Updates won't generally come out this fast. I just had this chapter like, 90% written. For Canon-ish day :) Thank you to ckhybrid for welcoming me into her home and betaing this for me.
"Welcome back. I hope you found your winter break relaxing," the Headmistress said from the high table, her spine perfectly straight, hands clasped in front of her. All the students were gathered in clusters around the small round tables scattered in the dining hall, some over-crammed with chairs if the group was slightly too big. As the headmistress listed off a few of the events during the upcoming semester, Caroline leaned over to Bonnie, who was sitting next to her, trying to be subtle as she texted on her mobile floo under the table.
"I need to talk to you tonight," Caroline hissed. "Something happened over break."
"Can it wait? Luka and I were supposed to meet by the—"
"I'm getting married."
"You're what?" Bonnie asked, her voice just a bit too loud, and the entire table turned to look at them. Bonnie flashed them a glare, and they all turned back to the high table. Bonnie turned to look at Caroline with wide eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well, soul bond technically, but it has the legal effect of one," Caroline said, pressing on as Bonnie opened her mouth to ask another question. "Apparently I've been stuck in an arranged marriage contract my entire life and no one bothered to tell me, and my super-old vampire future husband turned up and was like, 'Hi, ready to get married?' and I was like, 'Seriously?' and then he was like, 'Yep seriously, here's a contract signed in blood' and then I was like, 'no you're old and gross and you drink human blood to live,' and—"
"Okay, yeah. I can cancel," Bonnie interrupted, her eyes wide. "Let me, um... I'll text Luka. Jesus, Care..."
"Yeah, basically," Caroline muttered darkly, stabbing the chicken that had just appeared on the table with her fork. "So, how was your break?"
"Comparatively uneventful."
"Well, duh. But like, anything fun? At all? I need a distraction, Bon."
Bonnie slowly began to talk about her break, and Caroline let herself got lost in lightly teasing her about her new relationship with Luka and shit-talking Abby so that Bonnie wouldn't have to. It was nice to forget, even for a little while, what she'd have to do.
By the time they made it back to their rooms though, an uncomfortable feeling of foreboding was creeping back. Everyone had single rooms at Ilvermorny with small common rooms for each year of students, which were all connected to the big common room for the house, and Bonnie sat next to her on the plush couch of the seventh year girls' common space, looking at her expectantly.
"Okay, so this wedding thing..."
Caroline let out a sharp breath, fiddling with the hem of her blouse. "Right, so...apparently a bajillion years ago Klaus Mikaelson-"
"Who?"
"One of the first ever vampires who's also a werewolf. He's super old. Anyway, apparently he did my family a favor and so they promised him that the next woman born into the line would marry him."
"And then your family had no girls for centuries," Bonnie finished, wrinkling her nose. "So I'm guessing you met him?"
"Yeah, and he's the actual worst. He literally told me to 'come along'. Who does that? He just like, expected me to hop on a plane with him and be his trophy wife."
"Wow."
"Yep."
Bonnie was silent for a few seconds, her brow furrowed, and Caroline was about to break the silence when she spoke again. "I can ask my grams if she can try to find a way to break the contract for you?"
Caroline was seriously tempted. She didn't want anything to do with Klaus, and she wanted nothing more than to escape the entire situation. Unfortunately, she knew that Klaus wasn't going to let it go, that if she betrayed him her entire family would probably be wiped out, and when she tried to explain that to Bonnie, her friend shot her a disgusted look.
"Even more of a reason. You can't just resign yourself to this."
"I mean, I kind of have to. The contract is binding and the elders signed it. I don't even know how we'd go about the process of breaking it, especially since we probably only have a few weeks at most to figure it out. Plus, even if we did figure it out, I'm not risking my family for that. The good news is that if we do end up doing the ritual, he can't hurt me because of the bond."
"You need to stop looking at the bright side. This is terrible."
"I can't help it. It's the only way I'll stay sane."
"Well, at least if you're glued to him and he can't hurt you because of the bond you can do everything in your power to make his life miserable."
Caroline grinned. She might have spent the last few days having elaborate fantasies about ruining any and all plans Klaus shared with her. She wanted him to be miserable for putting her through this. If he was going to tie himself to her, she'd make damn sure he regretted it.
"Oh don't worry, Bon. I am way ahead of you on that. He's going to regret signing that contract."
"Okay..." Bonnie said, though Caroline knew that they'd probably be having the conversation again. Bonnie was probably going to lock herself in the library and research her ass off. A part of Caroline really wanted her friend to find a way to break the ritual, but the realistic part of her had to acknowledge that it was too dangerous.
Klaus was the real deal. After he'd left and she'd calmed down she'd managed to track down some information about him on one of the "fantasy mythology" websites that was actually a real magical encyclopedia, and she hadn't even absorbed the half of it when he'd visited. He was a vengeful, petty murderer who seemed to have no regard for anyone other than himself. She wasn't sure why he'd want her anyway. Sure, she had a mirror, she knew she was attractive, but her gut instinct was telling her that he wasn't just after a hot trophy wife. He could probably walk into any bar he wanted and go home with multiple women. At once.
No, he was after something else. She'd already gathered that he wanted to be immune to her allure, but she couldn't help but think that there was something more.
She'd find out at some point. For now, she just had to survive, and make sure the rest of her family and friends did too.
XXX
Caroline nearly groaned out loud when she came back to her room from her first Arithmancy class of the semester to see Klaus standing at her window, looking out on the grounds. She dropped her bag on her bed and busied herself with having a brief internal debate about whether she wanted to take her outer robe off or not before deciding she might as well and shedding it, leaving her in her uniform. If he got too grossly stare-y she'd just hex him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting down as far away from him as possible, glaring when he turned to face her, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Hello to you too, love."
"Hi," she said impatiently. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk about the ritual."
She nodded jerkily, fiddling with her wand and wrinkling her nose when red sparks shot out, singing her school skirt. "I don't even understand why you want to marry me anyway. I don't see what you're getting other than mouthy arm candy, so—"
"Marriage is a pointless human convention," he interrupted calmly. "It used to be used for alliances, and that's what I want. I want your power. Your magic."
"My magic?"
"Yes."
"Um, last I checked there are lots of witches, and I'm sure a lot of them are idiots who would claw my eyes out for a chance at you. Go kidnap one of them."
"As flattering as your assesment of my appeal is, sweetheart, I meant your aura. You have control over others, should you wish to exert it."
"You do too. You can compel people."
"Not witches or warlocks."
She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, okay. I see. Mind controlling non-mags and vampires isn't enough for you. You need to control witches too. What are you planning on doing, making them pretend to like you?"
He gave her a pointed glare. "No. I need allies."
"Allies? For what?"
"You don't need to know," he said, glancing at her before turning back to look out the window at the manicured lawns.
"Um, if I'm helping you, yeah. I kinda do."
"A villain never discloses his evil plans to the help, sweetheart."
"I'm not the help," she snapped, her eyes narrowing.
"Oh? Then what are you?"
Out of context the smile on his face might have just been teasing, but his sharp gaze and quirked eyebrow told her that he was enjoying baiting her. He thought he was putting her in her place by reminding her that if she didn't want to be a pawn she had to acknowledge the role that had been forced on her.
"Whatever," she deflected. "Look, I'm not going to use my powers to help you. Like, the blood bond will tie me to you, but I'll still have free will, in case you didn't know. You can't force me to do anything."
He tensed, pushing back from the window to look at her, his eyes flashing gold, and she barely managed not to recoil.
"I know," he said, sinking into her desk chair without glancing away from her face. "But you will."
She gritted her teeth as he leaned back, propping his feet on her desk like he owned the place. It was an obvious display of power, of dominance, showing that he was completely comfortable with defiling her space.
"Why would I do that?" she gritted out, her nails biting into her palms at the infuriating smirk on his face.
"In the beginning because I'm threatening your family. Later because you'll want to."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll fall in love with me, of course," he said matter-of-factly, as though it was obvious and inevitable, and she couldn't help the incredulous bubble of laughter that escaped her.
"You know that's not how the bond works, right? It just projects and intensifies feelings, it isn't super choosey about which ones."
"Is that so?" he drawled.
She had a feeling he already knew everything about the bond, possibly more than she did, as she doubted he'd lock into powerful blood magic if he didn't know every single loophole, but she pressed on anyway. "Yes, and let me make one thing clear: I hate you. I will always hate you, and all you've done is lock yourself in a feedback loop of intensely feeling that hatred. Since the blood protection prevents you from hurting me directly or through someone else, you get to enjoy feeling it until I die. Have fun with that."
His eyes flashed again, and he pushed on the armrests to sit up more fully. When she spoke, his voice was deathly quiet. "Careful with that sharp tongue, sweetheart. There are ways to torture without leaving a single scratch."
"Yeah. There are. But you won't do it."
He quirked an eyebrow, his eyes boring into hers, and she took a shaky breath before continuing. "You're lonely. You want someone to love you."
She was mostly taking a stab in the dark. She had an inkling that she was right, a gut feeling. Even if she wasn't, maybe if she annoyed him enough by psychoanalyzing him he'd leave her alone.
He laughed, his head thrown back, the sound oddly sharp. "Very funny, love. If you think I'm some sort of anti-hero with a dark past who just needs the light of true love to be good—"
"No. You want someone to love you. Not the facade you put up for the world. It would be so much easier for you for me to fall head over heels for some lie, wouldn't it? But this bond terrifies you because you're giving me access to your innermost feelings, and you don't like it. You know that someone will finally see you, the real you, and run screaming. It'll confirm everything you hate about yourself, and you know that if you somehow manage to fool me into thinking you're worth caring about, you won't have to feel it."
His face darkened slightly but he wiped the expression away, and she realized that her stab in the dark had hit the nail on the head. Perfect.
"Have they started teaching psychology at Ilvermorny since I last visited?"
"No."
"Well I suppose that explains why you're horrible at it," he said, though there was no real bite to his tone. He was looking at her differently, eyes narrowed, assessing her without the amusement and indulgence that had been present before.
She knew that he'd never taken her seriously at all. He saw her as a tool, a stubborn little girl who would pout and protest until falling weak in the knees for his stupid dimples and empty compliments two weeks in.
But maybe now he'd gotten the memo that she was not going to bend, not even a little. She refused to resign herself to a life of misery just because some stupid elders a gajillion years ago signed her up for marriage with a monster. Yes, this was a life sentence, and she knew there was no way out of the bond itself, but if he wanted her powers and her body and her genuine affection then she would make damn sure that he had to work for it. She owed him nothing, and if he ever wanted anything to do with her, he'd have to learn to treat her well. He'd have to respect her.
She glared at him resolutely with her arms crossed over her chest, never letting her stink eye falter, and his face was closing down as he stared back. It seemed to be dawning on him that she could pose a legitimate threat to him. Not physically, but strategically. Emotionally.
And as far as she could tell, there was nothing Klaus hated more than feeling insecure.
Suddenly he leaned back again, his muscles relaxing, a small smirk playing on his lips, and she wasn't sure whether it was because he'd decided that her threats were empty or because he'd made a plan, but it didn't bode well. "Stubborn little thing, aren't you love?"
"I'm not a thing," she bit out, all too aware that he was deflecting, trying to steer their conversation away from how she'd read him. She knew better than to think he'd admit that she was right, admit what he perceived to be a weakness, but she still wouldn't give him an inch on his behavior.
Her eye twitched as some mud from the bottom of his boot smeared on the polished mahogany.
"And get your foot off my desk. It's gross."
"As the lady commands," he said dryly, moving his feet to the floor and standing, his forearms flexing as he stood up from the chair. "Be ready at eleven o'clock on Friday. I'll come for you."
"Fine."
"The apex is at approximately two in the morning, so please do have the sense to dress appropriately. I can't have my bride contracting hypothermia, hmm?"
"Whatever," she muttered. She was fairly sure that he was only bringing up wedding words to piss her off and she refused to be baited.
"Now, Caroline, let's not get testy. Where's that positive attitude that was described so fondly in your letters of recommendation?"
She tensed. "Letters of recommendation?"
"You can't have thought that I'd come collect you without every bit of information I could possibly gather, sweetheart. I happened to know that Madame Dubois thinks quite highly of you. Glowing reviews. You'd almost think she was put under your-"
"All of the professors have preventive amulets that Ilvermorny has held since its founding to prevent the thrall taking effect," Caroline bit out. "And just FYI, I would rather contract hypothermia than marry you."
"Hmm, and wouldn't that be a shame. I have no doubt that you're clever enough to know what would happen to you in that case?" he asked, pressing on before she could talk. "It'd be similar to the situation you'd be in if you tried to harm yourself in any way before the ritual. I'd feed you my blood and provide a warm, safe bed for you to rest up in. You'll be right as rain in no time at all. I'd even provide someone trustworthy to ensure that you stay just where I want you."
She felt her eyes prick with helpless tears, her hands curling into fists. "Fine, but to be clear. This soul bond wedding thing? Only in name. I will not stay in the same house with you, let alone your room. You will not touch me. Ever."
"I'm many things love, but those I take to bed are always willing. I don't need compulsion or coercion to tempt those with good taste, no matter their initial pretenses of disinterest," he said, reaching to run the tip of his finger down her cheekbone, and this time she did recoil, stepping back.
"Good, because I wouldn't touch you if you were the last man on earth."
"For now," he said, a boyish grin cutting dimples into his cheeks, and she froze as he reached for her hand, her eyes widening as he brought it up to his mouth to his lips, brushing them over her knuckles. "So, sweetheart. Friday?"
"It's a date," she bit out, wrenching her hand away, and he gave her a smile that was all teeth. She blinked and he was gone, the curtains rustling in his wake.
I hope you guys liked this! Any thoughts on the dialogue? The plot? Are they in character? Predictions?
Feedback is how I get better and I adore it! Thank you so much for reading :D