Chapter 28
Better future
5 days later
"I don't know if I can do this," Flynn murmured nervously.
"You can," Rebekah assured and put her hand on Flynn's shoulder. "I know you can. All you have to do is look confident; Nik will take care of the rest."
Confident in front of a group of vampires… Sure, that sounded easy.
"It's alright," Rebekah assured. "We'll all be there, you'll be safe."
"I know," Flynn replied. "Thank you. It's just…"
"What?"
"This dress. Are you sure I should wear this?"
"Yes," Rebekah replied firmly. "You look gorgeous, just like you should."
Flynn wasn't so sure about that. The blood red silk evening gown Rebekah had chosen for her didn't even try to hide her baby bump. On the contrary, the gown highlighted it. Rebekah had also offered her contacts, but Flynn preferred her glasses. Her hair was down and she had to admit that Rebekah's hairdresser had done wonders with it.
In any other occasion, Flynn would have been pleased with her appearance. Right now however she was everything but pleased. Yet she knew that she had to do this to assure the safety of her son. They would have one enemy less to worry about if the vampire community in New Orleans wouldn't see her pregnancy as a threat. All the most important vampires in the city were here tonight.
"Are you ready?" Rebekah asked.
Flynn nodded, although she certainly didn't feel ready.
"Good. Wait here, I'll be right back."
Flynn took a deep breath after Rebekah had left the room. She had been in the compound for three days and she really liked her room, although she hadn't had time to do much decorating yet. Physically she was completely healed, but mentally… She still had nightmares every time she fell asleep and every sudden noise made her jump. She really wanted to feel safe, but it was difficult.
The worst part was that she was afraid to be alone. Klaus had been more than understanding; he had arranged Elijah, Rebekah or Kol to keep Flynn company when he couldn't do that himself. They had all been nice, but Flynn felt more than embarrassed. She had been independent her whole life, but now she was like some pathetic child who needed to be coddled. Yet if she had to choose between her pride and her child's safety, of course she chose her son. Just the thought of being in that cold dark room again…
"Flynn?" Rebekah's voice called. "It's time."
Flynn swallowed and headed to the door. She could do this, she had to.
"I understand that some of you may have questions regarding to the recent change in leadership," she heard Klaus' voice saying as she approached the staircase. There was a long table set in the courtyard; all the guests were sitting at it. Klaus was standing at the end of the table, surrounded by Elijah, Kol, Finn and Rebekah. All the vampires were looking at them; Marcel was the only guest Flynn recognized.
"I invited you all here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated," Klaus continued. "No, my intentions are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel in fact took and built into this. A true community of vampires." Klaus paused and looked at his guests before continuing. "Then there is of course another matter I would like to address. I'm sure many of you have already heard all kinds of rumors so…" He paused again and turned to look at Flynn. "Please join us, love."
All the eyes were immediately on Flynn. Look confident… Sure thing. Flynn's palms were sweaty and her heart was pounding as she walked down the stairs as gracefully as she could. Well that was if waddling like a duck was considered graceful. Klaus took her hand and kissed it as soon as she reached him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to meet my queen. As you can see, she is carrying my child, so I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect."
A long silence followed his words; all the vampires were staring at Flynn.
"With all due respect, sir," one of them finally stated. "You want us to bow down in front of a human?"
"Not just any human," Klaus replied. "She is the mother of my child and my future wife."
What? They hadn't talked about anything like that. Flynn barely managed to suppress her protest.
"Yes, but she is still a human. And what about this child then?"
"Alright," Flynn huffed before Klaus managed to reply. "Enough with this "we're so much better than humans" crap. None of you were born as a vampire; you were all humans first, weren't you? None of you would exist without your human parents and none of you would be here today without Klaus and his siblings, so the least you can do is show some respect. And no, I don't mean that you have to respect me, just call me a BigMac if you want, but if any of you even thinks about hurting my child, I swear, it's the last thing that person ever does."
Flynn had no idea where all those words had come from, she hadn't supposed to say anything, but it was too late to turn back now. Everyone in the courtyard was staring at her. Kol was definitely amused and if she wasn't mistaken, so was Marcel. Klaus smiled and kissed her hand again.
"As my queen said, there will be no mercy to anyone who tries to harm our child. I can assure you that I only want this city to be a good place for all of us. If any of you wishes to leave, you are free to do so, but if you stay here, I expect you to follow my rules. Questions? Comments?"
No one said anything.
"Alright then," Klaus said smiling and raised his glass. "A toast. To a better future. For all of us."
