A/N: Please excuse grammatical errors.
Disclaimer: Ain't mine.
Understanding
The witch played in his curls absentmindedly. Klaus had been talking to "his son" for the last thirty minutes, regaling her stomach and their little bean inside with his glorious days of battle. She had been drifting in and out of sleep. She didn't sleep well last night. She dreamt of Lady Caroline, hunting trips, and angry red scars.
In her waking moments, she tried to remember the first time she saw Mari. It's like something was trying to pull together in her brain. It was driving her mad. Her dreams were strange, just on the edge of being eerie, especially the last one. Bonnie dreamt of Tessa holding a wiggling bundle as she sung it to sleep with a lullaby, the same one Grams sang to her and Lucy.
Klaus kissed her belly then looked up at her. "Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings-always darker, emptier, and simpler."
"Nietzsche?" Bonnie mumbled.
"I just told my son-"
"Our child." Bonnie interrupted. Klaus eyed her.
"My son about the bloodiest battle of the war. You didn't pout, speak, or roll your eyes. What's got you so distracted?"
"You really want me consumed with you always?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Of course I do. "You're deflecting."
"You control my life, must you control my thoughts as well."
"Pardon me for wanting to know what was making you sad." Klaus said rising from the bed. Bonnie sighed watching him pour water into a goblet.
"I'm not sad. I'm thinking."
"Of?" Klaus pushed. He didn't like the worry in her eyes.
"It doesn't matter. This conversation is a downer. It's a beautiful day. We should be …I don't know, planning for the baby." Klaus sat back down on the bed reaching for her. He pulled her against him, her back against his chest. His face fit perfectly in the crook of her neck. He nosed the back of her ear, placing a kiss underneath.
"Very well. I can have the seamstresses show you what they have been working on. I can't take you today, but when I return we can go to the toymakers shop and the carpenter to see how everything is coming along."
"Excuse me…see how…seamstresses…what are you talking about?"
"The baby's things. I had them commissioned when we found you were pregnant. They should be almost finished. In fact, I think it's time to pick paint colors for the nursery. How many nursing maids do you think you will want?"
"You commissioned clothes, toys, furniture, and a nursery? I'm five weeks pregnant. I thought we would do this together. No scratch that. My contract says that I am in charge of the baby. We are to move to the lower town."
"The contract says you're in charge of the magical education of the child. And that was then and this now." Klaus corrected.
"That was then and this is now. What's the difference?" Bonnie asked.
"We haven't been abiding by the contract for quite some time. Now you want to follow the rule of the law?"
"The next thing your going to tell me is you picked out a baby name." Klaus smirked up at her.
"You are unbelievable." Bonnie said pulling away from him.
"Come now, did you really think my son would be named anything other than Niklaus Mikealson the II. Have you met me? I have chosen Erik Nolan as his second and third name. Niklaus Erik Nolan Mikealson. We can call him Prince Nolan."
"And if it's a girl?"
"Don't be absurd."
"Absurd? Like making plans for our kid without consulting me. Have you met me?"
"I would have let you have the final say." Klaus reasoned. "…in some instances." He added under his breath.
Bonnie narrowed her eyes.
"I can admit I may have acted rashly. Sometimes, I act irrationally when I am excited."
"You don't say?" Bonnie snarked.
"I couldn't de-commission the items. That's how gossip is fueled. The courtesans would have a field day. Rumors of miscarriage, money problems, and abandonment would have filled the high court and the outlying villages." Bonnie blinked at him.
"You'll get to choose the monograming thread." He offered as a consolation.
"Monograming thread?" Bonnie sometimes forgot she was in another world. Why oh why did she agree to this? She smiled to herself at her next thought. "I think W-M-A will look lovely in teal."
"Witchling, I know you were homeschooled in the backwoods of some poor country village but those are not the correct letters for Niklaus Erik Nolan Mikealson."
"No, Sire, they are the correct letters of Winifred Ayanna Mikealson."
"Winifred? That's a girl's name."
"It is."
"A servant girls name."
"There is nothing wrong with being a servant, besides it also the name of the future Merlin."
"Surely, you jest. My child is a boy. His name is Nolan. He is a werewolf. I pray he is also a vampire. Which would make him pureblood." Vampire, werewolf, or hybrid. Bonnie thought. It stung, to have a child without the gift of magic. To have a father that disapproved of such qualities.
"You really don't think I have the genome to make a werevitch." Bonnie said rising from the bed.
"Where are you going?" Reaching for her again. He had planned to spend the day with her.
"To my chambers." Bonnie said slipping into her robe.
"We were having a lovely time." Niklaus sighed. Bonnie turned to him. She was upset. She wondered if it was pregnancy hormones, this sudden onslaught of hurt and disappointment driving her.
"I don't get it. If you didn't think I could bare a vampire-witch-werewolf hybrid why did you choose me? You should have chosen Simone Bassett to be your companion."
"Bonnie, no one can bare a vampire-witch-werewolf –hybrid. It's impossible. Are you powerful? Yes, but you are a novice. You have many years of training and practice ahead of you. By the time a witch has the magic and skill to support a being like that in her womb she is well beyond child bearing age."
"What do you know of Magic?"
"I don't know perhaps my mother, brother, and sisters were witches. Maybe my mentor was quite possibly the greatest sorcerer to ever live. Maybe I slept with a volatile magical powerhouse for half a century."
Bonnie blanched at his reference to Greta. Klaus recognized the slight but continued anyway. He wanted her to stop. He wanted her to understand. He wanted…her.
"You want so badly to prove yourself that your not thinking clearly. I know what that's like. I know what it can do to a person. I don't want the mother of my child experiencing that, especially while she's carrying my son." He beseeched.
"The mother of your child. The mother of your child. The mother of your child. I am a witch. A mage. Magic calls to me. I hear the music in nature. I feel the wonder in life. I see the spirit in the living. I know why I'm here. I know what we agreed to, but I am a witch, and sometimes I…" Bonnie stopped to collect her thoughts to reign in the blaze and sadness in her heart.
"I know it's very hard for someone like you, someone who sees humans as insects to be crushed, witches as tools at your disposal. I need you to know I'm a witch and it's important to me." Bonnie said leaving.
-o0o-
"Gunter give it up!" Annabelle said following her older brother through the forest. "You're not going to find a sprite at this hour. They only come out at dawn."
"Maybe I can find a hive. I've got to fix this before the barn dance tonight." Gunter said trying to remember the spot he saw the swarm last month.
"It's a little bump." Annabelle lied.
"Are you serious? My face is covered. I look like a pizza. I won't go." Gunter said thinking about those brown eyes that perfect smile.
"You have to. Father will hang you if your not there to be introduced to Daphne."
"I know." Gunter said flipping over a large boulder looking for an opening to a hive.
"Besides, Riker will be there." Annabelle said cautiously. Gunter turned red. He ignored his sister.
"He doesn't seem to mind."
"Annabelle-" Gunter turned to yell at his sister for speaking of the unspoken. He froze when he saw the brown-headed man descend on her. "ANNA" he screamed as he watched her body jerk, her skin pale as life was being drained from her body. Gunter was frozen in fear. When he finally called to his magic it was too late. His force field gave way as the blur sped towards him. He thought of Riker's smile as the world faded to black.
-o0o-
Bonnie had been in the gardens for the last two hours. She didn't want to see Niklaus. It bothered her that he had made plans about their child without discussing it with her. Was this how it was going to be always? Him leaving her out, because he thought he knew better, was better? It really bothered her that he downplayed her magical abilities and dismissed her craft. She lay on a blanket trying to read but she kept seeing his face, hearing his voice. She couldn't escape him even when she was trying to distract herself. She might as well go in, but it felt good to be outside amongst the flowers. She lay there staring at the clouds. It was such a beautiful day. She wished… he could… see her for who she was. Bonnie felt her eyes drifting close.
They popped open when she heard hushed voices. The sun was significantly lower in the western sky. She had rolled from her blanket to almost under a bush.
"Ursula, this is treason. He will obliterate us." The gray haired witched urged looking around the gardens.
"Magda. The Hybrid King's reign is coming to an end. The chickens have come home to roost. Kol wants his head." Ursula countered. She too was scanning the field for any outsiders that weren't sapphire witches.
"The King defeated him before." Kayden offered.
"And now the others have joined him. How many of us will die fighting his war? Ten witches dead in one battle. Five more at the grave." The coven members mumbled at Ursula's point.
"We pledged our allegiance." Magda urged. She was old and didn't want war with the most powerful kingdom, especially without their leader.
"I pledged my allegiance to Greta. And he has sent her away."
"She walked away, and left us here." Magda reminded.
"I am sapphire first. Who will protect us, now that the consort has left? He will use us as infantry while his immortal monsters escape unscathed."
"Lord Salvatore is not unscathed. Where can we go where he won't find us? We left the order of the mage. They won't have us."
"Why not find Greta? She is our coven leader. She is the first priestess."
"Ursula?" Magda couldn't believe this. She was putting ideas into everyone's heads.
"Magda? We will die if we stay. You talk about allegiances, but Kol is mage. Niklaus is mutt."
Bonnie caught a cramp in her leg and needed to move it, but was afraid she would be detected. After a moment she couldn't help it she moved her leg slowly rustling the bushes. The witches' heads turned, but Bonnie was well hidden.
"We will vote at sundown. Let us go before we cause too much attention to ourselves." Ursula suggested.
Bonnie watched the coven members disperse. What was happening? I will bathe this land in blood to protect you. Was the Hybrid King at war? Bonnie needed to talk to Lady Caroline. She now knew the Blonde knew exactly what was going on. This explained her behavior the other day. It explained Lord Salvatore.
Bonnie started down the path that led to the east wing. She halted when a guard stood in front of her.
"I'm sorry companion, but you are not allowed here."
"I want to check on Lady Caroline and Lord Salvatore. I also have more balm."
"I'm sorry madam. This is the high court. Companions are not allowed here."
"I'm the King's companion. I'm in the North Wing every night, the King's wing. I just left the high court three hours ago."
"Yes, but you were fulfilling your duty." The man to his credit looked ashamed to have to say that.
I hate this place. "Can you give this to the Lady Salvatore?"
"I will madam." Bonnie was about to turn around when she saw Maddox leading, no dragging Camille down the hall.
"Camille, Maddox." Bonnie called beyond the guard.
"I'm sorry companion. This does not concern you." Maddox said pushing Camille behind a door. "Mari, take the companion back to her chambers."
Bonnie jumped when the woman swung down from the rafters and landed next to her.
"What the hell? Have you been there the whole time?"
"No madam."
"Where you in the gardens?"
"Yes madam."
Bonnie gaped slack jawed.
"I was in the tree as you slept in the bushes. I will take you back to you room."
"So you have been following me around."
"Yes, but you already knew that."
"How long?" Bonnie said thinking of the forbidden section of the castle.
"A month."
"You've been everywhere I've been?"
"I have, and yes I was there too."
"How? Do you report back to the king?"
"Daily."
"Daily?"
"What's going on?"
"I don't understand, companion."
"What's happening in the castle? Why are you assigned to me?"
"I am not at liberty to say." Bonnie pursed her lips but started moving towards the guest chambers. The two women walked in silence.
"I will say that you are valuable to the king." Mari offered at last.
"Of course, I'm his incubator." Bonnie mumbled. When they reached her door Bonnie took the key from her bag.
The woman had observed the witch's mood. She seemed sad. The incident with the guard didn't help. From what Mari had seen Bonnie was kind and earnest. She worked hard, and truly cared what happened to her friends, family, and the people who surrounded her. She reminded Mari of her sister. Which is why she felt compelled to lighten the witch's mood. Bonnie was also like Constance in that she could be a bit clueless… about as clueless as Niklaus.
"Companion, I think you should know that I am a freelancer." Bonnie face scrunched in confusion.
"Freelancer?" Bonnie asked.
"My allegiance isn't to the King, although I've known him for a long time. I am being paid to be here. Paid more than I have ever made." Bonnie didn't know where this was going.
"I don't have any money." Bonnie ventured a guess. Mari laughed.
"Yes. I'm aware. I just thought you should know. You don't drop 500 gold coins to protect an already magically protected incubator. You lock it up, in a vault/cell. You don't let it roam around free all over the castle in restricted areas. I know this. Nik knows this."
"Nik?" Bonnie's brow rose.
"Have a good afternoon companion." Bonnie sighed. His conquests were everywhere.
-o0o-
Bonnie walked into her room and set down her bag. She jumped when her bed creaked. The king was lying there reading.
"Were you going to tell me you are at war?"
"I'm not at war." Bonnie glowered at him.
"I will be at sundown." The King admitted. Bonnie was speechless.
"I wanted to spend the day with you without…complications, but low and behold... I was going to tell you at dinner." Klaus said putting down his book and looking at her.
"Is that why Lord Salvatore is hurt? He was in a battle? You really plan on bathing the countryside in blood." Bonnie finished in a whisper.
"Yes, yes, and yes." Niklaus said watching her reaction carefully.
"What is it this time?" Bonnie said throwing her hands in the air. She was confused. She was angry. She was scared, yes for herself, for the villagers, but for the father of her child also. "What is so important that you will risk people's lives?" You're life. "More land. More riches?"
"Honestly, I'm just trying to protect what's mine. My kingdom, my comrades, my son, and even you." Niklaus smirked trying to diminish the situation.
"Even me, huh?" Bonnie returned. She moved over to the bed. She wanted to understand. "Protect us from what?"
"My siblings." Klaus spat. "They will destroy everything dear to me to spite me. Which is why your no longer allowed outside the castle walls." Bonnie thought about this for a moment. The independent side of her wanted to protest but if this meant her child could be in danger she would acquiesce. Who had the Hybrid King running scared? She thought about the things she had seen over the last few days and everything made sense.
"Camille."
"What?" Niklaus said watching his witch put two and two together.
"You pulled Camille inside the castle walls as well. Greta?" The king smiled at her intuition.
"Marcel will have her here within the hour."
"You've known where she was this whole time?" Bonnie said.
"It use to wound my pride when you doubted me, now it's just exasperating."
"I know the feeling." Bonnie prated. Niklaus hated the face she was making. He grew tired of being misunderstood. He had his faults, okay so he had a lot of faults, but Bonnie was biased when it came to vampires.
"Bonnie, I know you are a mage. I know you love magic more than anything. You have made that abundantly clear."
"More than anything?" Bonnie wished he would listen for just once, understand. "I gave up my future for my family. I would bind me powers right now to protect bean." Klaus raised his brow.
"Bean?" Bonnie smiled. She forgot she had mostly been calling their baby that in her head.
"I'm sorry, Winifred or Rudolph, Princess Freddie or Prince Rudy for short" Bonnie said smiling down at her belly. And she knew it was true. She would strip her powers if it meant protecting her baby. Even if it were what she feared, that she would never be anything other than the mother of the kings' child. He would never see her as anything other than his companion, his concubine.
"Are you high? Bonnie, smoking opiates is not good for my son. Rudolph? Like the bloody reindeer?"
"Who knew the Grinch liked Christmas carols?" Niklaus chucked at that. He actually enjoyed Christmas, and this year would be spectacular, if his siblings didn't muck it up. Bonnie smiled. It was amazing what that did to the Kings' mood.
"Our time grows short." Niklaus sobered looking at the position of the sun. He shouldn't have let her sleep so long. "This magic versus mommy debate will have to wait a few days."
"While you wage another bloody war. I suppose the name debate will have to wait as well."
"There is no name debate, love." Bonnie rolled her eyes. We will see about that Hybrid King.
"I presume you have to go rally the troops." Bonnie said sitting on the bed.
"I do, but not until later. Right now I wanted to take this opportunity to answer this question as to why I chose you." Bonnie's brow bunched. The king scooted closer to her, brushing his hand across her face.
"To be honest, my interest has never been in a hybrid of any kind, only a child. My child. I wanted someone who would give up there most valuable treasure to protect it. I wanted someone good and true. To give it the love it deserved but I wasn't sure I could deliver. I also wanted someone with a powerful genome, because well, I'm an elitist bastard." Klaus's hand dropped to her collarbone.
"These are the reasons, I told myself as I turned down Simone Bassett. They are logical, and partly true, but If I'm being honest with myself, and ultimately you." His fingers played with the top button on her blouse.
"I just wanted to fuck you. Not just fuck either, I wanted to possess you. I wanted you to crave me." The King almost purred the last of his statement. The sound went straight through Bonnie, and moistened her panties. "There was never a choice. There was only you, even when I didn't want to admit it to myself. Only you, Bonnie from the moment I saw you." He said gazing into those green eyes, his fingertips skittering down the slope of her cleavage.
"How's that working out for you?" Bonnie said clearing her throat, trying to control her lust, fight her tears, and shackle her fears. It wasn't effective. Both she and Klaus knew it. The king pulled away from her, and Bonnie mourned the loss of his touch. She watched him fold his rough and powerful hands into his lap.
"Like I said, exasperating. My brother hates me, and he's a bit of a nutter. I had the element of surprise last time I locked him up. This time I will have to face him head to head. It will be bloody. He almost incapacitated me yesterday because I was thinking of you. I can't have that this time."
"I don't understand." Bonnie uttered.
"Take off your clothes."
"What?" He couldn't be serious. Bonnie thought staring. She looked into his eyes. He was serious.
"Take. Off. Your. Clothes." Klaus demanded pulling her into his lap.
"This is what you're thinking about at a time like this?" Bonnie questioned trying to settle herself against him. He should be preparing, pouring over maps, thinking strategically instead he was…Oh God! Bonnie thought as Niklaus bit her ear.
"I'm about to go to war Bonnie, commit horrible atrocities, battle my siblings, my flesh and blood. I need you to remind me of what I'm fighting for. I want to spend one more afternoon in my favorite place before I have to live in the shadows of war." Niklaus peppered her jaw with kisses.
"Your favorite place? " Bonnie asked breathless, her eyes closed.
"Inside you." He whispered against her ear, ripping her blouse away from her flesh. Exposed to the air her nipples pebbled making them easy for the king to latch on to. Bonnie was so enamored with his tongue that it took her by shock when her skirt was ripped away from her as well. Bonnie looked at her favorite skirt in tatters. She was about to speak when the King devoured her mouth. His tongue stroked hers with so much passion, so much need that Bonnie could have climaxed, there was an urgency here that Bonnie wasn't used to. She pulled away from him searching his blue eyes. She didn't like what she saw there. Something she had never seen before. She had to fix it. She needed to remedy it.
"Hey." Bonnie urged. "You know you're my first right." Niklaus smirked.
"I was there when you bled for me." Niklaus said trying to kiss her again. She moved her head.
"Yeah, of course, but you're my first everything." She grabbed his face and looked into his eyes.
"You're the first man I have ever been seriously attracted to. My first date. My first kiss… The first time I saw you all I knew was your reputation, which was both fearsome and notorious. You were the Hybrid King, indestructible and inscrutable. You conquered half of fell. You were sitting on your throne larger than life surrounding by people who both adored and feared you. I hated you. I hated the blood you shed, the power you wielded, and the manner by which you did it. You were King, and know one could deny it. You are the Hybrid King." Bonnie said kissing him tenderly. Her words, an ancient spell soothed him. Pride and something deeper, primal swelled in the Hybrid King.
"The original vampire." She said lifting his arms and taking off his shirt.
"Born a werewolf." She nipped at his ear.
"Raised by a witch." The King watched as she undid the clasp on his trousers. She stood and pulled them off slowly.
"The tyrant that stole the kingdom from his father at the height of his power." Bonnie said sensuously sliding her panties to the ground. Niklaus watched her stricken with both lust and adoration.
"The diplomat that forged an alliance with his greatest enemy, the greatest witch that ever lived." Bonnie said climbing back atop him. She sat there his penis in her hands rubbing his head against her slick folds.
"The man who helped negotiate a treaty between the three nations." Bonnie said sinking down on him her eyes closed. Niklaus was overcome with bliss. He was almost moved to tears. Bonnie sat there letting him fill her. She opened her eyes. He was watching her with so much longing. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissing him gently. "The father of my child." Bonnie whispered before she began to slowly slide up and down his cock.
Niklaus almost lost himself. He kissed her again to get her to stop talking. He couldn't take much more. He just needed to taste her and feel her. His hands gripped her waist, as he began to pump up into her. They were wrapped in their lust and overwrought emotions, the spell becoming feverish.
Bonnie began to bounce up and down on his lap. Her chest pressed into his, her hardened nipples grazing his hot skin, teasing both her and him. Their hips met each other in an urgent, staccato rhythm. Their bruised mouths brushing each other as the concentrated on the building joy radiating from their center. Klaus hands dug into Bonnie's sides as he moved her up and down on his cock. He tried to hold on to this, but the witched clenched around him tightening her hold, her pussy quaking. She cried out. Klaus felt the tightness and then he was filling her. He held her there, in his arms, fully sheathed inside her. He held her there committing every touch, every smell, every taste, and every sight to memory. He held her there until he could not any longer.
-o0o-
"Lord Damon as senior member of the counsel. You're in charge until we return."
"Damon?" Marcel sputtered.
"Damon!" Greta spat.
"You're lucky to be sitting at this table, traitor. If it were up to me you would be in irons." Damon returned.
"Say that again and I will cut your tongue out, snake. I'm supposed to trust my safety to this pimp." Greta questioned.
"Why is she here, again?" Marcel asked.
"Because she knows the interworking's of this court. She is also the leader of most of the witches under our employ."
"What he meant to say is he needs me." It was true. Both Bonnie and Mari had filled him in on the Sapphire's plans. He did not have time to deal with them now. Besides, he was both surprised and delighted the witch had informed him. The sapphires had unknowingly given him the perfect opportunity to test her loyalty, and she passed.
"I'm allowing her to live. I no longer believe she is the spy."
"So we have a mole in the court, a crazy unhinged ex-girlfriend, and a fool in charge." Camille said. Everyone turned to the blonde in surprise.
"Where is Lord Stefan?" Greta said glancing around the room.
"He's in a coma." Camille answered.
"A coma?" Greta gasped.
"Elijah almost decapitated him. It's taking a moment and a lot of powerful magic to heal him, hence Damon." Malachi added.
"Lady Salvatore is technically the highest member of the council that is not going to war." Greta plotted.
"You wish witch. I need someone who is not going to let you run over them. If you hadn't left like…"
"I guess I was suppose to stay here and let you kill me, like a good little girl. Where is your whore? I hear she even ran Camille off."
"I left to spend more time with family."
"Or Lady Gwen. Why have you brought me here hybrid King?"
"Get your witches in line. Do your job, and all will be forgiven."
Greta laughed heartily. "Are fucking kidding me? All will be forgiven? I suppose you will even let me start sucking your dick again?"
"You pledged your allegiance to me."
"And what about your fucking allegiance. I'm expendable until I'm not. Don't worry about the sapphire witches. They will do their jobs, and when this war is over. You will release us all."
"Are you serious?" Malachi asked. "Where will you go? You told the order to kiss your ass. The werewolves will murder you on sight."
"We want the north village, and we want to be left alone. You owe me that."
"If you do your job I will consider it."
"Sire?" Kael questioned.
"So we are giving land away to witches now?" Marcel added.
"This will upset the kingdom." Damon chimed in.
"Silence. Tell me about Umbria."
"Hell Storm. Fourteen vampires. Six rogue witches ransacked the village. Men, women, children, and animals served up as lunch to your siblings. They even drained the rats."
"Umbria? That's where…" Greta began.
"Freya and the Loptr coven settled." Kael said sadly.
"They must have small magical arsenal." Marcel stated remembering Freya's powers.
"With Kol's powers it would not be so small." Kael said.
"I thought I ordered hell storm members be dispatched when we captured Kol." Klaus recounted.
"I skewered every last one of them." Marcel said.
"Then who?" Damon asked.
"Their children." Greta smiled at the hybrid king.
"It's always the children that comes back and sticks a knife in your back. How long until your witch gives birth?"
"Where are the scouts now?" Klaus ignored her.
"About forty minutes from Umbria." Marcel answered.
"We will meet them in Northern Fell." The King said rising.
-o0o-
"Kol, who are these people?" Finn asked looking at the ragtag group of vampires and witches.
"They are our army." Kol said drinking blood from a goblet.
"We don't need an army. We agreed to handle this with stealth, not raucousness. Klaus's scouts are everywhere. Every massacre you commit he knows exactly were we are." Elijah reasoned.
"Stealth. You mean sneak into our childhood home like thieves and slit his throat in the middle of the night like cowards."
"Kol." Rebekah sighed.
"He murdered our family, and then built an elaborate tomb as his trophy. He walks on our father's land. He sits on our father's throne. He eats from our father's table and pretends to be king."
"Kol, Father was an ass. You're just mad he beat you to it." Finn said walking away.
"Are you certain he's related to us?" Kol said eyeing his older brother.
"Finn has a point. Father was difficult and cruel. He was monstrous to Niklaus."
"And mother?" Kol waited for them to explain away Klaus's transgressions against their mother. "Exactly."
"She never protected him." Rebekah said. "None of us did."
"Are you mad? I was ten. And what did I do to earn his disdain and betrayal? What did any of us do?"
"Kol. I'm not saying we shouldn't have our revenge. I'm saying we should be smarter about it. Exercise some restraint.
"Restraint? Did he exercise restraint when he stuck a blade in my back and killed all of my men? How about when he fucked then murdered your lover Elijah? I won't even mention that he got Marcel, your own fiancé, to betray you Rebekah. And you want me to show some restraint."
"You're rage is going to get us killed."
"My rage is going to get us a kingdom."
-o0o-
"They're not here." Malachi whispered. His scouts were usually dead on. Marcel thought confused. Klaus was off his horse with his hands around Malachi's throat so fast it made Marcel dizzy.
"What do you mean they are not here?" Klaus said throwing the varlock through a tree. Splinters flew out piercing several of the guards skin. The witches deflected the pieces and they turned into sawdust. Malachi rose slowly, knocking the dirt from his clothes. He limped for two seconds then his broken ankle and cuts healed.
"Sire, It's been three days. Maybe we should rest. Go over the intel." Marcel began.
"There will be no rest until my brother's head is in my hands." Klaus snarled.
"He must be at full strength now, and we are weary from travel. We should face him-" Marcel felt a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down and found a white oak stake protruding from his middle. The vampire fell sideways of his horse. Marcel's guard pulled the poisonous stake from his stomach.
"Does anyone else want to test me today?" The king rasped. The sixty or so women and men were smart enough to know the King was in a foul mood. People died when he was in a good mood, today would be bloody.
"What is beyond this ridge?" Kael asked, trying to get everyone to focus.
"The Circ River." A redheaded water witch answered.
"Majesty, we should eat, drink, and then continue our hunt." Klaus looked over his army. They looked worst for wear. They had managed to smoke out a few Hell Storm members but not before they set fire to half their food supplies, and fell on their blades. That was pure Elijah. It had been three long days in the sun without a sufficient supply of blood. Even he couldn't sustain this for much longer. They would have to start killing his citizens indiscriminately, and that would not be conducive to the homecoming he desired.
"So be it." Klaus returned. Klaus mounted his horse slowly. Malachi and the men rode ahead. Marcel, Kael and Maddox waited for him. They rode to the river in silence.
This part of the forest was beautiful. Klaus thought. The trees were ancient and numerous. There leaves a rich green. Plants and flora flourished, and the wildlife was abundant. Bonnie would have loved it. Any witch would have. He tried not to think of her, the night he left. He mostly thought about protecting their son.
When they made it to the shore. He wasn't surprise to see half the soldiers in the river. He dismounted and went to edge. He was about to fill his water canteen when he smelled him.
Klaus was too late, before he turned three men had already lost their heads. With a stake and sword in hand, the original vampire sped over to his brother. Kael launched a nasty swarm spell. He was distracted so Klaus lunged forward with the stake. He almost lost his hand as he brother spun around and sliced through his shirt.
Kael pushed forward with her sword but it was blocked. His eldest brothers were always the better swordsmen. Kael was kicked away with a boot. She stumbled backwards and found herself surrounded by three vampires. She released a vervain curse and slithered away as three bodies melted into the earth. She quickly found Niklaus in the battle.
The king was on the defense-blocking blow after blow from the sword. Kael threw a gale spell and the original stumbled. Klaus quickly stuck the stake in his chest and watched Finn desiccate.
Klaus caught him as he was falling to the ground. He watch the gray spread over his skin. He lay him down softly, and closed both his eyes. "Davina." He called sitting on a boulder. His men were recovering from the attack. They had easily dispatched of Finn's men. "Place him in the cell we prepared. Hold him until we can interrogate him." They all watched the original and witch fold in on themselves until they were gone.
"He couldn't have been alone. The others are close." Marcel said wiping his blade off on the clothes of a fallen witch.
"Actually he could. Finn marched to the beat of his own drummer. Or they sent him out as a scout." Klaus rose again walking to the edge of the lake. He was so damn thirsty. Water would have to do.
"One down. Three to go." Marcel offered. The King smiled back at his confidant when suddenly a wave of water swallowed him whole. Marcel jumped towards the king but he hit what felt like a brick wall. The king was encased in a giant globe of water.
Niklaus thrashed and fought but it was no use. The witches ran throwing spells at the sphere but nothing would pierce it. Kael's skin turned black, her body looked as if it was trying to tear into two halves. A serpent emerged from her back as her body tore itself. The dragon grew until it was ten times the size of the woman. The dragon smashed the sphere with its spiked tail. It did nothing. The dragon inhaled and then a cascade of flame shot from its mouth. The sphere's surface sizzled but it remained unchanged.
Then to everyone one's horror the sphere began to roll. It almost mowed them over. Taking out trees as it went. Maddox, Marcel, and Malachi jumped on the horses and followed. Kael beat her wings and took flight.
Klaus beat against the wall of liquid but it was solid. Water had filled his lungs minutes ago. The water was laced with something. His skin burned with every movement. Kol could not be this powerful. Was Kol this powerful? They never knew the full extent of his powers because he hadn't reached full adulthood before Klaus was forced to put him down. Now he was a man, a powerful man.
Klaus fought but he was growing tired. He would black out soon. If he lost consciousness it was over. He wouldn't be able to stop them. He wouldn't be able to protect his son, protect her. His heart ached at the thought. Klaus roared mustering all the strength he had. His eyes grew heavy. The water was turning black. He felt the hands on the side of his face, the lips against his. The water grew warm. No it was hot. The bastard was trying to boil him alive. His skin was red the water rolling. The shield was beginning to crack. The sphere broke open suddenly. The king tumbled to the ground drenched coughing up water. He lay there until he heard the dragon's call. The beast scooped him up in her talons then took off into the night.
-o0o-
Bonnie woke up suddenly rising out of the water. She thrashed around frantically, trying to get her bearings. She was in the King's bathing chambers. She was still in her bedclothes and she was drenched. She was also burning up. The water was scalding. She crawled to the side of the small pool. She didn't remember how she had got there, and at the moment she didn't care. She just wanted the water out of her lungs, and the overwhelming fear she felt out of her heart.
I hope you enjoyed it!