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Trust And Loyalty
In which we are reminded of a important detail
It's an odd feeling, sitting between your grave and a dead body. Adriana didn't know what to do when the man eventually fell to the floor, drained of all his blood. So she just sat down, staring at her grave with misty eyes.
The memories she had been forced to forget came back to her in stages, the death of Jacob Drago, and many other men that had turned up on the villas door, the various conversations she had accidentally stumbled into. Her baby...
Looking back on it now, Adrana had sensed something was wrong. To the buzzing feeling in the back of her mind, to the unquestioned glances of pity Rebekah would throw her when she thought she wasn't looking.
Yes, it was an odd feeling to sit between a dead body and a tombstone, a very odd feeling indeed.
So, Adriana sat there contemplating her life and her choices. Humming a soft lullaby under her breath.
The minute they stepped outside, Elijah started explaining.
Adriana had been forced to go out with no shoes, finding none that fit her. With no heels she looked tiny from where she stood next to Elijah, barely coming to his chin.
It was actually a nice sensation, walking though the grass. Not that she'd ever admit it.
"So, as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."
"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from." Elena concluded, making Adriana clap in slight appreciation.
"Now you're catching on." She smiled brightly, her ego being bruised about even the doppelganger being slightly taller than her.
Come on! She couldn't be that small!
"Yes." Elijah continued without a hitch "The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance."
"So the Sun can't kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?" Elena asked.
Adriana took it all back, the doppelganger really was slow after all.
"Right." Elijah smiled, finding her ignorance funny. "The curse of the sun and the moon. It's all so biblical sounding, don't you think?"
He smiled at Elena, and Adriana hid a snicker behind her hand, both of them walking off without her.
"What's so funny?" Elena asked in confusion, not understanding the joke.
"Grazie, Adriana." Elijah thanked, taking the scroll from her with a smile. "Look, a gift one of the lords gave to Adriana. A roman parchment."
"I remember etching this scroll." Klaus nodded, taking the parchment. "Well, I was quite blistered from drink."
"Your finest work remains your Aztec drawings." Elijah nodded, leaning on Klaus' chair.
"Not the African carvings" Klaus asked, looking up to his brother. "Because I was quite proud of those."
"No, the Aztec." Elijah disagreed, signalling Adriana to walk forward. "Who can resist a shaman?"
"Yes!" Klaus laughed, taking a sip of his drink. "Adriana," he continued, switching to Italian when the maid walked up to them. "Pray tell, how you got one of the great Lords to give you this parchment."
"Men in this century are all the same." Adriana scoffed, holding her head high. "You promise them money an wealth, while complementing their appearance. And they all fall down to your feet."
"Make sure the scroll, is returned to Rome, Adriana." Elijah instructed, Klaus passing the parchment to her. "While you're here though, how can I be sure no man will turn up by our door anytime soon?"
Adrianas mind briefly flashed to Benedict, the stable boy, her brief hesitation in replying made Elijah narrow his eyes in suspicion.
"Don't worry." She smirked with mischief. "I do believe that the dear Lord David is having a little dip in the swamp, somewhere along the border. Good day, Senõrs."
"I don't understand." Elena said, shaking her head. "So Klaus drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?"
"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting in it." Elijah listed, always keeping one eye on Adriana.
"But why?" Elena asked, looking between the two of them.
"Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelganger, or to get your hands on some long, lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout." Elijah explained.
"So it's not Aztec at all?" Elena said, still not understanding.
"The curse of the Sun and the Moon; is fake. It doesn't exist." Elijah concluded, walking away.
"It's made up, a piece of our own imagination." Adriana nodded, following after Elijah, her bare feet making a patting sound when she walked across the bridge.
"What?" Elena cried, following after them.
"Good grief, I take it back, you really are slow." Adriana called, rolling her eyes. "Come on, doppelganger. I would hate for you to be left behind."
"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years." Elijah explained once more, when Elena caught up to them.
"But if there's no curse..." Elena trailed off, Adriana sighed, knowing this would be coming.
"There's a curse. Just not that one." She started, glancing at Elijah as he continued explaining.
"The real one's much worse." Elijah continued. "It's a curse placed on Klaus."
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, glancing between the two of them when they stopped.
"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years." Elijah stated, Adriana tilting her head when she heard a buzzing noise. "And you are his only hope."
"What is this curse?" Elena asked, obviously full of questions.
Adriana touched her ear in confusion, the buzzing not going away. Her eyes finally fell on Elijah's jacket, giving him a pointed look while rubbing her ear in annoyance.
"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing." Elijah sighed, passing Elena her phone. "Answer it, please."
"Stefan." Elena answered, walking away to answer her phone. "What's wrong? No. No, no, no, no. Okay, I'll be right there." Elena hung up, turning back to them.
"Klaus went after Jenna." Elena informed with a soft voice, making Adriana roll her eyes. "I have to go to her."
"Knew it." Adriana muttered to Elijah.
"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement." Elijah said, not even commenting on Adriana's rudeness.
"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word." Elena said, sounding really pathetic to Adriana.
"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it." Elijah reluctantly agreed, a light smile forming on his face when Adriana's jaw dropped, glancing between them in astonishment.
"Thank you." Elena breathed, running to her car.
"Are you seriously just going to let her leave?" Adriana hissed through gritted teeth, once she had picked her jaw off the floor.
"I have faith in her loyalty." Elijah said calmly, walking back to the house.
"A loyalty that has got us stabbed in the back." She seethed, power walking after him. "How much are you willing to bet she'll actually come back?"
"At the minute, Adriana." Elijah said, Adriana almost walking into his chest when he suddenly stopped. "I trust her a lot more then I do you."
"So this is what it comes down to." Adriana laughed dryly, stepping back. "You not trusting me."
"You have given me plenty of reasons to feel this way." He hissed, his calm facade cracking slightly.
"Well you have given me plenty of reasons to go." Adriana shouted, finally having enough. "You've killed everyone I've ever met, you prohibit me from having a life of my own, you've buried me alive, tortured me, and even wiped away memory after memory, all because of you and your selfish reasons!"
She went to go past him, only for him to grab her arm, pulling her closer to his side.
"Do we really have to go through this discussion again, Adriana?" He hissed into her ear, holding her arm in a deathly grip. "I do this to keep you safe."
"No." Adriana seethed, raising her head in defiance. "You do it because you fear me leaving you. I'm not allowed to go anywhere without you permission anymore."
"Dear Adriana." Elijah hissed, looking down at her with a death promising gaze. "Remember who you belong to, it might cause you a lot less pain."
He left her there, before she could reply, walking back into the house without another word.
He was right, Adriana, no matter how much she denied it, was still his maid. A slave bound by a contract of eternal loyalty, a maid didn't have rights. It did what her master told her to do, and left it at that.
Maids belonged to their Masters, that was what Adriana had constantly been told.
Adriana belonged to Elijah, that was something every vampire, werewolf, and witch with a brain knew.
And something quite a few humans throughout history did not.
Two people sat in the grass of the rose garden. The male smiling and placing a large pink rose behind the females ear. Whispering romantic poems into her ear as she laughed.
"Benedict," She laughed, pushing him away from her. "Why must you be so silly?"
"It's a gift, my beautiful rose." Benedict smiled, taking joy from her laughter. "My only wish is that I could let the whole planet know my feelings."
"Oh, Benedict." Adriana sighed, placing a hand on his cheek. "You know I must stay, I serve the Lords as you do, they will notice if I just disappear."
"You say the Lord Elijah has fallen in love with the Lady Katerina." Benedict said, jumping to his feet with excitement. "Maybe she will convince him to let you go."
Elijah? Letting her go after all these years? The idea sounded ridiculous even to her own ears.
"That is preposterous." Adriana said calmly, fingering the rose sat upon her ear. "I have been in Elijah's service for many years, he will not just let me leave."
"He will." Benedict said in determination, not giving up in his fight. "Just a few hours ago, I heard him running through the gardens with Lady Katerina. I will argue and even fight for our eternal love."
Yes, Adriana had heard that conversation between Elijah and that Bulgarian whore. She was still slightly seething from it. No, she wouldn't take it out on Benedict, the boys naïvety beginning to grow on her.
"Benedict that is brave." She breathed, looking up to him. "But I have doubts of it working. Please, I beg of you, do not demand anything from Elijah."
"I abide to the Lady." Benedict seemingly gave up, picking her up off the ground, a plan of his speech to the Lord already formulating in his head. "You know I will never cross you."
Benedict marched up to the main office later that day, making sure Adriana was in her chamber first.
She would wake up the next morning to his torn off head outside her door.
Adriana belonged to Elijah, no matter how much she needed to be reminded.
"Welcome back." Elijah said when Elena returned, the doppelganger taking off her jacket as she spoke.
"Tell me. What is Klaus's curse?" Elena asked, noting how Adriana made no comment of her appearance, choosing to stay curled up and stare at the fire instead.
"Please." Elijah said, gesturing for her to sit, sitting by Adriana when she sat in one of the chairs.
"What's wrong with Adriana?" Elena asked, glancing at the woman.
"You'll have to forgive her." Elijah waved off. "She does this from time to time, she does not like to be reminded of certain things."
"Like what?" Elena asked, not taking her eyes off Adriana's still form, noticing how she had begun humming a low rhythm underneath her breath.
"That is not my place to say." Elijah muttered, casting his own glance at Adriana. "But, back to your original question."
"My family was quite close," Elijah started, "but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."
"A war between the species?"
"The vampires, and the werewolves." Adriana muttered lowly, uncurling her form with a strong glare, but still wouldn't look away from the fire.
"So Klaus' real father was from a werewolf bloodline?" Elena said, still looking slightly confused. "What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?"
"He's both." Elijah answered gravely, touching Adriana's arm for comfort. " A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."
"That's the curse that Klaus wants to break?"
"He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf." Elijah stated. "If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race. Endangering not just vampires, but everyone."
"But you helped him?"
"I helped him because I loved him." The information made Adrian look down, playing with her fingers as the statement hit home. "That's changed, now he must die."
"We have the dagger now. We can stop him." Elena spoke with hope.
"Not that simple, you can't just kill Klaus." Adriana spoke up, finally turning away from the fire and brushing Elijah's hand off her. "Trust me. A lot have tried."
"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum. The dagger does not work." Eljah continued, following Adriana's train of thought.
"What, are you saying that Klaus can't be killed?" Elena said with panic, a small smile cracking on Adriana's lips at this.
"There's one way to kill any supernatural species, at the hands of the servants of nature themselves." Elijah said, relaxing when he saw how Adriana was gradually coming back.
"A witch. If they can channel that much power. But it would kill them." Elena said, revealing the slight fault in their plan.
"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power, can kill Klaus." Elijah revealed.
"What if I told you that I knew a witch that could channel that much power?" Elena said, making Adriana's head snap up with sudden interest.
"Then I would tell you there's one more thing that you should know." Elijah said, leaning back in his chair.
"You're telling me you found a way to save the doppelganger?" Elena asked once Elijah had finished speaking.
"Yes, Elena. I did. But unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out." Elijah said, glancing briefly at Adriana.
"You cared about her, didn't you?"
"No, actually." Elijah denied, Adriana looking at him with confusion. "She reminded me off someone I had met a long time ago, someone I loved with all my heart, but didn't get to save. I suppose I was trying to right my sins."
Okay, jokes and past rivalry aside, Adriana still didn't like the Salvatores. At least the doppelganger had a purpose, the Salvatores were just there to mess things up.
"Now you've invited him in?" Damon asked when they walked in, completely ignoring them.
"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal." Elena argued, standing by her stubborn beliefs.
"Really?" Damon asked, disbelief coating every letter.
"We are standing right here." Adriana butted in, waving her hand between herself and Elijah.
"The two of you will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return." Elijah explained, stepping forward.
"What? Some magic dust for Pixie? Who I must say is seriously tiny."
Adriana folded her arms, huffing slightly and sending a glare towards Damon.
"An apology." Elijah said instead.
Adriana couldn't help but snicker, pursing her lips to try and hold it in when Elijah glared down at her.
"A what?" Damon asked in confusion, all eyes turning to Stefan as he walked forward.
"I'm sorry for the part that I played in your death." Stefan apologised "I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."
Well, that utterly was pathetic.
"I understand." Elijah nodded, forgiving him.
"I don't." Adriana murmured under her breath, all eyes turning to Damon.
"The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon." Elena dead panned. "Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself and Elijah knows how to save my life. I told you I'd find another way. And I did."
"Is that true?"
"It is." Elijah nodded again, Adriana rolling her eyes behind him.
"Still say we should just leave them to get themselves killed."
"Be quiet, Adriana."
"And you're trusting him?" Damon asked Elena, blocking everyone else out.
"I am." Elena confirmed.
"You can all go to hell." Damon said, leaving the room.
"He's angry with me right now." Stefan admitted, turning to them. "But he'll come around."
"Perhaps." Elijah sighed, he too seriously doubting Damon.
"How much are you willing to bet this will go very, very wrong?" Adriana asked when they returned to the Manor.
"Due to Damon's persistence in not trusting us, I'm starting to agree with you Adriana." Elijah muttered, watching Adriana run I hand across her face.
"Did you mean what you said? About loving Katerina?" She asked, fiddling with her hands.
"You're right, Adriana." Elijah admitted. "I am a very selfish man for keeping you here, and while I am a selfish man, I am not a liar."
"No." Adriana agreed, bringing her gaze to the floor. "I guess your not."
Elijah wanted to say more, but stopped when Adriana started walking towards the steps.
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight Elijah."
"Goodnight Adriana." Elijah replied, staring after her.