A/N: Full author's note at the end.
Summary: Caroline was building a life for herself, her plans were set and continually derailed by the supernatural world. The next thing to take her off course is the discovery that she is married, to Klaus Mikaelson and a vampire/witch hybrid. With her memories of their life back, she finds herself in New Orleans, ruling beside the big bad himself. Sequel to Sun and Moon, An Immortal Dance.
Chapter Thirteen
Klaus woke up early the next morning in a better mood, the night he had with Caroline reminiscent to the ones they shared in the past. When it was only the two of them against the world, just an artist who loved his wife. There many moments he wished they could be that way again, but he knew that possibility was slim. Too many things had happened to shift who they were and the life around them was nothing like that of simple peasants. No, they were to be royals in this life. He painted some more strokes on the canvas, slow and delicate as he did his best to capture her image. Caroline still lay asleep in their bed, absolutely radiant in the morning light that streamed in the curtains over their bed.
A grin that showed his dimples appeared at the thought of this being theirs, the thought of anything being theirs. It brought forward all kinds of memories of their times in the past when there had been nothing, but their love. The talks they had for a future, for a family. Pain stabbed Klaus's chest then. He could remember they didn't talk much about children, maybe once or twice and not for lack of desire. He knew she wanted them the way her eyes would shine at the sight of them, but then they would get sad. When he asked her about it, that had been before they were married and she couldn't bring herself to answer, so he left the topic alone.
The next time when they were married, he thought hinting at it with possible names might get her to speak on it, to be happy, but it had the opposite effect. And that night, he had a dream. Where he stood beside Caroline in front of blurred house and landscape in clothes he didn't recognize. There was laughter, a lot of laughter actually, children. He could see several little bodies running around at various heights and ages, though he couldn't make out any of their features, he could feel at least four of them were his own while the rest were his siblings.
He had woken up that morning with excitement, but never told Caroline of it. And he never got the chance to tell her because she was killed and ripped away from him soon after. A thousand years later he finds her, only to take her memory away and in a selfish moment he decides to remove his own memory leading to the mess he was in now, with a child who he loved, but did not belong to his wife. He stopped his stroking for a moment as he considered the conversation he had two hours ago with one Hayley Marshall.
"I didn't expect to see you still here," Klaus commented with his head tilted to the side, chin out.
Hayley folded her arms over her chest, "I needed to talk to Caroline, but you two vanished and I figured I'd have to see her in the morning."
Klaus frowned, "What was so important you had to wait in the house of blood suckers and demons?"
Hayley glanced away with a worried look on her face which told Klaus this was more serious than her originally guessed. The once passive expression on his face shifted to severe as he nodded to the side. They would talk somewhere more private than here. While the compound had been spelled to keep unwanted people out as well as to give privacy to most rooms of the home, there were some blind spots that Caroline was still working on. Her magic and skill had grown tremendously over time, yet she remained too hard on herself and Klaus wished she could see how strong she was. If he could show her that, he would be happy. Once they made it to one of the studies and the doors closed did Hayley speak.
"I've been thinking a lot on how the witches chose Caroline to be Regent and I know you didn't do that," Hayley said with a pointed look.
Klaus raised his hands in surrender, "No, that had little to do with my own meddling and everything to do with the witches lust for power."
"Something I'm sure you're familiar," Hayley remarked dryly. At his sour look, she continued. "But that's not the point. Caroline comes from some strong bloodline of witches right?"
Klaus nodded.
"She's also the last one. No siblings or cousins on the witch side, she'd be the only one left, so I don't think they just decided to start bringing her into the fold. I think they'd been looking at her before," Hayley explained, brow furrowed slightly.
Klaus thought about it for a moment, "Quite frankly I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. What I want to know is why question it now?"
Hayley met his gaze. "She's a vampire now. A hybrid maybe, but still a vampire and witches can't stand them. Why would they want a vampire, even if she has magic, in charge of their coven? Especially one married to one of the Original vampires, to the Original hybrid. Something is wrong with that picture and you know it."
"A vampire witch hybrid is stronger than any witch the way I am stronger than any wolf," Klaus remarked, a look of pride. "It makes sense they would want the most powerful witch they could find leading their charge."
"But how would they have known Caroline was a hybrid before," Hayley pressed on, "If they'd been looking at her before all this, then that means they only thought she was a witch until something tipped them off she was a vampire and married to you."
Klaus could practically see the gears spinning in Hayley's mind, "What are you suggesting?"
Hayley answered a bit frustrated, "I'm suggesting that there is something more going on there." She shut her eyes and took a steadying breath. "It may seem like I'm grasping at straws, but my instinct is telling me there is more to it."
"Then we'll have to look into it," Klaus said seriously, "If there is something more sinister going on you and I will find it. But we keep it from Caroline unless we find something."
Hayley frowned at that, "Are you sure keeping it a secret is a good idea?"
Klaus glanced away in the direction where he had left Caroline, "Everyday is ready the stress of this weighing down on her, the burdens she carries are heavy and I can barely help her lift them when I'm the cause of them. I do not want to place anything else on her that could turn out to be nothing."
"I get your sentiment, but Caroline should know something about this and hiding it won't do you any favors," Hayley pointed out.
Klaus couldn't say anything to that, he only stood there and tried to think of what would be the best way through this.
Klaus let out a breath as the memory faded from his mind. The conversation had left him worried, his mind spinning with all kinds of possibilities for what the witches were hoping to gain with Caroline in charge. It hadn't been because they wanted to be allies with the vampires or with the big bad wolf, no they wanted Caroline. Powerful as she was, she was still newer to magic and hadn't been a witch until maybe a year or more ago, though it had been locked away where she hadn't known of it, so how could they?
When Klaus heard the witches had taken Caroline and wanted her in their folds, he had been thrilled. It meant Caroline could learn to use her magic and could serve as an insider, or infiltrator. Though that second thought was quickly destroyed when she informed him of the spell that kept her dorm telling him certain things. A disappointment to be sure, but at least she would have some of the best teachers of magic. That counted for something. Yet he did still wonder why they took her when they did. She hadn't been here for long, of course news of her spread fast, but Hayley was right. No matter how powerful she was or could be, she was a vampire and the witches hated them far too much.
So why Caroline? Why the vampire witch hybrid leading them one day? Was it to get to him? To take her away from him? Could they do that, take her away from him and turn her against him? He gripped his brush tighter. Was that their plan to undermine him? Take the woman he loved away, turn her against vampires and be the one to take him down? To have them be enemies?
Klaus stopped his painting for a moment, he was almost finished, but he needed to pause at that last thought. The witches, could they turn Caroline against him and make them enemies? Was that their plan? Have the original vampire witch hybrid destroy the original vampire wolf hybrid? Before he could let that thought spiral, his mind went to Cami's word at the Faction Ball when his paranoia shined through.
"Caroline has had every opportunity and reason to leave, but she's stayed. There is little more you could do that would push her away, unless you hurt someone she loved."
Klaus had no intention of hurting her, he wanted her by his side and to make up for all the hurt he had caused. If all he had done before hadn't sent her away, what else could? So the witches couldn't believe that just because they brought her into their golf and were grooming her for a higher position meant she would turn on him. After all that had happened and she still remained at his side, all the bad in a thousand years, the hurt he specifically caused her and she was still here. There was nothing they could do to turn her against him. Unless, they had already tried to turn her against him.
"I think they'd been looking at her before."
How could they have turned her against him before all this happened- Klaus's brush clattered to the floor. What better way to break a woman's heart than to have the man she loved cheat on her? Could the witches… had they… Klaus's mind frantically poured through his memories of that time with Hayley, when his memories of Caroline were gone, he thought of the witch who gave him the potion to do it.
A Quarter witch had given him the potion, a Quarter witch had been there in the house before Hayley arrived. The foggy mind they both had after, that didn't feel quite like a hangover, but was close enough for the two to call it a day. Their clothes disheveled and partially off when they awoke. The only evidence they had of that time was Hayley's pregnancy and magical proof the child was his.
"Klaus, are you okay?"
Klaus's gaze snapped to the right to see Caroline at his side, looking at him with a worried gaze. Mouth set in a pout, brows furrowed and eyes searching his own for answers he couldn't give. Something akin to hope bloomed in his chest, a chance that his mistake hadn't been his own, but something external. While he had no proof and it could have only been wishful thinking, he felt something in his mind tell him it was true. He needed to talk to Hayley about it, if she had been into this idea previously, then perhaps she shared the feelings he did on this matter.
"I'm just fine," Klaus said, "I thought I had misplaced a stroke, but it turned out to be the perfect place."
Caroline clearly did believe that, "Are you sure? You felt frustrated and spiraling a little."
Klaus sent her a dimpled grin, "When painting the most beautiful woman in the world, it must be perfect. You dressed in nothing, but my t-shirt and your messy hair for instance, I've never seen someone look so nice."
Caroline's expression was playful as she rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say. Now I'm going to shower, you going to join me or what?"
"I'm right behind you," Klaus said with a pleased grin as he set his paints down.
"Not sure why you've called this meeting Elijah," Marcel drawled in a bored tone. "I've got the vampire under control."
Elijah leaned on the bar beside Marcel, "Yes, well there was something else I wanted to negotiate with you. Can I trust you to be, discrete?"
Marcel raised an eyebrow at this. For a while now he'd been able to rule of the vampires the way he had before, so long as he reported back to Elijah about certain things, something he didn't enjoy. He missed the days when he was the only one in charge of the Quarter and there were plenty of moments, plenty of them, where he wanted to try and find ways to get the Mikaelsons out. The only reason he had stopped his scheming, much to Thierry's annoyance and disproval, was because of Caroline, the Mikaelson baby and Davina.
Caroline was making a positive change to this place in the short time she had been here and Marcel found he enjoyed her company. Her influence was a good one, not to mention he wanted her as an ally instead of an enemy which couldn't happen if he went against her husband. The Mikaelson baby, he didn't mess with kids. As much grief as he had with the baby's father, uncle and even aunt, he wouldn't want to be the reason that infant grew up without ties to their family. Even if the baby could be safer away from them than with, he knew what it was like to lose family and he didn't want to be the cause of that, not again, not anymore.
And lastly, there was Davina. He failed her before, many times it seemed and he only wanted to help her. Starting a war with the witches hadn't helped her, starting a war with Mikaelons, causing trouble with the vampires, it wouldn't help her. She was still sixteen, almost seventeen. He made a promise he would whatever was best for her, to help her, protect her. Getting caught up in a fight against people he could be stronger with as allies, he knew that it would do more harm than good.
"What do you need," Marcel asked, head tilted to the side.
Elijah grinned at him, too pleased, "I need help from you and from our lovely bartender Camille." Elijah turned his head to look at Cami then, who had just finished serving another customer a drink. At the sound of her name, she glanced over to Elijah and Marcel, some confusion there. Excusing herself from the other customer, she made her way over to the opposite end of the bar to Marcel and Elijah, her own expression puzzled.
"What are you two scheming about," Cami asked as she leaned on the opposite side of the bar, loose blonde hair framing her face.
"I am so glad you asked," Elijah said, that too pleased grin on his face still, "I was just about to inquire a favor from Marcel and I would like you to help him with it."
Cami frowned at this, "What I can do?"
Elijah looked between the two of them, "Caroline has informed me that Francesa and her family are not all they appear to be. They're werewolves, trying to pass themselves off as humans in order to gain power."
"Are you sure, they don't have a wolf scent," Marcel questioned, not completely convinced.
Elijah nodded, "Yes, I had said the same thing, but Caroline's magic has not lead us wrong yet and based on some investigating of mine own, I can confirm she was correct."
Cami tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "So they're passing themselves off as humans to get control of the human aspects? Why not just get in charge of the wolf aspect?"
"Because the Crescent wolves have the most power here," Marcel said to her, leaning back slightly in his chair. "So they're keeping this secret to gain more power, what do you want us to do about it?"
Elijah answered him plainly, "You Marcel are going to infiltrate their group. Find out as much information as you can, even stage a coup with them if you must. Correa and her family will destroy all we have been trying to build, all Caroline's efforts will be lost if they have their way. If you are able to get on the inside, when the time comes for their attack, you and your vampires can take them down."
"And what do I get in return for this," Marcel asked then, his expression pointed.
"Full control of the vampires back," Elijah said seriously, "Niklaus fancies himself a king, but he doesn't know the first thing about real governing. Caroline does, but she can only go so far with the witches pulling her in one direction. As of right now you have most of the control among the vampires, but I want to restore all of it back to you. You may even one day have more control of the Quarter."
"And how do I know you aren't just saying that? There's no way Klaus will want to give up any of his power," Marcel replied no convinced.
"Leave Niklaus to Caroline, she will handle that part. While my family envisions themselves are the royals of this place, you cannot rule a kingdom with advisors, governors and all other leadership roles to take care of the minute parts," Elijah told him with a confident expression on his face.
The idea did sound nice, but Marcel was still hesitant to agree. After all, Klaus did swoop in and take his city from him. If anything, the city should be returned to him, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Marcel, with reluctance, nodded to show he would do as Elijah asked. He would get more control of the vampires this way and keep the Original vampires as his allies instead of enemies. Right now he knew the benefits were in his favor, even if he wasn't on top and he needed to take advantage of that while he could.
"And what about me," Cami asked, not sure where she fit into this.
"You, will be in charge of keeping close ties to the other humans in your hands," Elijah informed her. "While Francesca may have the approval of the other humans until Kieran is back, it's plain to see she wants the seat for herself and herself alone. If you are able to secure the human relations with Kieran or even just yourself, that will go a long way."
Cami frowned, "But how am I supposed to do that? It's not like my uncle has taught me enough that I could lead the humans, that they would even follow me. Plus he's still not in a good state."
"So you'll keep learning from him and the rest of the humans who know about all this stuff," Marcel told her, his tone assuring. "This has been in your family for generations. It shouldn't end with Kieran, you can keep that legacy going. You're more than capable of it."
Cami scoffed, "Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm not sure I could do a good job with it, but I will try."
"I appreciate that, the help both of you are giving," Elijah said sincerely. "Report back to me on what you find. I eagerly await your message."
And without another word, Elijah left the bar giving Marcel and Cami a moment to themselves, to trade ideas on how they could do as he asked without getting caught.
Caroline leaned her back against the brick wall of the compound, the humid air clinging to her skin and every part of her. As much as she had been enjoying her time in the Big Easy, she had to admit she wasn't the biggest fan of the humidity here. But that was expected considering New Orleans was technically below sea level and a swamp land once upon a time. Speaking of a swamp land, she and Hayley would be going to Bayou for the day until Caroline had to return to the witches, for some session with the Harvest girls.
When Caroline had mentioned this, she noticed the discomfort on Hayley's face. Granted the witches here were not the favorite people considering all the trouble they caused and were responsible for, but the Harvest girls were the more harmless of the bunch. Not because of lack of power or anything, but because they seemed like genuine girls. Even Monique who had bene rotten and killed her aunt. Though Caroline didn't like Monique for those reasons, she also knew that it wasn't her fault. The influence of the elder witches here was… terrible. The younger witches seemed okay, but the elders were the rotten ones, the ones who hexed Kieran's nephew and then himself because he didn't get in line with their agenda.
"Ready," Hayley asked when she came to Caroline's side.
Caroline grinned, "As I'll ever be. Though what you're dragging me out to the bayou for, is still beyond me."
"Maybe it's girl time," Hayley remarked dryly.
"Sure it is," Caroline said with a huff and sly grin, but it faded at the serious look on Hayley's face. "What's wrong? Are you alright? Baby alright?"
Hayley let out a heavy breath, "There's something I want to tell you about, about when Klaus and I slept together."
Caroline stared at Hayley in confusion and only slight disgust, "I really don't need to know the details of that-"
"But you need to know this," Hayley interrupted, her eyes earnest. "Not here, not with so many of the, of them listening."
Caroline raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. Who did Hayley mean by that? The vampires here, the witches? What was so important she wanted to talk to her about not in the spelled compound, but in the open bayou? It didn't make a lot of sense to Caroline, but she decided not to question it too much for now. Instead, she settled for a nod and followed Hayley out of the Quarter.
The journey to the bayou had been more than silent between the two, the most awkward and uncomfortable, which made sense to Caroline. After all, the woman who was having a baby with her husband wanted to talk to her about the night they slept together. That was strange and would lead to an uncomfortable conversation. Though Caroline would rather not hear anything on the subject, she could tell that Hayley wasn't trying to tell her this to hurt her, but for some other deeper reason. When the pair made it deeper in the bayou. Eve's house just in sight, did Hayley start speaking.
"I know this likely isn't a conversation you want to have and believe me, I don't want to talk about it either, but something's come up," Hayley started, her voice as uneasy as Caroline felt.
Caroline let out an uncomfortable breath, "Yeah well I'm not to interested in hearing about it, but you wouldn't bring it up if it wasn't important, so spit it out."
Hayley grimaced slightly, she collected her thoughts and spoke, "The witches want you to lead them."
Caroline frowned, "It seems that way."
"Do you have any idea why," Hayley asked, brow furrowed.
Caroline's frown deepened, "What does this have anything to do with-"
"Just answer the question," Hayley said, her tone a bit sharper than Caroline liked.
"Fine, sorry," Caroline said raising her hands in surrender. "I don't know, my guess is because my bloodline is really strong and I'm the last one."
Hayley shifted in her spot, "But they're okay with you being half vampire? Even though they hate vampires?"
Caroline shrugged, "I told Marcel the same thing that it doesn't work. Whatever they're up to, I don't think it'll work."
"Maybe, but I don't think they recently decided they wanted you here," Hayley said softly. "The time I slept with Klaus, I had been in contact with a witch who was giving me information and a spell to help me achieve my goals. I'm not sure that's all they did."
Caroline's face scrunched at this, "And…"
Hayley inhaled uneasily, "And I remember the witch I spoke to, they mentioned Maclynth before on the phone with me, to someone else. I didn't realize it was you until recently."
"Hayley, you're not making sense right now," Caroline said with a huff, letting her frustration show.
Hayley brought her hands to her face, pressing the bridge of her nose as she tried to put the pieces together in her mind and put them out in the open. As she lowered her hands, she stared in Caroline's eyes and the look there was… pained. It wasn't like Caroline hadn't seen Hayley in pain before, but this look, it was different than the others. It seemed more personal.
"I think that the witch, a French Quarter witch, did something," Hayley said, her voice softer than before. "Neither Klaus and I remember much of that time, even when we woke up with a hangover, it wasn't normal… Klaus, Elijah and I are starting to look into it now, but I'm not sure what they can do."
Caroline tilted her head to the side, not speaking for a long time as she considered Hayley's words, "I, I, don't know, I don't." Caroline shook her head trying to process it all. "So you think that the Quarter witches did something to you and Klaus that day and that's somehow related to my witch line?"
Hayley made a face, "I know it sounds like I'm grasping at straws, but I'm telling you, something is up with this. My gut is telling me that."
Caroline crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to hide her unease. "It borders conspiracy."
"But conspiracies are founded on something true," Hayley pointed out a bit weakly. "There's no guarantee that I'm onto something, but I just, in case it's possible to uncover some other plot, I figured you should know."
"Why did you want to talk about it here," Caroline asked next, "Who were you worried about listening?"
Hayley raised an eyebrow, as if it were obvious, "The witches of course. They've been real interested in the hybrid baby and the hybrid witch. If they were behind what I said before, I think it would be because of you." Caroline scowled. "I'm serious. If they wanted you before, but learned you were married to the hybrid Klaus, don't you think they'd want to mess with that?"
Caroline considered that, "Like break us apart?"
"Yes," Hayley said, her own eyes lighting up as her conspiracy seemed to come together more. "Think about it. They find out there's one powerful witch left in this bloodline right, who they think could lead them in serving nature. But turns out she's married to the Original hybrid, their sworn enemy in a lot of respects. What would you do then? Break them apart and what better way to split up a husband and wife?"
"He has an affair," Caroline whispered.
As crazy as it sounded, Caroline couldn't deny there was some plausibility to what Hayley was saying, even if there wasn't any proof to go with it, she wasn't grasping at nothing. It did make sense to Caroline and a part of, a very large part of her actually, was hoping it would true. Not because she liked the idea of the witches getting involved in her life or manipulating her, but because it changed the context of their night. It meant that Klaus didn't just have sex with the were-slut because he forgot about her. Obviously he still did forget and she was still a little upset by it, but this made things a little better. This made it so it was out of his control, something he couldn't have avoided.
"Yeah," Hayley said softly, "There isn't any proof and it's all speculation, but given the extremes these witches go to, you can't say it doesn't fit what they would do."
Caroline nodded a bit absently, "They are shady…. You said Klaus and Elijah are looking into it?"
Hayley nodded, "I couldn't tell you how, but he said they would investigate. Klaus didn't want me to tell you, but I figured you would want to know."
"You were right," Caroline said, her tone still sounding far off. She understood why Klaus wouldn't want her to know without any proof. It brought up a hope in her that she hadn't realized she wanted to believe in so badly. Now that the opportunity was here, she found herself clinging to it. "Guess we'll have to do some digging… I'm off to a witch session, maybe I can find something out."
A/N: Alright! So, good news and bad news. The good news is that I have a clearer idea of where the story is headed, while I know certain parts I want to put in, trying to get there has been a bit challenging, but I think I've figured most of it out. And this chapter lays a ton of the groundwork I need to put it on the right track so I'm excited and I hope you're excited to. The bad news is I won't be updating until the New Year. This gives me time to do some more writing and planning and making sure I put all the right parts in the right place. Just a fair warning to you guys that I didn't vanish again, but using the time off to make sure I get this right.
Thank you all so much for your continued support on this story! It makes me so happy that people like this story and want to see more of it. It's because of that I want to make sure I do it the best way I can and deliver something I can be proud of and you guys can enjoy. Hope ypu guys are staying safe and are well out there!