It was a cold bright morning, no human sound could be heard for miles. Carriages were moving into this small town in Virginia. A woman with blond hair sat in one of the carriages. She dressed in a blue off the shoulders dress. A bored expression lay on her face as they entered the town. She was one of three carriages that carried them from various noble families across Europe. She moved the hair away from her face revealing these haunting blue eyes. She looked back at a man who sat in front of her and a woman who sat next to him. "M'lady, this is a good thing for you. It gets you away from the courts of England and experiences America. We're only here for a short time." He spoke softly in a posh English accent.
"Oh please, it's just my father's way of getting rid of me again. You know he sent a young Wallachian noble to a foreign place for a treaty. It was the 1400's! The worst time to send me." She spoke softly in an accent hard to read.
"Remi, this is not the time or place to be sulking around. Katerina Petrova is said to be around here. We are on orders from him to be here. The two best vampire hunters there are! Cheer up! I hear there are some cute men in these areas." The woman said with a cheerful tone. Her eyes sparked it all.
"Ophelie please, you are only here for the sport of hunting, not the men. Besides, this country is at war! Remember our mission is also to the queen. Her majesty is counting on us. We have been trusted to bring information back to her as well. I do not want to be on the run from Niklaus over this." Remi spoke with a smile. "It is a step up from French court!" She quickly added. The carriages stopped. Something or someone was outside. There were a few voices outside the first carriage. A few men's voices as the sun were peaking.
"Where are you coming from?" One man asked. "What's your name?" Another asked.
"I am Beowulf of Belfast Ireland." The driver of the carriage spoke. "My masters are traveling to Mystic Falls. They are here as representatives of her Majesty, Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland. His highness, Albert the prince consort." He announced. Remi smiled and opened the door. "Beowulf, what seems to be the problem? We are supposed to travel the last foot of this tonight." She spoke as she got out of the carriage.
The men looked at her as she stood there. "M'lady, these men were wondering why we were out so late." He spoke in a rather posh accent. She looked at them, and soon she was joined by another man. "I am Countess Evie Lancaster. My cousin Ambrose Lancaster-Laval. Inside my carriage Lady Claire Lancaster, my younger twin sister. The next carriage is Lady Lily Lancaster-Laval and finally the last carriage Elizabeth Laval. She is Ambrose's cousin from France. We are members of her Majesty's court. We have come here to experience the tales of American life so we may bring it back to her Majesty." Remi spoke. She looked at the confused men.
"My apologies sirs, we are on the last leg of our trip and trying to make up time. You see we got into a bit of trouble a few days ago and were supposed to be here already," Ambrose spoke with a charming smile on his face.
"I am sorry… We've had a few animal attacks the last few nights and we are surprised anyone is out here this late." The one-man spoke.
"This fine sir, the Countess is just a bit harsh when it comes to deadlines," Ambrose spoke again. "We are heading to Mystic Falls, we heard it was a good quiet town to visit in the Southern United States." He added looking at them.
"Of course! It's up the road, there's an inn you can stay at. We will let the mayor know you are coming." One of the men spoke and they nodded. "Right this way, we will lead you in." The other one added.
Ambrose grabbed Remi's arm and looked at her, giving her a stern look. A simple look to tell her not to cause problems. In reality, none of them were really a part of the court life in England. The Queen did trust them in a mission. They held titles centuries ago, before their deaths. She nodded in agreement before getting into her carriage. She closed the door behind her fixing her dress. "Lady Remi everything alright out there?" The man asked with a smile on his face.
"Oh Nicholas, you know how these humans are. They are always paranoid about something. But their paranoia is leading me to believe we may have found our little girl. She is here somewhere." Remi spoke looking at her sister and the man.
"You gave them false names… You know as well as I do those are court names, not our real names." Ophelie spoke to her with a wicked smile on her face. Ophelie was the younger one of what the noble houses call the wild twins. She was fierce and independent-minded. She hated the traditional roles. Remi was like her in many ways. However, Remi was the one you did not mess with. She was a fighter, and once went against an original vampire.
"Well if we do not make them think we are apart of her majesty's court life. Then we cannot blend in very well. Our names, even our real names, are far from being English. Nimue and Morgana are old names…. Our fae names. Remi and Ophelie are names from our french court days. They are still in common use now at least." She explained. A smile on her face as the carriage started to push off from the stop.
"Well we can't all be infamous for being a sorceress can we?" Ophelie spoke with that same wicked smile on her face. A slight eye roll and Remi continued to look out the window. "No, we cannot. Obviously." Remi replied as she looked at the men and where they were going. There had been an inn somewhere she could relax a bit. She hoped that is what they meant. She was hunting a vampire, herself being a faerie had a thrill to it. They proceeded through the town but they did not stop at the inn. Rather this giant manor. "Where are we going? I thought they would be leading us to the inn, not some manor." She was aggravated by this motion that they would be staying in someone's home. The carriages stopped in front of the doors.
A man stood outside with his family. Beowulf, the driver came down and opened the door. "Announcing Countess Evie of Lancaster. Lady Claire of Lancaster, and Mr. Nicholas Baker of Edinburgh, their personal assistant." Beowulf announced in a post upper English accent. Remi was the first to get out followed by Ophelie. The next driver got out. "Announcing Lord Ambrose Lancaster-Laval and Lady Lily Lancaster-Laval of the Lancaster estate." He spoke in the same post accent as Beowulf. Ambrose came out and held his sister's hand. A smile on his face as he looked over the manor. Their thoughts were broken when the last driver announced the final person. "And finally announcing Miss Elizabeth Laval of the Burgundy region, France. Heiress to the Wine region." He spoke in the harshest French accent. A beautiful dark hair, a pale-skinned girl stepped out. Her eyes were a dark green. "Bonjour." That was all she said as she walked next to them grabbing Lily's arm.
"Countess Lancaster, we are surprised you did not send a letter ahead of time. I am Mayor Lockwood, welcome to Mystic Falls. I hope your journey was good." The well-dressed man said. She noticed he seemed off.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lockwood. Might I ask why we are here instead of the inn?" Remi spoke in her most diplomatic voice. Her presence changed from her typical relaxed and outgoing self to being pushed into a new role, the Lady role she once took on in Wallachia, and Paris. The man looked at her confused as to the way she spoke.
"Well Countess, we thought it would be good for you to be here with us, being royalty it only seemed fit to stay with us here." He spoke with a smile. Remi remained composed. She did not like the idea of being in someone's home. It was too risky for them to be there. She hesitated with a response.
"Thank you for your generosity, Mayor Lockwood. We will happily stay here. I hope it is not an imposition. Beowulf, Alastar, and Sorely please gather our things off the carriages and follow the staff for Mayor Lockwood. Roisin, Caoimhe please make sure our rooms are set up. Please take Artois with you." She said with the same tone as she had with the mayor. They all bowed and started to do their duties.
"Countess let me show you around the plantation." He spoke to her and she nodded in agreement. She felt it would be good to get out.
"That would be lovely, thank you." She said softly. "But would you please allow us to freshen up a bit? Understandably the last bit of our journey here was a little bit rough." She said with a smile. He nodded and motioned for them to follow him in. She watched around them feeling the air for abnormalities or the feeling of vampires. Ophelie smiled and took Remi's arm. As if snapping her out of her trance and softness appeared back on her face. They walked into the house. It was beautiful, not like their chateau or the castles they lived in Europe but something new. "This is a beautiful house, Mr. Lockwood. How long has it been in your family?" Ophelie asked as she looked around. A smile came to her face feeling almost at ease around the manor.
"Not long, A few other families and mine founded this place. We are going to be celebrating the survival of a successful year." He spoke as they continued to walk. A young girl, who looked sad. "Elizabeth please show our guests to their rooms. They will be staying with us for some time. Also, let the cooks know they will be joining us for dinner." He spoke stern, almost cruelly like to the girl. She nodded and led the way up the stairs. She was quiet.
"Elizabeth was it? Please you do not need to fear us, we are friends." Lily spoke softly but smiled. The girl felt at ease around them.
"Thank you, ma'am… This is the room for Countess Lancaster." She spoke with a smile and bowed towards her. Remi walked into the room and looked around it. A girl about the same height as Remi stood in the middle of it. Her hair was that of snow, and her eyes were emerald green. She was pale looking but a beautiful girl. She was Roisin. A fae like Remi, but a fire fae, unlike Remi. "M'lady Nimue, this place has hatred to it. You feel it don't you?" She asked in an Irish accent. "Roisin, you know why we are here as well as I do. For Klaus to stop pillaging our homes we must find the girl… I do not like that our kind is hidden in their true nature here. It does not feel right." She spoke, making a small gust of wind to close the door. She looked back at her. "Also Roisin, remember that Nimue is dead… here we are using English names, Evie is what I am going by. When we return then it will be Remi." She spoke harshly.
Roisin bowed a little and started to undress Remi. She felt disconnected from her people and the sun was pleasant to see. Roisin smiled pulling out a beautiful dress that was a light blue. It buttoned up and she grabbed a green wrap to go over it. "This is hard keeping up being a noble from the human lands. Roisin, this is going to be the hardest hunt we have done in a long time." She spoke looking back at her trying to figure out the current land.
"Lady Evie, I have a thought if you would be so kind to allow me to explain," Roisin spoke softly and looked around. Remi nodded her head and sat down in the chair where Roisin started to redo her hair. "What if Lady Claire or Ms. Elizabeth was able to change into their true forms to scout the region. We could see if our Fae brethren live in these lands, and they could also find Katerina." She suggested. Remi was thinking about it. It was harder for her to maintain a fae form long enough to engage in scouting missions. "I will talk it over with them. It is dangerous for us to even be doing magic. I read the mind of the mayor… There is doubt in there, vampires were the constant thing. I do not know how long we can stay and be safe…" She spoke with concern. A knock at the door and Roisin stopped what she was doing to open it. Ophelie stood there in a pale green dress. A smirk on her face and she was standing there. "Evie, Mr. Lockwood has requested our presence outside. Ambrose, Elizabeth, and Lily are already down there. Nicholas decided he is going to scout around." She spoke with a happy tone.
"Roisin, I want you to find out what you can from the slaves. They seem to be our best bet." Remi spoke with a smile on her face. Ophelie grabbed Remi's arm and walked with her down the long elegant hallway.
"I have heard there is a Katherine Pierce that lives here. She came up from Atlanta… Maybe we make her our new best friend." She spoke with a malus in her voice.
They reached outside, the sun was bright and the lawns were a beautiful green color. "Mayor Lockwood… Your home is extraordinarily beautiful. It rivals the castles and manors of Europe." Remi spoke. The mayor bowed to her and smiled.
"Thank you, Countess Lancaster. I thought it would be good to go to town and meet the locals here." He spoke with a smile as two open carriages pulled up in front of them. She smiled slightly.
"Please you may call me Lady Evie. It is customary when people talk to us, they will call us Lady or Lord after acknowledging our titles. So please from now on you can just call us that. A ride around town sounds perfect!" She spoke with such a sweet tone.
Everyone loaded into the carriages and they were taken into the town. Remi looked around trying to get a sense of the town. The carriages stopped outside of the town and they got out. It was bustling almost around the town. A man stood out, he was tall, dark, and handsome. Something that intrigued her. "Excuse Mr. Lockwood, who is that?" She asked in a proper lady voice. He looked back seeing the man standing there.
"That's Damon Salvatore, his family is one of the founding families. Would you like to meet him, Lady Evie?" He asked her curious about the question. She nodded but smiled.
"I will introduce myself if you do not mind. Please go ahead and show them around. I will find my way back. It's really not a problem." She spoke with the demand in her voice. He nodded and she started walking towards him. The man stopped and looked at her curious almost. "Hello Mr. Salvatore…" She spoke with grace and swagger about her that demanded attention. He stopped and moved towards her.
"Hello, Miss?" He asked her still caught off guard by her. A small smirk appeared on her face noticing there was something about him that intrigued a catch almost.
"Not Miss, Lady Evie of Lancaster. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Salvatore. Would you be willing to show me around the town? I just arrived last night and I am a bit lost." She spoke with this flirtation now. She was caught in his interest now.
"Um. Sure, I would love Lady Evie." Damon spoke with the same swagger back. She smiled and stepped closer to him. "Now you said you were from Lancaster? Why are you out here?" He asked her curious to know who she was. It was a heartbeat she read his mind, everything about him just the look. An instinct she could not turn off now.
Remi smiled and blushed a little. "Honestly, I am a spy for her Majesty, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. She sent my family here to see about this war happening. It's influenced a bit in English society." She spoke holding out her hand for him to take. He seemed hesitant about it. "Just take it, it won't harm you." She said, speaking a bit annoyed by the hesitation. She could tell he was in love with someone. He took her hand and people started to look at them. He quickly let go upon seeing this girl, she came into their eyesight.
"Oh is she your wife, Mr. Salvatore? She's pretty." Remi spoke with a smile on her face. It was Katerina, the person she was supposed to kill. The girl walked towards them and he smiled at her.
"Who's your friend Damon?" Katerina asked without skipping a beat. The women at this point looked like they would rip each other's throats out.
"I am Lady Evie of Lancaster. Mr. Salvatore was showing me around the town. I am sorry you are Miss?" Remi asked her. Katerina knew exactly who she was. She had a fake smile on her face. It was like she was trying to figure out things.
"I am Katherine, it's nice to meet you, Lady Evie." She spoke with spite dripping from her words. She turned to Damon, "Damon, I will take Lady Evie around. Why don't you go back home and I will meet you there." Katerina spoke to him and he nodded not before taking Remi's hand and kissing it gently. A small blush formed on the face of the fae.
"Goodbye Mr. Salvatore, I think I will see you around," Remi spoke as he started walking away. She turned to Katerina and smirked. "Katerina… or Katherine I suppose that's what I am calling you. It's a pleasure to see you again." She spoke with arrogance to her voice. The other girl smiled a little.
"So the Fae princess visits me finally. So tell me Nimue, why did you come?" She asked her trying to dodge anything that would incriminate her. Katerina seemed amused by the girl standing in front of her.
"You know why I am here Katherine. You betrayed Klaus and the family. So I am here to collect your debt in the best way possible." Remi spoke. Her voice was serious, calm and she was ready for anything. The two girls started to walk around the town.