Pairing: Ester/Kol (F/m) hand 3x
Ester/Finn-Elijah-Niklaus-Kol (F/mmmm) hand/spoon
Afternoon
Tuesday, June 26, 1855
Damon got up to use the privy. Kol grabbed a mug of blood from the kitchen and went back up to the bedroom and laid in the bed. Damon came back in and got in bed beside Kol. Kol put his arm around the boy, he could still tell he was walking stiffly. A part of him wanted to heal him with his blood, but Damon had attacked two Originals with magic on his first day of successful spells. Kol figured he needed to learn a harder lesson.
"You started to tell me the story," Damon reminded him.
"Oh yes, where was I?..." Kol said picking up where he left off. "I must have only been five summers, but I was already ready to cast spells and wreck havoc with my magic...But I just remembered something about Finn that I never really thought about. It must have been 988 AD or so..."
988 AD.
New World
"Stop! Do not touch that," Ayana shouted. "That is poison!" The normally kind witch had a severe look on her face that made little Rebekah cry and Kol back up from the plants he was grounding up. He had a play mortar and pestle carved roughly out of wood where he liked to pretend to help Ester. Aryana moved closer to the white flowers that grew in umbrella like clusters. She checked to make sure the thick rootstalk chambers were not burst open, releasing the deadly toxin into the child's small hands.
"But I wanted to help Mother!" Kol defended. He waved his arms up and down in frustration and stomped his feet. No matter how he tried to help, he got yelled at.
Ester came out of the hut and to her horror, saw the water hemlock about to be pounded open on the rough table by her young son. She cried, "What is wrong? Kol, you need watch what you are doing. That is water hemlock! Did you touch it? Let me wash your hands. Rebekah, back up. Gods, Ayana, you saved him. I thank you." Ester rushed Kol over to a water bucket and scrubbed his hands and striped him of his rough tunic.
Ayana frowned, "Not sure I saved him from a whipping. I will get rid of this mess. Where did you find this, child? Please tell us you did not go down to the river!"
Ayana used a stick to scrape the residue into a large leaf and threw it into the fire. If this was put near the animal feed or water, it would sicken or kill the livestock. Ayana had her hair held back with a bright indigo dyed scarf. Her brown skin and eyes sparked with health and vitality. Ester, on the other hand, was seven months into a rough pregnancy. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked tired. Her skin was pale and her blond hair hung down to her waist in loose curls held back by a strip of leather. Her rough dress was patched and worn.
Ester called to Finn, "Son, take Rebekah and Elijah and feed the pigs. Niklaus is already up there shoveling hay. The slops are over there." Finn, fifteen years old, took his two younger siblings and dragged them and the bucket of feed down the path to feed the pigs. He had a feeling, this was going to turn ugly. Kol was always causing some trouble. Finn glared at his youngest brother harshly, Kol knew everyone was angry, but he had been trying to help.
Kol began to cry, "We wanted to help Mother. I did not know they were poisonous."
Ester leaned down to look her young son in the eye, she was heavy with child, but managed it for a moment. Ester stated, "You know you are not allowed by the river alone. Did you take your sister there? Kol, do not lie."
"It was just for a moment! We thought it was wild parsnips or sweet anise. You were tired, Mother, and we wished to help," Kol cried.
"My sweet boy, I appreciate the thought, but that gives you no right to disobey me, What did I said would happen the next time you misbehaved and got into mischief? Hmm? Tell me now, child," Ester prompted gently.
Kol glanced shamefully at Ayana, and then back at his mother. Ayana went in the hut to get him a cloth or blanket to cover up with.
"That I would get a spanking," Kol said in a small voice.
"That is right. You are getting a spanking. You both could have fallen in the river and drowned. Or been poisoned by the hemlock. Everyone else was busy and doing chores, I thought you were old enough to play on your own, but I suppose I was wrong," Ester informed him.
"Mother, noooo!" Kol whined.
"Do not fight," Ester said sitting down on a small stump. Her big belly prevented her from putting the boy completely over her knees so she leaned his naked form over her left leg awkwardly.
"Next time you will mind me. Never go near that river alone again!"
Holding him as tightly as she could manage, she walloped his bottom several times. Crack! Crack! Crack! Ayana came out with the cloth and winced to hear the child's sharp cries. After just a few smacks, Ester was out of breath and took the towel from her best friend with a grateful smile. They had traveled together from across the ocean and helped deliver each other's children, now Ayana had saved her son's life.
Ester let up Kol and wrapped the sobbing boy in the towel. She pulled him onto her lap the best that she could and rocked him close to her for several moments until he stopped crying. The three smacks had not been hard but the fact that his mother was vexed with him, upset the small boy greatly.
"Shhh, you are fine now. Go in and put on your other tunic, then go to rest for a little while. I will call you for supper," Ester soothed.
"But I am not tired!" Kol answered back. Ester lifted the blanket and swatted his bare bottom harder once. Pop!
"I did not ask you. Now run along before I get your father's leather strap and whip you," Ester warned. She kissed the boy and sent him into the hut with another light slap on his bottom. He tested her everyday, more than all the rest of her children put together. But Ayana smiled as Kol was her favorite.
Kol smiled at Ayana and ran inside the house.
"He would not disobey you if Mikael was here!" Ayana fretted.
"I know. What am I to do, Ayana? They know I will never whip them. I despite it when Mikael punishes one of them, even when they deserve it. Then, when he is gone raiding, they take advantage. I can barely get up, I am so tired. This child grows heavy in me. My last babe, I know," Ester said struggling to get up from the stump.
"Kol is the strongest witch you have. He wants to help, but that water hemlock could have killed him and Rebekah both. You know I had this problem with my older ones when we first got here. I was too busy to pay their behavior much mind and they started disobeying me something awful. Then, I dug out the only thing I was able to bring from the old country with me. A gift from my people, my mother actually, when I married,-" Ayana smiled but was cut off by a loud shout.
"Mother! Mother! The pigs got out of the pen," Niklaus hollered. "Hurry!" The blond child was covered in mud and frantic.
Ayana ran down the path to help and Ester went as fast as she could to help.
Inside the hut
Kol rubbed his bare seat with one hand, the half-hearted slaps from his mother did not really hurt. But he was upset at being sent to bed, like a small child. He changed into an old tunic of Niklaus' that had a hole in it and climbed the ladder to the loft. He did not think his mother would actually whip him, but Ayana had spanked him several times and she paddled much harder and longer. He did not want to give her a chance to come and find him disobeying again. Tears rolled down his face as he thought of how he took his sister to the river. She had almost fallen in once, that is when he saw the herbs, that he now knew were a poison. At the time, he thought they were something valuable, something they could eat or use as a medicine.
Kol finally got down on his straw pallet and must have dozed off. He woke up to a commotion downstairs. He crept over to the ladder and looked down upon the kitchen area. His mother and siblings were covered in mud.
His mother looked up, caught his eye, but he backed away quickly. She called, "It is alright, Kol. You might as well come down and get a bath, too."
Kol scurried down the ladder and heard the story about how the pigs escaped their pen. Finn blamed Elijah, Elijah blamed the gate, Niklaus blamed the neighbor boy, but Mother said it was no one's fault.
"Come children, I will warm the water. You lift it in the tub. We shall eat right after. It has been a long day," Ester smiled. She caught Kol and embraced him quickly, "Did you sleep, Son?"
"Yes, Mother, I did," Kol admitted sheepishly. He realized she knew how tired he had been.
"We shall go looking for herbs together tomorrow. I could use your help," Ester promised.
"Really, Mother?" Kol asked surprised that she would ever trust him with such an important job.
"Of course, I think you are really to try a spell or two," Ester smiled.
Kol flushed happily, "Yes, I am." Then, Rebekah poked him and he chased her until they were caught and put in the large wooden washbasin and washed.
Several days later
Ester had taken Kol out in the forest to forage and began to teach him to feel the energy from the earth. She thought that he had lifted a flower petal and maybe caused a small breeze already, which was impressive for his age.
Ayana came by around lunch time to find her pregnant friend cooking and cleaning.
"Ester, my dearest friend, you look awful. Sit down, allow me to do that. Where are the children?" Ayana said looking around.
"They are out playing. Their chores have gotten worse to the point where I started doing most of them myself. They are keeping me up all night with their antics. Jests and wrestling fights... Oh Ayana, I have had it with them," Ester admitted.
The children had been arguing and acting up at night in the loft, waking Ester as she struggled to sleep downstairs. That is something none of them would have dared to attempt when Mikael was home, but she had hollered up to them several times that she was going to come up there and spank them the next time it happened.
"Ester, remember I said I was bringing you something? Well, I brought you some chamomile tea. Sit, I shall put it on and my dear mother's wooden spoon. Here, it is yours," Ayana said placing the large flat headed spoon in Ester's hand.
"Oh, I could not take it. Do you not want to pass it along to the girls? It is beautiful," Ester said admiring the carvings on the handle.
"No, take it. I taught my children how to carve their own. It is easy enough if you have a small knife and the right hardwood," Ayana explained.
Ester was startled, "Niklaus, Kol, what are you doing back? I thought you were playing with the other children in the village."
Kol went and sat in Ayana's lap and Niklaus went to his mother.
"We were worried about you," Niklaus explained fingering the sparrow necklace she had gifted him a few years ago.
"I am fine, my love, but Ayana here brought me a gift that will help you behave. Show them, Ayana," Ester smiled. Niklaus could barely fit on her lap due to her extended stomach, but she pulled him down to her anyway. She ran her hand through his blond hair.
Ayana gave Kol the heavy spoon, "This is for your bottom, the next time you keep your mother up at night. You tell the others that they might stop that foolishness. Your mother needs her rest. Your father will not be home for another few weeks. Can you be be good boys and behave?"
Kol held out the wooden spoon and nodded, "We will be good, Mama. Sorry, we were fighting. It is just Finn is always mean to us. And we like to make Rebekah laugh."
Ester took the spoon, "He does not have much patience for you, but he is the eldest. You ought to listen to him when he tell you something. Rebekah needs her sleep, too. She gets very cranky when she is awakened. When this babe comes out, it will be harder for her because she will not be the baby anymore."
Niklaus frowned, "So Finn came out of your stomach first, Mother, long ago?"
Ester looked at Ayana and then stared at the rough table, "No, love, remember I birthed your sister Freya first. She died of plague. She had the same color hair that you and Rebekah have, Niklaus, golden. That is why we came to this land to get away from the disease. Now, go play and remember what Ayana said."
The boys ran off to play near the fire with their blocks and Ayana got the tea ready. "Will you ever tell them about Dahlia?"
"I cannot, Ayana. Not until one of my children is powerful enough to fight with me to find Freya again. It might be Kol. I can feel the power inside him. The others, just do not seem to have an affinity for witchcraft...Maybe if Mikael was not so opposed? They are afraid to anger him," Ester said simply.
"Then, maybe you should consider what we talked about...?" Ayana suggested.
"Ayana, he is still my husband. I love him. He saved me from the Vikings. He is the father of my children," Ester said holding her stomach.
"Almost all of them," Ayana said pointedly.
"Yes, if I was not so selfish, I would give Niklaus to Ansel and his people. He would be a prince there, but Ayana, he is my little boy. I have already lost one child, I cannot bear to lose another. May the gods forgive me," Ester whispered.
"I consider you my sister, Ester. I would fight with you, you know that," Ayana said pouring the tea.
"You are my sister, too. But it is not your fight. You have your own family to protect. Your daughters need you alive, this village needs you, my children need you. Ayana, thank you for being there for us," Ester said with emotion.
"You have been there for me. I know you feel like you need Mikael to deal with the children, but try the spoon. You might be surprised. If he hurts you or one of them, then call on me," Ayana insisted.
"He would never hurt me, but I do fear his temper with Niklaus. Mikael claims the boy is weak and he needs to toughen him up. The sparrow necklace weakens the children so he doesn't trigger his curse. Oh Ayana, if he ever finds out, he would kill him," Ester confessed.
"No, we would kill him first. Kol is not the only one who found where the water hemlock grows...Now, enough worry, it is not good for the baby," Ayana said firmly.
Later that night
Kol was tired of Finn's chiding them for trying to have fun. Father was away and this was the only chance they had. They were being quiet and would not wake Mother. Niklaus and Kol were taking turns tickling Rebekah and they were all rolling around on their mats. Once she started squealing for them to stop, they did, but Finn was irritated and threatened to toss them out of the loft down unto the ground. Elijah growled at him not to threaten them and the two of them started arguing. Kol was desperate to stop the growing argument and decided to try out his newly learned magic. He lifted the lantern with his mind and set it down with a bang.
Elijah stopped, "Kol, did you do that with your mind?"
"No," Kol said looking around wildly.
Niklaus joined in, "You are lying. You could have burned our up alive."
"I was just trying to make them stop fighting," Kol defended backing into the corner.
Finn grunted with disgust, "Show off!"
Niklaus growled, "And he's a liar!" Niklaus drove himself into Kol tackling him and throwing punches wildly.
Elijah jumped on Niklaus to pull him off of Kol but by this time, Rebekah was screaming and they had knocked over the piss bucket which made an echoing clang.
At the long metallic sound, everyone froze. They all then heard a shuffling from downstairs and someone climbing the ladder.
"Is Father home?" Kol gasped.
At the sound of labored breathing, they knew it was their mother. A moment later her head popped up and she pushed herself up into the loft.
"I warned you all you were going to get a beating if this happened again. If that bucket was filled, none of you will sit for a week," Ester thundered.
"Mother, we are sorry," Elijah tried.
Niklaus groaned, "Mama, Rebekah did not do anything, please do not,-"
"Enough. Flip over, every one of you, let us see what justice Ayana's spoon can dole out," Ester said fishing the spoon out of her apron.
"Pull up your nightclothes and bare those bottoms. If I have to do it, you will get double your age. Finn, you are first," Ester spat. Ester knelt down with effort and stared at her eldest son until he complied with her orders. He could see the determination in her eyes to carry out the promised punishment and saw no point in trying to talk her out of it.
Finn's face flushed crimson, and he lay face down and flipped up his nightshirt. He cradled his head in his crossed arms and felt the flat end of the spoon tap his bared behind. tap. tap. tap.
"Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, face down and bare your bottoms now. You are getting a paddling whether you like it or not. Hurry," Ester said still tapping.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Estel brought the heavy spoon down smartly and Finn began to kick and wail loudly. Soon, as the spanking intensified, he began to scream and beg for his mother to stop. Only after his behind was shining a dull red in the low light of the lantern and Finn stopped struggling, did Ester stop. She had whacked him fifteen times, not terribly hard, but she had flicked her wrist and she knew it stung.
"Now, go to sleep," Ester demanded with one last hard spank given with the flat of her hand.
Elijah was already shaking and crying before his turn.
"I will give you something to cry about, young man," Ester said tapping the spoon on his pale behind.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! The smacks of the spoon seemed to echo in the loft and down out the whimpering of her children.
Elijah called out, "Please, Mama, I did not do anything. Stop!" Pop!
Ester spanked Elijah quickly, but less than Finn. She was breathing hard and her arm was hurting already.
"Next time, you will get a whipping. Now go to bed," Ester said spanking Elijah five times with her hand causing him to scream out and pound the floor of the loft with his fists. Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! She whacked him once for each year of his life.
"Niklaus, you stay still or I will spank you again tomorrow morning," Ester threatened her six year old son. He was notorious for wiggling and had thrown himself off her lap several times during a spanking.
"Yes, Mother," Niklaus sobbed in fear. Tap. Tap. Tap.
She whacked him with the spoon lightly two times and then gave him four light spanks with her cupped hand. The swats had him kicking and thrashing, but he took it better than he did when he was over her knee for an extended period of time.
"Shut your eyes and go right to bed. No more naughtiness, little boy," Ester said rubbing his behind lightly.
Kol was trying to stay on his stomach, but flipped over when it was his turn. Ester exhaled, she was exhausted herself and pulled the boy easily over her lap. He was sobbing and hysterically.
"Hush, now, you did not even get your spanking yet! Mama is going to spank you and then give you a taste of the wooden spoon. Now, settle or I will use the spoon for your whole spanking," Ester said patting Kol's white behind with her hand. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Ester cupped her hand and lightly spanked her youngest son.
Swat! Swat! Swat!
She picked up the spoon and sighed, she could not cause him any physical pain, he had already suffered enough. She tapped him twice lightly on the rear and stopped.
She looked down the line and saw that Finn and Elijah had covered themselves and stopped crying, but Niklaus was still sporting a slightly pink bottom and sniffling. Her heart broke and she almost could not continue. The only thing that helped her was the thought of the children acting up like this when Mikael was home and him taking them to the barn and whipping all of them. She could not bear that.
Ester smacked Kol once more slightly harder once more and lifted him over her big stomach to hold. Whack! At only five years old, he seemed wise beyond his years. The little fellow wailed louder and she settled him gently on his stomach to rest.
Ester went to Rebekah, only four summers and picked her up and cuddled her. The child clung to her and she patted her back, "Mama's not mad, sweetheart. It is time for bed."
"The boys are sad," Rebekah muttered, half-asleep.
Ester held her a moment and laid her carefully asleep in her bed. Many a night, Rebekah had still slept in her own bed. Ester leaned over and kissed her only daughter the best that she could. Kol was quiet now, she cover him with his fur blanket and kissed him.
"Niklaus, I love you," Ester whispered as she covered him with the warm blanket.
It was the older two who she needed to check in on.
"Elijah, are you all right?" Ester whispered at the ten year old. He sniffed and turned away from her. She wondered if he truly had been innocent and not deserving of the punishment she had given him.
"Finn," Ester said to her fifteen year old, "I am sorry. Forgive me."
Finn wiped his eyes, "Tis alright, Mother. But I tried to stop them, I did!"
"I know, my love. I was wrong to beat you like that, but if they act up like that when your father is home, you know what he will do...," Ester said crying herself.
"Yes, I do. I would rather you beat me, than them beat them. Really, Mother, I am fine. Please, go rest. Shall I help you?" Finn responded.
"Thank you, Son. No, I am fine you go to sleep," Ester said kissing her eldest son with regret...Ester felt the baby inside her kick and realized that she did indeed need to rest.
Kol blinked coming back into the present. "I never realized until now that Finn was protecting us. In a sense, he had not deserved that spanking at all, but he took it to show us what would happen if we acted up when Father was there."
"But did you hate your mother for smacking you like that, or hitting your brothers?" Damon pressed. He had resented Lily's punishments, especially when she used Stefan against him.
"Nay, she barely swatted me that night and she never struck Rebekah, ever that I saw," Kol admitted, "but sometimes that makes her turning us into vampires harder. She did it out of love and then that love turned to revulsion at what we had become."
"I just do not understand why she was so afraid of your father, if she was such a powerful witch and all," Damon continued.
"She loved him and I think she thought she could save and control him. Father did want us to survive, but his methods were brutal and abusive. We hated him for them," Kol shared.
"Kol, I am sorry about today. I should not have flipped you over the log," Damon added.
"No, you should not have. But magic is hard, the power is intoxicating. Damon, stick with it and you will learn. That is what my mother and Ayana taught me," Kol said someone pensively.
"What ever happened to Ayana?" Damon pressed.
"Her daughters, eight of them descended and moved to Salem. A lot went on there, I heard that one or two of them has come back here in recent years. They are still powerful witches," Kol said.
"Well, there is one good part of the story," Damon thought.
"What is that?" Kol asked with curiosity.
"At least no one has your mother's wooden spoon. It sounded nasty," Damon cringed.
"Ha, indeed, lad. That thing stung, good riddance to that old thing!" Kol said with authority. "Now, rest. I shall stay. I will tell you more later, that was the first time with the spoon, but not the bloody last...Not at all."