I'm sorry this is up a bit later in the day. I had a family emergency this weekend and just started a new job. Hopefully the wait was worth it :)
Chapter V: Seal My Fate
"Really? You don't want to invite your family?" Caroline asked, frowning as she looked down at Klaus's provided list of guests. "Don't you have a bunch of siblings?"
"Yes," Klaus said shortly, not quite meeting her eyes. "But they're muggles. They can't attend a magical wedding."
"Of course they can! They've kept your magic a secret this long. I don't see why we can't give them a portkey in and out," Caroline promised, frowning when Klaus was silent for a moment too long. She put down her papers, scanning his face for any kind of indication for what he might be feeling. "What?"
He cleared his throat. "They haven't, actually," he said.
"Haven't what?"
"Kept it a secret."
"What do you mean? They have to, don't they? That's the law."
She knew it was a little silly that that was her justification. After all, she bent (and broke) laws all the time, but she wasn't sure how they could have flouted it. It's not like muggles would believe them if they tried to insist on it. Klaus looked pained for a moment, his expression less guarded than she'd ever seen it. She couldn't help but wonder if he was faking openness to gain some kind of advantage.
"They don't know. They were never told in the first place," he said finally, his fingernails drumming on the table. "Mikael forbid it."
Caroline's mouth dropped open, though she managed to shut it quickly, trying to suppress her shock. Klaus's lips twisted in a bitter smile, and he sighed before beginning to explain. "My siblings have thought that I went to boarding school, which obviously I did, but Mikael told them that I had been sent there because I was a delinquent."
"You? A delinquent? I never would have guessed," Caroline teased, trying to break the tension. Klaus gave her a small smile.
"Yes, well. They don't want anything to do with me now, and I can't say I blame them. Mikael had nine months out of every year to tell them terrible stories of all the mischief I supposedly got up to, and when I came home I couldn't use magic, so I had no way to show them. I tried to show them my spellbooks the first summer, but it got back to Mikael quickly enough. Likely Finn told him. He's my eldest brother. Quite the snitch."
"What about your mom?"
He shrugged. "She felt bad enough about the affair that she didn't stop him. I suppose she was worried he'd leave and find some way to take my siblings with him."
He said it so casually, like it was an obvious fact. In their six months of fake engagement, he'd never really told her anything personal beyond a casual mention of something related to one of his siblings. The frank reveal of something so private felt like they'd hit some sort of landmark. "Affair?"
"Mikael isn't my father. My mother had an affair with a man who passed through while traveling. I don't know much about him, but from what I've managed to find out from my mother's descriptions, a few creative potions, and some muggle DNA tests, he's likely a wizard."
"And a natural werewolf," Caroline finished for him. He nodded. "Did you ever meet him?"
"No. I tried to find him once, but I couldn't locate him. I'm unsure whether it's because he's dead or if he simply didn't want to be found," Klaus said, looking away from her briefly before meeting her eyes again. "In any case, my siblings likely wouldn't come if they were invited, nor would my mother. Even if they wanted to, Mikael would forbid it and make their lives miserable."
"I'm sorry," Caroline said quietly, fiddling with her quill between her fingers.
"Nothing to be done about it now."
"Still."
He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes before sliding a list towards her. "It's just my mates from Hogwarts and a few people I met at my job. I'm sure your list is much longer than mine because of your connections."
"I mean, my list of people I want to invite isn't long, but the ones I have to definitely is," Caroline said grumpily, adding Klaus's list to hers and putting them in the folder labeled 'Wedding' on the edge of her desk. "And 'mates'? Really? From what I got they were more like your minions."
"Perhaps they're minions. Followers. Cult members..." he trailed off with a grin. "But now they'll be yours as well."
She wrinkled her nose. "Gross."
"You'll find that they're rather helpful. Loyal employees are the backbone of every workforce, after all."
"Maybe," Caroline said with a shrug. "Depends what you do with them."
"They'll help us with the business. Provide connections...Some of the less savory ones have items we may be able to acquire. Many of them work for me regardless, so I'm sure they'll be willing to work for me at Forbes, Inc., along with my lovely wife, of course."
"Sounds great."
He grinned, peeking over her shoulder at her list. "And who are you inviting?"
"Just our entire Hogwarts class and every influential family," she said grumpily. "Probably most of my extended family."
"Will I finally get to meet your mother, then?" Klaus asked, his tone light.
Caroline stiffened, her lips pressing together tightly. "Maybe. If she comes."
"I'm sure she wouldn't miss your wedding."
Caroline shrugged, turning back to the binder with her lips pressed tightly together. "Well, we'll see, I guess."
"If you're comfortable, I'd like to know, sweetheart. Just because someone might ask. It could be useful context for something."
Caroline snorted. She highly doubted that would be the case. "Trust me, it's been secret enough that you don't have to listen to me talk about it."
"What if I want to?" he asked, looking at her intently.
Caroline scowled. Her mom was a touchy subject, one that she preferred not to think about even in the privacy of her own head, let alone with another person. Sure, Klaus seemed to have parent baggage of his own, but that didn't mean he needed to know anything about hers, or that he would understand. As far as she was concerned, it would be useless to rehash all of her problems with her mom.
Or, really, her mom's problems with her.
"It's really not that big of a deal," she deflected.
"It's a big enough deal that you think she won't come to our wedding," Klaus pointed out, reaching to press his palm over Caroline's hand where she was clutching the quill so tightly that it seemed close to snapping in half. She loosened her grip, not meeting his eyes. He'd been honest with her. She supposed it was only right to return the favor. Still, now that she'd made a big deal about it she felt a little silly. Klaus had clearly dealt with worse. Would he think she was being silly?
"It was my fault. Mostly," Caroline said with a shrug. "I mean, she and my dad were complicated. They were arranged from when they were pretty young, like way before my dad came out. After they got married they had me, because they had to, but I don't think either of them would have wanted me if they hadn't basically been forced to have a kid."
"Your father dotes on you."
Caroline shrugged. "Yeah, because he feels guilty. He wasn't like that when I was growing up. He mostly just made my mom 'deal with me', or whatever. He pretty much moved to his own wing of the house and didn't speak to either of us unless he had to. Sometimes he'd have me 'come to work' with him over the summers when I was back from Hogwarts, and that was the only time I really got to spend with him."
She waited for a reaction from Klaus, but he didn't say anything, just waiting patiently for her to go on.
"Anyway," she began again, "I know that she knew that he was seeing Steven. Sometimes arranged marriages don't end up with people falling in love, obviously, and usually they get partners outside of the marriage if it doesn't matter whether their partner needs to seem like a permanent fixture. My mom never wanted to be involved in the business, so whether their marriage worked didn't end up mattering, but I think she had hoped that it would, since they'd been such good friends, you know?"
"I suppose."
"Yeah, so anyway he asked for an official divorce two weeks after my eighteenth birthday, from what I've figured out, but they'd been separated since I was really little. My mom wanted me to go to school in the U.S. before Hogwarts, so I lived with her most of the time. They told everybody it was because the schools were better over there, but it was really because she wanted to get away from him. She was happy when it was over, I think. She didn't want to deal with pretending he wasn't cheating on her anymore. Anyway, she wanted to move back to the U.S. permanently, since she didn't really need to work for the company, and she wanted me to come with her. I don't think that she ever wanted me to have anything to do with the company, really. She would have been happy as a clam if it went to Cami and Damon. Anyway, I said no."
"That's not your fault, love," Klaus pointed out. "You wanted your birthright. That's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Yeah, that wasn't the 'my fault' part," Caroline said tiredly. "I was so mad at her for leaving. I felt like she was just abandoning me. Like, my dad loved me but he never really spent any time with me, and she was making me choose between her and what I'd been raised to do. I'd been working so hard for it, and she basically just gave me the worst ultimatum ever, so I lashed out. I basically told her that Steven was a better parent to me than she was, which was a big fat lie. But I told her that if she really cared about me, she would have like, stayed."
"I'm sorry," Klaus said quietly.
"It's fine. I'm just...I regret it. A lot. And now she never really talks to me. I rejected all of her calls for like, two years because i was embarrassed and now she won't answer mine either. I know I hurt her, but I feel like it's not fair. You know?"
"I do."
They sat in silence for a moment, Caroline fiddling with her quill as she tried to figure out what to say. Klaus broke the silence after a few seconds, not meeting her eyes as he spoke. "I still talk to 'Lijah sometimes. He doesn't know about...the magic," he said slowly. "But he believes you should never abandon family. I think he hopes that he'll save me from whatever vagrant life Mikael's alleged I live."
"Oh," Caroline said softly. "That's...nice?"
Klaus huffed out what was probably supposed to be a laugh but came out as more of a strangled breath. "I suppose. Perhaps one day you can meet him. If you'd like."
She swallowed audibly. For some reason, meeting the brother he barely talked to felt more intimate than anything they'd discussed so far. Klaus clearly cared about his siblings, but she wasn't sure how she felt about meeting someone who Klaus had such a complicated past with. But they'd be together for the rest of their lives, and him offering to share that part of him with her was huge. A big step. Especially considering they'd only been pretending to date for a few months.
"I think I'd like that."
"We should do it after the honeymoon," Klaus said, looking determinedly down at the list he was making, apparently not wanting to see her reaction. "I'll call him later this week to tell him about you. He'll feel slighted if he doesn't know. I'll tell him we're eloping, and then we can see him after we get back."
"On the muggle telephone?" she asked, perking up. Steven had showed her his once, but she'd never actually used one. Muggles were fascinating, all the things they could do with their little machines.
He laughed. "Yes. I have one. Flint Avery occasionally has deals with muggle suppliers for my department. A lot of the materials we use need to be untouched by magic to be usable, so in order to ensure that, muggle dealing is best. In any case, if you'll give me some sense of your schedule after we get back, I'm sure he'll be pleased to set something up to meet you."
"Okay," she said slowly, starting to have the suspicion that he'd thought about this a lot more than he was letting on. "Sounds like a plan."
"And your mother? Should I meet her before the wedding?"
Caroline's teeth sunk into her lower lip, and she shrugged. "I mean, if she comes around, maybe? I can call her and ask. Do you want to meet her?"
"If you're amenable."
"Sure. I'll call her later."
XXX
"So, we have to make sure Camille and Damon buy that we're a thing tonight," Caroline said for what felt like the fifth time, at least. Klaus, as he had the last few times, nodded reassuringly, though he was growing weary of it.
Hopefully soon she'd come to learn that he had no qualms about showing others that she belonged to him. She still treated it as though it was some sort of sacrifice to have to touch her waist and send her adoring gazes in public, but he intended to ensure that she realized that there was nothing he'd like more than to have her nestled against his side when they socialized. To show the world that she'd given herself to him, however unwillingly initially.
"Were Camille and Damon arranged?"
"No. She chose him on purpose, which is like, mind-boggling."
"Is he that bad?"
"Worse," Caroline said darkly. "So much worse. Like, you wouldn't believe how awful."
Her tone was worrying, and he had the nasty feeling that Damon had given her a reason to dislike him this much. Klaus's lips thinned. He'd made a promise to himself to not use legilimency on Caroline, but that didn't mean he wasn't tempted. He didn't like the idea that Damon might have done something to her, nor was he fond of feeling in the dark about it.
"Any particular reason?"
She shrugged. "He hits on me when Camille's out of the room, which is icky, and he talks down to me a lot. Plus he totally wants to take over the company once my dad dies, and he is not subtle about it at all. He's also just like, not the nicest person? I don't know. He just sucks."
"Duly noted," Klaus murmured, resisting the urge to grab her hand as they continued their path through the gardens in the late morning sunlight. Assistants and waiters were bustling around them, setting up for the ceremony to take place the next morning. Caroline had insisted on stepping out to supervise the last-minute details, and he had been eager to accompany her. She'd always been a force of nature at school, organizing every possible event that she could get her hands on, ordering around her team like an army general to execute everything to perfection. It was a talent that he was sure served her well in her business, and would serve her even better ruling beside him.
He sincerely doubted that Caroline had cottoned on to his plans, clever as she was. It would seem ridiculous to her.
"You, Anna, and Pearl have outdone yourselves, sweetheart," he murmured when he saw an elf with a tray passing by with a centerpiece for the reception buffet table.
"Thanks," she said brightly, not even trying to pretend to be humble about the part she played in readying the decor. It was rather charming. "I was a little worried about how the flowers would come off with the colors, but it looks nice."
"It does."
"I'm just going to check up on a few things before I change. You'll be ready by six, right?"
"Of course, love."
"Great!" she said, clearly relieved. "Okay. I'll see you in a bit, then."
She glanced around at the staff bustling around them before pecking him lightly on the cheek and shooing him off. He went willingly, knowing that he only had a few hours to check up on Marcel's progress with tracking down their latest lead on the book. He'd told Caroline it was work, of course. That it was a confidential project. She'd seemed to believe him and hadn't pressed for more information, though he could see the curiosity in her expression. Her interest could be a complication, but he aimed to be subtle enough that she'd not know about the horcrux until the time was right.
He had a feeling that Caroline would object to him doing a dark ritual to rip his soul in half to achieve immortality, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Not if he wanted to get the power he craved. She'd see sense eventually, he knew that much. Perhaps he was too much of an optimist thinking she'd join him, but he liked to think that she'd be drawn to the power too, ambitious as she was. She'd never worry about the company being taken from her again. And that's what she wanted, wasn't it?
He was so looking forward to watching her learn to embrace her own darkness.
The rehearsal dinner to come after his conversation with Marcel, however, he was not looking forward to in the least.
XXX
"It's good to see you," Caroline said with an icy smile, hugging Camille and stepping back to glue herself to Klaus's side, laying her head on his shoulder briefly. His warmth was comforting in the over-cooled space of the restaurant's VIP lounge, where they were waiting for everyone to arrive before they were seated. His hand drifted down to rest on her hip as he tugged her closer, his hand extending to Damon's to shake.
"How did you two meet?" Camille asked politely, sitting down on one of the plush loveseats next to Damon, who was already engrossed in the bar menu. Caroline and Klaus sat across the small table in the individual armchairs, a small side table separating them.
"We met at school. We were in the same house," Klaus said with a dimpled smile and a fond look in Caroline's direction, which she reciprocated as best she could. God, he really was a good actor. "I admit that I fancied her at school. I'm quite lucky that she agreed to take a chance on me after we graduated."
"Oh, I'm sure Caroline's the lucky one. I was getting worried," Camille said brightly, her tone faltering when she saw the look on Caroline's face. "Not worried, exactly. You know, I just want you to be happy, and you're always so busy with the company. I thought you might not be able to find...you know."
"I don't, actually."
"She thought that someone wouldn't want to be the third in the marriage between you and work," Damon cut in snidely. "But it's good Barbie found a Ken who thinks her quirks are cute, I guess."
"Barbie?" Camille asked, clearly mystified by the reference, and Damon dropped a kiss to her temple with a condescending smile.
"Cultural reference, sweetie. You wouldn't know about it."
Gag.
"Okay," Camille said with a smile, clearly too used to Damon talking down to her to recognize that that's what he was doing. "Well, you know I don't mean anything by it, Caroline. And neither does Damon. We just want you to be happy."
"Of course," Caroline bit out, restraining the urge to carve Damon's eyeball out of his face with the toothpick umbrella in her drink and resolutely pasting a cheerful grin on her face before she continued. "Klaus does make me happy. He's so sweet, and he's been helping with the wedding. I know that you and Damon had trouble with him being busy and not being able to devote the time you wanted him to, so I wanted to make sure to learn from what happened so that ours will go a bit more smoothly."
Camille's smile was suddenly frozen on her face, her fingers drumming against the wooden tabletop, her spine straightened with offense. Good. "Oh, I'm glad that you're enjoying wedding planning," she said stiffly. "Have you been planning long? How long have you been seeing each other, anyway? I don't remember Uncle Bill telling me you were in a relationship recently."
The are you arranged rang out loud and clear, and Caroline swallowed, grateful when Klaus cut in.
"We ran into each other at Flourish and Blott's a few months ago. I'd missed her after we parted ways after school, of course-"
"You dated at school?"
"Not exactly," Caroline hedged. "We were...friends."
Klaus laid a hand on top of hers and gave her a warm smile that made her feel calmer. "I asked her to dinner. She demurred of course, said she was quite busy with work, but I managed to coax out a promise for coffee. Things sort of went on from there."
"A whirlwind romance, then! That sounds very romantic," Camille simpered, reaching to lace her fingers through Damon's with a smile. "That reminds me of how I met this one. He just wouldn't stop pursuing me until I said yes. It was sweet."
Of course Camille would think someone harassing someone else into a date was romantic.
"I wouldn't call it a whirlwind romance," Caroline said, trying not to sound too annoyed. Camille had a special talent for backhanded compliments and rude implications, though she only seemed to occasionally mean them that way. "We knew each other before, and it was important to me that we get married before my dad dies."
She let her voice hitch at the end, not trying to suppress it. She wasn't above playing the sympathy card. As she expected, Camille's expression softened. "Of course. I totally get it. How's Uncle Bill doing, by the way?"
"He's okay. He has some trouble getting around, but he's doing fine otherwise. He wanted to come tonight, but he wasn't feeling up to it."
Wasn't feeling up to dealing with Damon, really. If anyone hated Damon more than her, it was Bill, who saw Damon's clear intent to steal the company from right under their noses as a personal attack on everything he'd worked so hard for.
"I'm so sorry, Caroline," Camille said softly. before brightening a bit. "But at least you snagged a cute husband, right? There's a silver lining to everything!"
Caroline kind of wanted to strangle her. "Yeah, I guess."
They were interrupted by a passing waiter, whose self-inking recording quill wrote down Damon's order of three bottles of wine for the table before she left after telling them to get her if they needed anything while they waited for the rest of their party.
"So," Camille said when they were alone again. "Was the proposal romantic?"
"It was," Caroline agreed, laying her cheek against Klaus's shoulder and looking up at him with what she hoped passed as an adoring gaze. "He's the best at that kind of stuff."
"That's so nice. Damon's really romantic too," Camille said with a smile. "He took me whiskey-tasting for my birthday, and it was the sweetest thing."
Caroline sincerely doubted that. Camille wasn't a heavy drinker, but Damon was. It sounded like he just found something he'd like to do and used Camille's birthday as an excuse to go. Yikes.
They were interrupted by Bonnie entering the lounge, disentangling her fingers from her boyfriend Kai's and waiting for Caroline to stand to give her a tight hug. "Hey!"
"I'm so glad you could come. You guys should take a seat. We're only waiting for Klaus's best man, Marcel, and then they'll give us our table."
Bonnie nodded, waving her wand to pull another, smaller couch to squeeze between the chairs and the loveseat where Camille and Damon were sitting. Kai and Klaus exchanged handshakes and greetings, and soon enough they were all settled, the waitress coming by with the first bottle of wine for them to share.
"How are you doing?"
"Good," Caroline said with a smile, grateful to have another ally in the room with her. "Really good. I'm excited."
"Great!" Bonnie said, turning to Klaus and holding out her hand. "Klaus, it's good to see you again! It's been a long time."
"It has," he agreed, shaking her hand and giving her a dimpled smile.
"I feel like I still know you, though. Caroline's told me everything about how you guys finally got together."
It was a clear message, one that Klaus seemed to hear loud and clear judging by the way his expression turned icy for just a moment before he managed to soften it. "Good things, I hope?"
"So far. Hopefully it stays that way."
"Oh, I'm sure it will!" Caroline cut in, throwing her friend a warning look. "I've never been happier, Bon. You know that."
"Nor have I," Klaus said softly, looking at her with a soft expression that nearly made her melt on the spot.
Merlin, he was too good at this.
"So, when's your friend supposed to get here? We came a long way, and Cami's starving. Eating for two and all that."
"Damon," Camille scolded, elbowing him in the side, her other hand moving to rest on her barely-there baby bump. "I'm fine, really. And I'm sure Zach won't mind waiting either."
"You picked out a name?" Caroline asked politely, taking a sip of wine.
"Yes. For Damon's uncle."
"How nice."
"We're excited! First heir in the family," Camille said with a bright smile.
"Yeah, it's always good to be the first born," Damon said, shooting a pointed look at Caroline. "I always tell Cami it's a shame you were a few months earlier or she could have been as busy as you."
"Don't be silly," Camille said immediately, giving Damon a warning look. "Caroline's great with the company. I'm sure she'll teach Zachary everything he needs to know."
Over my dead body.
She was saved from finding something suitably polite to say by Marcel arriving, and they were quickly escorted to their table in the quiet area of the private dining room. Camille watched with badly hidden resentment as Klaus pulled out Caroline's chair for her, Damon already sitting down and pouring his second (maybe third?) glass of wine.
Caroline thanked Klaus with a kiss on the cheek, giving him a smile when he glanced in her direction with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. She tried not to flush. She was getting into character, okay?
She let him put his arm around her shoulder though, scooting her chair a bit closer to him, hoping they looked like the picture of a nearly newlywed couple who couldn't keep their hands off of each other and trying not to think too hard about why Klaus's proximity made her feel safe, even under Damon's gross gaze.
"Let's toast," Camille said, picking up her sparkling cider and holding it up, everyone following suit immediately. "To Klaus and Caroline, for a happy marriage. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Thank you so much for reading! Did you guys have a favorite part or line? Any thoughts on Camille and Damon's relationship? Predictions on where Klaus's big reveal might lead? I'd love to hear what you think!
