Chapter 7

"What do you mean he's staying here?" Kol fumed. "If you expect me to go on acting as if that traitor didn't try to kill us you've got another thing coming!"

Klaus gathered his siblings and the mother of his child to the drawing room to discuss his new arrangement with Marcel. Freya wasn't sure how to feel about the man's return. She was afraid to trust him but she was also afraid to speak of her distrust: after all, she was technically the newest member of the family. Elijah and Haylee thought it was a splendid idea as they could both tell how much both Marcel and Klaus needed each other. No one was as happy as Rebekah. Elijah forbade her from speaking to Marcel after his banishment was lifted. She sometimes watched him at Rousseau's but she was never allowed to approach him. Now that he lived just down the hall from her there was nothing stopping them from being together.

Only Kol felt a red hot rage boil through his body at the thought of Marcel's return.

"I will rip the flesh from his bone should he even think of turning against us again." Kol barked, spit flying from his flapping mouth.

"Be my guest." Klaus said calmly. "I already promised him death at the first sign of betrayal. Your torture beforehand will only send a clearer message to any enemies who may lurk in the shadows."

Elijah stepped in before his two brothers could go on planning Marcel's end.

"There will be no torturing or killing of Marcel. I believe in his redemption. He came to you asking to be forgiven and we will, all of us, find a way to forgive him."

Rebekah jumped from her spot on the sofa beside Freya to her feet with a mischievous smile on her face. "Well, I for one, will gladly welcome Marcel back into our little family." She said happily.

His frown deepening, Klaus replied, "You will do no such thing. I forbid you from ever being alone with him."

Rebekah's smile immediately vanished. "What?"

"I don't trust him to not…corrupt you."

"You mean you don't trust me to not betray you."

"Well given your track record with him, I can't see a reason I should trust you two together. It seems that whenever you're with him, your only objective is bringing down this family. Or more specifically, me."

"Nik," Rebekah stomped furiously over to her brother, growling, "I agreed with your tyrannical decision to banish him, fearing that I would never see the man that I loved again, but I submitted to your decision for the sake of this family. Now that he's back you expect me to just, what? Avoid him?"

Klaus folded his arms angrily over his chest and replied, "I don't care what you have to do, little sister, but you and Marcel are not allowed to be alone ever again. As a matter of fact, you two aren't allowed to communicate with each other, in any form, if no one is around to monitor it."

Rebekah stomped furiously out of the room. Freya turned to follow behind her sister but Klaus paused her by saying, "Let her go. The rest of us have other matters to attend to. I want to break Marcellus. I want to prove to him what I already know: That if given the chance he would betray me once again without a second thought if it meant regaining his spot on the throne. So I want you all to help me give him a little nudge in that direction."

"Just so we're clear," Elijah started, immediately distrustful of his brother's plan. "You want us to push Marcellus to the break of betrayal?"

"I want you to help him see his true colors. That he is not meant to be subservient to anyone. He was born a fighter. He was meant to be a leader, he always has been."

"Once he realizes this, what are you going to do to him?"

"It all depends on how Marcellus chooses to exact this birthright. Should he decide to leave New Orleans and start a kingdom of his own elsewhere, I shall allow him. But should he the gall to try and take my city away from me again, I will do what is necessary."

~M~

Marcel woke with the rise of the sun. He got dressed but stayed in bed, staring up at the roof and reminiscing on his past memories in that room, back when he was a boy sheltered by the love of his family.

His thoughts were soon cut short when his door opened and in sped Rebekah. She was still wearing the same floral camisole and jeans from the quick glance he saw of her the day before so he was certain she'd been up all night.

"Are you on Vervain?" She immediately asked him.

Confused, Marcel answered, "No, not for a while, no. W-why?"

Rebekah ignored the man's distress and sped over to him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him and planting a big kiss on his tender lips.

As she pulled away, she said, "I don't have much time, the others are probably already waking, I just had to see you before Nik got his hands on you."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Nik has banned me from ever being alone with you. He fears I will turn against him in the name of love again."

Marcel's heart sank. One of the reasons he was so adamant about returning to the compound was to be with Rebekah again.

"Then what are you doing here now?" He asked.

"I refuse to be away from you any longer. When we woke, my brothers made us swear a pact of unity meaning whenever Klaus and Elijah made a decision, we all had to honor it so when they decided to banish you, I followed along. A hundred years ago when I thought you dead, somehow I managed to continue living so I thought with you banished I could do the same but this time you were not dead. This time, I knew you were out there and it doesn't matter how many times you break my heart or betray this family, Marcel Gerard, this crazy feeling inside of me won't let me hate you no matter how bad you might be for me. So it is with the love of a foolish, foolish girl that I beg you,"

Rebekah bit her lip, wondering if she should just compel him and make this easier but of all the people and vampires their family has compelled over the years, Marcel had always been the one that they agree would only be done if it were for his own good. And he trusted them to keep that promise.

"If we continue to see each other, you cannot tell my brothers."

Marcel's lip curled into a scowl.

"Just until things are back to normal," she added, knowing how much Marcel hated sneaking around. "I fear if we came out to my brothers right now, Nik will either banish you again or put a dagger in me to keep us apart."

"Fine," he agreed halfheartedly. "But this is temporary. I am not going to spend another century hiding my love. The moment I feel as though Klaus trusts me again, I am going to tell him. And if he tries to dagger you, I will find someone to pull it out every time."

Placing a hand on the back of her head, Marcel pulled Rebekah into a kiss.

As they pulled away, he said, "I am spending the next thousand years with you, Rebekah Mikaelson. I don't care how Klaus feels about it."

She had only a moment to bask in his smoldering gaze before she heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"I love you, Marcel Gerard," she muttered. "Always and forever." The lips met for a quick second before she vamped away.

Just as Rebekah disappeared out the window, Niklaus entered Marcel's room carrying a black one-inch three-ringed binder. He noticed the open window and strolled over to it. He saw nothing suspicious outside so he simply closed the window and said, "I'm almost certain that sleeping with an open window was the cause of most of your childhood illnesses."

Marcel rose from his bed and said, "Yeah, sorry about that." Nodding at the binder in Klaus's hand, he asked, "What's that? You giving me homework?"

Klaus smirked at Marcel's joke and said, "You won't find this little binder so hilarious once you know what's inside." Klaus flashes Marcel the cover and written in white marker across the front are the words Marcel's Rules.

Marcel instantly frowned.

With a wide smile, Klaus said, "Ah, just the reaction I was hoping for. You see, my siblings and I stayed up all night drafting this little manual especially for you. There are a lot of rules in here, two hundred and thirty-seven to be precise. Some of these are subject to change, of course, and more a sure to be added during your stay here so I wouldn't get comfortable."

Marcel took the binder from Klaus and opened it to the first page. "Rule number 1. Never tell a lie."

Klaus smiled proudly at hearing the rule. "I thought of that bit. Thought it was the most important rule of all. I won't be accepting any lies this go-round, Marcel so if you're even considering it, leave now."

After what he endured the night before, Marcel had no plans on ever walking out on his family voluntarily so even though he was angered by the rule, he buried his pride and began irately flipping through the rest of the book.

Stopping on a random page, he read aloud, "Rule 82. You are not allowed to leave the Compound without an escort during the probationary period. Are you serious? What the probationary period?"

"Ah, yes, you skipped that part. Rule number 3. You will be on an indefinite probationary period in which you are expected to follow all of these rules to the letter and obey every order given to you by any member of this household until our trust in you is restored, which, at this point, could take a few hundred years."

The heat of annoyance growing bigger in the pit of his stomach, Marcel scoffed and slammed the book closed.

Tutting, Klaus said, "Watch that temper. Rule 24. No ornery behavior."

"And what's my punishment for breaking any of these precious rules?"

Closing in the gap between them, Klaus muttered in the most menacing way Marcel had ever heard, "I know what you're expecting me to say. That I would skin you alive or chop you into pieces and scatter them across the bayou, or…I could be even crueler than that and banish from your home for good. But the actions I took last night seemed to incorporate all the elements I look for in a punishment. Your pain and humiliation."

"You-you're gonna…you would…you wouldn't really…?"

Niklaus smiled at Marcel's mortified stammering.

Regaining his composure, Marcel asked, "That's a joke, right? I mean, you wouldn't actually…you're Klaus Mikaelson. You kill, torture, and maim, not…that."

"It really depends on my mood at the time but if I were you, Marcellus, I wouldn't try me." Klaus stepped slowly over to the door. "Take your time and read that manual thoroughly. We'd hate for you to find yourself tail end up for a small mistake. Oh, and just a heads up. Rule 13, you must be on time for every meal, so that gives you about," Klaus flips his wrist up to read the time on his watch. "20 minutes before breakfast, so be quick about it."