Chapter 48
"Good old England," Kol muttered while stepping out of the carriage. Surprisingly it was raining and the evening was quite chilly. The courtyard seemed to be full of carriages; the stable boys certainly had their hands full. There were also lackeys covering the guests with umbrellas and escorting them inside, the whole nobility of England was probably here to celebrate lord Niklaus' birthday. Rebekah cleared her throat angrily, making Kol to give her a grin before holding out his hand for her.
"Some gentleman you are," she complained when he helped her down. "The ground is muddy."
He raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
She frowned and slapped his hand.
"Carry me inside, you barbarian, my gown is going to be ruined!"
He chuckled and looked up.
"Forgive me, sister, but in case you have forgotten, I have a wife to look after…"
"I can assist the mistress, my lord," Raphael said quickly and moved next to the carriage.
Kol pressed his lips together; he wasn't very thrilled about Sonja's new admirer. The servant always followed her around like a puppy, he seemed to worship her. According to Sonja, he was simply confused and needed his maker's guidance, there was absolutely nothing romantic about it. Well, that wasn't what worried Kol, first of all the man was a servant and second of all he wasn't very pleasant to look at, what annoyed him was the amount of time Sonja spent with him. Kol had turned many people, either accidently or simply for fun, and he couldn't have cared less about how they learned all the necessary skills. Sonja on the other hand was like some damn mother goose, treating the man like he would actually be her child. Clearly she hadn't got over about her ridiculous idea of being a mother…
"Kol!" Rebekah demanded. "I will soon have to start to build a boat!"
He sighed and lifted his sister up. From the corner of his eye he saw Raphael helping Sonja down and covering her with some cloth.
"It would be a shame if your beautiful gown would get wet," the servant murmured, earning a smile from Sonja. This was really getting annoying, but Kol didn't want to intentionally start a fight with his wife, Sonja had made it perfectly clear what she thought about his jealousy. Unfortunately she could be stubborn as hell when she wanted to be and obviously this was one of those times when she wasn't going to change her mind. He was the man, dammit, he should be the head of the family, but lately there had been not one but two women walking all over him.
"Be careful with my hem," Rebekah instructed.
He rolled his eyes and suppressed his urge to throw her in the puddle of mud. This had to stop, he was the man and he deserved some respect, dammit! Thankfully his brothers were here, Rebekah could hassle them for a while.
"Nik and Elijah are going to be so surprised," she said when they reached the main entrance.
"Yes, I believe they will be."
Kol hadn't informed his brothers about their arrival; he liked to make an entrance.
"Good evening, my lord," a lackey said. "Your name, please?"
"Lord Kol, lord Niklaus' brother. So, where is the celebration?"
The lackey seemed confused.
"Forgive me, my lord, but I do not believe I have…"
"They are here to celebrate!" a woman's voice announced.
Kol was actually surprised when he saw Elijah's strange human mistress; apparently he had decided to turn her.
"My lady," the lackey murmured tensely and gave the woman a little bow. She was wearing a creamy gown and there was a big smile on her face.
"Brianna?" Sonja said, clearly she was surprised as well.
"You are here!" the woman said cheerfully. "Happy birthday! For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us. And so say all of us, and so say all of us. For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellooooow, and so say all of us!"
For a moment Kol was completely speechless, was this woman out of her mind?
"Right… Is Elijah here?"
Brianna pouted her lips.
"He is talking with her. I do not like her, I hope someone cuts her throat and eats her heart."
She paused and tilted her head, looking at Kol attentively.
"You should not like her either; her fury will destroy everything you love."
"Uh huh, I see. Well, it was…nice to run into you, but I believe we shall find someone…"
"Less insane," Rebekah finished. "And I thought that Finn made a poor choice…"
"Bekah," Sonja scolded. "It was nice to see you again, Brianna. Are you joining us?"
She shook her head.
"He must get it over with. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. This is the very ecstasy of love."
Kol didn't have much to add to that, so he gave the loony woman a smile and offered his arm to Sonja, who curtsied before she took it.
"My lord."
She looked beautiful wearing a peachy gown.
"Bekah," he said and offered his other arm to his sister. The three of them would certainly make quite an entrance; most guests had probably already arrived.
"This way, sir," the lackey said and led them to a big hall. Their arrival was certainly noticed by almost all the people in the hall, there were whispers and confused looks, just the way Kol liked it. He completed the little show by giving both of his "ladies" a kiss on the cheek. Sonja seemed amused, she had got used to his sometimes strange ways to entertain himself. Bekah on the other hand rolled her eyes and picked up a goblet from a table. Niklaus had certainly spent a lot of money on this celebration; there were plenty of foods and drinks, musicians and probably hundreds of candles and torches burning around the hall.
"Where is Nik?" Rebekah asked.
Kol was wondering the same thing; he scanned the hall and finally noticed both of his brothers standing on the other side of the room. They were talking with some woman, who apparently had their undivided attention; they hadn't even noticed their siblings' arrival. Her back was turned, so all Kol saw was curly dark brown hair and a purple gown.
"Let's go and say hi, shall we."
Sonja and Rebekah were right behind him when he made his way through the crowd. Elijah noticed them first, but there was something strange about his expression, like someone would have caught him doing something forbidden.
"Hello, brothers," Kol said. "Surprise."
The woman turned around and suddenly Kol was the one who was completely surprised. Tatia.
"What…"
Kol couldn't do anything except stare at the woman, who was smiling politely.
"Hello," she said.
Suddenly Kol remembered his wife and turned to look at her. Sonja was completely shocked; she was opening and closing her mouth.
"Tatia…" she managed to say.
The woman seemed confused.
"I beg your pardon…"
"Tatia!"
Sonja almost jumped on her and hugged her so tightly that she was gasping for air.
"You are alive!"
"Sweetheart," Kol said as calmly as he could. "She can not breathe."
Sonja let her go immediately and took a step back. There were tears in her eyes.
"I am so sorry, I am simply so happy to see you."
The woman looked even more confused.
"I…Forgive me, my lady, but I do not…"
"Sonja," Elijah said calmly. "She is not Tatia."
Sonja's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Her name is Katerina Petrova, I believe you must have confused her with…someone else. One of her relatives, perhaps."
Sonja's face went blank; Kol noticed that her hands were shaking. This Katerina Petrova was a human, which meant that she had to be Tatia's great-great-great-great and so on granddaughter. Oh the joy, this could certainly be messy.
"Darling?" he said wrapping his arm around Sonja. He could easily see how upset she was, but then again, who wouldn't be, a spitting image of her dead sister was standing right in front of her.
"I…forgive me if I upset you, my lady," Katerina said, but she wasn't really looking at Sonja, she was looking at Kol. "You are lord Niklaus' brother?"
"Yes, he is," Klaus suddenly said. He certainly didn't look pleased at the moment. "Katerina dear, perhaps you would like a little tour?"
She hesitated a moment.
"Yes…Of course, my lord."
"Where…where are you taking her?" Sonja managed to ask.
Klaus' eyes narrowed.
"Brother, I believe your wife needs some rest after your long journey, you should look after her. I can send someone to assist you if that is necessary."
Kol didn't have any problem to interpret the hidden meaning behind his brother's words; Klaus wanted him to keep Sonja out of his way. What the hell was going on here?
"Watch it, Nik," he replied, keeping a smile on his face. "I might send that someone back to you in few pieces."
No one threatened his wife. Katerina gasped and looked at him in wonder, when Klaus on the other hand sent him an ice-cold glare.
"Hmm, my brother has a peculiar sense of humor. Come, my dear."
Katerina hesitated before she took Klaus' arm.
"Elijah?" Kol muttered after his brother had escorted the human away. His older brother seemed distressed.
"Perhaps you should follow Niklaus' advice; this is his birthday after all."
"A boring birthday," Rebekah complained. "He didn't even say hi to me!"
Kol touched Sonja's hair; clearly she was still very upset. He had a nasty feeling that they never should have come here.
