There will be more. I actually enjoy writing this greatly.
When she woke up, she was alone in the room. Coming to her senses, she sighed in relief.
She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head. She looked out of the windows. The morning light gave a beautiful yellow glow to the room and she smiled. Then, she stilled.
There was a dress draped over the armchair. She gulped, her hands searching for the makeshift stake she had hidden under her pillow. It was still there.
She sighed in relief again and then got up out of the bed, her feet padding towards the piece of clothing. She ran her fingers over the fabric. Again, something she had never felt before.
Suddenly, she heard a noise from towards the door.
She turned her head and saw him opening it.
She turned away immediately, trying to ignore his presence.
"There's a bath I've prepared for you. We will have breakfast after you took it." His voice sounded almost cheerful.
She scoffed, looking at him despite herself. He smirked at her, obviously in a good mood.
Holding in any further comment she grabbed the dress and walked towards him, following him to the bathroom. On the way, he pointed to the door. "In there is the toilet," he said and then he opened the door beside it. "And this is the bathroom."
She nodded and entered.
There was a big tub in the middle of the room. The air was filled with the scent of roses. The water was of a milky consistence and there were petals swimming in it. She frowned, turning her head towards him in disbelief.
He smirked down at her. "Appropriate for a princess such as you, wouldn't you say?"
She scoffed again, shaking her head and placed the dress on a chair in the room.
He turned and closed the door behind him.
Someone understand this man, because she most certainly didn't.
They were sitting at – yet another spectacularly tasty – meal and she felt as clean as never before. There had to have been some kind of fancy oil in the water and she had to forcibly hold back not to sniff her own hair.
His mood still seemed to be rather cheerful but she didn't trust it just yet.
Silently, they ate.
Finally, she couldn't take the silence anymore. "Where do you get all this fancy stuff?"
He looked up, smiling at her. "Well, as you already know I have the means to travel far and make mine whatever it is I desire."
She frowned. "So you stole all of this?"
He shook his head. "No, not most of it at least. My family has the means to afford these kinds of things."
She nodded and continued eating.
"What family?" she finally asked, looking back at him.
He smirked again, obviously gloating a little. "Right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Niklaus of Mikaelson."
She stilled, almost dropping her fork. "What?"
He chuckled. "You gotta be kidding me!" she snapped.
She scoffed in disbelief, staring at him. "Why do you live alone in a tower, then?"
He shrugged. "I have my preferences."
"And you just started a war against my kingdom by abducting me."
He smirked. "Well, for one nobody knows who your abductor is just yet. And secondly, as I am sure you're quite aware, that would be a war your family couldn't possibly win."
She continued gaping at him, then shook her head, frowning.
"Wait, nobody knows that it's you who abducted me?"
He nodded. "That is something I planned on making known later."
"How?" she asked, still frowning at him.
His gaze darkened and he looked away for a moment. Then he looked back at her, smirking again.
"Well, the plan has changed so I suppose it doesn't matter anyway."
She leaned back, cocking her head to the side. "What do you mean the plan has changed?"
His smirk widened as he leaned back as well, fixing his gaze on hers.
"Well, despite the expectations I've come to enjoy your company quite a lot. I am going to keep you here."
She scoffed in shock. "What?"
After yesterday night she'd expected a lot of things, but most certainly not this.
"Why?"
He leaned forward again, placing his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together.
He pierced through her with his stare.
"Let's just say you're quite refreshing. An extraordinary girl. Headstrong, smart and very much alive. Beautiful," he said, his voice low and she stared back at him in disbelief.
She blushed instantly. No man had ever said anything like this to her.
"You gotta be kidding me," she whispered. "You abducted me, threatened me and tried to lock me in a prison cell yesterday. What the hell is this supposed to be now?"
He chuckled. "I enjoy you. I want to keep you around. It's simple, really."
"Well," she snapped. "The feeling is not mutual."
He raised his eyebrows and licked his lips. "That is definitely a shame, love, but I fear there is nothing I can do about it. Or maybe there is something, but I am positive you wouldn't appreciate that right now."
She gasped, staring at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious. Talk about honor. You're a shameless bastard."
He stilled for a moment and then laughed whole heartedly.
"Well," he began, still chuckling. "You could definitely say that."
She scoffed, closing her eyes for a moment. "You planned to kill me and leave my corpse as a message for my fiancé."
He stilled again, his smile changing into an unreadable expression.
"Well, you are definitely not just a pretty blonde thing."
She stared him down. "So tell me, why don't you do it already?"
He raised his eyebrows, although his expression was definitely less amused. "I just told you."
She scoffed, crossing her arms. "So you keep me around to entertain you a little and then you kill me and use my body for your stupid revenge plan."
He frowned, now glowering at her.
"Please, love, tell me when exactly I said that."
She threw her head back, now angry again, her lips curled up in disgust. "Just a simple deduction. You know what, I can deduce even more if my intellect entertains you that much. So you are a bastard of Mikael?"
He froze, his eyes fixed on her, his expression unreadable again.
"You live in a tower, which means that you are away from your family. Why? Don't they want you? Tell me, what does your father think about you. Terrible, powerful tyrant Mikael. And so far it seems like you only access this tower via your dragon. A powerful weapon, it seems. Is that why he hates you? You obviously care about your siblings, you want to avenge them. Why aren't you with them, then?"
He didn't move one inch but she could see his eyes darkening rapidly.
"You know, just like you, I have a live. I have goals, a family, aspirations, pride. You can't just snatch me away from all that and expect me to spend some quality time with me. I hate you. I don't know how in the heavens you expected this to turn out but you are not going to do this to me, not with any sort of approval from me. You don't understand people, that is why you are alone. And you know what, I don't even care. Let me go. Find yourself another victim, I am positive there are a lot of damsels in distress out there who could heed to your wishes, but I most certainly am not one of them."
Suddenly, in a flash far too fast for her to catch up with, she found herself pinned to the wall behind her, the chair broken on the floor. Her eyes widened as she took in that he had his hands on her shoulders, holding her in a strong grip, pinning her against the wall.
His face was close, his jaw set in a strong clench, his eyes piercing into her in a glare that was so full of lethal intent she instantly felt her heart dropping in her chest.
He stared at her like this for a while and she held her breath, unable to move.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed up in a violent yellow, the skin around his eyes darkening and changing into a reptile-like skin texture. His mouth was slightly opened, and in it she saw teeth growing and sharpening.
She gasped in surprise, primal fear shooting into her veins.
For a second that lasted an eternity she was unable to come up with a possible explanation.
When it hit her, she gasped again.
He was the dragon.
She opened her mouth but she found herself unable to say anything.
What should she say anyway? Holy shit, oups, my mistake, you ARE the dragon, well that changes things, please don't kill me? Please don't EAT me? Fuck?
Then, his face changed back to normal but his expression was still that of a calm fury.
"Tell me, Caroline," It was the first time he actually said her name and the tone he used ran shivers down her back, it was like his tongue was caressing the word. "Is it that you want me to kill you? Because if that was your intention you're getting closer to achieving your goal with every single word that falls from your sweet lips."
She didn't react, staring back at him in anticipation.
"You act so high and mighty but in reality you are just a naïve little princess. A smart one, undoubtedly, a courageous one – so courageous actually, that it turns into foolishness, stunning, full of light, but nonetheless you are still a little girl. Suppose I would set you free – where exactly would you go? Back to your family? They will marry you to the Lockwood-boy, I am positive you would enjoy that. A live as a prisoner, a battered wife, the queen aside a tyrant who isn't even able to be faithful to you. No, actually, you would get yourself killed in a week. With your sharp little tongue, so eager to uncover each contradiction, every injustice. And they don't even have a choice because they cannot wage a war against the Lockwoods. Or do you want to be left in the wilderness? In some village? Do you want to get yourself robbed, raped, murdered? Or do you want to spend the rest of your live as a maid with the bastard child of your landlord, a nun, perhaps? If they don't find you and execute you for running away. This is not a world for women. However brilliant you are, they will tear you apart."
She stared back at him, the anger returning into her but still buffered by her fear, too proud to accept the truth to his words yet too smart to ignore them.
He watched her, his rage still very evident in his face.
"Right now I am your best option, your only option. Tell me, why are you so eager to tell me how much I've taken from you, when in reality I gave you things. I let you live, sleep, eat, bathe at a higher standard than even most kings do. Bloody hell, I haven't touched you, I haven't hurt you, even though you tried to attack me, twice. But your freedom, yes, right, that is important. But tell me, how could I steal something from somebody that isn't even in her possession?"
Despite herself, she could feel tears rising up in her eyes. Suddenly, the fear crushed down on her again, but for a whole different reason now.
"How does it feel to have your family selling you off to a tyrant, for the rest of your live, for political advantages. Tell me, does your father love you? Obviously he doesn't, if he disrespects you that much, if he is too blind to see you for what you are, the potential you are holding. The minute you leave this place you will drown in misery."
Suddenly, his face softened up a little and he raised one hand to her cheek, gently caressing it. She didn't dare move.
"You could be my queen."
She wanted to hold it back but she scoffed, disbelief adding to the fear in her face, shielding her from his piercing gaze that turned cold in an instant again. She felt deep, core shattering fear wash over her. He dropped his hand.
"Or I could heed to your wishes and put you out of your misery. Use you the way I usually planned. You know, I actually entertained the idea of having a little fun with you before I kill you. But that was before I met you. Now things changed, it's either fun or death, you choose."
Despite herself she felt tears spilling out of her eyes, and an ugly sob racked her body as the walls broke down and both her fear and her anger made their way into her face.
He stilled instantly, all anger evaporating in a moment, replaced by an unreadable expression again.
She turned her face away, desperate to hide her shame. She did not want to cry but somehow her stern control had slipped and she found herself unable to stop.
He gasped, keeping his mouth open as if to say something but then closed it again.
He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his expression calm and collected but there was a hint of something else she couldn't understand.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice soft and low.
He bit his lip. "I won't kill you. I promise, I won't kill you."
She sobbed again, her hands curling fists around the fabric of her dress, her head still turned away.
Slowly, he raised his arm and pulled her into a soft embrace, careful, as if she was made of china.
She just wanted to kill him right now. Still, she felt a rush of relief overcome her as his hand started caressing her hair and her head rested on his chest.
"I apologize. You pushed me too far, I lost control. You're safe. I won't lay a finger on you."
She didn't react, just sobbed a few times more, her eyes shut tightly.
Then, suddenly, she pushed him away and stormed out of the room. She turned around one last time and glared at him, tears still running down her face but her expression now contorted in anger, shame and disgust.
He stared back at her, his body slightly turning towards her from where they had stood. His expression was unreadable again.
Then, she turned on her heels and walked back to her room, fast paced but with her head held up high and slammed the door of her room behind her.
In the afternoon she found a piece of paper, slipped through under her door.
With a frown on her face she picked it up.
She gasped in surprise. It was a picture.
A picture of her.
It was the moment she had first seen the dragon, well, him. She had her neck bent so that her face was facing the sky, eyes wide in wonder, her hair and dress disheveled in the wind. It was drawn from his perspective. There was no fear in her eyes, just shock and pure awe.
She wanted to hate it but it was so beautiful, she forgot to breathe for a moment.
Finally she blinked, shaking her head and scoffed. She turned the paper around. There was something written on the back.
I want to show you something
His writing was just as beautiful as his art. She closed her eyes for a moment.
Then, she laid down the drawing on the table and ran a hand through her hair, staring out of the window.
Then, she walked towards the door and opened it, not surprised that she found him standing a few feet away, waiting.
Their eyes connected for a moment and then he started walking towards a door she hadn't been behind before. She followed him and he opened it, holding the door for her to enter.
She gasped, her eyes widening again as she entered.
The room was bigger than the other rooms she had been in, it had a glass roof. It was filled with bookshelves, countless, hundreds of books crowding the room. The afternoon sun painted the room a warm yellow and she took a step forwards, close to one of the bookshelves.
She turned to look at him.
His arms were crossed behind his back and he stared right back at her, his gaze careful and inquiring but intense.
"I see you can read," he said.
She nodded and then turned towards the shelf, running her finger over the spine of a book. "I begged my father to be allowed to learn it."
She pulled out a book and admired its cover.
"You can read anything in here," he said.
She turned her gaze back to him, disbelief and wonder in her eyes.
A small smile flickered over his face and then he turned and left the room, leaving the door open behind him.
