Bite-Sized

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except these words.


"What's with the tiara on my doorstep?"

"It's a king's duty to crown his queen, after all."

She'd stormed over here as soon as she'd opened the door to find the delicately wrought diamond piece inside a crisply wrapped parcel, looking so innocent she knew it had to be anything but. "You've got to be kidding me," she says, trying to thrust the tiara into Klaus's hands.

"Oh, not at all," he replies, taking the tiara from her and settling it atop her head.

It's heavier than it looks. She can feel the weight of it, pressing down on her, the way that Klaus's intentions have pressed in on her since he blew back into town last August.

"Don't you look the picture," he murmurs. "You'll wear this tonight, will you not?" There's something so soft and yearning in his expression as he takes her in. She should feel ridiculous, dressed in a henley and diamonds, but instead, caught in Klaus's open regard, she feels beautiful, adored. It's a heady, dangerous feeling. A sort of spell he's cast on her before, that she falls under time and time again.

"To the ball?" she asks faintly.

"I want to show you off."

"Don't. We've been over this. I'm not your girlfriend."

"That's not what I want you for, and you know it."

She does, is the thing. He'd alluded to it only moments before, in his typical overly lofty declarations. Kings and queens, gods and monsters and maidens fair.

"I'm just a girl," Elena tells him softly, taking the tiara off and gently placing it down on a side table. "Nothing special."

He snatches up her wrist and presses a hot kiss against the pulse. "You've never told a more outlandish lie. You've never been just a girl. Your fate has always been to be something more. To be the one to stand by my side."

He's so persuasive when he talks like this. So certain. It would be so easy to agree. To be his, and never look back.

Except, she is her own. The narrative has always been written to make her a pawn, but she's never accepted it as such.

Elena draws away from him, and he lets her.

"If I am going to wear a crown, it's going to be the one I put upon my own head. I won't be anything less than your equal," she warns him.

Surprise– and pleasure– blazes in Klaus's eyes. "I'll look for you tonight, then… my queen."


A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are life, y'all.