Happy Saturday everyone! So... due to all the confusion - I have decided to update - I hate confusing my readers! So hopefully I can clear it up.
Elspeth is Klaus and Caroline's daughter, which she did not lose after the incident with Mikael - I wanted to leave it uncertain whether she had lost it - with the doctor and everyone telling her to give up hope - yet her holding on as long as she could - so it was a surprise when the child survived... I also wanted Klaus not to know... and think the child was lost, therefore Elijah had to believe that.
I think in those times, the exact details of his sister in law's health would not be known to him... so... the conversation with Bonnie was basically just 'representing' his brother's wishes that Caroline be saved over the baby... and Bonnie preparing him for the worst. Elijah says at one point to Klaus "Both their lives still hang in the balance".
Now, I know this requires a major suspension of belief, and I am sorry if I got too carried away in the drama of Caroline's sadness and it made it seem like all hope was lost. She was mourning the loss of Klaus, and everyone was telling her that the baby would not survive...
I have gone back and looked at the chapter, and it does seem like more time passed than I had intended where the baby was still, it was only supposed to be a few days... so I have gone over it and made some changes... if you like, give it a re-read and see if it is more believable now. Also, I have played up more Caroline's conviction that she could feel the baby in her dreams... In her last dream, after reading the letter from Klaus... she hears a baby crying in her dream, her subconscious telling her not to give up hope.
That turned into long A/N - sorry! Anyway - I have included a wee flashback to further clear up confusion in this chapter. Sorry for the crap writing lol!
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August 1813
Elijah walked home from the common room, returning to his rented room. The tiny town in France he had followed signs of his brother to was turning out to be slightly too small to hide the fact he was an Englishman in. He did his best to blend in, and his French was more than adequate, yet still, some of the looks he had gotten over dinner, made him a little apprehensive.
There was only one last place to check, tomorrow morning and then he would be on his way from here.
The next morning dawned brightly, and he collected his things and left the inn. The town sat on the water and was quite picturesque, with it's small boats moored and clusters of local business ringing the harbour. He walked along the cobbled street, enjoying the smells of the local food and keeping his head down among the locals. He walked to the church, and glanced all around. There was no one watching him as far as he could see, so he went to the rough wooden board outside, where sheafs of white paper had been tacked up. He started to search through them. It was the same in every town.
Hearing a rumour of an Englishman who spoke French like a local, with burnished golden hair, who should not be crossed in a fight. Then checking the lists, which was the most disheartening part of the search. So many dead men, most little more than boys. He ran a finger down the page, trying to decipher the tiny script, so cramped as to fit too many names on one page. His finger kept on running, faster than his eye. Suddenly, something jumped out at him, an N. M. He skimmed back up with his finger, finding the initial, and following the line along to the full name.
N.M – Niklaus Mikaelson – January 9th 1813 – disease
It was like a punch to the stomach. Elijah closed his eyes, and counted slowly. It was a dream he had, often, that he found his brother's name on one of these lists, when he was free and could return home, and he always found him too late. He opened his eyes again, and looking again, his heart quaking. It had not changed, it was there, in ink, scratched on the parchment. The record of his death.
A commotion to the left of the square pulled his attention around and he saw a group of local men speaking together and gesturing to him. Looking one last time at the list, he turned and walked away. One last place he needed to visit before he left. If Klaus had died of disease, he had probably done so at the local hospital, or on the battlefield, in which case he would have no way of knowing for sure. Elijah prayed for the latter. Anything that left room for hope.
He made his way to the hospital, which also had a large military medical area. He spoke to a few people, and finally tracked down the person in charge of personals. The man grumbled and complained, but after Elijah eased his palm, he was more obliging. He went off in with the name written down. Elijah looked around the hospital, the beds were full. It was quiet and peaceful there. Nuns drifted between the beds, softly rustling as they soothed and calmed their patients.
Without warning, the man returned, and dropped a canvas bag at his feet., before turning away to deal with other matters. Elijah's heart was pounding, harder than ever before. He pulled open the beg and reached inside. The identity papers were worn, damaged by sun and water. He pulled it out, and held it up to the light. The world around him seemed to slow down then, and his heart beat strangely. It was so familiar and so foreign at the same time, as though it were happening to someone else. It was difficult to make out. It was not definitive, he decided.
There was a last object in the bag, and Elijah pulled it out. It was a letter... he turned it over in his hands, his fingers practically trembling as he unfolded it.
Dear Caroline
Elijah choked, dropping the paper. It was like a physical blow, a fist to the heart, he coughed and slid from the edge of the empty bed where he had perched.
"Monsieur, êtes-vous bien?" a nurse rushed to his side, as he coughed again and again, unable to drag air into his lungs. His eyes were dripping, and he realised he was unable to contain his emotion, as it exploded out of him. The nurse fussed around him, as he sat hugging his knees to his chest, he could not tear his eyes from the paper lying on the floor.
Dear Caroline
It was the end of everything, his search, their hope, the legal case.. all for nothing. Caroline would remain alone, Ellie fatherless and their family reduced again. The fuss was growing around him, and he struggled to his feet, reaching down for the letter, he folded it carefully and put it into his pocket. Grabbing the identity papers, he left the church, the nurse and doctor staring after him.
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January 1814
Christmas had been an intimate affair at the Mikaelson's estate. Ellie had loved it, though she missed her uncle Elijah, as they all did. News from abroad worried them all, especially that pertaining to France.
When word reached them from Elijah that he would be home soon, the house was thrown into disarray. There was no word on how his search had gone, or if he was returning alone. Caroline watched the road each day, her heart pounding. Elspeth asked constantly why everyone was nervous, yet they had no reply for her. Caroline rehearsed what she would say to Klaus, how she would introduce their daughter, one that everyone had believed would die, her miracle.
Caroline had woken from the dream of the burnt house, the letter no longer rested on her stomach, yet the curious sensations remained. It was not the letter, nor the dream, it was her child. She dropped her hands to it, cupped her womb, each movement sending shocks straight through her. The doctor had told her that these movements that she felt in her dreams were merely imaginings, flights of fancy for a grieving mother, and she had started to believe him. She had started to give up. They had not attempted to remove the child immediately, as her body was already too traumatised from the the fall. A few days later, when she moved to the Pierces, she had hardly let anyone near her, and would not hear of it.
She dragged herself out of bed, and walked to Bonnie's room. The floor was cold against her bare feet and her nightgown flapped around her ankles, still stretched tight over her stomach. As she reached the stair to Bonnie's room, she heard the footsteps, almost running. Waiting at the bottom, she saw Bonnie come into view. Her hair covered in a cap, her own loose nightgown covered by a heavy dressing gown, Bonnie stared at her with wide eyes as she slowly came down the stairs.
"How is it possible?" Bonnie whispered. Caroline took her hand and pulled it to her stomach, where she quickly felt the sharp kicks that were going on inside, from a child that was not ready to give up.
"I heard it crying... in my dreams... I didn't listen. I'm sorry" Bonnie murmured, turning to lead Caroline back to bed, to examine her.
"I heard her too, yet I had to be kicked in the stomach to believe it..." Caroline said with a gasp as the baby moved again. She settled back down, and Bonnie pulled her nightgown up, running her hands over the swollen skin.
"Her?"
"I think it's a her" Caroline said, a happy tear running down her cheek.
"Why, you are stronger than any of us gave you credit for, little one" Bonnie was saying.
"How can it be? You told me my fall was too hard, my injuries too bad?"
"Who can say? Perhaps you protected your child above all else, to the detriment of the rest of your body... perhaps someone is watching over you... or perhaps it is merely... a miracle child." Bonnie whispered, feeling her own eyes fill with tears. Caroline laughed, smiling as brightly as the sun for the first time in a week.
"Maybe... our love saved her... protected her" Caroline said, and Bonnie squeezed her hand.
"I must tell Elijah, he can send for Klaus, and tell him... we have to tell him... and he will return. In secret at first, of course, but then... when his name is clear..." she continued as Bonnie turned away, drawing the curtains open. Bonnie wiped away her tears and hid her face in the grey dawning morning outside.
But there had been no way to tell Klaus, that he had become a father, despite everything. No way to bring him back. With the court deciding against him, and the madness of birth, realising that Caroline's arrangement had come to fruition, making her fortune practically untouchable, and leaving her the wife of a wanted man, penniless and dependent on her family, there had been no time to search for him then.
Once that had passed, and a routine established, they had turned their attention to the legal problems. Caroline's memory had finally been fully restored, but whilst it had brought Klaus's freedom, privately it had brought other things. Did he blame her? Her memories were painful of the events leading up to the Mikeal's death. She had been so naïve, so incredibly idealistic and foolish. She remembered the look on his face, the way he had watched the life leave Mikael's eyes. It had scared her, such darkness, she wondered if it had overcome him alone, or if it was better without her.
How she would explain it all to Ellie, his sudden presence in their lives again? Would she recognise him? After so long apart... Where had he been, what had he done? What sights had he witnessed? What if he had changed beyond recognition, what if he had met someone else, fallen in love with some sweet, honest girl from an exotic land. She then wondered how she had changed, and how he would perceive her now. She was stronger, more independent. She had gotten that which was so important to her once, and the irony was, all she wanted was to be by his side.
Over two years, and nothing from him... not even a letter so she knew he was still alive. It broke her heart. He had decided to stay away, for her own good, a sentiment that she would argue heartily against, yet she had not had that choice, and he had decided for them.
She was pulled from her thoughts as she saw a cloud of dust hover above the rise. A carriage approached. She smoothed her perspiring palms against her skirts and went downstairs. She had left Ellie in her playroom for the time being, giving them all time to process whatever the outcome was about to be.
They gathered in the courtyard, and Rebekah gripped Caroline's hand as the carriage drew nearer. It finally stopped and Caroline tried not to peek into the dark interior. She felt as thought her heart was beating twice, three times as fast as usual, and all her senses were trained on the carriage. The door opened and a figure stepped down, it took her a moment to realise it was Elijah. He stepped away, and turned to the group. Caroline could not prevent her eyes from returning to the carriage, willing the door to open again. Yet, it did not, it remained shut, and she felt Rebekah squeeze her hand as hard as she ever hard.
"No, Elijah, no" Rebekah whispered, and Caroline turned her attention to Elijah as he walked toward her, his face serious.
"What, tell me, what is it? You couldn't find him?" Elijah swallowed hard and looked down.
"I found him"
"He doesn't want to come home..." she asked in a whisper. Elijah was reaching into his coat pocket, and handing her something. Papers. She stared down at him. Rebekah let out a loud sob and threw herself into Kol's arms. Caroline stared wordlessly down at the papers in her hand. Her brain could not reconcile it. She watched Katherine put her arms around Elijah and she suddenly realised what it meant. She turned away from the courtyard and silently walked through the house. The house that held so many memories. She saw him sketching her through the window as she climbed stairs steadily. She saw him waiting in the hall for her after their wedding, to escort her to the breakfast. She saw him waiting for at the top of the stairs for their kitchen excursions, felt him gripping her elbow as she descended the stairs in the dark.
She walked numbly along the hall, the very one where she had run from him, terror beating her veins, and where he had later carried her back to her room. She reached the playroom and walked straight inside, dropping to the floor beside her daughter, their daughter. She pulled her tightly to her, dropping kisses on her head and face. Elspeth wriggled and complained for a moment, before looking up and seeing the tears on her mother's face.
"Mummy" she whispered as Caroline buried her face in her hair, and for once Ellie allowed her.
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October 1814
"Let us not forget, one last present" Katherine said brightly as she handed a package over to Ellie. Ellie clapped her hands in delight. Grabbing it, and causing laughter, she sank back and looked around at everyone in attendance.
"I guess what this one" she announced, feeling it carefully through the paper.
"A book?" she guessed confused, finally ripping the paper off. It was indeed a book, coloured and beautiful.
"What's is about?" she asked. Rebekah leaned forward and flicked it open.
"It's about America, the new world... that's where your mummy is from, that's why she talks funny" Rebekah laughed. Ellie giggled in response, turning the pages innocently, before dropping her final prediction.
"This one is from daddy?" the silence that fell after her light words made her face fall, and lip quiver. Caroline was paralysed at the comment, and completely unsure how to respond. She was aware that Kol and Bonnie jumped in, and tried to divert her attention, but her reaction had not gone unnoticed by her astute daughter.
It was hours later, as Caroline tucked her into bed, signing a lullaby, and stroking her smooth cheek that she brought it up again.
"Does my daddy live in America?" she asked. Caroline bit her lip and shook her head.
"No, sweetheart, he doesn't"
"Where does he live?" She pressed. Caroline kissed her on the cheek and smiled down at her.
"It is too late to talk about that tonight, let's talk about it another time."
"When?"
"Another time"
"Tomorrow?"
"If you wish" Caroline said with an internal sigh. She had to tell her sometime, explain everything, but she didn't know where to start. She wished her daughter goodnight, and went downstairs.
"Did you tell her?" Rebekah asked. Caroline shook her head.
"She was asking about her father, not your book, sadly."
"Did you tell her about N- him?" Caroline shook her head again, sinking into a chair by the fire, and staring into the flames.
"I'll try and get her to read the book again tomorrow, get her interested in it." Rebekah muttered.
"Do hurry, dear sister, not long now, and we'll all be Americans." Kol said, waggling his eyebrows.
"I shall never be an American. I shall always be English, just living in America." Rebekah retorted.
"Well, I don't know about Caroline and Bonnie, but I can't wait to go home. Elijah darling, you are going to die at the manners, but I cannot wait to see Elena and Stefan, and mother, father and Jenna too."
"I am looking forward to it also" Bonnie murmured, and Kol smiled at her, pulling her closer, kissing her.
The decision to move to America had come when Rebekah had received a proposal from Damon by letter. He suggested that instead of waiting until he could come back to England, that she come to America. No more waiting. He had continued to sweeten the deal, by expanding the business to America.
Bonnie and Kol would have a fresh start, in the North, though it wouldn't be without it's problems. Elijah would run the business there, joining with the Salvatores to use their contacts. Katherine would be close to her parents again, and her sister. And Caroline could raise her child in the new world, free from the shadows of him, in the country of Caroline's birth and heritage. It had taken surprisingly little time for them to agree as a group.
Caroline felt excited about it, feeling that there was nothing but painful memories left in England. She needed a clean start, a chance to heal her broken heart, which would not happen living in her dead husband's home, a man she missed so much at times it was hard to remember to breathe. One more month, and they would be on their way. She had not told Elspeth yet, and she was sure that she would be excited. She worried for a moment over what to tell her about her father, then pushed it away. Perhaps she would have forgotten by tomorrow.
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Francois Dubois enjoyed the hard work of his farm. The political situation in France was uncertain, yet he enjoyed his day to day, simple lifestyle. He tended the animals and the crops, picked vegetables, and watched the boats coming and going from the small village in which he lived.
Some days, the widow Rochelle would come with a pot of her home cooked soup, and coax him to rest in the shade of an olive tree and eat with her. They would sit and eat, she would chatter on about the village and the town, people they both knew. He would smile and nod, enjoying the company, for a while. Once when a storm suddenly hit, they had taken shelter in his house. Her wet dress clinging to her body, she had asked it she might stay, and he had responded that it was indeed to dangerous to go out in the storm. As they sat together before the fire later that evening, she had lightly touched his sleeve, and then slid her hand up his arm, squeezing the well defined muscles on the way. He had allowed it for a moment, his body sighing at a touch, any touch, before he gently took her hands in his and dropped them to her knee.
"I am sorry" he whispered, her rejection clear on her face.
"What is the matter, I thought you liked me"
"I like you well enough, you are a lovely woman" he replied, staring back at the flames, and her.
"So what is the problem."
"I am not a whole man" he said, and she frowned at him, looking him up and down, wondering where he hid his deficiencies.
"You appear whole to me" she whispered.
"No, I am not"
"Well, what are you missing?" she asked, growing offended.
"A heart" he had said simply, unable to tear his gaze from the flames.
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When Tyler Lockwood arrived at the Mikaelson estate, Caroline stayed away from him. Her heart was a waste ground, and she trod a delicate balance each day, interaction wit someone such as Tyler, a reminder of her past made it harder sometimes. He was helping Elijah to prepare for their journey to America, and would in fact be accompanying them, as their trip happily coincided with his return home.
Caroline spent her time preparing for the trip in her own fashion. She walked the house where she had been a girl, pulled into womanhood so suddenly. The place where she had found a new family and become a mother. She committed the gentle hills and valleys of England to memory, the greens and purples. The lake with it's herons and glimmering reflections. Sometimes she sat at her old window, and stared out of it, at another window, memories taking her far away. Sometimes, as the night became morning, she fancied she could see him there, sketching with feverish intensity, his face catching the beams of moonlight that shone off the water of the lake. Yet, when the moon sank and the sun took it's place, the window became empty again, always empty. She would not forget it, every small detail, for it was where their love had lived, had grown. The story of her great love lived in these walls, in this land, and she would not forget one detail of it.
One morning, she dressed Ellie warmly and took her out into the fields. They walked for a long time, skirts dragging through the wild grasses that had grown near the river bank. After a while, they came to a tree that grew some distance from the lake. Ellie watched as her mother tied her skirts up and off her legs, and then lifted her up into the wide boughs of the gracious old tree. Ellie squealed and hung on tightly. She giggled as her mother soon climbed up beside her, settled her on her lap and put her arms around her.
"You do not climb trees mummy!"
"This is a special tree"
"Why"
"Because, it was where a little boy, a very special one, used to come all the time. He played with his brothers here, he chased his sister in these branches, he started to draw pictures here, like you do. He ran away from scary things, and came here to feel safe." she continued.
"is it a magical tree?"
"Maybe, maybe it is." Caroline said, resting her head against it's broad back, watching the fading Autumn sun shine through the falling leaves.
"When will I have a sister?" she closed her eyes for a moment.
"I am not sure, my love. You should ask Aunt Bonnie the same question, and Aunt Katherine and Rebekah" Caroline said, trying to smile, so as not to cry.
They were quiet for a while, until Ellie started to wriggle.
"Are there trees like this in America?" she asked.
"Yes, there are, and even bigger ones!" Caroline said as she started to climb down. Reaching the bottom, Caroline gripped Ellie's small hand and crouched down and spoke to her softly.
"Ellie, I want to tell you about your father." The little girls eye's lit up at her words and Caroline took a deep breath and started to explain the things that should never have to be told to a little girl who had never met her father.
Later, a long while later, they climbed the tree again, and sat in the branches, and Caroline finally capitulated to her daughters demand for stories of him. Ellie, not understanding, but glad that she was finally able to hear stories laughed and listened raptly. It sounded to her that her father was more exciting than anyone else's.
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"Allow me" Tyler said as he pulled Caroline's chair out at dinner. She sat down and turned a hesitant smile toward him.
"Thank you. We are so informal here, it is sometimes difficult to remember how one I suppose to act"
"Do not worry on my account, I have always been a little too lax in matters of etiquette for England." he said with a laugh.
"So, you leave tomorrow?" she asked as dinner was served.
"Yes, I shall go and procure the tickets, finalise some business and wait for your arrival in two weeks, before we depart for home. I must admit I am looking forward to company on this voyage, it is certainly a long time to be alone."
"Two months? Why, Mr Lockwood, that is no time at all to be alone, believe me" she said with a small smile.
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The simple farm life was wonderful while it lasted, but eventually, it was time to move on. Another man called Francois Dubois came back from war, and was sad to hear of his father's death, yet happy to find his father's legacy still intact, held together by a stranger with his name, with blond hair and a hard to place accent. Napoleon had surrendered, and was now imprisoned upon Elba. The war was over, and a new time of peace was beginning. Time to rebuild and live again. He took over the farm, tried to pay the man, but he would not hear of it, and he simply left one day, walked off out of the village with nothing more than the clothes on his back. The man set off toward the coast, said he had a hankering to see England. Francois wished him well, and he was gone.
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November 1814
Liverpool was as dirty and dishevelled as she remembered it. The smells and sounds of gulls. As they made their way to an inn to wait for their things to be transferred to the ship, Caroline urged them away from an all too familiar building that lined the waterfront. Instead, they ended up in a warm, dry, if slightly shabby common room very close to their ship's dock, that Tyler had recommended. Elijah and Tyler were occupied outside, and Kol remained with the women, given the unsavoury reputation of the the area.
They ordered lunch and ate leisurely. The group was in high spirits today, none more than Ellie, their adventure starting. Caroline was nervous, worried about the crossing, so close to Winter, and apprehensive to see the home of her youth. She also felt a heavy sort of sadness, at leaving England, one which she pushed to the side, yet could not quite forget.
"You know, one of the best meals I have ever eaten was very similar to this, on the road to Gretna Green. We had been traveling for so long without pause, that the unmoving seat and dinner was quite the best thing I can remember."
"I am sure the company had nothing to do with it" Katherine teased, not finding the food as appealing as Rebekah.
"Where is Gretna Green?" Ellie asked.
"In Scotland." Rebekah told her.
"Why did you go there?"
"That my love is a long story...it involves my sister, who you will soon meet, and she is very, very beautiful" Katherine began, settling back to tell it.
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Elijah finished his tour of what would be the family's accommodation on the ship. He nodded to the captain, and climbed up the steep steps to the deck.
"How do you find it? Not the most comfortable, I know." Tyler Lockwood said, coming to find him.
"It is more than adequate, thank you Mr Lockwood for helping us so much with this." Elijah said pulling on his gloves and hat, the brisk wind of the high up deck chilling him.
"Please, no thanks are necessary. Knowing that your brother and you sail with five women, I could hardly stand by and not help to make you all more comfortable, and safe. I am only sorry it is the best the ship can offer."
"Worry not, Mr Lockwood, those five women are more hardy than you might expect" Elijah said with a laugh as they made their way down the gangplank and toward the inn where they rest of them waited. Seeing their things by the hold, they veered off and watched their heavy trunks being boarded.
"You seem to have brought surprisingly little, given that you will remain there for an extended amount of time."
"We plan to remain there indefinitely. We have family there, and there is little point holding onto things of... the past" Elijah stated emotionlessly.
"Of course, and you will find the climate and lifestyle different perhaps." Tyler went on conversationally, highlighting the differences he always found the most striking when he travelled between the two countries. Elijah listened politely, his eyes watching the cases, then drifting over the docks.
As they finished with the luggage, Tyler excused himself to check out of his boarding house, and disappeared down the dock. Elijah looked at the place where the remaining members of his family awaited him. He was finding it harder than he had expected, leaving England. A knot sat in his throat, unmoving, despite his attempts to swallow it. He thought of how their bright conversation would pull him from his melancholia, and realised he was not quite ready for it.
He turned and walked along the busy waterfront. Business, from inns to pubs and brothels spilled their wares out, the smells not something he would forget in a hurry. He chose a decent looking pub, and entered. The common room was quiet, and he sat at one of the rough shod tables and asked for a strong drink from one of the surly looking servers. As his drink came, he sipped it, grimacing at the taste. Still, it was slightly numbing, and left him alone with his thoughts.
They had not sold any of their properties, and would continue to keep them, if they needed to return at any point. The war of 1812 was fresh in everyone's mind, though Mr Lockwood assured them all that it had ushered in an era of peaceful trade and negotiation. He reminded himself further that not all their party were in actual fact English.
"Now, now, wot's a high and lofty gentleman like you doing, drinking in ere then?" the rough voice pulled him from his thoughts, and Elijah tensed, turning to see two men standing beside him.
"Minding my own business is all." he muttered, and froze at the glimpse of a knife one of the dirty looking men flashed.
"I wouldn't mind takin some o yer business myself. How much do men like you carry on you anyway? Let's go outside and talk abot it" the quieter man said, and Elijah looked around the room for any one who might be of aid. He set his face in stone and stood up, as the man with the knife urged him toward the back. Elijah mentally took inventory of his possessions.
He had some money on him, not a lot, but the thing he worried the most over, was the tickets. He had the tickets on him. A small worry when he had already introduced himself to the captain, it would be of little consolation if he had already been killed for them.
They pushed him through a door and he found himself in the alleyway behind the inn. It was stinking with refuse buckets, and slops poured from the kitchen windows. The floor under foot sank as they walked through it, and the air was filled with shouts from the buildings that towered over the narrow walkway on each side, and the screaming of the gulls deafening overhead.
"Stop ere, it's good enuff" one man said as he started to dig through Elijah's pockets. He held his arms out and tried to reason with them, which was throughly ignored.
"Ere! Wot's this?" the man asked, as he pulled the tickets from his pocket. The two men poured over them. The couldn't read them, but could obviously recognised them, and Elijah wondered how many innocent passengers had lost their tickets at the inn.
"I never seen one wif this paper before" one said, rubbing the fine paper between his fingers.
"Must be first class and all that. They'll fetch a pretty penny" he said, smiling, and shoving the white papers into his filthy pocket. Elijah sighed and started to unbutton his heavy overcoat.
"I am afraid I cannot allow you to take them without resistance" he announced as he took off his coat and threw it over a barrel.
With body was less encumbered now, and he squared himself to endure their attack. He had never been in the military, yet had been trained in fencing and other physical pursuits from a young age. More importantly, from the breath of his adversaries, it seemed they might have overindulged already today. They wouldn't take much to drop.
One came at him, swinging slowly, he ducked quickly under his arm, and used the man's momentum to smash him into the wall behind, where he crumpled to the floor. The other, the quiet one, narrowed his eyes in anger and produced another knife, this one long and thin from his sleeve. He was the bigger threat, and he started forward, not attacking, but baiting. Elijah held back, keeping his defensive pose.
Suddenly the man swung a punch which Elijah went to dodge, realising almost too late that the other hand held the knife. He twisted away and barely escaped a stab to the neck. He stepped away warily, watching the other man. As he backed away from another lunge, his foot suddenly slipped on the muddy ground and he felt himself falling backwards. He landed hard on his back, and felt his breath leave his body.
The man was over him in an instant, raising the knife up to plunge it into his chest. Elijah watched it, it's delicate arch, the way it rushed to meet him.
Time seemed to slow for a moment, as the man's face twisted with hatred, his arm descending, unstoppable. Elijah squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting that thief's face to be the last image he saw. He conjured another, with dark eyes and a wicked smile. He waited. And waited. He heard a noise, a man gasping, wheezing and the gurgle of blood. He opened his eyes, trying to understand what had happened. His attacker lay beside him, his neck a bloody scarf, as red liquid poured from a huge gash. He struggled for breath, his hands flailing against the ground beside him, his eyes finally glazing shut, and Elijah wondered what he saw, as terror lit his eyes, and life left them.
His heart pounding, Elijah slowly sat up, the stinking mud already permeating his clothes, making him shiver with cold. Suddenly, a hand appeared before him, offering him help. He went to take it, and glanced at his saviour. Then he was sure, his heart did stop.
"You always were a clumsy fighter, brother."