back at Klaus, and smile broke across his face at this. Yes. That was Madame Caroline Forbes. There was more to her than being a simple gardener, and there was more she was not saying, but he would accept that.
"Well, either way Madame, it appears it is time for us to face our pasts, and start living in the present," he said, and he stood up and grabbed his coat. He must again become the King of France.
Suddenly an idea came to him, "I shall write a letter," he said, as he lowered himself back down to the bench, "that will bring you to court, so I can keep my eye one you."
Caroline was surprised by this and tried to protest, "Sire, I – "
But he stopped her by standing up, and he turned towards her again.
"I shall not forget our day in the garden, Madame Forbes," and with that, Klaus turned around and left the garden. Leaving a stunned Caroline to stay seated on the little old bench.
Klaus was sure of many things when he walked towards Salvatore's house where his coach was.
He had accepted his wife death. He was ready to move on.
And he was ready to keep this woman so full of light and strength in his life. Whether as his gardener, in court, or in some other form.
That's it. This drabble was inspired by a scene from the movie A Little Chaos. The meaning of this scene in the movie is completely different from this story, and I'm slightly sorry for changing it for shipping purposes. But what ever.