Before
Caroline ran along the dirt path, her knees pumping energetically, hair streaming like kite tails out behind her. She barrelled down the small hill beside her cottage, and ran straight into her mother, the smell of home, and the soft, clean scent of her skirts against her fingers filling her with contentment.
"Mama, I caught a fish at the river, and it was this big" she said, throwing her arms wide. Her mother brushed the top of her curly head as she stepped past and continued to the wood store, starting to load her arms with firewood.
"That's wonderful darling. We can have it for supper" her mother said, and saw her daughters face turn apologetic.
"What is it, Caroline?"
"It looked so sad on the hook, and I worried it might be a mama fish, and it's little fishes would miss it… so.." she trailed off, glancing up guiltily at her mother. Elizabeth Forbes sighed quietly at her warm-hearted girl.
"So, you threw it back?" Caroline confirmed her suspicions.
"In that case, come and help me finish the pie I was already preparing for supper" Liz said, turning back toward the cottage, her little helper running along on her heels.
Later, as Caroline dozed by the small fire in their humble hearth, her golden head shining in the amber light, as Liz drew her needle through the darning, her eyes straining to see in the firelight, she let her mind drift to her worries, the place it usually went in the deep and silence forest nights.
She had tried to teach Caroline to be more ruthless, more selfish, anything that would stand her well to survive in this world in the future. She knew better than any that The Night Garden was an increasingly dangerous place, with new monsters that lurked in the shadows, the type that no witches' amulet could possibly deter. She worried she had failed her daughter, failed to teach her to fear the dark, and the creatures in it.
Despite her best efforts, Caroline remained as pure and trusting, as good and as full of light as she had ever been, the child born under twin new moons, the girl with a shard of starlight in her soul.
Her little girl was marked by her birth, by the universe. When she was older, they would come for her, she had been prepared for as much, though the thought of it still tore her in two. She longed to run away, hide in the mountains or withdraw deep into the forest, spend their days gathering berries and fishing in streams, alone and safe. Or sometimes she even dreamed of leaving this world, finding another place where her daughter was not marked, where she had an ordinary destiny.
Even as she wished it, she knew it was impossible. The Night Garden needed Caroline, needed balance in the creeping darkness. She only hoped her little girl, the flaming beacon of light, would continue to shine in the encroaching darkness, and maybe even start to beat it back, when the time came.
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In her first week at The Midnight Keep, Caroline barely saw another soul, in fact almost six days had passed since a young witch had slipped into her room and sat on the edge of the simple bedspread and none too gently shook the lump under the covers that was Caroline. At the tender age of 17, Caroline had struggled with accepting her new role in the kingdom, and especially the fact that it would involve forever being parted from her mother. She hadn't understood why her mother couldn't live with her in the castle, but in any case, there was no one to ask, no one to plead with, just stone faced guards who had shone up to escort her, on the day of her birth.
She had clung to her mother, her teeth slipping a river in the dirt of their garden, one she loved very much.
"But mama, I don't understand. I want to stay here with you" she had sobbed, her eyes straying to the frightening black carriage sitting close by, with an insignia that looked as though it were painted in blood.
"I know my sweet, starlit girl, but this is your destiny, and we cannot shy away from our duties in this world, or any other." Her mother kneeling to her daughters tear stained face, run her finger over her salted cheek.
"We are not those women Caroline, we are stronger than that" she said, and Caroline saw behind the pain, the pride her mother had, of being mother to a child of prophecy.
That had all been a week ago, a long week of lying in her simple cot in her largely unfurnished room, staring at the ceiling or crying into the pillow. She didn't care what they thought of her. She was in mourning for her life. Not that anyone had even approached her, other than a procession of different maids dropping food off for her, food that had largely remained uneaten. Until now.
"Hey, little doll… you have to eat something you know. No one else is going to tell you this, but if you don't eat something, when the Prince returns, he'll be furious, he'll probably kill all the servants who have attended you" the young witch whispered, sitting back as Caroline sat suddenly up, stricken.
"What? That's despicable." She gasped, her eyes meeting the large brown ones trained on her.
"Well, that's Klaus. He's already knows, he's on his way back. He's…. felt your weakness growing. I'm Katherine Pierce" she said, sticking out a hand that smelled of pounded herbs.
"Caroline Forbes. What do you mean he already knows?" Caroline asked, sliding her knees out the bed and reaching for the tray of cold food.
Katherine sat back against the bottom of the bed, her eyes straining over the room, a distasteful glint in her eye.
"Klaus knows everything in The Night Garden, or at least he thinks he does. However, when it comes to you, he probably does." Katherine said, snagging a withered apple from the tray, before changing her mind and dropping in onto the covers.
"I thought you'd get nicer quarters than us… strange"
"They are far bigger and fancier than my home" Caroline argued.
"Didn't you grow up in a hovel in the woods?" the other girl said, and Caroline felt a blush stain her cheeks, her mind flicking over the home she'd loved so much.
"It was perfect" she sighed softly.
"Well, you can always ask Klaus if he has worst rooms he can stick you in" Katherine suggested. She watched Caroline eat in silence.
"Are you afraid?" Katherine suddenly asked Caroline. Caroline stared back, and then slowly shook her head.
"Not afraid really, just sad." She said, forcing more cold food down her throat.
"What do you know of The Prince of the Dark?"
"Nothing really" Caroline admitted and saw understanding enter Katherine's eyes.
"I see, that explains it"
"Explains what?"
"Why you aren't more afraid."
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Two days later, the Prince arrived at the castle. Without any clothes other than the simple homespun ones she'd brought, Caroline tried her best to dress up at Katherine's urging. The other girl was certain the Prince would demand to meet her, and she didn't want Caroline to disappoint him so quickly. Refusing offers to borrow clothes, Caroline wore a plain blue dress that shed made herself, which was only a little worn. She braided her hair and pinned blue and white flowers from the garden into it. They released a sweet jasmine scent around her.
The castle was a bustle as she made her way out her rooms, for the first time since she'd arrived. The stone walls of the Midnight Keep were high and forbidding, but clean and welcoming all at once, and they certainly kept the wind out, she thought admiringly as she wandered in the general direction of the activity.
In the keep itself a huge fire had been banked, in a hearth large enough for her to walk into. Food was piled high on tables and musicians had set up in the farthest corner.
"Caroline!" she heard a voice call, and was relieved to see her friend, resplendent in a yellow satin gown, rushing toward her.
"I thought you were dressing up?" Katherine demanded.
"I have!" Protested Caroline as her friend propelled her through the doors and outside into the moonlit courtyard. People milled around, gathering into rows to greet the returning royal party. She breathed deeply the fresh air, her heart signing at being outside again. After a while, the din damped down to an excited hubbub, and she heard trumpets sounding, beyond the castle gates.
The first horses through the gates crashed wildly ahead, barely pulling up short of running over the assembled occupants of the castle. She saw a woman cry out in front, a very finely dressed lady, with deep red hair and pale skin, her hardly concealed bosom heaving with fear. One of the riders jumped energetically off the horse, his dark hair and mischievous eyes surveying the crowd.
"Apologies all, Lady Rebekah thought she could beat me, and I had to put her in her place, once again" he crowed, as the other figure descended her horse, a slim blonde with a thunderous expression. She wore a riding habit like Caroline had never seen, with a tall, masculine hat sporting a small mesh veil over her pouting face. A closely cut tweed jacket and skirt showed her figure in audacious detail. She swapped the other man with her riding crop before sweeping inside.
The sound of more carriages and horses brought the rest of the party to the courtyard. She watched as some people left the carriage, and two men on horseback brought up the rear. One was as dark as the other fair, they spoke quietly together. The dark one's eyes scanned the crowd, and landed briefly on her, before shifting to Katherine beside her.
"That's Lord Elijah, the Prince's brother, he sits on the Court of Souls and decides the fates of those who have broken the rules of our realm." Katherine whispered low in her ear. Caroline felt her eyes slide from him, the dark-haired Elijah and his noble brow, to the one he was talking to. A predatory gaze filled his handsome face.
"And the other?"
"That is Niklaus, the Prince" Katherine said her whispered trailed off inaudibly. As though his name had drawn them, his stormy blue eyes surveyed the crowd, searching. As a magnet meets another, she felt when they suddenly snapped onto her own with almost a physical shiver. He eyes travelled her a long moment, seeming to ignore his brother until he too turned to look at her.
Niklaus's eyes were like a hot torch on her skin. She could fee their path, even as blood beat into her cheeks, and she lowered her face, allowing her braid to fall, concealing her features.
And then, he was gone, moving inside and those left outside where left sagging with exhaustion over the excitement of it all, well Caroline was anyway. Katherine actually seemed to be bouncing.
"That did not go badly at all, it's a good start I think" she said, grabbing Caroline's hand. Caroline's gaze followed the backs of the procession, and she saw at the very rear, there was a bedraggled group of people, some were bloodied, most had rags of clothes on. They trooped, with down cast eyes, some clutching younger children.
"Who are they? They need healing, perhaps we should help them to the magic wing" Caroline suggested, seeing Katherine tense as she followed her friends gaze.
"No need" she said at length.
"Why not?"
"They won't be receiving magical treatment"
"Why not, who are they?" Caroline asked, more puzzled than ever. AKtherine hesitated a long moment, before looking away.
"They are the catch of the hunt" she said. Caroline stared hard at her friend, shocked into speechlessness. She looked back at the people, now she could see their fear, their acceptance of their fate.
"What will become of them?" she whispered.
"It's best not to ask" Katherine said before shaking off her melancholy, as false as her new enthusiasm seemed, smiled brightly.
"Come, since this is the first time you've left your rooms, let me show you around your new home" the girl said, tugging her away.
Caroline felt her heart shake at the girl's words, but gradually allowed herself to be pulled away. Now she knew why she was here, she knew her purpose she realised, as she followed Katherine, unaware of the eyes that watched her from the window above.
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That evening she returned to her room, walking the unfamiliar corridors, her heart lighter from a day outside and in good company, while torn with worry for the captured people housed somewhere in the labyrinthine castle. As she went, she started to fret whether she was finding her way correctly, and after a good quarter of an hour more, she started to realise that she might be lost.
She thought she would return to Katherine's quarters and request help, already spinning in the opposite direction, when she hit a hard body just behind her, someone coming around the corner at speed, and fell backwards. Her elbows hit the hard ground thought she managed to prevent her skull cracking on the stone as she struggled to get her bearings. A creeping sense of dread had already warned her who exactly it was that stood over her now. Dressed all in black, his high, tightly fitted boots were now before her, expectant. She finally looked up, forced her gaze to meet his. He was looking blankly down at her. She scrambled unaided to her feet, brushing her skirts down into place.
She dropped into a curtsy.
"My Lord" she said, as she then backed into the wall at the side, keeping her eyes downcast, waited for him to pass, as she had seen the others of the castle do, in the presence of the royal family. She felt her cheeks heat even further when he made no move to leave.
"Do you think you are a servant in this castle?" he eventually enquired, his smoky voice richly accented. She risked a glance at his face, and quickly dropped her eyes one more.
"I am not sure what I am in this castle" she admitted quietly and waited. She could still feel his eyes on her, sweeping over her dress now, and her green stained fingertips, where she had helped Katherine prepare potions.
"Your rooms are not in this part of the Keep." He observed tightly, still watching her like a hawk.
"I know, I am afraid I am lost"
"Indeed" he answered almost instantly before turning on his heel and striding away. She waited, her heart pounding and her eyes still lowered. She heard his footsteps halt down the corridor.
"Well, are you coming? Presumably you'd like to find your sleeping quarters, unless you'd care to share mine?" that got her legs moving and propelled after him, a horrified expression on her face. They walked quietly through the castle, and Caroline allowed herself to look over her his broad back and tapered waist, the way the burnished curls of his head peeped over this high collar. Suddenly he stopped, and she almost walked into him again.
"I will send food. You will eat it" he instructed, turning around and looking at her. She slipped past and opened the door of her rooms, standing in the threshold. His eyes passed her and looked into the chamber, before he was stepping back.
"Will the people brought to the castle from the hunt also eat this eve?" she asked impulsively. He seemed to freeze at her words as he was on the cusp of leaving. His eyes, now a deep blue swung to her, seeming to flash a warning. His head tilted to the side.
"I think I might have misheard you… surely you were thanking me for my generous hospitality." He said lowly. Caroline stood her ground, her chin rising an inch she met his star unflinchingly.
"You did not mishear me Milord. I enquired after the care being provided for the people who accompanied you from the forest today"
"And what business do you believe it is of yours?"
"I believe it is the business of anyone with a conscious"
"Alas, you will not find many here, so I suggest you concern yourself with other things. I bid you good night." He said curtly, preparing to leave.
"If they do not eat, I shall not either" she called out suddenly, wondering at her own courage. He had stopped in the middle of the hall, and the chill in the air that swept over her almost made her heart stop. He turned slowly, and she struggled to meet his furious gaze. And suddenly, he was before her, his strong arms digging into her upper arms, moving in the blink of an eye over 5 meters. He bore her backwards and she felt the door give way behind her. He gathered her close into his chest, his face only mere inches from hers, she saw absolute fury roll across his features, his voice low with menace.
"I think we have gotten off on the wrong foot, sweetheart. I think there is a record that needs to be set straight." He pushed her backwards carelessly, and she landed hard on the bed, breath knocked from her chest, her braid unravelling. She watched as he stood over her, his menacing gaze sweeping over her body. She felt tears, hot and fast squeeze out the corners of her eyes.
"I am not someone to be asked for mercy from, I am not someone who is affected by your tears. I am not someone who cares." He said lowly as he raised his wrist to his mouth and suddenly, to her terror, sank long extended canines into the flesh there.
"If you won't eat. I will make you eat. If you won't drink, I will make you drink. You see, love… you are weak, and I will not let you make me weak" he said, and suddenly, he was grabbing Caroline by the back of the neck and kneeling over her prone form, his wrist moving against her mouth. She tried to turn her head away, but his strong hands followed her every attempt. She felt her mouth fill with thick, metallic liquid, his life blood running down the back of her throat. It ignited her veins and made her head spin. She felt dizzy and awake all at once. She felt the fight leave her limbs and sank deeper into the bed, his weight pressing her down. Her eyes swam hazily up to his face, hovering just above hers, saw the blood lust in his eyes, even as black veins creeped out of his clear blue eyes. His breath was harsh, ragged even, and she felt one of his hands relax their grip on hers for a moment. She snatched it away as though underwater, her muscles barely responding to her commands, and reached for his face, wishing to push him back, stop this invasion of her body. As her hand neared his mouth, he seemed to lose a shortly fought battle with himself, and instead of turning his face away, he met it, his fangs sinking into the base of her wrist, two lances of fire piercing her skin. She tried to scream, but only succeeded in allowing more of his blood to run into her mouth.
She saw his eyes close in sudden ecstasy as he drew on her own blood, and she felt the strangest sort of feeling, pain and pleasure combined, a feeling that had her reaching toward it even as she tried to escape it.
And then, all off a sudden, it was gone, and she was left on the bed, hair strewn in disarray, blood smeared on her mouth and chin, dripping down her neck, and up her arm. She watched him step slowly away from the bed, his fists clenching, his gaze that of a predator as his eyes ran over her supplicant form.
"If you won't eat, expect a repeat of that experience nightly. It is your choice."
"What are you?" she gasped, her heart beating so hard she could scarcely breath. He ran a hand through his hair, returning order to his mussed curls, his golden crown. He took a moment to consider her question, his posture still ruffled, though that soon melted away, with the imperious ruler she had first encountered taking it's place.
"I am your worst fears made real, sweet child of light. I am the things nightmares are made of… I am the evil in the night… and you have been given to me, to do as I see fit." He stepped back, adjusted the cuffs on his surcoat, and Caroline could see the wound on his wrist had already healed.
"You will obey me and perhaps you will live the year." Caroline pushed herself to her hands, anger flying at his ill treatment of her and his icy condescension.
"Perhaps you should kill me now, for I will never accept the mistreatment of others, or myself" she stated. He stared at her, and her courage in the face of what she had just endured.
"If only I could. But there are fates worse than death, and you would do well to remember that" He finished, a trailing whisper as he seemed to disappear. She glared at the last spot he had stood, and felt glad that he had left by the time the shaking took over her limbs. She turned her face into the blood stained sheets and cried, and Klaus, already ensconced in his own rooms, smiled.