I split the last chapter into two parts because it was seriously getting long. I'll be posting the second part later this week since it's almost complete. I hope everyone likes it! Thank you to everyone for giving this a chance by following it and writing reviews and everything. Reviews are really the things that keep the writers going. Let me know what you think and know that everyone has made writing my first fan fic a really good experience!
The royal family lounged in one of their bigger family rooms next to a roaring fire, enjoying the peace and tranquility together. Caroline read a book, leaning against him as he sat back watching their children. Adrianna sat at a nearby desk, consumed with her work as acting ruler. Klaus had no problem with handing her the reins until he convinced himself Caroline and the rest of his family was once again safe. He heard her huff in aggravation as she fingered through the parchments, forcefully making corrections or additions. Juliette, Gwendolyn, and Alice sat on the floor by the fire, giggling every time William blew them a raspberry or lost his balance and rolled from his sitting position. This was what he wanted, he thought. He wanted his family together, safe, and happy.
A page entered quietly from a side door, so not to disturb the rest of the family and made his way to Klaus. "Your Majesty, Lord Kol would like to have an audience if you are so willing," the dark haired man requested after a flourished bow to his leaders.
Klaus dismissed Kol's request. "Later."
"He says it's most pressing."
Klaus quickly sent a questioning look to Adrianna, surely she would know what his brother wanted, but she seemed as confused as he. "I'll meet him in my study."
After the page took his leave he motioned for Adrianna to follow him and gave a swift kiss to Caroline.
They made their way down winding halls where servants and courtesans bustled about, completing their daily chores or amusing themselves with conversation.
"What could he want?" Adrianna whispered, but Klaus cut her off with a look that told her to be silent.
Kol was already waiting in the study, his hair a mess and his face lined with stress. "What is it?"
"Aunt Rebekah?" Adrianna gasped and ran to the woman whom Klaus hadn't noticed at the window. As the two women hugged Klaus noticed for the first time how tired and bedraggled his sister looked and locked eyes with Kol who gave a slight nod.
"What happened?" Klaus growled at his sister who glanced at him with sad eyes.
"I was doing what I thought was right for the family."
Klaus paced the darkened room. He wasn't ready yet. The war was supposed to start when he was ready for it, a panicked voice screamed inside his head. Caroline wasn't yet completely better and his son and daughters were still too young to be around such violence. The war had been planned to take place in the East, not his lands. He never wanted his lands to be marred with the remembrance of destruction. He wasn't ready, he repeated to himself.
"Klaus, our plans have changed. We have to be prepared," Kol said as he stepped beside him, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Our army is bigger than ever before, but I'm sure Phillip and his men have already set sail."
"I'm so sorry, Nik," Rebekah blubbered again, still keeping Adrianna close, soaking in her support.
Klaus took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind and stop his anxious inner monologue. "What did you do to start this?"
She opened her mouth a couple times, floundering for an answer that she didn't want to give. "I tried to poison him," she whispered.
He could feel the vein in his neck start to pulse. "Tried?"
Their eyes met briefly, his filled with rage and hers filled with apprehension. "He didn't ingest enough."
To everyone's surprise Klaus laughed. "That does always seem to be a woman's technique," he mused to no one in particular. His eyes grew hard in the next second. "And now since you failed you've put this entire country in danger."
"I'm so sorry, Nik," she exclaimed and took a step closer, only to be stopped by his angry glare.
"What should we do?" Kol asked, but it was Adrianna who spoke up.
"We need to contact the Lockwoods. I know he's a new king and we haven't yet established the relationship we had with his father, but he is our ally. We need to remind him of all the times we were there for his kingdom."
Klaus nodded and turned to Kol. "Send a rider to the boy king and gather the men. I want the castle guards to be vigilant and set up a perimeter around the castle walls. I want patrols day and night by the warriors through the village and every signal tower to have a guard, maybe two if we can spare it."
"What of the villages in the old Fell and Saltzman lands?" Kol asked.
Klaus shook his head. "Phillip wants me. He won't waste men on raising a town that I'm not in. He'll come here." Klaus looked to Adrianna who was busy soothing her aunt. "What do you think of the villagers?"
She sighed sadly. "We need to warn them, but not start a panic."
Klaus agreed and he hated himself for what he was about to do. "Get Caroline in here."
Kol nodded and stepped from the room.
"You've been our diplomat with the Lockwoods, what do you think of him?"
Adrianna abandoned Rebekah who stared blankly out the window as Klaus took a seat behind his desk. "I think he doesn't understand how to rule a country. He was barely groomed by his father and there must have been a reason. I don't think we can count on them even with the betrothal."
Klaus nodded. "At this point the betrothal is probably null and void. Since Richard didn't prepare him properly he'll be selfish and only rule for his wants."
The door creaked open and Caroline walked through, worry lines showing on her face. "What's happened?" she asked, but then noticed a figure from the corner of her eye. "Rebekah?"
The woman flinched at her name, but didn't turn to her sister-in law, she could feel Klaus's glare in the back of her head.
"She tried to poison her husband. I say tried because she failed and now we could potentially be attacked."
Caroline's mouth hung open. "When?" she croaked. "What do you need me to do?"
"Soon," he grumbled. "Our citizens need to be told and I think you should be the one to do it. You are their beloved Queen, Caroline."
She shook her head. "You're their true leader. It should be you."
Adrianna stepped forward. "As Queen you speak on behalf of the people. You are their voice to the King."
Klaus's fist hit his desk with a thunderous crack, effectively startling every person in the room. "If you insist on crying, please do it somewhere else," he yelled, directing his attention back to Rebekah.
Arianna glided to the window and tugged Rebekah by her sleeve. "I'll take you to your room and have the maids help you get washed. You'll feel better," she insisted.
Before the women left, Rebekah turned back towards her brother, her eyes red from crying, but held her chin high. "The Queen of the East is dead. I thought you should know."
As the door shut quietly Caroline turned back to face him. "Does that mean my parents may still be alive?"
Klaus's eyes closed briefly, but he didn't want to open them back up. He didn't want to be the cause of his wife's tears and didn't want to see the pain on her face. He'd heard two months ago of her parent's fates, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to tell her. She was still too sick, he'd told himself at the time. Let her enjoy this peaceful time while they could, he told himself weeks after that. But now he had to tell her. There was no more time to put it off and to give excuses.
As he stepped from behind his desk, moving closer to her to take her in his arms he saw it in her eyes. She had prepared herself for this day and with one look she knew.
oooOooo
The sea breeze tangled in Elijah's dark hair as he stood at the bow of the ship. With each day they moved closer and closer to Mikelson lands and with every hour that passed Elijah wound tighter with apprehension.
It hadn't been for a couple of days that Rebekah's disappearance had reached a conscious Phillip. Elijah was thankful the Queen was no longer alive and that Rebekah hadn't bore any children, otherwise she wouldn't have had a two day head start.
Yelling and arguments abounded after Phillip was told of Rebekah's escape. Everyone who may have come in contact with her was endlessly questioned, some even killed if Phillip was in a particular mood and they had no information, but eventually Phillip decided the time for his war was now.
Elijah breathed in the sweet smell of the salt air and closed his eyes, trying with all his might to calm his breathing.
"My Lord," a soldier called. "The captain says we shall be making port in one day time."
Elijah nodded. "And Phillip's ships that follow us?"
"Perhaps two days, maybe less."
"Tell the captain to raise the black sails," he called and went back to admiring the endless sea in front of him.
oooOooo
Villagers scrambled to prepare for the battle they all knew was imminent. Food was stockpiled, homes were emptied as some prepared to travel to the old Fell lands for safety, and warriors walked the paths, ready and alert. After the warning announcement from Caroline more men volunteered to help protect the land and even some women, who were ultimately turned away. Klaus had never seen a kingdom come together as one in his lifetime. They all stood, brave and willing to fight for their land and he couldn't have been prouder. They weren't willing to let go without a fight and he smiled as he stood on his bedroom balcony, watching them prepare for battle.
"Klaus?"
He turned towards Caroline's sweet voice and held out his hand for her to take, bringing her closer to the edge to watch their people.
"Look at them, Love."
"Very brave," she admitted. "What should we do with the women and children who've decided to stay?"
"When the first signal is lit they need to be prepared to get within the castle gates. I want as little casualties as possible, so urge them to flee to the Fell villages."
"And you? Will you be behind the gates?" When he didn't say anything she bit her lip in worry. "Klaus."
His eyes stayed focused straight ahead, looking past the hills and toward the sea that he knew was beyond. "I'm not letting my people fight for me, possibly die for me as I stand inside and do what? Get drunk?" he asked bitterly, thinking of how he found King Damon after the Lockwoods took over their land. He wouldn't be the king who abandoned his people in a time of need. They needed a leader, not a cowering leech.
Caroline sighed. "I know, but…"
He turned to her, looking straight into her blue eyes. "There are no 'buts', Caroline. I will fight beside them and if it is fate's will than I will die beside them as well."
They stared at each other for a long moment before Caroline pulled him close, her lips desperately devouring him. He knew she was scared and he was man enough to admit that he was a touch worried as well, but he'd made up his mind. Instead of the endless arguments of him staying they wordlessly decided to be with each other, happily, in case their time together would truly be short lived.
They took each other to new heights all the while keeping their eyes connected. Everything they wanted to say, but didn't have words for passed through to the other person with every touch and breath.
Caroline lay sprawled over his chest as he gently drew lines and shapes across her back. She let out a sigh and lay a kiss on his chest, nuzzling her way up to his neck to catalog his scent and the feel of his skin. "Let's just stay like this," she said and he laughed.
"If we stay like this I'll get you with child again in no time at all."
She smiled, pressing her lips to his neck. "That wouldn't be a bad thing."
He shifted so he could look at her. "Is that so? And how many times would you like me to get you with child? A dozen?" He tickled her side, making her laugh and he relished the wonderful sound that filtered through his ears. "More?" he asked and rolled himself on top of her. "I guess I better get to it," he said with a smile and took her still giggling lips with his own.
oooOooo
The room was dark when his eyes snapped open and he sat up, his breath coming out in pants. He didn't know what had woken him from a dead sleep, but something was off. For some reason his fingers itched to hold the hilt of the dagger that sat on top of his nightstand. He scanned the room for threats, but it was just he and Caroline, who lay next to him, her breathing light and even. He rested back down, loving the feel of Caroline's naked body wrapped around his in sleep. The moonlight that seeped in through the windows made the strands of her long blonde hair glow. Even then, with her lying next to him, shifting to get closer, he still felt like she was a dream. When he'd first met her he knew he had to make her his, but never did he really believe the wish would come true. It had seemed impossible that his life could be blessed with her constant presence.
The moonlight flickered, creating shadows to dance across her cheeks.
Flickering?
Klaus sat up again, looking towards a moon that was absent from the sky. Instead, far past his window was a light of a single torch. A signal that the time had come.
"Caroline, Love," he rushed out, shaking her awake. "Get up." He quickly untangled himself as she groaned from being woken. "Get dressed," he ordered.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted at him rushing in and out of the connected rooms. "What's going on?"
"They lit one of the signaling torches," he explained as he strapped on his leather belt and attached his sheathed sword.
She jumped from bed, racing around the room and throwing on the first thing her hands touched. "Where are you going?" she asked as she buttoned and knotted the leather belt around her plain blue linen dress.
"I'm going to find Kol and then to the castle gates," he informed her, shoving a dagger into the side of his heavy boot. She had just slipped on her shoes when Klaus grabbed her by her upper arms. "You and Rebekah gather the children and take them to the tunnels. Stay there until I come for you."
She shook her head defiantly. "I'll have Rebekah get the children to safety, but I should be with you."
"Are you mad?" His anger was brewing just under the surface. "If you don't get to the tunnels I'll have someone drag you there. Do you understand me?" He persisted when she didn't answer. "Do you understand?"
"Yes," she whispered and cupped his cheeks, bringing him in for a kiss. "Come back to me," she begged quietly as he took one last long glance before rushing out the door.
oooOooo
As soon as Caroline stepped foot outside their bedroom she walked into chaos. People were running every which way, some falling and getting trampled as guards lay dead on the floor.
They've breached the gates," she thought dazedly, a gasp escaping her mouth.
It hadn't mattered how much they'd prepared or how many fighter they'd had. She ran back into the bedroom and looked out over the balcony into the castle court yard and into the village. Armor marked with bright yellow and purple colored every inch of where she could see, sparsely dotted with men wearing the Mikelson colors. Although some East soldiers fought one another, which she found strange, the Mikelson soldiers were overwhelmed. There weren't enough. Klaus, Adrianna, and Kol had underestimated Phillip.
He must have been recruiting for years, she thought.
She heard a cry from the hallway and grabbed one of Klaus's swords he had left behind and darted out into the hall. A warrior wearing the East colors was dragging a servant down the hall, kicking and screaming. Caroline didn't hesitate in running behind him and thrusting the sword through the side of his armor where Klaus had taught her was the weakest. The woman dropped to the floor, scrambling back up and ran down the hall as the soldier turned to her, anger and pain churning through his eyes.
With a roar the man charged the short distance between them, Caroline's arms vibrating when their swords clashed. Klaus had trained her well, but even she knew she was out matched. The sword she wielded would have dropped useless to the ground the first time the two metals met if he hadn't been weakened by her first blow. The man slowed with each clang of the swords and then finally kneeled on the ground, sweat beading on his face as blood oozed rapidly from his wound.
She stepped back and went to retreat, confident the man was no longer a threat.
"Queen," he called and she turned back. "Finish it," he ordered, panting out his breath and holding onto his side. When she shook her head he continued, "If you're brave enough to fight as you did you must be willing to kill your opponent as well. If I was the one to find you weak I would not have stopped and neither will any of the other men here."
She let out a breath, steeling herself. She knew what the man said was true. None of the fighters would hold back from killing any person, man or woman. She stepped forward again and before she could think twice her sword tip cut through the air, coming only in contact with the sensitive skin of the man's neck.
Before he hit the ground Caroline was already on her way to her children's rooms. She barged through Rebekah's room, the woman in question sitting blankly on the edge of her bed.
"Rebekah!" she yelled and sheathed the sword between her belt and waist. "Rebekah!" she yelled again, coming into the room and shaking her. When she got no response she did the only other thing to get the woman's attention. She stepped back, pulling her palm up and smacking it down as hard as she could across Rebekah's cheek. She shook out her numb hand as Rebekah's eyes blinked, as if she were coming out of a deep sleep. Caroline stepped back up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Get the girls and go down to the tunnels. I'll meet you there." At Rebekah's nod she took off again, this time running towards William's nursery.
The door banged open with the force and Caroline readied herself to hear her son cry, but nothing came. She rushed to the small bed and tore back the soft blankets. Nothing. Her lungs constricted as her eyes searched wildly around the room. Did he somehow get out? She tore through the room like a storm and nearly ripped the wardrobe doors off in her search, but let out a cry when she came up empty. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she wouldn't give up. Perhaps the nursemaid had come to get him?
She rushed out the room, intent on finding the rest of her family as well. She turned a corner and almost ran smack into Juliette who held Alice close to her side. The girls ran to her, gripping her tightly around her waist in relief. Caroline bent down with a quick hug and looked at Juliette. "Take Alice to the tunnels and stay there. Keep hidden, but stay there until me or your father comes for you. We'll all gather there."
At the children's nod and a quick kiss to them both Caroline took off down the hall again, searching each room she came across for her family. It felt like hours later that she finally saw Rebekah running through the halls toting Gwendolyn behind her.
"I couldn't find the others," Rebekah panicked.
Caroline hugged Gwendolyn to her to calm the little girl's whimpers. "Alice and Juliette should be down there. Go and I'll find Adrianna and William."
Each took off in separate directions and Caroline ran for the next room to search. Before she could turn the door knob she heard her name being called.
"Caroline!"
She whipped around and Adrianna came running with William secured to her hip. She let out a cry as they collided, hugging and kissing both of them. Caroline willingly took William, swaying him and kissing his blonde curls, hoping to calm him.
"I couldn't find anyone else," Adrianna admitted out of breath.
"It's okay," she said to both a worried Adrianna and a crying William. "Rebekah has Gwendolyn and Juliette has Alice. They are all going to the tunnels." She handed William back over to Adrianna whose eyes widened. "Take him to the tunnels with you. You and Rebekah run with them if you need to. Keep your siblings safe." Her stern voice rang strong through the halls that had quieted down from people fleeing the castle. "Do what you must!" she finished and pushed Adrianna in the direction of the back stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To find your father. Now go!" she shouted one last time, ignoring Adrianna's pleading eyes.
Caroline ran back to her and Klaus's bedroom, knowing it was a long shot, but hoping Klaus had come back for something. As soon as she crossed the threshold she knew she'd made a mistake and should have gone to the tunnels. Elijah turned around from his place by the window, his mouth stuck down in a frown and his eyes as impassive as ever.
"Hello, Caroline," he greeted with a bow of his head.