AN: Happy New Year! I hope you all bring in the new year with love happiness and good health. Please Stay safe and be good people. Please enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 14

Marcel and Rebekah lovingly embraced each other as they enjoyed each other's company and comfort. Marcel had gone to his quarters to wash and change clothes, not too long after, Rebekah followed, insisting that he come to her dwelling once he was done. Marcel worried over how it would look, if seen, but acquiesced; he could deny her nothing.

"I missed you terribly. I worried that I would lose you too." Rebekah said looking up at him as she lovingly rubbed his cheek.

Looking into her eyes, Marcel moved a strand of hair from her face. "You will never lose me."

She turned to face him better and more comfortably due to her growing belly, "You cannot say that. We never know what the gods require," she murmured.

"The gods have favored us. The years apart, the wars and battles that I have fought, I could have fallen on my sword or been lost to the seas, but the gods brought me back home. Back to you even if it was to love you from afar. Bekah," Marcel sat up taking her with him, " I have always loved you. I have never stopped loving you."

"I never stopped loving you. I was married to Connor in name only and honor bound. I was a good wife to him. But my heart and soul have always belonged to you."

"Connor was a good man and treated you well and I will always be grateful for that. And though I spent many nights envying him, I never wished death or harm to him, please believe that." Marcel admitted.

"Of course I know that. You are an honorable man. And that is part of the reason I love you. I know that you would never wish evil on Connor." Rebekah assured him.

"I don't want to dishonor his name or memory, but Bekah will you be my wife? Allow me to be a father to the babe, to raise him as my own. I promise to love him and protect him as my blood." Marcel searched her eyes trying to gauge her response.

Filled with more happiness than she had ever felt, even more than the day that Marcel professed his love for her, Rebekah excitedly bounced up and down, "Yes, yes, yes...a thousand times yes...always and forever."

Marcel grabbed her face with both hands and deeply kissed her. She returned the kiss with the same fervor, falling back down onto the pillows, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Out of breath they parted still embraced lovingly holding each other in a relaxed and comfortable silence, both of them content.

Talon moved from the warmth of the fire to crawl over to the bed, making a hissing noise, he flapped his tiny wings to reach the bed. Once at the foot of the bed he crawled up in between the two lovers effectively making his presence known to Marcel.

In wonderment he watched the creature snuggle up to Rebekah, happy to be close to her. In just a few days he had grown to the size of a small rabbit. She kept him in the house, bringing him food, as not to scare the villagers.

"What is that? He certainly doesn't like to share," Marcel observed with a smirk, "Although I can't blame him. It is a him, is it not?"

Rebekah chuckled, "Yes, it is a him. This is Talon, he is a nesle, a creature Bonnie conjured up for me as a reminder to not let anything stand in between you, me and my love for you. I know father wants me to come back home," Marcel arched his eyebrow, "I know my father," she chuckled.

"He would never allow me to stay here without the protection of a husband even when Argyll and his son's were alive. But now with him and all but Liam dead there is no way that he would be inclined to have his daughter and grandchild so far away from him and the family. And to be truthful, I have missed home. But my decision was also based on being with you and I had made it." Rebekah continued.

"When we return we will talk to him and Mam and I will get their permission and then we will marry." Marcel stated, inwardly hoping that Mikael would approve and allow their union.

Sensing the direction his thoughts were going Rebekah said reassuringly, "He will allow it. He would have before had the marriage not already been arranged."

"You know me so well," he smiled, "I know, but I just don't want him to think it too soon or inappropriate. Maybe we should wait for your proper time to mourn?" Marcel said thinking aloud.

Rebekah sat up hastily, disturbing the creature between them so that he made a growl, shaking his head then settled back into place. Both Rebekah and Marcel looked at the thing and then back at each other laughing at his audacity. Then suddenly she sobered. "NO, we will marry as soon as we talk to father and mother. We have waited long enough and I will not wait any more than I have to. I have mourned Connor and now I am ready to move on."

Marcel nobbed, "Very well. Now settle down love." She did as she was told, fitting as comfortably as she could in his arms with the small animal and belly in the way.

After some time Marcel broke the silence. "She looks far different than when we first took Klaus to her. It seems as if you have found another sister."

"We did bond over worrying over the men we love." Rebekah confirmed.

"Men you love...huh? So it is true what Kol told us?"

"Yes, for all intents and purposes she and Klaus are husband and wife. She loves him. She is a strange creature, but she is loyal and fierce and she fits very well with our family. I much prefer her over that strumpet he was bedding."

"Rebekah!" He amusedly exclaimed, taken aback by her candor, but not surprised. He missed her colorful antics "What?" She said, looking innocent. "We all know that her skills excel in making the beast with two backs, especially with the practice that she gets." Rebekah remarked with disdain.

"Rebekah," he chided, "Klaus is a grown man and his dalliances are his business. But I am curious how she is going to react to Klaus having a wife when he returns."

"Well I suggest she just move on and not cause a fuss. Bonnie is a powerful witch, but besides that, she is a woman that will not suffer that whore trying to dig her claws into her man." Rebekah was sure that if Aurora tried to get back into Klaus' bed she would find herself confronting a very angry witch.

"She is a strange one. Why does she refer to us as royalty?" Marcel was curious about the witch.

""She says it is because of father, because he rules. She says he is king, the sovereign leader. You are part of our family so she addresses you as such. I really can't wait for her to meet mother and father. They will love her, as will Freya, Finn and Henrik."

"Why do you think she stared at me the way she did? Do you think she saw something in my future or past? Witches are known to be able to see the future and even the past." Marcel worried over any visions she may have had about him.

Rebekah frowned, "I don't know, but she seemed taken with you. I am sure it is nothing to worry about."

…

Kol hurriedly walked back into the tavern adjusting his belt and tunic. He had unceremoniously and clumsily taken the brunette tavern wench with the ample bosoms and pretty face, up against the back wall of the tavern. The tryst was quick due to cold weather, too much ale and abstinence.

As he walked in he saw Elijah sitting at a back table dimly lit by a candle. He sat back against the wall and pint of ale in hand. Kol inwardly laughed as his brother sat brooding over the diminutive witch.

Kol had left him to his thoughts concerning the witch after laboriously sitting through his heated diatribe of how the wicked witch had cursed or spellbound Klaus for her evil dealings.

Kol laughed heartily at his brother, knowing that the only thing that Bonnie was guilty of was pussy whipping Klaus with that body of hers. What he failed to realize was that Bonnie was just as smitten with Klaus as he was with her. If Elijah wasn't careful he would be on the wrong end of Klaus' temper.

"Brother, why do you still sit here? Find a woman to warm your bed and relax that tension of yours." The younger Mikaelson said as he clapped his brother's shoulder.

"Always thinking with your cock, I see," Elijah retorted with a bit of a slur.

"Maybe you should be thinking with yours instead of thinking ill-advised thoughts about your sister-in-law." Kol advised as he sat down now waiting for his pint of ale.

"And you are so quickly willing to add her to the family?" Elijah spit out after taking a gulp of his drink.

"Yes, she is a fine woman, brave and skillful in the craft and combat. But more importantly she is Klaus' wife, he has chosen her, he will not be without her and he loves her. You would be wise to remember this and act accordingly."

"You saw the way she eyed Marcel right in front of Klaus. She is a whore that is pulling him along by his cock. Because that is what you get when you think with your cock and not your head." He vehemently hissed, taking another gulp.

"Watch your mouth brother, I'll not suffer your disrespect of my sister. Best you stop drinking before it gets you in trouble. She is not Katerina and Klaus is not you." Kol got up from the table, threw some coins down, took a gulp from his pint and walked away shaking his head.

Elijah watched him go, inwardly cursing him for bringing up her name. Even in his ale induced fog the pain was still potent, squeezing at his still broken heart. Could he be wrong? Was he seeing Katerina in the witch? He didn't have the faculties or desire to ponder those questions, so he didn't. Elijah continued to drink broodingly.

…

Klaus lovingly looked at his wife as she slept in his arms after the third time he had taken her with a passion that even startled him. It was like he couldn't get enough of her, even now with her laying peacefully next to him, he felt himself hardening again with arousal.

He was happy, not just happy, he was content. She stilled the restlessness and suffocating loneliness that often plagued him since childhood. Klaus was loved and surrounded by his family yet his unfounded paranoia and feelings of abandonment would cloud his mind with thoughts of betrayal, which caused him to rage and be distrustful.

...

Esther told him that he was special, different from all his other siblings. During her pregnancy with him she fought side by side with Mikael when war came to their land. She commanded a small company of fifty men and a few women; they guarded their keep which housed those who could not fight, including their young sons.

Going into labor prematurely, she continued to fight as Mikael was fighting on the battlefield; she refused to surrender her home and allow her children and clansmen to be murdered or enslaved. She would fight until she killed them all or was killed or.

Her home secured, her enemies defeated, she gave birth to Klaus on a pile of dead bodies and in the blood of her enemies under a blood moon. The next morning a battle weary Mikael returned home to find he had a new son. They had won the war and he was the ruling high chieftain of a now united band of clans.

Esther told Klaus that because he was born in war, baptized in blood and conflict his soul was touched by death and the dead sought to torment him, but the gods favored him.

Klaus learned that staying in his wolf form more often, communing with nature helped to calm and clear his mind from the paranoia and restlessness. The intensity of fighting and battle brought him peace and purpose, this was why he often went where there was conflict and chaos.

Esther always feared for him but Mikael said he was protected by the gods, he was born of war and thus would win and conquer over his enemies. Esther's heart hurt for her son because she also knew that his disconnect from most people was due to his unusual birth conditions.

...

Klaus felt the difference in his mental and emotional state since he had been with Bonnie and he was grateful for it. He truly felt complete and whole. He hoped that he had given Bonnie as much as she had given to him. He swore to the gods that for all his days he would cherish and protect her.

Lost in his thoughts Klaus didn't realize that Bonnie was awake watching him. "Husband, your thoughts are heavy. What troubles you?" His wife asked as she snuggled up closer to him.

Klaus smiled, "My thoughts are of you and far from troubled. You bring me peace of which I have never known." He said as he kissed her lips.

"Are you happy wife?" He inquired as he caressed her cheek gazing into her green eyes.

"I, too, have never known such peace as I know, now, with you." She answered honestly and without hesitation.

Playing with her curls absentmindedly he said, " I spoke to my brother, Elijah, about you...us...he was concerned…"

Bonnie sighed heavily, she knew their blissful reunion had to come to an end sooner rather than later. "He is an honorable man. He loves you and your family but his unyielding protectiveness will be his undoing."

She continued, "He does not trust me. I understand his caution, but he makes me wary," she added honestly.

Klaus scowled, "He can be single-minded and relentless, but he would never hurt you. He knows I would not allow anyone to harm or disrespect you." He said adamantly.

"He is your brother, he is your blood...I will honor him."

"And you are my wife, you are my blood, you are my heart...and he must honor you." Klaus lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes, "For you I would walk this earth blind and mute, if you needed eyes to see and a tongue to speak, I would gladly give them to you." He swore.

Bonnie's magic hummed and she felt warm as she heard his words and felt the truth of them in her blood. "Niklaus, I love you. Until the end of days I will love you. I didn't know what to call what I feel for you, but Rebekah knew and named it and I know that it is love...undying...unwavering... love." Bonnie declared.

"I love you too...always and forever." Klaus kissed her forehead then her nose then her lips, a sweet kiss to seal their promise.

Settling back against the pillows, Klaus commented, " I am sure Rebekah and Marcel will ask my father to marry. They deserve to be happy, the gods have favored them, they have waited for so long to be together."

"Will your father give his blessings? Will he give his blessing to us?" Bonnie asked, concerned that his father would not be amenable to their union.

"He will. Had he not already arranged Rebekah's marriage to Connor, he would have allowed them to wed. Father and mother will be very pleased that you are my wife. A small ceremony will be required for the family. Any reason for mother to show off a new daughter-in-law." Klaus smiled, thinking of his mother and her excitement.

"I am glad your father will be agreeable. How is it that Marcel came to be your kinsman? Are there other kinsmen that are also kissed by the sun as Marcel is?" She asked in astonishment and excitement.

"Marcel's father, Rodrick, was a great warrior. He saved father's life during an ill-fated campaign in a land far away. Rodrick asked father to take him back to his family, as a debt repaid and he did. When father was to return home from their homeland, Rodrick asked if he and his family could accompany him to live among our people, father readily said yes."

"They became comrades-in-arms and more importantly friends. Father trusted him over many kinsmen and they fought side by side on many battlefields. When he died in battle, father returned with his body to give him a proper funeral to send him to Valhalla. Then he declared to the family that Marcel was now a part of our family and he has been my brother ever since." Klaus finished.

"I could not believe my eyes..to see his sun-kissed skin, the color of the rich sands of my home...that I had almost forgotten...to see one such as I...I could not look away or speak properly. I thought I was the only one left in the world, different and set apart." Tears fell from her eyes.

She continued trying to articulate her thoughts, "To see him gave me hope that I may yet still have people somewhere in this world. That I am not alone, no longer an outcast, no longer an orphan with no people to call my own."

Klaus' heart broke as he felt her pain, a familiar ache that he had suffered although he had people dear to him. He knew this pain. Overcome with emotion, his eyes tearing up and overflowing, he proclaimed as he wiped away her tears "You are alone no more. My people, my home, my blood is yours. But I will sail the oceans to the end of the world to find your people if you wish it."

Kissing away the tears that he shed for her, overwhelmed by his love all she could articulate was a soft, "Thank you."

XX