Warning, violence
Chapter 40
Duchy of Carinthia, 1478
"Mama," the little girl in Mag's arms cried. Poor child, Mag's heart was breaking for her. She tried her best to calm the little one down, they needed to keep moving. Mag was leading a small group of women and children away from the soldiers who had already killed all the men in the village. "The rebellion of the peasants" had been crushed with force.
These people had only wanted to keep their families and their humble homes safe. They hadn't deserved this. Once again Mag was sick of the endless wars. She had seen countless of them and the people who suffered the most were like this child in her arms. She had lost her mother and probably also her father. The world truly was a cruel place. Yet Mag wanted to believe that there was hope.
She had traveled for over three centuries, trying to find a place that would feel like home. So far, she hadn't found it, but she had learned a lot. She had met many healers, physicians and midwives, eager to learn from them. That had become the most important part of her life. Something she could focus completely.
She was aware that she couldn't change the world, but she hoped that she could in her own small way make it a little better place, especially for the most vulnerable people. Helping women giving birth was the most important part of all her training. Too many women died in childbirth or lost their child. She couldn't help all of them, but she was happy about every life she managed to save. She hoped that she was making her son proud. Suddenly she picked up a very unwanted sound. Horses. Many of them.
"Run!" Mag ordered in Southern Bavarian. "We must get to the woods!"
Unfortunately they were just walking through a field, there was no place to hide here. Some of the women were carrying their children, others were old, they couldn't move very fast. They wouldn't make it to the woods in time. Mag spotted riders approaching them and made her decision. She had no choice but to fight. Quickly she handed the child to one of the women and told them to keep moving, no matter what. The riders reached her quickly and stopped their horses.
"Well, well, well," one of them said smirking. "What have we here?"
In that moment Mag realized that these weren't the soldiers who had been chasing them. These were vampires.
"It seems that we found a nice dinner," the other one chuckled. "And some entertainment for the night."
"You will leave these people alone," Mag snarled, revealing her fangs.
The men laughed.
"You think you can stop us, little wildcat? All of us?"
"I can hurt you," Mag growled, trying her best to sound threatening. "All of you."
"Oh really? Let's find out, shall we?" one of the men purred. "I will take the first turn with her."
The man dismounted; he was much bigger than Mag.
"No need to worry, sweetness," he chuckled. "I will go easy on you."
Mag pushed her fear aside and concentrated on the man. She needed to give the villagers enough time to flee. The man circled her like a predator, laughing and making disgusting sounds. The others cheered him on, thankfully none of them had gone after the villagers. Mag arched her back like a cat, ready to defend herself. When the man attacked, she moved fast, landing a firm kick between his legs. That dropped the man on his knees, giving Mag a chance to kick his throat and face. Blood was pouring out of his nose as he fell on his back. The second and third man dismounted immediately, they seemed furious.
"Little bitch," the second man growled. "You want to play, do you?"
Mag managed to land few kicks and punches, but soon there were four men attacking her. One of them hit her so hard that she almost lost consciousness. The sound of her dress being torn made her fight with all the strength she had left, but the men overpowered her and pushed her on the ground.
"Get off me!" she shouted. "Get off me!"
"Get your hands off her at once!" a male voice suddenly commanded.
The men obeyed immediately. Mag blinked her eyes, trying to clear her blurry vision. Her head hurt and she suspected that the men had broken her nose and her arm. Possibly also couple of her ribs.
"What is this?" the male voice continued.
Mag recognized it now. Tristan.
"My lord, this foolish woman tried to stop us from delivering dinner for the men. The peasants went that way, we can…"
His sentence ended with a gasp as his heart was being ripped out.
"This is no way to treat a lady," Tristan stated coldly before he kneeled beside Mag. "My deepest apologies. May I offer you my blood?"
"That won't be necessary," Mag murmured, trying not to show her pain. "But you can tell your men to leave those people alone."
"Of course."
Mag struggled to look dignified as Tristan helped her into a sitting position and offered her his cloak.
"Thank you," she murmured.
He observed her face with his typical blank expression.
"I truly apologize," he stated and glanced at the men. They hadn't dared to move. "Leave."
They didn't hesitate to obey.
"No need to worry, they will be properly punished for this," Tristan continued.
"Good to know," Mag stated sharply. "Would they be punished if they would have attacked some other woman?"
"Yes," Tristan replied simply.
"A peasant?"
"I do not accept this kind of barbaric behavior," Tristan answered, dodging Mag's question.
"Right. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Passing by," Tristan replied. "And you?"
"I was trying to lead those people to safety."
"I see. I assume they were a part of the peasant rebellion?"
"So what?" Mag snapped. "They were only trying to protect themselves when the nobles did nothing to help them."
"Hmm. I can see you haven't lost your spirit over the years," Tristan stated smiling. "How long has it been? Three centuries?"
"Something like that. I heard you have become quite powerful."
"Well, I cannot complain."
"Good for you," Mag huffed.
It felt strange to see Tristan again after all these years. They had been family for a long time and now… Mag had no idea what they were.
"How is Aurora?"
For a very brief moment Mag saw distress in Tristan's eyes.
"She… She is coping."
"Oh. I hope she will be alright."
"Thank you."
"You know I wish her no harm," Mag added. "We were family once."
Tristan smiled.
"Yes, we were." Tristan paused and crossed his arms. "By the way, I ran into Elijah few years ago in Greece."
Mag tensed; she couldn't help it.
"Oh."
"Yes, he was graceful enough to offer me something that is already mine."
"What might that be?"
"My people," Tristan replied. "Elijah founded the Strix, but he left them all to die when his father was closing in."
"Sounds familiar," Mag murmured.
"It does, doesn't it? No matter, I am the leader of the Strix now."
"Then maybe you would like to do something good for a change," Mag stated.
Tristan seemed amused.
"What do you have in mind?"
"The villagers. Help me find a safe home for them. You owe me that much after your men attacked me."
"Yes, I suppose I do. Alright, I will help them as a personal favor to you."
"Thank…"
"However," Tristan cut in. "This means that you owe me a favor now."
"Oh come on…"
"Just one favor. That hardly sounds unreasonable."
"Fine," Mag snorted. "What do you want?"
"Nothing right now. If and when I need something from you some day, I will come to you. Agreed?"
"No. How am I supposed to know you won't ask something I can't or won't do?"
"No need to worry about that," Tristan assured. "I respect you too much to ask something like that. I give you my word."
Mag considered her options for a moment. With Tristan's help, she could make sure that the villagers would have a safe home and a chance for a better life. It was worth owing Tristan a favor.
"Fine," she huffed. "Agreed."
"Wonderful. Now, allow me to offer you a new dress and a meal. We have some planning to do."
"Well, this should be interesting," Lucien hummed smirking. "Poor Elijah."
Mag didn't say anything, she didn't know what to think. This whole thing was nothing but a damn mess. Elijah had just left and Kol was probably out there looking for him. Why had she ever come to New Orleans? She couldn't stay, she knew that now. The Mikaelsons could clean their own mess. And Niklaus' child… She would find some other way to help the mother and the child.
"Lucien," she murmured. "I… I can't stay here. I want to leave."
"Yes, of course," he replied immediately and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'll arrange everything, just give me five minutes."
"Thank you," she sighed. "I don't even know how I can ever thank you enough."
He smirked.
"Oh, I can think of few ways…"
She frowned and slapped his hand, earning a chuckle from him.
"Or not. I'll be right back, sweetheart."
Mag closed her eyes when Lucien went to get his phone from the bedroom. Everything would be fine, she just needed to… She startled when her phone suddenly vibrated on the coffee table. An unknown caller. For a moment she wasn't going to pick up, but then she thought that perhaps this was an emergency.
"Yes?"
"Hello Mag," a familiar male voice greeted her.
"Tristan?"
"That's right. Good to hear your voice. How are you?"
"Fine," she replied, wondering why on earth was he calling her. They had run into each other for every now and then and he had even offered to help her with some of her projects, but he rarely called her.
"What can I do for you, Tristan?"
"Well… If you recall, you owe me a favor. I'm afraid I must collect it now."
